【每日阅读训练第四期——速度越障5系列】【5-20】文史哲

泾渭不凡

今天速度很简单，各位加油。
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~不过加大了越障难度~~艾玛~~饭饭肿么介么坏~~加油啦~~
[SPEED]
[TIME 1]
Romney Announces Ryan as VP Running Mate
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced the choice of his vice-presidential running mate Saturday, Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan.
Mitt Romney’s announcement came during a campaign stop in Virginia.
Congressman Paul Ryan, little known nationally, bounded down the steps of the battleship USS Wisconsin and into the bright glare of a U.S. presidential campaign.
“My dad died when I was young. He was a good and decent man. There are a few things he would say that have just always stuck with me. He’d say, 'Son, you’re either part of the problem or part of the solution.' Well, regrettably, President Obama has become part of the problem and Mitt Romney is the solution,"he said.
At 42, Ryan brings youth to the Republican ticket and strong support from conservatives for his bold budget proposals to cut the size of government.
But Ryan can expect attacks from Democrats who argue his budget plan would hurt the poor and senior citizens.
By adding Ryan to his ticket Romney hopes to build enthusiasm for his campaign as they prepare for the Republican nominating convention at the end of the month.
“We are offering a positive governing agenda that will lead to economic growth, to widespread and shared prosperity and that will improve the lives of our fellow citizens," Romney said.
The Republican ticket may be set, but it’s too early to know if Ryan’s addition will help or hurt, says analyst Norm Ornstein.
“But there is no evidence that people vote for a vice presidential candidate. They vote for a presidential candidate and we don’t have any evidence that people say, 'I love that presidential candidate but because I can’t stand the vice presidential candidate I’m going to vote against him," he said.
Romney and Ryan embark on a campaign bus tour through key battleground states in advance of the upcoming Republican convention in Florida, where both men will be in the national spotlight.
[329 WORDS]
[TIME 2]
S. Sudan Violates Human Rights, Commission Says
South Sudan's Human Rights Commission issued its annual report this week, finding that the country has repeatedly violated its citizens' human rights during the first year of independence.
The findings covered a range of human rights, from women’s and children’s rights, to the rights to freedom and a fair trial.
Human Rights Commissioner Laurence Korbandy says some states have particularly poor records when it comes to protecting the rights of women and girls.
"In Equatoria, Upper Nile and Bahr-El-Ghazal, rights to life are grossly violated. The research findings establish that early pregnancies and early marriages are key because of the high dropout rate for the girls from schools," Korbandy said.
Seventy-two percent of South Sudanese cannot read or write, according to the report -- and the majory of those who are illiterate are women. The report further says that the goal of 25% representation of women in political and administrative jobs is not realized because of low education of women.
Human Rights Commissioner Laurence Korbandy said the government must do more to educate women.
The report also covered the ethnic clashes in Jonglei State, which left nearly one thousand people dead.
And the commission found that prisons and police cells across the country are dirty, overcrowded, and not providing enough food to inmates. These findings echo a similar report by the group Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights activist and Secretary General of the South Sudan civil society alliance, Biel Boutros Biel, said human rights activist and Secretary General of the South Sudan Civil Society Alliance, Biel Boutros Biel, has welcomed the new report by the South Sudan Human Rights Commission but says it is long overdue.
Biel said arbitrary arrests are far too common in South Sudan.
“I have been going to many police stations and you would get many people being locked in without any charges. Some of them even don’t write any statements. They are just accused, brought and put in, staying in police stations beyond 24 hours,” he said.
He called on the government to enact laws to regulate the activities of security agencies and the behavior of security guards.
[361 WORDS]
[TIME 3]
Words and Their Stories: Wild Cat
Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories. Today, we tell about the word wildcat.
(MUSIC)
Humans have always depended on animals. From the beginning of human history, wild animals provided food, clothing and sometimes medicine.
We may not depend as much on wild animals now. But we hear about them every day. Americans use the names of animals in many ways.
Many companies use animals to make us want to buy their goods. Automobile companies, for example, love to show fast horses when they are trying to sell their cars. They also name their cars for other fast powerful animals.
Automobile manufacturers and gasoline companies especially like to use big cats to sell their products. They like lions, tigers and wildcats.
When Americans say wildcat, they usually mean a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat. All these cats attack quickly and fiercely. So wildcats represent something fast and fierce.
What better way is there to sell a car than to say it is as fast as a wildcat. Or, what better way is there to sell gasoline than to say that using it is like putting a tiger in your tank.
An early American use of the word wildcat was quite different. It was used to describe members of Congress who declared war on Britain in eighteen twelve. A magazine of that year said the wildcat congressmen went home. It said they were unable to face the responsibility of having involved their country in an unnecessary war.
