NPR 2008-12-11

A proposed 14-billion-dollar financial rescue bill for the ailing¹ domestic auto² industry may itself be in need of some help if the debate in the House has anything to go by. Virginia Republican Allen Kantar says having the government take on increased role in the company simply makes no sense. "If private investors³ are not convinced of the Big Three restructuring plans, if they don't think they're realistic enough, then why in the world would we ask the taxpayers⁴ to step in to provide that kind of assistance?” However, Democrats⁵ including Ohio Congressman⁶ Dennis Kucinich say not helping⁷ the industry is not an option. "If this rule and our bill goes down, we're faced with, an untenable condition, which will lead to the collapse⁸ of our automotive making capacity, and according to some economic policy analysts⁹, the elimination¹⁰ of over 3.3 million jobs across the economy. " In addition to providing money to those automakers that needed, the measure being debated on the House floor tonight would also call for a presidentially appointed auto Czar to oversee¹¹ industry restructuring.

Toyota has announced it will cut its North American vehicle production over the next couple of months. Detroit Public Radio's Jerome Vaughn has more.

Officials for the automaker say the economic slowdown in the US is cutting to demand for Toyota's cars and trucks. The Japanese automaker will shut down production at its Georgetown, Kentucky plant for nine days, and at its Princeton, Indiana plant for six days. Facilities in Woodbridge and Cambridge, Ontario were also experiencing short-term closures. The company has not said how many fewer vehicles will be produced because of the temporary plant closures. Toyota has also suspended vehicle production in Japan, and the automaker has reduced its profit and production targets for 2009. The entire US auto industry has been hurt by falling consumer confidence and tightened¹² credit markets. Toyota vehicle sales fell 34% in the US last month, compared to November 2007. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Vaughn, Detroit.

President-elect Barack Obama has called for the resignation of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich under the ongoing¹³ scandal of the federal charges. Among other things, he sought to sell the President-elect's vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder¹⁴. A spokesperson for the president-elect said today he agrees with other prominent politicians, who say under the current circumstance, it is difficult for the governor to do his job. Blagojevich was arrested yesterday after a monthlong investigation¹⁵ that included wiretaps of his home and office phones.

Nation's Airlines did somewhat better job of getting travelers to their destinations on time in October. The government's Bureau of Transportation Statistic¹⁶ says the overall on-time performance rate posted by the 19 of the major airlines rose to 86% from 78.2% for the same period a year ago.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 70 points today ending the session at 8, 761. The NASDAQ was up 18 points. The S&P 500 rose more than 10 points.

This is NPR.

A court in Greece is now ordering two policemen jail-pending trial in connection with the fatal shooting of a teenager that has sparked five days of rioting there. One of the officers has been charged with murder for allegedly shooting the 15-year-old. Another has been charged as an accomplice¹⁷. A trial date has not yet been set. Earlier today, protestors blocked Athens' main courthouse with firebombs during a hearing for the two officers, with riot police using teargas to disperse¹⁸ the demonstrators.

Princeton University has reached a multi-million-dollar settlement with the family of donor¹⁹. The family had sued, saying Princeton was violating the terms of a 35-million-dollar gift. NPR's Larry Abramson has more.

The heirs of Marie and Charles Richardson sued, saying the 1961 gift that funded Princeton's Woodrow Wilson school was to be used to train government diplomats²⁰. Princeton argued the world had changed and that the school also needed to train international affair experts for the private sector²¹. The settlement gives Princeton complete control over the money which has grown to 900 million dollars earlier this year. And the family will lose its role on the board to help run the school. But Princeton must give the family nearly 100 million dollars in order to start a new foundation that will focus on government careers and international affairs. Princeton says the school would have prevailed in court but that a trial would have been too costly²². Larry Abramson, NPR News.

Space shuttle Endeavor is winding²³ its way home to Cape²⁴ Canaveral though it’s apparently²⁵ taking a sight trip to Texas. Endeavor which was supposed to leave Edwards Air Force Base aboard a specially²⁶ modified plane on Sunday was delayed by bad weather. It's also weather that forced the landing at Edwards last month. Flying the shuttle across country costs NASA upwards²⁷ of 1.8 million dollars.

1 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

2 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 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》

6 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。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

11 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

12 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

13 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

14 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

15 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

16 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

17 accomplice   

n.从犯，帮凶，同谋

参考例句：

• She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
• He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。

18 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

19 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

20 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 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。

22 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

23 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

24 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

25 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

26 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

27 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。