NPR 2009-01-10

It will now be up to the Illinois State's Senate to decide whether Governor Rod Blagojevich should be removed from office. That's after State House lawmakers on a vote of 114: 1 voted to impeach¹ the governor who faces federal charges. He allegedly sought to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. Blagojevich said today he is not surprised by the vote and he is confident he will be exonerated³. "The House's action today was, of course, not a surprise. It was a foregone conclusion. In fact, what the House did today, they've been talking about doing for the last couple of years. "In a related development, the state Supreme⁴ Court today ruled the Illinois Secretary of State does not need to sign paperwork to make the appointment of Roland Burris to fill the vacant Senate seat official. Burris who was appointed by Blagojevich was refused to seat this past week in part because Democratic leaders in Washington said he lacked the proper paperwork.

US economy shed more than half a million jobs in December. That's according to Labor⁵ Department. And nation's unemployment rate rose from 6. 8% to 7.2%. NPR's Jim Zarroli has more.

Economists⁶ were anticipating a big decline in payroll⁷ numbers and the data were almost just bad as expected. The Labor Department says 524, 000 jobs were lost, and the government also raised the number of jobs lost in October and November by 154, 000. The manufacturing sector⁸ lost 149, 000 jobs in December. Construction was down 101, 000. The only sectors⁹ to gain jobs were education and health care. The government also said the average work week fell which suggested that more layoffs¹⁰ are coming. For the year as a whole, the economy lost 2. 6 million jobs and most of those disappeared in the last four months. That was the biggest decline since 1945. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

Airplane builder Boeing which last year fell behind its European rival Airbus in terms of orders announced today it' s cutting 4, 500 jobs. That's around 7% of the employees of its commercial airplane business.

Supreme Court has agreed to rule on whether Congress violated the constitution when it reauthorized the Voting Rights Act. Nina Totenberg reports.

The 1965 law reauthorized two years ago requires certain states and districts with a history of racial discrimination in voting to get approval from either the Justice Department or Federal Court in Washington before making any change to local election procedures. The local government district in Texas challenged the law contending that despite many demographic changes in various parts of the country, Congress did not change which states and districts are covered by the law. A three-judge court here in Washington rejected that argument, concluding that there is sufficient evidence of contemporary voting discrimination in the covered areas to justify¹¹ the legislative¹² decision. Now it's up to the Supreme Court with two relatively¹³ new Bush appointees who in the past have been overtly¹⁴ hostile to the Voting Rights Act. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow fell 143 points.

This is NPR.

Baltimore's mayor has been indicted¹⁵ by a grand jury on charges. She accepted illegal gifts including travel, fur coats and gift cards allegedly used for holiday shopping. Grand jury today handed down a 12-count indictment¹⁶ against Sheila Dixon which included four counts of perjury¹⁷ and two counts of theft of more than 500 dollars. Dixon also faces charges of fraud and misconduct in office. Indictments¹⁸ follow what has been a three-year investigation¹⁹ by state prosecutors²⁰ into alleged² corruption²¹ at City Hall. Mayor Dixon contends she received the holiday gift cards from several people and says she has been unfairly accused. Prosecutors say the gift cards were supposed to go to help needy²² families.

Local officials in central China have apologized and paid compensation to a Belgian journalist who was beaten while reporting on the AIDS patients. The officials had initially²³ denied assaulting the reporter and crew. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing.

The Belgian TV station, VRT, quoted a handwritten letter signed by five officials from Henan Province. "Unfortunate things happened that day. " it said, "We feel guilty when we recall it. We want to apologize, forgive us, " it added, with a note, were 150 euros. On November 27th, VRT's crew had just finished interviewing patients who had contracted AIDS from officially sponsored blood-selling schemes. The crew were hauled out of a van and beaten by eight men who took their equipment and money. The crew got some of the tapes back last month, but not those documenting the attack. VRT's Beijing correspondents said the apology was likely the result of pressure from higher government authorities. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Beijing.

1 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

2 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

3 exonerated   

v.使免罪，免除( exonerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police report exonerated Lewis from all charges of corruption. 警方的报告免除了对刘易斯贪污的所有指控。
• An investigation exonerated the school from any blame. 一项调查证明该学校没有任何过失。 来自辞典例句

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 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》

7 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

8 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。

9 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 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

11 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

12 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。

13 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

14 overtly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• There were some overtly erotic scenes in the film. 影片中有一些公开色情场面。
• Nietzsche rejected God's law and wrote some overtly blasphemous things. 尼采拒绝上帝的律法，并且写了一些渎神的作品。

15 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

16 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

17 perjury   

n.伪证；伪证罪

参考例句：

• You'll be punished if you procure the witness to commit perjury.如果你诱使证人作伪证，你要受罚的。
• She appeared in court on a perjury charge.她因被指控做了伪证而出庭受审。

18 indictments   

n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告

参考例句：

• A New York jury brought criminal indictments against the founder of the organization. 纽约的一个陪审团对这个组织的创始人提起了多项刑事诉讼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These two indictments are self-evident and require no elaboration. 这两条意义自明，无须多说。 来自互联网

19 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。

20 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

21 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。

22 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

23 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。