Wildcat also has been used as a name for money. It was used this way in the eighteen hundreds. At that time, some states permitted banks to make their own money. One bank in the state of Michigan offered paper money with a picture of a wildcat on it.
Some banks, however, did not have enough gold to support all the paper money they offered. So the money had little or no value. It was called a wildcat bill or a wildcat bank note. The banks who offered this money were called wildcat banks.
[350 WORDS]
[TIME 4]
A newspaper of the time said those were the days of wildcat money. It said a man might be rich in the morning and poor by night.
Wildcat was used in another way in the eighteen hundreds. It was used for an oil well or gold mine that had almost no oil or gold in it. Dishonest developers would buy such property. Then they would sell it and leave town with the money. The buyers were left with worthless holes in the ground. Today, wildcat oil wells are in areas that are not known to have oil.
Yet another kind of wildcat is the wildcat strike. That is a strike called without official approval by a union. During World War Two, an American publication accused wildcat strikers of slowing government production.
(MUSIC)
Covert Smuggling Trail Arms Syrian Rebels
ANTAKYA, Turkey — Some Western and Arab Gulf powers say they are increasing humanitarian and support aid to the Syrian opposition. At the Turkey-Syria border, the main conduit for foreign aid to rebel fighters, there are signs the aid trail also may include covert arms smuggling.
The Turkish city of Antakya is a hub for Syria. It's what analysts say most of the deals are being forged to aid the Free Syria Army rebels.
But few people here will openly admit that foreign countries are arming the opposition.
Ahmad al-Kanatre Abu Hamza, commander of the Omar al-Mukhtar brigade of the FSA, told VOA last month that most of his fighters' weapons are taken from Syrian forces.
'
"Almost all our weapons are confiscated from the defeated regime army. We get no help from other countries," he said. "All our arms are light weapons and they are old.
Opposition supporters have posted videos on social media sites allegedly showing big caches of weapons - mainly Kalashnikov rifles - and ammunition. Their origin is unknown.
Foreign officials, including those in the U.S. and Britain, publicly say assistance to the Syrian opposition is limited to humanitarian and educational programs.
In unguarded moments, however, rebel fighters admit to receiving foreign arms.
Jonathan Eyal, an analyst at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said details are slowly emerging about international weapons' trails to the rebels.
[366 WORDS]
[TIME 5]
"Very few countries admit to having a direct role although the veil of silence is slowly being lifted," he said. "The channels are Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the lead, with the Turkish government and the American government once-removed.
The covert nature of the trade - and the presence of Syrian government troops close to the border - limits the flow of weapons to rifles, pistols, and possibly a few rocket-propelled grenades, says former CIA intelligence analyst Bob Ayers.
"You wouldn't start from scratch. And the intelligence organizations themselves whether they be American, British, Israeli, whatever, they would not be providing weapons to the FSA," Ayers said. "They'd go through a middleman, they'd find someone who has been trading across the border, who has got relationships on either side of the border, and funnel the weapons, the supplies, the munitions, the communications devices, whatever, through the middleman.
Ayers says a big problem is that foreign powers don't know exactly who they're giving the weapons to.
"We don't really have a unified opposition to [Syrian President] Assad," he said. "And there's no way that you can deal with them as if they are a unified entity. They're fragmented, they are small groups, there's no centralized control although we'd like to see it and we behave like there is. There isn't.
The FSA's foreign supporters are attempting to tip the scales of the conflict towards the rebels in Syria while avoiding being caught red-handed, says analyst Eyal.
"It's a very difficult job to achieve especially since the involvement has to be once-removed," he said. "Let us not forget we do not have a U.N. Security Council mandate to do more than that, nor is any Western government proposing to become directly involved."
Eyal says current support for the FSA is having minimal impact on Syria's civil war - and the outcome will ultimately be decided by the loyalty of the Syrian military to President Bashar al-Assad.
[324WORDS]
[OBSTACLE]
Iliad
This article is about the epic poem by Homer. For other uses, see Iliad (disambiguation).
The Iliad (sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles.
Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege; the earlier events, such as the gathering of warriors for the siege, the cause of the war, and related concerns tend to appear near the beginning. Then the epic narrative takes up events prophesied for the future, such as Achilles' looming death and the sack of Troy, prefigured and alluded to more and more vividly, so that when it reaches an end, the poem has told a more or less complete tale of the Trojan War.
Along with the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the eighth century BC. In the modern vulgate, the Iliad contains 15,693 lines; it is written in Homeric Greek, a literary amalgam of Ionic Greek and other dialects.

