NPR 2008-08-14

President Bush is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Georgia to show support for the embattled president there. He's also launching a humanitarian¹ mission with the Pentagon in the lead. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

President Bush says a C-17 plane is already on its way to deliver aid to Georgia and he's promising², as he put it, a "vigorous and ongoing³" humanitarian mission. He called on Russia to let the US ships and planes bring in the supplies and to abide⁴ by a ceasefire. "We expect Russia to meet its commitment to cease all military activities in Georgia, and we expect all Russian forces that entered Georgia in recent days to withdraw from that country." President Bush said Russia must act if it wants to repair the damage to its relations with the US and Europe. Michele Kelemen, NPR News Washington.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's also weighed in on the tenuous⁵ situation in the former Soviet⁶ republic, saying today that Russia's invasion of Georgia is a stark⁷ reminder⁸ the world is a dangerous place. Speaking to reporters in Michigan, McCain said the Russian action should prompt a complete re-examination of US relations with Moscow, though he said he doesn't expect to return to the days of the Soviet Union. "I don't think we're gonna re-ignite the Cold War here with Russia, I think this is a very serious situation, but I don't see this as a return to nuclear stand-off, et cetera et cetera." McCain, while ruling out military action, did say there should be heightened security for Ukraine, the Baltic States and Poland. He said because of Russia's actions, NATO should also address the future of the alliance's relationship with Russia.

The head of the Democratic Party in Arkansas was shot and killed today after a gunman attacked the party headquarters in Little Rock. NPR's Audie Cornish reports.

Police say the suspect in the killing⁹ went to the Democratic Party headquarters in Little Rock and asked to see Chairman Bill Gwatney about volunteering. Instead officials say the suspect opened fire on the state party chair before fleeing in a pickup¹⁰ truck. Dr. Charles Allen sits on the party's Executive Committee and says the attack is devastating¹¹. "We're sending our prayers out to the Gwatney family, and we're certainly remembering those, that, that were in the headquarters because it, it was very dramatic to them but we are all, we are all in grief." Allen says the party's working on organizing a vigil for Gwatney who was just 49. The suspect in the case was shot and killed by police near the Community of Sheridan south of Little Rock after leading authorities on a 30-mile car chase. Audie Cornish, NPR News.

Department store giant Macy's says its earnings¹² for the second quarter dipped slightly from a year ago. Macy says for the three months ending in June, it earned 73 million dollars or 17 cents a share. That was about two cents a share below Wall Street analysts¹³' expectations.
 
On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 109 points today, ending the session at 11,532. The NASDAQ dropped two points.

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Despite the vacation season, Americans cut back on their driving for the eighth month in a row in June. US Transportation Department says the number of highway miles traveled fell 4.7% from a year ago. NPR's Jennifer Ludden has the story.

The decline translates into 12 billion miles not driven, mostly in rural areas, which have been hit hardest by high gas prices. At the pump, it's meant（这里有听友认为是met，我只是感觉别扭，并没有充分的理由说不对，所以如果大家有什么意见的话，欢迎PM我） more than 700 gallons of gasoline and diesel¹⁴ not bought. The American Petroleum¹⁵ Institute says the cutback has essentially¹⁶ erased¹⁷ five years of growth in gasoline demand. The drop in gas sales is also affecting highway construction and repairs which are funded by a gas tax. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters expects the gap to get worse as motorists look for better fuel efficiency and alternate fuels. Peters suggests some new form of highway funding is needed. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News Washington.

A three-alarm fire broke out at Apple last night. One building at the company's Silicon¹⁸ Valley headquarters was damaged. From member station KQED in San Francisco, Molly Samuel reports.

The fire burned the roof and second floor of one of the buildings at Apple's campus in Cupertino. There were reports of smoke coming from the building late Tuesday night. The blaze's burned for more than three hours. Firefighters were able to contain it after midnight. No one was injured in the fire. A spokesman for the Santa Clara County Fire Department said Apple can expect to see extensive smoke damage. The fire may have started in an air-conditioning unit in the building. For NPR News, I'm Molly Samuel in San Francisco.

Businesses added to their stockpiles of inventories¹⁹ in June at the fastest pace in five months. The Commerce Department says stockpiles on store shelves and backlots rose seven tenths of a percent. That was nearly double the previous month's rise.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 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。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

5 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

8 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

9 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。

10 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

11 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

12 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

13 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

14 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

15 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

16 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

17 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

19 inventories   

n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制

参考例句：

• In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
• The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。