NPR 2008-10-18

US stock markets swung between positive and negative territory dozens of times throughout the day and at the close, the main indices were lower. Traders clearly didn't take the advice of super investor¹ Warren Buffet² to buy American stocks. NPR's John Ydstie reports.

Economic reports showing the biggest monthly drop ever in consumer confidence and the largest decline in home construction in a quarter-century helped weigh stocks down. But some signs of thawing³ in the credit freeze countered the bad economic news. Buffet's advice may have also helped keep stocks from larger losses. He wrote in the New York Times that a simple rule dictates⁴ his buying: Be fearful when other are greedy; and be greedy when others are fearful. And he pointed⁵ out fear is now widespread. The Dow Industrial's lost 127 points. The S&P 500 index was down almost 6 points. For the week, the S&P gained 4.6%, rebounding⁷ from its worst weekly drop in 75 years. The Dow added 4.7% this week. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

Alaska Senator Ted⁶ Stevens spent today on the witness stand defending himself against corruption⁸ charges in Federal Court. NPR's Nina Totenberg has details.

The 84-year-old Stevens held his famous temper in check systemically denying that he'd intentionally⁹ failed to report a quarter-million dollars in gifts and services on a Senate disclosure form. He insisted that he paid all the bills he received but he didn't want many of the expansive items at issue in this case, and that he in fact told oil industry executive Bill Allen to take them away. The big gas grill¹⁰, Stevens said he never used it. The wrap-around deck, he thought he had been billed and paid for it. The huge backup generator¹¹, he didn't want it. The household furniture, he didn't want that either and demanded it be taken away. Prosecutor¹² Brenda Morris: "You were the lion of the Senate, but you didn't know how to stop Bill Allen from putting big ticket items in your home?" Stevens replied: "I trusted him. He was my friend. He used the house more than I did."  Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

Levi Stubbs, the dynamic lead singer of the Four Tops has died. He was 72. The Motown group had 24 Top 40 hits and sold millions of records, including "Baby I Need Your Lovin'", "Reach Out I'll Be There", and "I Can't Help Myself".

And a closer look at Wall Street today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 127 points at 8852. It was up 4.7% for the week. The NASDAQ fell 6 points to close at 1711. It gained 3.7% on the week.This is NPR News.

Afghan officials and NATO say they are investigating the deaths of at least 17 civilians¹⁴ who were killed in fighting between NATO-led forces and Taliban fighters in the southern Helmand province. NATO and Afghan forces have been trying to force Taliban fighters out of the region. Investigators¹⁵ are trying to determine whether the civilians were killed by a NATO air strike or by insurgents¹⁶. Civilian¹³ deaths have fueled tensions between Afghans and Western forces.

The former head of UCLA's Donated Body Program has pleaded guilty to charges of selling human remains¹⁷. NPR's Carrie Kahn has the story.

Henry Reid and another man were indicted¹⁸ last May for selling body parts donated to the cadaver¹⁹ program at the University of California, Los Angeles. Reid has pleaded guilty to conspiracy²⁰ to commit grand theft. Prosecutors²¹ say Reid sold the donated body parts to a middle man Ernest Nelson, who then resold them to medical and hospital research companies. Officials say the conspiracy lasted five years and involved as many as 800 stolen body parts. Nelson has long claimed that the university was aware of his activities. University officials denied that and have apologized to families who donated their loved ones to the cadaver program. In 1996, UCLA's Willed Body Program ran into trouble for illegally disposing of the cremated²² remains of donated bodies. Reid was hired to clean up that program.  Carrie Kahn, NPR News.

The Hubble Space Telescope is still hobbled. Yesterday NASA managed to switch Hubble from a faulty computer to a backup. But engineers say they found two more anomalies and suspended activating²³ the telescope science and observation instruments.

1 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

2 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

3 thawing   

n.熔化，融化v.（气候）解冻( thaw的现在分词 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化

参考例句：

• The ice is thawing. 冰在融化。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• It had been snowing and thawing and the streets were sloppy. 天一直在下雪，雪又一直在融化，街上泥泞不堪。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

4 dictates   

n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• Convention dictates that a minister should resign in such a situation. 依照常规部长在这种情况下应该辞职。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He always follows the dictates of common sense. 他总是按常识行事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

7 rebounding   

蹦跳运动

参考例句：

• The strength of negative temperature concrete is tested with supersonic-rebounding method. 本文将超声回弹综合法用于负温混凝土强度检测。
• The fundamental of basketball includes shooting, passing and catching, rebounding, etc. 篮球运动中最基本的东西包括投篮，传接球，篮板球等。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

10 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

11 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

12 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。

13 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

14 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。

15 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

19 cadaver   

n.尸体

参考例句：

• Examination of a cadaver is to determine the cause of death.尸体解剖是为了确认死亡原因。
• He looked down again at the gaping mouth of the cadaver.他的眼光不由自主地又落到了死人张大的嘴上。

20 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

21 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

22 cremated   

v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He wants to is cremated, not buried. 他要火葬，不要土葬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bodies were cremated on the shore. 他们的尸体在海边火化了。 来自辞典例句

23 activating   

活动的，活性的

参考例句：

• "I didn't say we'd got to stop activating the masses! “我并没说就此不发动！ 来自子夜部分
• Presumably both the very small size and activating influence of fluorine atoms contribute to this exception. 这大概是由于氟原子半径小和活性高这两个原因的影响，氟原子对这种例外做出了贡献。