Synopsis
Note: Book numbers are in parentheses and come before the synopsis of the book.
After an invocation to the Muses, the story launches in medias res towards the end of the Trojan War between the Trojans and the besieging Greeks. Chryses, a Trojan priest of Apollo, offers the Greeks wealth for the return of his daughter Chryseis, a captive of Agamemnon, the Greek leader. Although most of the Greek army is in favour of the offer, Agamemnon refuses. Chryses prays for Apollo's help, and Apollo causes a plague throughout the Greek army.
After nine days of plague, Achilles, the leader of the Myrmidon contingent, calls an assembly to solve the plague problem. Under pressure, Agamemnon agrees to return Chryseis to her father, but also decides to take Achilles's captive, Briseis, as compensation. Angered, Achilles declares that he and his men will no longer fight for Agamemnon, but will go home. Odysseus takes a ship and brings Chryseis to her father, whereupon Apollo ends the plague.
In the meantime, Agamemnon's messengers take Briseis away, and Achilles asks his mother, Thetis, to ask Zeus that the Greeks be brought to the breaking point by the Trojans, so Agamemnon will realise how much the Greeks need Achilles. Thetis does so, Zeus agrees, and sends a dream to Agamemnon, urging him to attack the city. Agamemnon heeds the dream but decides to first test the morale of the Greek army by telling them to go home. The plan backfires, and only the intervention of Odysseus, inspired by Athena, stops a rout.
Odysseus confronts and beats Thersites, a common soldier who voices discontent at fighting Agamemnon's war. After a meal, the Greeks deploy in companies upon the Trojan plain. The poet takes the opportunity to describe the provenance of each Greek contingent. When news of the Greek deployment reaches king Priam, the Trojans too sortie upon the plain. In a similar list to that for the Greeks, the poet describes the Trojans and their allies.
The armies approach each other on the plain, but before they meet, Paris offers to end the war by fighting a duel with Menelaus, urged by his brother and head of the Trojan army, Hector. While Helen tells Priam about the Greek commanders from the walls of Troy, both sides swear a truce and promise to abide by the outcome of the duel. Paris is beaten, but Aphrodite rescues him and leads him to bed with Helen before Menelaus could kill him.
Pressured by Hera's hatred of Troy, Zeus arranges for the Trojan Pandaros to break the truce by wounding Menelaus with an arrow. Agamemnon rouses the Greeks, and battle is joined. In the fighting, Diomedes kills many Trojans and defeats Aeneas, whom again Aphrodite rescues, but Diomedes attacks and wounds the goddess. Apollo faces Diomedes, and warns him against warring with gods. Many heroes and commanders join in, including Hector, and the gods supporting each side try to influence the battle. Emboldened by Athena, Diomedes wounds Ares and puts him out of action.
Hector rallies the Trojans and stops a rout; the Greek Diomedes and the Trojan Glaukos find common ground and exchange unequal gifts. Hector enters the city, urges prayers and sacrifices, incites Paris to battle, bids his wife Andromache and son Astyanax farewell on the city walls, and rejoins the battle. Hector duels with Ajax, but nightfall interrupts the fight and both sides retire. The Greeks agree to burn their dead and build a wall to protect their ships and camp, while the Trojans quarrel about returning Helen. Paris offers to return the treasure he took, and give further wealth as compensation, but without returning Helen, and the offer is refused.
A day's truce is agreed for burning the dead, during which the Greeks also build their wall and trench. The next morning, Zeus prohibits the gods from interfering, and fighting begins anew. The Trojans prevail and force the Greeks back to their wall while Hera and Athena are forbidden from helping. Night falls before the Trojans can assail the Greek wall. They camp in the field to attack at first light, and their watchfires light the plain like stars..
Meanwhile, the Greeks are desperate. Agamemnon admits his error, and sends an embassy composed of Odysseus, Ajax, Phoenix, and two heralds to offer Briseis and extensive gifts to Achilles, who has been camped next to his ships throughout, if only he would return to the fighting. Achilles and his companion Patroclus receive the embassy well, but Achilles angrily refuses Agamemnon's offer, and declares that he would only return to battle if the Trojans reach his ships and threaten them with fire. The embassy returns empty-handed.
