NPR 2008-08-19

Key West weathered the wind and rain of Tropical Storm Fay today. The storm is now moving into the Gulf¹ where it's expected to pick up strength as it makes its way toward Florida's west coast. At least eight people died in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. From Miami, NPR's Greg Allen reports.

So far, most of the damage has come from flooding. In the Florida Keys, Monroe County police asked residents to stay off the roads because of standing² high water. Fay is now expected to intensify³ to hurricane strength by the time it makes landfall on Florida's southwest coast late tonight or early tomorrow. Florida Governor Charlie Crist said residents should be alert for flooding and tornadoes⁴. "Floridians should not focus on the, as we've talked about the center line of where the storm is predicted to go. It's a pretty wide cone⁵. Everybody should be ready and everybody should be prepared." Forecasters say Fay should weaken after it hits land, but that it may drop up to 10 inches of rain over some parts of south and central Florida. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

And last word, the storm was about 140 miles from Fort Myers, Florida moving north-northwest at 12 miles an hour.

Amid intense speculation⁶ he was prepared to leave, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf made it official today. In an emotional televised address, speaking through an interpreter, Musharraf said he's stepping down without conditions. "I'd resign from my post today. I do not want anything from anyone, nothing from anyone. I hand over my future into people's hand. And let them be the judges and let them do the justice." Musharraf's departure from the president's post follows almost nine turbulent years in office and intense pressure from rivals who took office in February. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today said Musharraf has "our deep gratitude⁷" for joining the US fight against terrorists.

NATO foreign ministers will consider whether to cut off cooperation with the Russian government as a promised pullout of Georgia appears to be going slowly. As Teri Schultz reports, the US says there should be no business as usual between NATO and the Kremlin as long as the Georgian situation remains⁸ unresolved.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will urge her NATO colleagues to agree at a minimum to hold off on high-level meetings with Russian officials for the time being, and to reassess whether other projects and meetings with Moscow should be canceled too. A US official, who insisted on remaining on background ahead of ministers' negotiations⁹, says the US is not looking to break off NATO's relationship with Russia, but that Washington simply can't go forward under the circumstances, namely, Russian troops remaining on Georgian territory. Foreign ministers' meeting at Rice's request will also look at what can be done to help Georgia rebuild after what this official called "serious, serious damage deliberately¹⁰ inflicted¹¹ on the Georgian military". He confirmed that Washington had repeatedly warned Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili not to respond to provocation¹² by Moscow, but insisted that Russia had a very well and long-planned attack. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

On Wall Street, the Dow was down 180 points.

This is NPR.

Auto¹³ parts maker¹⁴ Delphi said today it's eliminating around 600 jobs from its electronics and safety division. The cuts involving salaried workers are part of an ongoing¹⁵ cost-cutting plan to Michigan-based company. Delphi blames the layoffs¹⁶ on falling orders due to the current slowdown in auto sales. A Delphi spokesman said the job-cuts would reduce cost within the 3, 200-employee division by 25%. Most of the jobs being eliminated are in Kokomo, Indiana in business and engineering.

Although housing prices continue to fall in Southern California, there is one silver lining¹⁷. Sales are up as NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates reports.

Home sales in Southern California were at their highest level in a year, according to San Diego-based real estate monitoring service, MDA DataQuick. Over 20, 000 new, resold and condominium homes sold last month in several Southern California counties, up more than 16% from the previous month. John Walsh, MDA-DataQuick's president, says the uptick in numbers reflects "a fire sale of properties" in newer affordable¹⁸ neighborhoods. Walsh went on to say these homes were bought or re-financed near the price peak with lousy mortgages. Some of those bad mortgages have resulted in foreclosures which account for over 43% of all re-sales in the Southern California market. Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR News.

Genuine Risk, one of only three fillies to ever win the Kentucky Derby has died. The 1980 Derby winner reportedly died early this morning in Newstead Farm in Virginia at the age of 31. Genuine Risk was the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner and the only filly to finish in the top three, in each of the Triple Crown races that year ridden by jockey Jacinto Vasquez. She was inducted into the Racing¹⁹ Hall of Fame in 1986.

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

4 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

5 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

6 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

7 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 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。

10 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

11 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

12 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

13 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

14 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

15 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。

16 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

17 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

18 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

19 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。