NPR 2008-09-07

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham.

Federal regulators are reportedly said to take control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—at least temporarily—to shore up the mortgage finance firms, which have lost a total of about 14 billion dollars over the past year. Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee nearly half of all current mortgages in the United States. Burt Ely, a Virginia-based banking¹ and monitoring policy expert, says the plan raises a lot of questions. "It gonna be major issues and debates over who will suffer the losses in this takeover to the extent that there are losses. How much risk will a tax payer bear? Will the stockholders get wiped out? Will subordinate debtholders get wiped out? What will happen to the companies' longer term? " The Wall Street Journal reports the Treasury² Department will announce details of the plan early tomorrow afternoon.

Thousands of Boeing employees are walking picket³ lines today after a federal mediator⁴ failed to resolve a dispute between the aerospace⁵ firm and the Machinists union. Analysts⁶ say if the strike drags on, it could become costly⁷ especially for the company. NPR's Jack⁸ Speer reports.

The strike by 27,000 members of Boeing's Machinists Union comes at a difficult time. Not only is the airplane builder trying to fill orders for its much-delayed 787 Dreamliner, but it faces a large backlog⁹ of orders for other aircraft. Michael Boyd is president of the Boyd Group, an aviation industry consulting firm. He says estimates of strike-related cost to Boeing may be on the low side. "If you're looking at a hundred million dollars a day, that's probably their production cost; but in terms of their opportunity cost of losing at the advantage with the 787, it's a whole lot more than a hundred a day. " Boeing says all sides worked to avoid a strike but in the end the differences between the parties were too great to close. No new talks are currently scheduled. Jack Speer, NPR News.

Tropical Storm Hanna has been rolling up the east coast today, drenching¹⁰ the region with heavy rain and triggering flooding. NPR's Allison Keyes has the story.

In northern Virginia two people were rescued from a car caught in high water as Fairfax County evacuated¹¹ homes due to flooding and parts of Interstate 95 were shut down because of the storm. And in Florida officials like Monroe County Mayor Mario Di Gennaro are already anticipating trouble from Hurricane Ike. An official evacuation of the Florida Keys begins tomorrow. "We have our evacuation to start this morning for our tourists at 9 am, and tomorrow morning at 7 am is gonna be for people with special needs." Hurricane Ike is also expected to mean more rain in Haiti where more than 150 are reported dead after back-to-back storms. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

Hurricane Ike has strengthened today. It's now a dangerous Category-4 storm with winds of 135 miles an hour. On its current course it could threaten the Gulf¹² Coast by late next week. People there are still dealing¹³ with damage and power outages caused by Hurricane Gustav last week.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Pakistan has a new president. Asif Ali Zardari, the widower¹⁴ of slain¹⁵ former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, will succeed Pervez Musharraf, who stepped down in the face of impeachment¹⁶ charges. Zardari is head of the main ruling party but he is seen as having limited public support. He was nicknamed Mr. Ten Percent for alleged¹⁷ corruption¹⁸ during Bhutto's two terms in office.

A pickup¹⁹ truck packed with explosives blew up at a police security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan today. At least 30 people were killed and dozens more were injured.

The European Union has decided²⁰ to send its own team of monitors into Georgia to oversee²¹ the pullback of Russian troops. But first the EU's current President, Nicolas Sarkozy of France, will go to Moscow to make sure the pullback will actually happen. Terry Schultz has the story.

French President Sarkozy negotiated the end of hostilities²² between Russia and Georgia last month which mandated²³ as one of six points that the Russian soldiers occupying Georgian territory must leave immediately. Monday Sarkozy will go to Moscow to ask the Russian government personally why those soldiers haven't moved out. And French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev shouldn't expect partnership²⁴ talks with the EU—currently suspended—to get back on track without some serious action on the peace plan. "Let's first respect his own signature. Six points, only two—let's say two and a half, perhaps three—has been implemented²⁵. What about the rest? " Formal approval along with particulars of the EU monitoring mission will be handled at the next ministerial September 15th. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is now in Morocco. She arrived there after visiting Algeria and Tunisia and after holding an historic meeting with Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi in Tripoli.

1 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。

2 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。

3 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

4 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

5 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

6 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。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

9 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

10 drenching   

n.湿透v.使湿透( drench的现在分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• A black cloudburst was drenching Siena at midday. 中午，一场天昏地暗的暴风雨在锡耶纳上空倒下来。 来自辞典例句
• A drenching rain poured down and the rising hurricane drove it in sheets along the ground. 一阵倾盆大雨泼下来了，越来越大的狂风把它顺着地面刮成了一片一片的雨幕。 来自辞典例句

11 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

12 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。

13 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

14 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

15 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

16 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

17 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

18 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

19 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。

20 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

21 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。

22 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

23 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

24 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

25 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句