NPR 2008-12-23

The five men accused of plotting to attack the Fort Dix army base in New Jersey¹ were found guilty on federal conspiracy² charges today. They now face possible sentences of life in prison. Peter Crimmins of member station WHYY was in the courtroom.

The jury came back with a split verdict: the five young Muslim men were found guilty of conspiring³ to kill military personnel but not guilty of attempted murder. Acting⁴ U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra said the investigation⁵, prosecution⁶ and verdict was not based on the defendants⁷' religion or affiliation⁸. "This is a group of people that came here as immigrants one way or the other, whether legal immigrants or not, and chose to go down a course, a very twisted criminal course of conduct." Members of the defendants' families reacted to the verdict with tears and anger. One relative was removed from the courthouse for punching a wall. Defense⁹ attorney Michael Riley said the suspicions Muslims face in America today is similar to the way the Japanese were treated after the attack on Pearl Harbor. For NPR News, I'm Peter Crimmins.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is contending his state faces a financial crisis, and today he said he hopes to strike a budget deal with Democratic leaders before Christmas. The Republican governor said that the failure to reach an accord on a plan to tackle the state's 42-billion-dollar budget shortfall has held the work up with 2,000 municipal projects. "Everything from highways, the roads, the on lands, off lands, hospitals, schools, levies¹⁰, everything will be affected¹¹. " Schwarzenegger said he and Democrats¹² are making progress on an 18-billion-dollar proposal that was passed without Republican support. However, taxpayer¹³ groups have threatened to sue if the governor signs the budget plan, saying it violates the State constitution by raising taxes without a two-thirds vote in the legislature.

Toyota is forecasting its first annual operating loss in 70 years. Detroit Public Radio's Jerome Vaughn has more.

Toyota says it expects an operating loss of more than 1. 6 billion dollars for the fiscal¹⁴ year ending in March that compares to a profit of 25.2 billion dollars in the previous fiscal year. Officials say they do expect an overall profit for the year over about 555 million dollars, because of dividend¹⁵ income. The Japanese automaker says dramatically lower vehicle demand in the U.S., coupled with a strong Yen¹⁶, are responsible for the projected loss. Toyota’s U.S. sales fell nearly 34% in November compared to year-ago figures. Toyota also lowered its forecast for the number of vehicles that it expects to sell worldwide during this calendar year to 8.96 million, as down from early projections¹⁷ of 9.5 million. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Vaughn in Detroit.

Price of gasoline continues to come down amid further signs of economic slowing in a fall of oil prices, AAA says the average price of self-serve unleaded fell by half a penny to an average of $1.66 a gallon nationwide.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 59 points. This is NPR News.

Pentagon officials are announcing the deployment¹⁸ of another 2,800 troops to Afghanistan amid what is expected to be a further buildup there through the summer. Pentagon says an aviation brigade from the 82nd Airborne will bring at least 100 more helicopters to the region, part of an effort to help battle a resurgent Taliban. The announcement comes as one infantry¹⁹ brigade from the 10th Mountain Division in New York State is already on its way to the country with some 3,500 troops, expecting to arrive by the end of next month.

Pope Benedict today reiterated²⁰ the Vatican's opposition²¹ to same-sex marriage, saying the church must protect the human being from self-destruction. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome.

In his annual holiday audience with Vatican administrators²², the Pope said saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behavior is as important as saving the rainforest from destruction. A sort of ecology of man, he said, is needed. Stressing church teaching on the sacramental marriage as a tie between a man and a woman, Pope Benedict told the gathering²³ of prelates that this is a matter of faith in the Creator, the contempt of which would mean mankind’s self-destruction and therefore the destruction of God's work. Benedict added that what's meant by the word 'gender²⁴' results in the self-emancipation of man from creation and the Creator. The Catholic Church holds that homosexuality is not in itself sinful, but that homosexual acts are. A leading Vatican official recently called homosexuality a deviation²⁵ and an irregularity and a wound. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

Crude oil future's prices fell $2.45 a barrel today, ending the session at 31.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 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。

3 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 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。

6 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

7 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

8 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 levies   

（部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队

参考例句：

• At that time, taxes and levies were as many as the hairs on an ox. 那时，苛捐杂税多如牛毛。
• Variable levies can insulate farmers and consumers from world markets. 差价进口税可以把农民和消费者与世界市场隔离开来。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 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》

13 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

14 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

15 dividend   

n.红利，股息；回报，效益

参考例句：

• The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
• The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。

16 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

17 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

18 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

19 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

20 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

21 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

22 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

23 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

24 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

25 deviation   

n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题

参考例句：

• Deviation from this rule are very rare.很少有违反这条规则的。
• Any deviation from the party's faith is seen as betrayal.任何对党的信仰的偏离被视作背叛。