NPR 2008-09-08

The federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is getting a positive initial reaction from Wall Street. US stock futures¹ are up sharply, harbinger of a possible strong rally tomorrow. Treasury² Secretary Henry Paulson, in announcing the action, says the two mortgage finance firms are so large and such an integral part of the financial system that the failure of either of them would cause great turmoil³ in the global markets. Both presidential candidates are supporting the move. Nancy Pfotenhauer is an economic advisor⁴ to GOP nominee⁵ John McCain. "Fannie and Freddie are an example of crony capitalism⁶. I mean, basically these entities⁷ were set up, they, they were given the upside, the return, but not the risk. " Pfotenhauer was on CNN's Late Edition.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama says the takeover of the firms was necessary to prevent a deeper crisis. Obama also said today that if the economy is in a recession, he would delay pressing to rescind⁸ the tax cuts that were enacted⁹ by Congress at the behest of President Bush, but he would push for tax relief for the middle class. "The economy is weak right now. The news with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, I think, along with the unemployment numbers, indicates that we're fragile. I want to accelerate those tax cuts through a second stimulus¹⁰ package, get more money into the pockets of ordinary Americans, see if we can stabilize¹¹ the housing market. And then we're going to have to reevaluate at the beginning of the year to see what kind of hole we're in." Obama was on ABC's This Week.

Hurricane Ike is poised¹² to rake across Cuba with powerful winds and rain that forecasters say could cause widespread flooding and mudslides. The storm is being blamed for at least 37 deaths in Haiti. Ike has lost a bit of its strength but it's still a Category-3 storm with winds of 120m/h. Todd Kimberlain, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center, says Ike is likely to make landfall along the Gulf¹³ Coast later in the week, but exactly where is unclear. "That cone¹⁴ of uncertainty¹⁵ is pretty wide. I mean, it encompasses¹⁶ areas from the central Gulf Coast to Texas. And so it's a lot too early that we can't really say with any certainty, you know, whether it's going to be Louisiana or Texas or maybe even Mississippi. " Before it reaches the Gulf though, Ike is expected to brush past the Florida Keys. NPR's Allison Keyes has more.

Florida Key West is still evacuating¹⁷, says Emergency Operations Center spokeswoman Sandi Copes. "We encourage all Floridians to remember that a lot of times the forecasts are uncertain, so we wanna make sure that they're listening to their Emergency Operation officials." Meantime in New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin is warning that another evacuation might be a problem for residents who just returned after fleeing Hurricane Gustav. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

The United Nations is threatening to suspend deliveries of emergency food supplies to Sudan's Darfur region because of a surge in hijackings and attacks on World Food Program workers and drivers. The agency supplies food to more than three million people there. More than 100 UN vehicles have been hijacked¹⁸ so far this year, and many others have been attacked and robbed.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Rescue workers in Egypt are searching for more possible survivors¹⁹ from a massive rockslide on the outskirts²⁰ of Cairo today. At least 32 people were killed. Aya Batrawy  has more from Cairo.

Egyptian authorities said after 24 hours of searching, 31 bodies were pulled out of the rubble²¹ and 46 people were wounded. The number of those missing is uncertain, but residents of the area said there could be hundreds still stranded²² below. At a nearby hospital, a mother sits waiting to hear news about three of her children. One man, whose children were killed by the rockslide, said the government was well aware that the mountain was collapsing²³. But according to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, the government is working hard to get people out of these unauthorized towns. For NPR News, I am * in Cairo.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is wrapping up a five-nation trip that included a landmark²⁴ visit to Libya. The last stop was Morocco. Jerome Socolovsky has more.

Rice's visit followed an upsurge in terrorist activity in the region. Attacks in Nigeria left more than 100 people dead just last month. Morocco has been a recruiting ground for jihad fighters sent to Iraq. After meeting with the Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Rice said counterterrorism cooperation between the US and North African governments is good. But there's always more you can do, she added. Rice says the US wants to empty Guantanamo prison as soon as possible. Human rights groups are concerned about the treatment North African inmates²⁵ would face on returning. Rice says protections would be sought for them, but that America has an obligation not to let dangerous people on the streets. For NPR News, I am Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid.

1 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

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 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

4 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

5 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

6 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

7 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

8 rescind   

v.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan.他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。
• Trade Union leaders have demanded the government rescind the price rise.工会领导已经要求政府阻止价格上涨。

9 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

10 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

11 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

12 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

13 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。

14 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。

15 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

16 encompasses   

v.围绕( encompass的第三人称单数 )；包围；包含；包括

参考例句：

• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。
• Its conservation law encompasses both its magnitude and its direction. 它的守恒定律包括大小和方向两方面。 来自辞典例句

17 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

18 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

19 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

20 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

21 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

22 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

23 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

24 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

25 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》