NPR 2008-05-07

Voters are going to the polls today for primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. For Democrats¹, the contest could be a deciding factor in the race for the party’s nomination². NPR’s Mara Liasson reports.

 Today’s prize is the biggest of the remaining primary contests in the Democratic nominating battle. One hundred and eighty-seven pledged delegates are at stake and the result could be decisive. If Barack Obama manages to win both contests, he could make it virtually impossible for Hillary Clinton to catch up to him in the delegate count and the pressure would increase for her to drop out. If Clinton could win both states, Obama’s lock on the nomination, which many Democrats have come to see as almost unshakeable, would be thrown into question. But in this protracted³ race for the Democratic nomination, the likely result could very well be a lot less decisive. And if Obama and Clinton each win one state, then the race continues until the last primary on June 3rd when the super delegates will have to step in and provide one of these candidates the 2025 votes they need to win the nomination. Mara Liasson, NPR News, Washington.

 Officials in Myanmar say the death toll⁵ from a powerful weekend cyclone⁶ has reached at least 15,000. Many low-lying areas of the country were devastated⁷. At least 30,000 people are said to be missing in Myanmar, formerly⁸ known as Burma. The BBC’s Andrew Harding has more.

 Rescue workers are still struggling to reach the areas hit hardest by the cyclone in the vast floodplains of the Irrawaddy Delta⁹. Andrew Kirkwood, who runs Save the Children’s operations inside Burma, described the challenges now facing the aid operation. “The logistics involved are quite mind-boggling. There’s going to be a need for a significant amount of trucks and boats, and it appears that many of the boats that we’ll need have been destroyed. But we are looking at the scale of the tsunami¹⁰ here.” Burma’s reclusive military rulers have made a rare appeal for outside help. India and Thailand are already sending supplies. But hundreds of thousands of people are in need. The BBC’s Andrew Harding.

 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke issued a warning last night. In a dinner speech in New York at Columbia Business School, Bernanke said that a rising tide of late mortgage payments and home foreclosures poses considerable dangers to the nation’s economy. The Fed chairman called on Congress to take more steps to address the housing crisis. He said that addressing the nation’s housing problems is in everybody’s interest. Some one and a half million US homes went into the foreclosure process last year, an increase of 53% from 2006. Bernanke said the rate of new foreclosures looks likely to be even higher this year.

 Oil prices rose in Asian trading today to near $121 a barrel. US light crude for June delivery rose to $120.93 a barrel in electronic trading. And in Tokyo, Japanese financial markets were closed today for a national holiday.

 This is NPR News.

 Ohio’s Democratic attorney general is being pressured to resign by members of his own party. Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles explains.

 Ohio’s Democratic Governor Ted⁴ Strickland says Attorney General Marc Dann must resign. This comes after a scathing¹¹ report that shows Dann’s office was mismanaged in a way that contributed to problems with sexual harassment¹², excessive drinking and a hostile work environment. Strickland says Dann must be held to the same standards as other officeholders. “Those of us who have the obligation or the privilege of holding these offices for a period of time must understand that none of us are indispensable.” If Dann doesn’t resign, Ohio’s Democratic lawmakers are promising¹³ to impeach¹⁴ him. Dann says he will not resign because he’s done nothing that would warrant that. For NPR News, I’m Jo Ingles, in Columbus, Ohio.

 The Federal Reserve is reporting that more banks are tightening¹⁵ lending standards on home mortgages as well as on other types of consumer loans and business loans. The Fed says that the percentage of banks reporting tighter lending standards was near historic highs for nearly all loan categories. The survey was conducted in April. It found that nearly two-thirds of banks surveyed had tightened¹⁶ lending standards on traditional home mortgages, with 15% saying those standards had been tightened considerably¹⁷. The current crisis began last year with rising defaults in the market for sub-prime loans. These were loans extended to borrowers with weak credit histories. Many of those sub-prime loans were packaged into mortgage-backed securities and sold to investors¹⁸ worldwide.

1 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》

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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。

6 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

7 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

8 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

9 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

10 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

11 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

13 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

14 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

15 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

16 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。

17 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

18 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