NPR 2008-10-05

European leaders are pledging to do all they can to curtail¹ the credit crisis that is spreading globally from the US. The announcement came after a meeting in Paris concerning the financial crisis. The BBC's Alasdair Sandford reports from Paris.

As expected, there's to be no big bailout fund, but the four European leaders have promised to work together to support European banks in trouble. Speaking after the three-hour summit, President Sarkozy said countries would operate with their own methods but in a coordinated² manner. He also said they would look to make sure that the leaders of failed banks were punished. The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso joined the French president in saying that the EU's strict budget rules would be applied³ flexibly during the current exceptional circumstances. The BBC's Alasdair Sanford in Paris.

President Bush says the financial rescue plan enacted⁴ by Congress will take some time to implement⁵, so he said not all the benefits will be felt immediately. One that may though is the provision that will temporarily raise to 250,000 dollars, the amount the government will ensure for individual bank depositors. "These steps should reassure⁶ Americans, especially small business owners that their money is safe and it should restore confidence in the health of our banking⁷ system." Mr Bush speaking in his weekly radio address today.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is campaigning in Virginia today. It's a battleground state that has not gone to a Democratic presidential nominee⁸ since 1964. NPR's Audie Cornish reports.

At a waterfront park rally in Newport News, Virginia, Obama opened up with an attack on Senator John McCain's health care policy, continued on that track for more than 15 minutes. "That's right, John McCain was to deregulate the insurance industry, just like he fought to deregulate the banking industry and we've seen how well that worked out." Obama's own plan requires employers provide health care or pay 6% of their payroll⁹ in taxes and it would ban insurers from cherry-picking healthier patients or screening out those with pre-existing conditions. Audie Cornish, NPR News, Newport News, Virginia.

Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center are getting ready to roll the space shuttle Atlantis back off its launch pad. Atlantis' mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope has been postponed¹⁰. Pat Duggins of member station WMFE reports.

Technicians will spend the weekend disconnecting electrical cables between Atlantis and its launch pad. On Monday, crews will unload the replacement¹¹ parts for Hubble that are latched¹² in the shuttle's cargo¹³ bay. The list includes a new wide field and planetary cameras with six batteries weighing 125 pounds each. Astronauts were planning to snap these new components¹⁴ onto Hubble. That is until the telescope's primary data transmitter failed. NASA's delaying the flight until at least February, so the shuttle crew can train to replace the broken unit with a new one. Once Atlantis is rolled off its launch pad, shuttle Endeavor is next in line to go to orbit on a mission to the International Space Station. NASA is taking steps to start that flight two days early. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins in Atlanta.

This is NPR News.

Poland's role in the US-led coalition¹⁵ in Iraq has come to an end. Polish forces turned over control of an area south of Baghdad to American troops today. But even as the Polish troops head home from Iraq, Poland is sending more troops to Afghanistan.

Two US helicopters crashed into each other while landing at a base in Baghdad today. The crash killed one Iraqi soldier and injured two American troops and two Iraqis. Iraqi police say the incident occurred during clashes between gunmen and US-backed Iraqi forces in northern Baghdad.

A new report from the Transportation Department finds that nine of nation's major airlines are relying much more heavily on outside maintenance contractors¹⁶ than they were four years ago. NPR's Jack¹⁷ Speers has details.

It's no secret that the airlines, partly in an effort to cut costs, have been outsourcing routine scheduled maintenance. But the inspector¹⁸ general's report found the volume of outside work has increased dramatically. The airlines examined included Continental¹⁹, Delta²⁰, Untied²¹, JetBlue and Southwest. Last year, they sent 71% of their heavy airframe maintenance checks to outside contractors, up from 34% in 2003. More than a quarter of that work was done by overseas contractors. At the same time, the report contends the Federal Aviation Administration has failed to closely monitor how the repairs have been carried out, relying on the airlines themselves to make sure they meet accepted safety standards. Not included in the list was the nation's largest domestic airline, American, which handles most of its maintenance in house. Jack Speer, NPR News, Washington.

Long time Democratic Congressman²² William Jefferson of Louisiana is seeing his political career on the line today. He is fighting bribery²³ charges and competing with six other Democrats²⁴ in a primary for his New Orleans-based seat.

1 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

2 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

4 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

7 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

8 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

9 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

10 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

11 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

12 latched   

v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• The government have latched onto environmental issues to win votes. 政府已开始大谈环境问题以争取选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He latched onto us and we couldn't get rid of him. 他缠着我们，甩也甩不掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

14 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

15 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。

16 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

18 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

19 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

20 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

21 untied   

松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来，我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
• He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。

22 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

23 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

24 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》