Later that night, Odysseus and Diomedes venture out to the Trojan lines, killing the Trojan Dolon and wreaking havoc in the camps of some Thracian allies of Troy. In the morning, the fighting is fierce and Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus are all wounded. Achilles sends Patroclus from his camp to inquire about the Greek casualties, and while there Patroclus is moved to pity by a speech of Nestor. The Trojans assault the Greek wall on foot. Hector, ignoring an omen, leads the terrible fighting. The Greeks are overwhelmed in rout, the wall's gate is broken, and Hector charges in.
Many fall on both sides. The Trojan seer Polydamas urges Hector to fall back and warns him about Achilles, but is ignored. Hera seduces Zeus and lures him to sleep, allowing Poseidon to help the Greeks, and the Trojans are driven back onto the plain. Zeus awakes and is enraged by Poseidon's intervention. Against the mounting discontent of the Greek-supporting gods, Zeus sends Apollo to aid the Trojans, who once again breach the wall, and the battle reaches the ships.
Patroclus can stand to watch no longer, and begs Achilles to be allowed to defend the ships. Achilles relents, and lends Patroclus his armor, but sends him off with a stern admonition to not pursue the Trojans, lest he take Achilles's glory. Patroclus leads the Myrmidons to battle and arrives as the Trojans set fire to the first ships. The Trojans are routed by the sudden onslaught. Patroclus, ignoring Achilles's command, pursues and reaches the gates of Troy, where Apollo himself stops him. Patroclus is set upon by Apollo and Euphorbos, and is finally killed by Hector. Hector takes Achilles's armor from the fallen Patroclus, but fighting develops around Patroclus' body.
Achilles is mad with grief when he hears of Patroclus's death, and vows to take vengeance on Hector; his mother Thetis grieves, too, knowing that Achilles is fated to die young if he kills Hector. Achilles is urged to help retrieve Patroclus' body, but has no armour. Made brilliant by Athena, Achilles stands next to the Greek wall and roars in rage. The Trojans are dismayed by his appearance and the Greeks manage to bear Patroclus' body away. Again Polydamas urges Hector to withdraw into the city, again Hector refuses, and the Trojans camp in the plain at nightfall. Patroclus is mourned, and meanwhile, at Thetis' request, Hephaistos fashions a new set of armor for Achilles, among which is a magnificently wrought shield. In the morning, Agamemnon gives Achilles all the promised gifts, including Briseis, but he is indifferent to them. Achilles fasts while the Greeks take their meal, and straps on his new armor, and heaves his great spear. His horse Xanthos prophesies to Achilles his death. Achilles drives his chariot into battle.
Zeus lifts the ban on the gods' interference, and the gods freely intervene on both sides. The onslaught of Achilles, burning with rage and grief, is terrible, and he slays many. Driving the Trojans before him, Achilles cuts off half in the river Skamandros and proceeds to slaughter them and fills the river with the dead. The river, angry at the killing, confronts Achilles, but is beaten back by Hephaistos' firestorm. The gods fight among themselves. The great gates of the city are opened to receive the fleeing Trojans, and Apollo leads Achilles away from the city by pretending to be a Trojan.
When Apollo reveals himself to Achilles, the Trojans had retreated into the city, all except for Hector, who, having twice ignored the counsels of Polydamas, feels the shame of rout and resolves to face Achilles, in spite of the pleas of Priam and Hecuba, his parents. When Achilles approaches, Hector's will fails him, and he is chased around the city by Achilles. Finally, Athena tricks him to stop running, and he turns to face his opponent. After a brief duel, Achilles stabs Hector through the neck. Before dying, Hector reminds Achilles that he is fated to die in the war as well. Achilles takes Hector's body and dishonours it.
The ghost of Patroclus comes to Achilles in a dream and urges the burial of his body. The Greeks hold a day of funeral games, and Achilles gives out the prizes. Dismayed by Achilles' continued abuse of Hector's body, Zeus decides that it must be returned to Priam. Led by Hermes, Priam takes a wagon out of Troy, across the plains, and enters the Greek camp unnoticed. He grasps Achilles by the knees and begs to have his son's body. Achilles is moved to tears, and the two lament their losses in the war. After a meal, Priam carries Hector's body back into Troy. Hector is buried, and the city mourns.
[1809WORDS]

