NPR 2008-07-11

The Senate is on the verge¹ of approving a massive housing bill aimed at helping² homeowners facing foreclosure. NPR's Brian Naylor has more.

The bill would provide homeowners who can no longer afford to make their monthly payments a chance to qualify for government-backed lower interest rate loans if their bankers are willing to absorb part of the loss. Senate Banking³ Committee Chairman Chris Dodd of Connecticut said it was time lawmakers finished up work on the measure because people are losing their homes at a record pace. “250,000 people went through that in the month of June, 1,500,000 over the last year, and we're still here debating this bill about whether or not we can do anything to make a difference in people's lives.” The Senate bill must still go back to the House, which has passed a somewhat different measure, and the Bush administration opposes part of it. Backers hope they can get an acceptable bill to the president later this month. Brian Naylor, NPR News, the Capitol.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury⁴ Secretary Henry Paulson told members of the House Financial Services Committee today they are working to restore confidence to the jittery⁵ financial markets. Bernanke said that includes giving the Fed increased oversight⁶ over investment banks as a way of helping prevent problems like the one that recently led to the rescue of Bear Stearns. "This experience indicates a clear need for careful attention to financial regulation and financial stability by the Congress and other policymakers." Bernanke and Paulson noted⁷ they can not rule out a possible financial crisis in the future and called on lawmakers to consider reforms aimed at heading off broader damage. 

The second-in-command at the Office of Special Counsel has announced his resignation. The FBI has been looking into whether the head of the office destroyed documents to obstruct⁸ a federal investigation⁹. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

Controversy¹⁰ has been a regular feature of Scott Bloch's tenure¹¹ at the Office of Special Counsel. The Special Counsel's job is to pursue government whistle-blower complaints. First, Bloch was accused of ignoring those complaints and retaliating¹² against his own employees. Then, a government office started investigating those accusations¹³ and Bloch hired a company to scrub his computer. In May, the FBI raided Bloch's home and office to look into whether the computer scrub was illegal. Now, Bloch's deputy has resigned. Jim Byrne sent a letter to employees of the Office of Special Counsel Thursday afternoon, announcing his departure. The letter did not mention Bloch. But sources close to Byrne described this as a resignation in protest to Bloch's leadership. Bloch has given no indication that he plans to leave. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

Dow Chemical says it's agreed to acquire rival Rohm & Haas in a cash deal valued at more than 15 billion dollars, which including three billion dollars in debt, pushing the total value of the transaction to more than 18 billion dollars. With purchase of Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas, Dow would significantly broaden its offerings in such high-margin markets as paints, coatings and electrical products.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 81 points. The NASDAQ added 22 points today.

This is NPR.

Hours after Iran tested nine short and medium range missiles, intelligence officials are saying there appears to have been an additional test-firing overnight. However, it's believed to have been a much smaller launch, perhaps just involving one anti-ship missile. Still, the latest incidents of muscle-flexing by the Iranians were condemned¹⁴ by the US. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Iranian leaders should understand that Washington will not dismiss provocations¹⁵ from Tehran and has the ability to counter them.

 The National Medical Association, the largest organization of African-American health professionals, says it accepts the apology of the American Medical Association for past policies that discriminated¹⁶ against blacks. NPR's Brenda Wilson reports.

The NMA was founded in 1895 when membership in AMA was routinely denied to black doctors. Black doctors could only belong if they had been accepted by local affiliates¹⁷ of AMA. When a group of black doctors from Howard University asked to be seated at the AMA annual meeting in 1870, the AMA, then dominated by powerful southern forces, refused. Through the years up to the 1960s, these policies of exclusion¹⁸ made it difficult for black doctors to find residencies and internships, and gain admitting privileges to hospitals. The NMA called on the AMA to seize upon the opportunity of the apology to correct past injustices¹⁹ by actively²⁰ recruiting African-Americans into the medical profession, and by helping to reduce health disparities in communities of color. Brenda Wilson, NPR News.

Crude oil prices ended the session higher. The near-month contract for benchmark grade crude rose $5.60 a barrel, ending the session at $141.65 a barrel in New York.

1 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

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。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

2 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。

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

4 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。

5 jittery   

adj. 神经过敏的, 战战兢兢的

参考例句：

• However, nothing happened though he continued to feel jittery. 可是，自从拉上这辆车，并没有出什么错儿，虽然他心中嘀嘀咕咕的不安。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The thirty-six Enterprise divebombers were being squandered in a jittery shot from the hip. 这三十六架“企业号”上的俯冲轰炸机正被孤注一掷。

6 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。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 obstruct   

v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物

参考例句：

• He became still more dissatisfied with it and secretly did everything in his power to obstruct it.他对此更不满意，尽在暗里使绊子。
• The fallen trees obstruct the road.倒下的树将路堵住了。

9 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。

10 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

11 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

12 retaliating   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The administration will begin retaliating in six weeks if EC policies remain unchanged. 凯特先生说，如果欧共体一意孤行，美国政府将于六周后开始报复。 来自互联网

13 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

14 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

15 provocations   

n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因

参考例句：

• We cannot ignore such provocations. 对于这种挑衅，我们不能置之不理。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They must immediately cease all their provocations. 他们必须停止一切挑衅。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

17 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。

18 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

19 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

20 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。