NPR 2008-07-10

Israel reacted with caution today to news Iran tested several missiles during military exercises including larger long-range rockets Iran says are capable of reaching the Jewish state from Jerusalem. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

In Jerusalem, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev reacted cautiously, saying Israel seeks neither hostility¹ nor conflict with Iran. But he added we can't ignore Iran's nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile programs, he said, which must be of concern to the entire international community. Iran says its nuclear program is for power generation, not weaponry. Iran's missile test today, according to state-run media, included firing of Shahab-3 missiles, which have a range of more than 1,200 miles, carry a one-ton conventional warhead and are capable of reaching Israel and American bases in Iraq. Israel, last month, reportedly carried out a large-scale military exercise over the Mediterranean² involving more than 100 aircraft,  that was widely seen as a show of force, and a training run for any long-range airstrike mission. Eric Westervelt, NPR News, Jerusalem.

Government announced today it is reopening a much disputed 35-billion-dollar contract for new air-refueling tankers⁴. The announcement comes after the Government Accountability Office announced that it’d found significant errors in the initial awarding of the contract to a team led by Northrop Grumman. Defense⁵ Secretary Robert Gates says the decision to put some aspects of the contract up for re-bid would benefit all sides. "Industry, the Congress and the American people all must have confidence in the integrity of this acquisitions process. I believe the revised process will result in the best tanker³ for the Air Force at the best price for the American taxpayer⁶.” The GAO, in its evaluation⁷, determined⁸ Chicago-based Boeing might have won the contract had mistakes not been made. The Pentagon will now oversee⁹ the project instead of the Air Force.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey's Justice Department oversight¹⁰ hearing. Senate Democrats¹¹ complain Mukasey (may) has not done enough to restore the department's credibility and independence. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

Democrats had hoped that Attorney General Mukasey would aggressively pull the Justice Department back from the scandals of last few years. And so far, Democrats said, they've been disappointed. Joseph Biden of Delaware asked whether Mukasey was aware of politicization at the department. “What did you, the Attorney General, find?” “What I found were enormously dedicated¹² people who were very committed to my succeeding.” “That's not my question. Did you find that some of those enormously dedicated people engaged in politicizing the administration of Justice? That was my question.” “No. Otherwise, I would not characterize them as enormously dedicated.” “Well, that's amazing. So, you disagree with the IG report?” The Inspector¹⁴ General reported that political appointees at the Justice Department made hiring decisions based on partisanship¹⁵ instead of people's qualifications. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 236 points to close at 11,147. The S&P was down 29 points.

This is NPR.

The number of people sickened in the Salmonella outbreak has now passed 1,000, making it the worst to hit the country in years. Government food inspectors¹⁶ had initially¹⁷ focused their investigation¹⁸ on tomatoes. However, they now say they're also looking to see whether certain types of hot peppers may be involved. Federal health officials say now it appears some people may have gotten sick after eating raw jalapeno peppers. The Food and Drug Administration earlier this week announced it was broadening its testing of foods,  trying to find the source of the outbreak.

The Screen Actors Guild¹⁹ is pondering its next move after members of a smaller union ratified²⁰ a contract with the Hollywood studios. NPR's Kim Masters has more.

The Screen Actors Guild had tried to convince actors to vote against the deal reached by the American Federation²¹ of Television and Radio Artists. But AFTRA got support from 62 percent of those voting. That margin²² was a bit tighter than expected, but still leaves SAG¹³ in a difficult situation. The vote demonstrated that SAG would probably fail if it tried to get its members to authorize²³ a strike. SAG is set to respond to the studios’ latest proposal on Thursday. The studios are urging officials in Los Angeles to pressure SAG to accept their offer. Film production slowed sharply as the SAG negotiations²⁴ dragged on. And the studios said a de facto strike is causing dislocation to the local economy. Kim Masters, NPR News.

New York's iconic Chrysler Building has a new owner. The majority stake in the building has been sold to the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. According to a source close to the deal, Prudential Financial sold its 75 percent stake in the building to the sovereign fund yesterday. It's believed the fund paid around 800 million dollars for the Prudential's stake. Tishman Speyer, which manages and controls the building, held the other 25 percent. It's not clear whether that group also sold its share in the building.

1 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

2 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

3 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

4 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

5 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。

6 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。

7 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 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。

10 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。

11 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》

12 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

13 sag   

v.下垂，下跌，消沉；n.下垂，下跌，凹陷，[航海]随风漂流

参考例句：

• The shelf was beginning to sag beneath the weight of the books upon it.书架在书的重压下渐渐下弯。
• We need to do something about the sag.我们须把下沉的地方修整一下。

14 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

15 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

16 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

18 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。

19 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

20 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

21 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

22 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

23 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

24 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。