NPR 2008-09-25

Republican presidential candidate John McCain is calling for the postponement¹ of Friday's scheduled debate with Democratic rival Barack Obama. McCain said today he will stop campaigning after he addresses a Global Initiative session on Thursday hosted by former President Bill Clinton. McCain also said he wants President Bush to convene³ a bipartisan meeting of lawmakers in Washington, saying he doesn't believe the administration's proposed 700-billion-dollar rescue plan will pass in its current form. Meanwhile, speaking in Florida today, Democrat² Barack Obama said now more than ever he thinks the American people need to hear from the candidates on the issues. He did say it's more important than ever the partisan⁴ politics be put aside and all sides try to come up with a plan to get the economy back on firm footing.

President Bush, in a little more than an hour from now, plans to address the nation on the need for a plan to buy distressed⁵ mortgage-backed securities. The Senate's top Democrat today urged the president to take more of a leadership role in the financial crisis. More from NPR's David Welna.

Senate Majority Leader Harry⁶ Reid declared on the Senate floor that aside from two brief statements and a press release, President Bush has remained silent on the bailout package Congress has been asked to approve. "This is not the Paulson plan, this is not the Bernanke plan, this is not the Congress plan, this is the Bush plan. It's time for him to take ownership and demonstrate leadership. He's our President. It's time for him to realize that the buck⁷ stops with him." Senate Minority Leader Majuian Macarno for his part signaled reluctant support for a financial rescue. "The only reason to support this action is to save ordinary Americans from an economic disaster that they had absolutely no hand whatsoever⁸ in creating." Macarno also endorsed⁹ putting curbs¹⁰ on what executives are paid at firms that benefit from a bailout. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

The National Association of Realtor says home prices and the pace of home sales fell in August, though more economists¹² think the market is nearing its bottom. NPR's Chris Arnold reports.

Home prices were down nearly 10% from a year ago. The number of homes getting sold fell by 2% in August. Last year, the pace of home sales was plummeting¹³, but MIT economist¹¹ Bill Wheaton says for a while now, that home sales number has been stabilizing¹⁴. "If you sit and look at the last 11 months, single family home sales have been basically flat. So they are really not going anywhere. There's no trend here at all." And that's got more economists saying that the housing market could be hitting a bottom right now, at least in terms of sales. The number of home sitting unsold and glutting¹⁵ the market fell by 7% last month, that's a good sign. But prices may continue to slide down a bit further, especially if the foreclosure crisis continues to dump more homes on the market. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29 points today to close at 10,825. The NASDAQ ended today up 2 points to settle at 2,155. The Standard & Poor's 500, however, fell 2 points. It ended the session at 1,185.

This is NPR News in Washington.

Following the second multiple shooting incident in the country in less than a year, Finland's prime minister said he will tighten¹⁶ that nation's gun laws. The comments follow an incident yesterday where a 22-year-old gunman opened fire at a Finnish vocational college, killing¹⁷ 10 people before turning the gun on himself. Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said today it is time to consider restricting access to guns. Finland ranks among the top five nations in the world in terms of civilian¹⁸ gun ownership with more than 1.6 million firearms in private hands.

China's space agency is getting ready for its third manned space mission scheduled to blast off as soon as tomorrow. This mission will feature the country's first space walk. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports.

The Shenzhou-7 spacecraft will rocket off earth with three astronauts on board. Chinese television broadcast a press conference with the three men. News agencies have also been reporting on the final preparations at the country's launch site. China has been making steady progress in space in recent years. With its first manned mission in 2003, it joined the United States and Russia as the only countries capable of launching humans into orbit. China's latest mission will feature an astronaut going on a space walk, a feat¹⁹ that could help the country move towards its stated goal of building an orbiting space station. The astronauts are expected to spend several days in orbit before heading back home. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

German automaker Daimler confirmed today it's involved in talks with the private equity²⁰ firm Cerberus Capital Management about the sale of its remaining stake in US automaker Chrysler. Cerberus bought just over 80% of Chrysler in 2007 from Daimler in a 7.4-billion-dollar deal. Unclear is how much Daimler's remaining stake might be worth, though it is(was) valued at around 171 million euros in July.

1 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

4 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

5 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

6 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

7 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

8 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

9 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 plummeting   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Prices are rising, falling, going up, going down, shooting up, plummeting, etc. 物价在上涨、下跌、上升、下落、猛然上涨、骤然下跌等。 来自辞典例句
• The enemy plane went plummeting into the sea. 敌机直直掉进海里。 来自辞典例句

14 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

15 glutting   

v.吃得过多( glut的现在分词 )；（对胃口、欲望等）纵情满足；使厌腻；塞满

参考例句：

16 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

17 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。

18 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

19 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

20 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。