NPR美国国家公共电台 2013-05-31

　　From NPR News in Washington, I’m Craig Windham.

 

　　The FBI is testing a letter sent to President Obama for the poisonous substance ricin. The letter was intercepted¹ at a mail screening facility. The Secret Service says the letter is similar to those sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and to the director of his group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Those two letters have tested positive for ricin in a preliminary check. NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston says authorities are looking for common themes in the letters.

 

　　Law enforcement officials say that there seems to be some gun-control connection here. Specifically there were threats made to Mayor Bloomberg about his effort to limit purchase of guns, and that seems to have been a theme that ran through a lot of these letters.

 

　　NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston, who says completing conclusive² tests for ricin will take several days.

 

　　Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad says his military will respond to any future Israeli attack on his country. Israel carried out air strikes this month on suspected weapon shipments near Damascus. The main Western-backed Syrian opposition³ group says it will not participate in peace talks sponsored by the US and Russia while Assad’s regime is killing⁴ civilians⁵. Farah Atassi is a spokeswoman for the coalition⁶.

 

　　“That is not talks about any political process or any political efforts when people die, when there is 1,500 wounded people.”

 

　　In Moscow, Russia’s foreign ministry⁷ is criticizing the willingness of the US to consider a no-fly zone over Syria.

 

　　A new study finds a link between unemployment and shorter life expectancy⁸. NPR’s Jennifer Ludden reports the research aims to explain a growing gap in mortality among white women.

 

　　At a time when many live longer, white women without a high school diploma have been dying increasingly earlier. To understand why, a study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior surveyed data on tens of thousands of women over a decade. It looked at things like weight, marital⁹ status, alcohol consumption and poverty. But two factors stood out: smoking, already well-known, and unemployment. The study’s lead author suggests the social support and self-esteem that come with a job may help extend life expectancy. She recommends more family-friendly work policies to help keep less-educated women employed. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News.

 

　　The economy expanded at an annual pace of 2.4% in the first quarter. That’s just a bit lower than the Commerce Department’s previous assessment¹⁰. Many economists¹¹ are expecting growth to ease back a bit in the current quarter, and Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics is among them.

 

　　“The key driver of the economy is the cuts in government spending. There are quite significant, then tax increases. So we saw some big tax increases at the beginning of the year and households who kind of digest that.”

 

　　Economists say the pace of growth is likely to increase some in the second half of the year.

 

　　Wall Street, the Dow was up 25 points just before the close. This is NPR News.

 

　　The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously¹³ owned homes edged up in April to the highest level in three years. Walter Molony with National Association of Realtors says a number of factors are fueling the increase in pending¹² home sales.

 

　　“Pent-up demand, good affordability¹⁴ conditions, job creation, all the things that you need to see a strong housing market.”

 

　　But the increase in pending sales was not as large as in the previous month. Economists point to the limited inventory¹⁵ of homes for sale right now.

 

　　Best-selling novelist and newspaper columnist¹⁶ Andrew Greeley has died in Chicago. NPR’s Cheryl Corley reports Greeley was a Roman Catholic priest who often criticized the church over the child sex abuse scandal.

 

　　Andrew Greeley was a priest and a noted¹⁷ sociologist¹⁸ who wrote dozens of non-fiction books and more than 50 best-selling novels. During a NPR interview in 1999, the often controversial cleric said he understood his critics.

 

　　“They are upset with empirical sociology, which tries to describe not what an American Catholic should do, but what they are doing and what they do believe. And they object to a priest writing novels in which human passion plays a part as it does in human life.”

 

　　Father Greeley was 85. He suffered a traumatic brain injury after a fall five years ago and never fully¹⁹ recovered. Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago.

 

　　Tornado²⁰ warnings and watches have been posted for central portions of Oklahoma just ten days after the powerful twister that blitzed the town of Moore. Forecasters say some areas are at risk for hail bigger than golf balls and for winds gusting²¹ to hurricane strength. The National Storm Prediction Center has also posted tornado watches across large areas of Missouri and Arkansas.

 

　　I’m Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.

1 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

2 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

9 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

10 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

11 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 affordability   

可购性

参考例句：

• Performance-Based Logistics Affordability: Can We Afford Categorical Conversion to Performance-Based Acquisition? 基于性能的后期的可承受性：能否担负得起向基于性能的采办的无条件的转变？
• There would be no crisis of affordability, as't for food or clothing. 就想食物与服装一样，因为供给没有危机。

15 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

16 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

18 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

19 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

20 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

21 gusting   

（风）猛刮（gust的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Then the treacherous North Atlantic struck, with hail, rain, lightning and gusting wind. 这时，气候变幻莫测的北大西洋出现了冰雹、大雨、闪电和狂风。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• Jeff: Sometimes, the partiality and miscarriage of justice are dis-gusting too. 杰夫： 有时，裁判的不公平和误判也真是令人讨厌的一件事情。