NPR 2008-09-19

Treasury¹ Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke are sitting down at this hour with congressional leaders to discuss the widening economic crisis. Stock prices rebounded² sharply today. That followed a report the administration has a new plan to contain the crisis. NPR's Jim Zarroli has more.

Media outlets³ reported that Paulson was talking to congressional leaders about a new credit facility to absolve⁴ the bad mortgage debt that's now plaguing the economy. It would be similar to the Resolution Trust Corporation, the body created to help clean up the savings⁵ and loan crisis in the late 80's and early 90's. Treasury Department Officials refused to comment. Trying to create such an entity⁶ now could present problems. It's unlikely Congress could approve it before the end of the year. And if it tried and failed, it might hurt confidence in the economy. But the reports of the Paulson proposal sent stock prices soaring. The major stock indexes were up sharply with the Standard & Poor's 500 up 4.3%. Jim Zarroli, NPR News New York.

On Wall Street the Dow gained 410 points today. The NASDAQ added 100 points. The S&P 500 was up 50 points.

Comments by Republican candidate John McCain that if he were in the Oval Office, he would fire the head of Securities and Exchange Commission led to a quick statement from the White House, defending SEC Chairman Christopher Cox today. McCain told a crowd in Cedar⁷ Rapids, Iowa that federal regulators were asleep at the switch and failed to exercise adequate oversight⁸ of Wall Street. The Arizona senator also called for new Mortgage and Financial Institutions Trust to work with regulators in the private sector⁹ to strengthen financial institutions. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, meanwhile campaigning in New Mexico today, when asked by a reporter about McCain's comments, said "what we ought to do is fire the economic policies of George Bush."

McCain campaign says the husband of Governor Sarah Palin will not obey a subpoena¹⁰ in a state ethics¹¹ inquiry¹². NPR's Martin Kaste has more.

Last week, an Alaska state senate committee subpoenaed¹³ Todd Pailin and 12 others to give evidence in trooper gate. That's the investigation¹⁴ into whether Governor Palin inappropriately tried to have her ex-brother-in-law fired from the state troopers. Investigators¹⁵ had planned to talk to Todd Palin on Friday but McCain's spokesman Taylor Griffin says that won't happen. "As long as this investigation does not meet the standards of non-partisanship, under which it was originally set up, it would be foolish for the Governor to participate in that." Investigation was started in July by a mostly Republican legislative¹⁶ council and Governor Palin agreed to cooperate at the time. But the McCain campaign says that's no longer possible because the process has become politicized. Martin Kaste, NPR News.

Crude oil futures¹⁷ moved higher today. The near month contract for benchmark crude was up $0.72 a barrel to end the session at $97.88 a barrel.

This is NPR News.

In California, regulators say they've now issued a temporary order that would ban train operators from using cell phones while on duty. The move by the California Public Utilities Commission comes less than one week after a deadly head-on collision between a Metrolink commuter¹⁸ train and a freight train in Southern California that left 25 people dead and dozens of others hurt. Federal officials have confirmed that on the day of the crash, the Metrolink engineer was text-messaging with his cell phone while on duty. It's not clear whether that was the case at the time of the crash last Friday.

US Food and Drug Administration spelled out today how it intends to regulate genetically²⁰ engineered animals that could be used as food or possibly as living pharmaceutical²¹ factories. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

The FDA says it considers DNA²² inserted into an animal during genetic¹⁹ engineering a drug. So first the agency would ask if it's safe for the animal. If it is, the FDA will then look at animals intended for human consumption and see if they meet current food safety standards. The agency says it will also consider environmental issues such as whether engineered salmon²³ could escape and cause ecological²⁴ problems by breeding with native populations. A consumer group, the Center for Science in the Public Interests, says the regulations are a good start but adds that the process may not be transparent²⁵ enough to reassure²⁶ people about the safety of food from genetically engineered animals. Currently no engineered animals are approved as food. The agency is accepting comments about its proposed regulations for the next 60 days. Richard Harris, NPR News, Washington.

Billionaire investor²⁷ Warren Buffett has moved in to take advantage of some of the market turmoil²⁸. Buffett, through his Berkshire-Hathaway holding company, announced his MidAmerican Energy Holdings has reached a deal to buy Baltimore-based Constellation²⁹ Energy Group for 4.7 billion dollars in cash and stock. It's about half what the company was worth just a week ago.

1 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。

2 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

3 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 absolve   

v.赦免，解除（责任等）

参考例句：

• I absolve you,on the ground of invincible ignorance.鉴于你不可救药的无知，我原谅你。
• They agree to absolve you from your obligation.他们同意免除你的责任。

5 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

6 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

7 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

8 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。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

11 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

12 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

13 subpoenaed   

v.（用传票）传唤（某人）( subpoena的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court subpoenaed her to appear as a witness. 法庭传唤她出庭作证。
• The finance director is subpoenaed by prosecution. 财务经理被检查机关传讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 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。

15 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

17 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。

18 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

19 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

20 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

21 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

22 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

23 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

24 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

25 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

26 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

27 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

28 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。

29 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。