NPR NEWS 2008-02-29

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

 

President Bush says the US is not headed for a recession, but in Mr. Bush's words, there is no question the country is in a slowdown. His remarks in Washington today are backed by the latest reports and the Commerce and Labor¹ Departments, showing minimal² growth in the Gross Domestic Product while jobless claims continue to rise.

 

The economy is figuring prominently in presidential campaigning today. In Ohio, Senator Hillary Clinton is taking part in the town hall meeting this hour. She and Senator Barack Obama are in a very tight race for delegates in Ohio and Texas. Clinton heads for Texas tonight. Obama is already there and NPR's Don Gonyea is covering that campaign.

 

Senator Obama is campaigning across Texas today. He started his day with a town hall meeting focusing mostly on the economy in the state capital of Austin. Again it was/ a big rally, it was one of those events where he focuses on policy and tries to flush out some of the things that he talks about in his more general stump³ speeches. From here, he's off to Beaumont, Texas and he has an event in Fort Worth as well. The candidate will overnight in Houston with another full slate⁴ of events across Texas which holds voting on Tuesday. But Senator Obama is also pushing people to vote early in Texas. That is allowed and Friday is the last day they can do that. NPR's Don Gonyea is covering the Obama Campaign.

 

Third-party candidate Ralph Nader has a running mate Matt Gonzalez. He is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors⁵.  

 

Israel aircraft bombed sites across the Gaza strip today killing⁶ at least 14 Palestinians including 4 children. Israel has stepped up attacks on Hamas a day after a rocket fired from Gaza killed an Israeli civilian⁷. NPR's Eric Westervelt has more from Jerusalem.

 

The 2-day Palestinian death toll⁸ from Israeli air strikes in Gaza is now at least 27 including 7 children. That's according to Doctor Muawiya Hassanein, a medical director in Gaza City. Among today's dead were four boys whose ages ranged from 8 to 14 who witnesses say were playing soccer in a field in north Gaza. The Israeli military says it was targeting rocket launching squads⁹ and regrets the civilian death. The rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel continued unabated today including several longer-range rockets that hit the city of Ashkelon twelve miles north of Gaza. Israeli government spokesman David Baker¹⁰ called the attacks on Ashkelon "a clear escalation¹¹ and one we will not tolerate". Eric Westervelt NPR News, Jerusalem.

 

On Wall Street, the Dow was down 128 points to 12,566. NASDAQ down now about 22 points at 2,332. S&P 500 down about 13 at 1,366.

 

You are listening to NPR News.

 

The Bush administration is taking issue with a spate¹² of Democratic-backed ideas to defuse the housing crisis among other major economic worries for the US. Today, Treasury¹³ Secretary Henry Paulson said while some in Washington are proposing big interventions¹⁴, most of the ideas he has seen will do more harm than good. Paulson is expected to say that and more in remarks tonight to the Economic Club of Chicago.

 

Death row inmates¹⁵ in Connecticut have won the right to challenge the state's death penalty. From member station WNPR in Hartford Lucy Nalpathanchil reports.

 

Seven inmates say there's evidence of disparities in the state's death penalty based on race and geography. A state superior court judge says the inmates can pursue their claim because Connecticut constitution gives defendants¹⁷ greater protection in proving this argument than the federal constitution. Attorney David Golub says the inmates’ case was based on the study of death penalty from 1973 that found the system was unfair. "The goal for these inmates is that their death sentences would be overturned and they would be sentenced to life in prison." Previously¹⁸ several judges had rejected the challenge. They based their decision on a US Supreme¹⁹ Court ruling, which said evidence specific to a defendant¹⁶ and not statistic²⁰ showing bias²¹ is necessary to challenge individual's death sentence based on a racial claim. For NPR News, I'm Lucy Nalpathanchil in Hartford.

 

At least four people, three of them children are listed in critical condition after yesterday's shooting at a Los Angles bus stop. Authorities say they are still searching for the gunman who opened fire at a busy intersection²², hitting 8 people.

 

I'm Lakshimi Singh, NPR News, in Washington.

 

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a full slate of sth. 在这里=a full list of，满满一张名单的。

 

unabated 不减少的

 

escalation 增加，提高

 

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

3 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

4 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

5 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 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。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句

10 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

11 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

12 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

13 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

14 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

15 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

17 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

18 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

19 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

20 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。

21 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

22 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。