xjbb

沙发！谢谢lz～

Speed:
1'46
Republican presidential candidate M.R. announced P. Ryan as his vice presidential running mate. Ryan's father died when Ryan was a child, leaving him some valuable thoughts. He made a plan of economic improvement, which was criticized by rivals to be harmful for low income population.
1'59
Sudan violated human rights during the first year of independence at a wide range, including women, children, prisoner, etc. Women didn't receive enough education, thus could not achieve their political goals. Prisoner's living condition was poor, people were arrested with insufficient evidence.
1'44
Wildcat is a word that can be used in many different fields. cars, politics, money, bank…
2'08
Turkey are helping Syrian opposition rebellion by smuggling arms across the border.
1'57
The arms provider includes Saudi, Turkey, Qatar, as well as the U.S., the categories are limited. There're middleman in the process of the trading, the providers claimed that they're dealing with the middlemen and 'know nothing about where the arms finally go'.

Obstacle:
16'42
A brief introduction about Iliad, then the detailed process of the ten-year-lasting war between Troy and Greece. It was originated from the conflict between Agamemnon and Axxx. Axxx provoked the war. at first the Greek gods were banned to involve by Zeus, however as the war prolonged, they finally took part in, to help their respective parties. Eventually Troy lost.
More details omitted.

风静静

1:47
Romney announced his pattener Ryan.
Ryan is 42 years old.
his father used to say he will part of trouble and part of solution.
Obama become the trouble.
Romney become the solution.

2:13
Sudan's human right reports show that large part of its citizens didn't receive the right treatment, especially the women and children.
many citizens cann't write or read.

1:53
the world "wildcat", in America, has many meaning.
it is used by automobile or gasoline company to indicate that their cars can run as fast as a wildcat or that using their gasoline, your car can run as fast as a wildcat.
it is also used to indicate a Congressman who can begin a battle with Britan.
moreover, wildcat is used to indicate a kind of money.

2:07
1:31

18:05
the article talked about the Illdia and its synopsis.
一堆人名，全混了~~
谢谢饭饭~~

cleotina

jmlinpx

1. 1:06
2. 1:12
3. 1:29
4. 1:43
5. 1:52
6. 9:26 the cause of troy war; the involvment of Greek Gods; how Achilles killed Hector

暮已央

占~谢谢饭饭姐~

yqhpsyche

谢谢饭饭

1'46  
about campaign and vice-president

1'50
A commission says that South Sudan violates the right of women & children

1'39
wildcats' images in many fields

1'50
1'39
some countries provide weapons to some others through middleman. They even don't know who they're providing weapons to. Also, no one of these countries wants to admit that they're involved in

越障 9'48
好难好难... The synopsis about Iliad.  
具体的就记得一堆人晃来晃去了...情节什么的完全记不住

chengzaaaa

2’18
R and R run for vice president…..?
Didn’t quite get that
1’52
Human rights are violated in South S, esp. women’s and children’s rights.
Girls are dropping out of school. The education of women is weak. Most of the illiterate are women.
The condition in the prison and police cells is bad.
1’41
Car and gas companies use animal’s name or pictures to help them sell their product, such as tiger, lion, and wildcat. More use of wildcat is that it’s been printed on paper note when some banks are allowed to make their own money.
2’21
2 more uses of wildcat: fake oil well and unapproved strikes.
Army situation in S……?
1’55
………-v-
12’51
The outline of Iliad.
A bunch of Greek gods fighting a war… and in the end, Hector was buried. –v-
越障太可怕了。。。。。



谢谢lz！

miffyhui

1'27"
1'46"
1'40"
1'48"
1'26"
越障看不下去，一片混乱

corneliaflower

速度     好虚弱...觉得还蛮难的啊T.T
2'06
1'46
1'53
2'04
1'31


越障     14'41
非常好的故事，其实对于希腊神话&史诗的人物也不是很了解，有些情节记得比较清楚就写下来了。


1)Introduction of Iliad
A epic poem by Homer.
Covering stories about battle and events between King A and the warrior Ach.
2)Brief
Chryes want his daughter back by offering wealth to the Greeks which is ruled by King A.
King A refused, so Apollo helped Chryes to cause a plague throughout the Greek army.
King A agreed to return but want Ach’s women(B). Ach was very angry and no longer fight for King A.
... …
King A realized his error and want to send back Ach’s B, but Ach don’t want to go back to the battle.
… …
Pa died. Ach was very sad and angry.
Ach killed H and abused H’s body. Zeus helped to make H’s body back to Troy.