NPR 2008-10-26

Asian and European leaders have wrapped up a meeting in Beijing at which they agreed on ways to address the global financial crisis. They planned to present their ideas at a summit to be hosted by the United States next month. NPR's Louisa Lim reports.

Speaking at the end of a meeting of 43 Asian and European leaders, China's Premier¹ said countries must draw lessons from the financial crisis. “We need financial innovation, ” Wen Jiabao said,” but we need financial oversight² even more.” He also said global coordination³ is necessary and the measures taken to date have not been sufficient. The leaders called for new rules guiding the global economy, and a leading role for the International Monetary⁴ Fund in aiding crisis-stricken countries. China now says it will play an active role in a crisis summit to be held in Washington D.C. next month. Louisa Lim, NPR News, Shanghai.

President Bush agreed that it's essential for approaches for defusing the crisis to be coordinated⁵. "While the specific solutions pursued by every country may not be the same, agreeing on a common set of principles will be an essential step towards preventing similar crisis in the future." Mr. Bush speaking in his weekly radio address today.
Governments have so far pledged about four trillion dollars to bolster⁶ banks and to unfreeze credit markets.

Both Democrat⁷ Barack Obama and Republican John McCain have each told voters in key states that their policies would be best for middle-class Americans struggling to deal with the financial crisis. Obama spoke⁸ to a rally in Reno, Nevada. "If we really want to rebuild this economy from the bottom up, what we need, we need an immediate⁹ rescue plan for the middle-class. That's what I want to do as president, give all of you some help. "And in Albuquerque, New Mexico, McCain said he understands the issues affecting the south-western states and all Americans who were trying to realize the American dream." American didn't become the greatest nation on earth, by giving our money to the government to spread the wealth around in this country. We believe in spreading opportunities for those who need jobs and those who create them, and that's exactly what I'll do as president of the United States. "

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is attempting to set a Guinness world record today for most campaign speeches in a day. He is planning to speak to a total of 21 communities in Massachusetts for 315 minutes, each speech must be at least 10 minutes long.

Police in Chicago have asked for the FBI's help in finding the seven-year-old nephew of Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Hudson. So far, there has been no sign of the little boy despite a massive search. The boy has been missing since Hudson's mother and brother were found dead yesterday in Chicago and autopsy¹⁰ has shown that each was killed from, by multiple gunshot wounds.

This is NPR News from Washington.

The Transportation Department says Americans curtailed¹¹ their driving sharply in August even as gas prices started to fall. NPR's Tamara Keith reports.

 In August 2008, Americans drove 15 billion fewer miles than they did the year before. That's the largest one-month drop ever in vehicle miles traveled. High gas prices inspired all kinds of changes, more people used public transportation, rode their bikes, walked and carpooled. And some people even traded in their gas, gasoline trucks and SUVs for minivans and economy cars. The downward trend in driving began last November, and really took off in the spring. From January to August of this year, Americans drove 67 billion fewer miles than they did in the same period the year before. Tamara Keith NPR News, Washington.

Violence in the capital of Afghanistan has claimed the lives of two foreign employees and an Afghan working for a worldwide delivery company. The BBC's Martin Patience reports from Kabul.

It's not clear what caused the shooting in a busy street outside the office of an international courier firm. There have been reports that there was an argument which led to the attack in which two foreigners and an Afghan died. The Briton and South African both worked for the courier company, DHL. The attack came on the same days the family of the murdered British aid worker Gayle Williams arrived in the capital. These killings¹² this week will raise fears amongst  international staff in the city that they're being targeted. The BBC's Martin Patience.

Tzipi Livni, the designated successor to the outgoing Israeli prime minister, has reportedly abandoned her effort to form a new governing coalition¹³.

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

3 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

4 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

5 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

6 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

11 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

13 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。