美国国家公共电台 NPR 2015-12-30

 From NPR news in Washington, I'm Barbara Klein.A grand jury in Cleveland Ohio has decided¹ not to indict² the two Cleveland police officers involved in last year's shooting death of a 12-year-old boy. As Brian Bull of member station WCPN reports the cases sparked outrage³ and scrutiny⁴ over how Cleveland police handled deadly force cases. Cuyahoga County prosecutor⁵ Timothy McGinty says review of the evidence shows neither officers had criminal intent, calling the situation a perfect storm of human error and miscommunication. He says the officers were responding to reports of an active shooter situation and there was no way that the responding officers knew rises of tensions when they pulled next to him. Rice had been waiving⁶ an airgun round with his orange safety tip removed. McGinty says he shared the news with Rice's mother Samaria before before going public. 'It's a tough conversation. We again express the condolences of our office to share detectives and everyone who has worked so diligently⁷ in this case.'Rice family members and their attorneys have called McGinty to step down from the case. For NPR news, I'm Brain Bull in Cleveland.

 

 

Flooding in Missouri has claimed the lives of 10 people. Four of them were international soldiers, temporarily stationed at a US army base. A fifth is unaccounted for. Thousands of Oklahomans are spending another day without electricity after a winter storm battered⁸ the state overnight and early this morning. As Brian Hardzinski of member station KGOU reports emergency officials are working with the governor to extend the state of emergency. Kelly Kein with the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management says they received reports of more than four dozen injuries associated with the storm. 'We've seen mostly fall and transportation related injures but also some carbon monoxide poisoning type injuries'. Flooding is a major concern in eastern Oklahoma where some areas have received nearly a foot of rain in the past week. Governor Mary Fallin previously⁹ declared a state of emergency for all 77 counties after a winter storm pounded Oklahoma in late November. That 30-day declaration expires Tuesday. For NPR news, I'm Brian Hardzinski in northern Oklahoma.

 

 

US central command and secretary of state John Kerry say Iraqi forces have retaken the provincial¹⁰ government compound in Ramadi from IS fighters. IS seized this strategically important city in May. Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes continue to battle to recapture the entire city. 

 

 

The giant technology company Cisco Systems has been cleared of patent infringement¹¹. Today's appeal court's decision reverses a nearly 64 million dollar judgement against Cisco and ends 8 years of litigation.

 

 

On Wall Street today, the Dow fell 23 points. The NASDAQ lost 7. The S&P was down 4. This is NPR.

 

 

This year is coming to a close with the distinction of being the biggest ever for mergers¹³ and acquisitions. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports the trend was global but the US saw the biggest number of deals. Worldwide, there were 4.3 billion dollars worth of deals announced during the year while over a half of that came from deals involving US companies. It was a huge year for technological¹⁴ mergers and in particular the semi-conductor industry where the pushed forward mobile is transforming math sector¹⁵. Also drug companies continue their acquisition spree. Pfizer's purchase of Allergan at 116 billion dollars is the second largest merger¹² on record. Experts say companies are not only flush with cash, their leadership teams are also more confident about the economy than any time since the financial crisis. In addition, activist¹⁶ shareholders¹⁷ push companies to consider bigger changes. Yuki Noguchi, NPR news, Washington.

 

 

An assessment¹⁸ of retail¹⁹ sales this holiday season shows an uptick over last year of 7.9 percent excluding cars and gas. Sarah Quinlan of MasterCard Advisors²⁰ says sales were particularly strong for women's clothes. We rarely saw people you know in double digit²¹ take advantage of the promotions²². And this is interesting because we really hadn't seen a * do well for 6 months now. She says furniture sales were also up sharply. Online sales were 20 percent higher this holiday season. Amazon says it shaped a record number of items the world over. I'm Barbara Klein. NPR news in Washington.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 indict   

v.起诉，控告，指控

参考例句：

• You can't indict whole people for the crudeness of a few.您不能因少数人的粗暴行为就控诉整个民族。
• I can indict you for abducting high school student.我可以告你诱拐中学生。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

5 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

6 waiving   

v.宣布放弃( waive的现在分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• Other steps suggested included waiving late payment charges, making quicker loan decisions and easing loan terms. 其他测试还包括免去滞纳金，尽快做出贷款决定和放宽贷款条件。 来自互联网
• Stuyvesant Town offers the same perk on some apartments, along waiving the broker's fee. StuyvesantTown对于他们出租的某些房子也提供同样的好处，顺带还省略了中介费。 来自互联网

7 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

8 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

9 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。

10 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

11 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

12 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

13 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

14 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

15 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

16 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

17 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

18 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？

19 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

20 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

21 digit   

n.零到九的阿拉伯数字，手指，脚趾

参考例句：

• Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
• Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。

22 promotions   

促进( promotion的名词复数 )； 提升； 推广； 宣传

参考例句：

• All services or promotions must have an appeal and wide application. 所有服务或促销工作都必须具有吸引力和广泛的适用性。
• He promptly directed the highest promotions and decorations for General MacArthur. 他授予麦克阿瑟将军以最高的官阶和勋奖。