NPR 2009-10-16

The House of Representatives has approved a bill to allow foreign terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay to be sent to the U.S. for trial. The measure passed 224 to 193, only one Republican voted for it. Opponents said transferring suspects to the mainland U.S. would be potentially dangerous. The bill now goes to the Senate for a vote.

 President Obama visited New Orleans today, and at a town hall meeting told residents his administration will not repeat the mistakes of his predecessor¹ in responding to the devastation² of Hurricane Katrina.

 “We are committed to making sure that a disaster like Katrina does not happen again, and that means, in Washington, a focus on competence³ and accountability.”

 In his sixth visit to New Orleans, his first as president, Mr. Obama vowed⁴ to free up assistance money and cut red tape to help speed up rebuilding efforts.

 Goldman Sachs says its profits soared in the third quarter of this year but the picture was gloomier for another financial giant Citicorp. NPR’s Jim Zarroli reports.

 Goldman’s profits rose to nearly 3.2 billion dollars during the quarter that just ended, largely because of gains made in trading commodities, currency, and fixed-income investments. That was nearly four times what it made in the same quarter last year. Goldman has made so much money this year that it is on track to pay its employees more than 20 billion dollars in bonuses. This is the second Wall Street giant to announce big profits this week. On Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase said it made more money than it expected last quarter, which helped to push the Dow above 10,000 for the first time in a year. But Citi Group says it lost money during the third quarter. The company said its net revenue rose 25%, but that was offset⁵ by nearly eight billion dollars in consumer credit losses. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

 The Labor⁶ Department reports the number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell last week. Meanwhile, motorcycle maker⁷ Harley-Davidson is trimming some product lines and laying off more people. The Milwaukee-based firm announced the changes today as it released quarterly financial results. Chuck Quirmbach of Wisconsin Public Radio has details.

 Harley-Davidson says its revenue, net income and earnings⁸ per share are down in the third quarter of this year compared to last year’s third quarter. Harley says the slide in its retail⁹ sales of motorcycles over the last three months wasn’t as bad as a decline during the second quarter. Still Harley plans to discontinue its Buell product line in December, a move that will lead to about 180 lost jobs. Harley Davidson will also try to sell its MB Agusta sport motorcycle business which is based in Italy. For NPR News, I’m Chuck Quirmbach in Milwaukee.

 On Wall Street today, the Dow closed up 47 points at 10,062. The NASDAQ picked up one point closed at 2,173.

 This is NPR.

 President Obama signed into law today a five-year seven-billion-dollar aid package for Pakistan, even though the Pakistani military charges the measure intrudes¹⁰ on the country’s internal affairs. The US is hoping to support Pakistan's civilian¹¹ government in its effort to fight Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants¹² operating in the country.

 The prosecutor¹³ of the International Criminal Court says he’s investigating the deadly military crackdown on opposition¹⁴ protesters in Guinea last month, in which more than 100 people were reportedly killed. NPR’s Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports.

 Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the International Criminal Court had initiated¹⁵ a preliminary probe to determine whether crimes perpetrated by the security forces in Guinea fell under the court's jurisdiction¹⁶. Soldiers opened fire on apparently¹⁷ unarmed pro-democracy protesters on September 28th with reports of a wave of sexual assaults on women in public. The ICC said those responsible must be held accountable. The violence has drawn¹⁸ international condemnation¹⁹. On Wednesday, the European Union’s Aid Commissioner²⁰ Karel De Gucht suggested that Guinea’s military leader, Captain Moussa Daidis Camara, should stand trial for crimes against humanity. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the military rulers must apologize to their people, then step down. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Dakar.

 The International Criminal Court in The Hague has set a trial date of October 26th for Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. He’s charged with 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide during the Bosnian War, specifically the 1995 massacre²¹ of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.

 I’m Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.

1 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

2 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

4 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

5 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

6 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。

7 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

8 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

9 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

10 intrudes   

v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的第三人称单数 )；把…强加于

参考例句：

• An outraged movie like Stone's intrudes upon a semipermanent mourning. 像斯通这种忿忿不平的电影侵犯到美国人近乎永恒的哀悼。 来自互联网
• He intrudes upon our hospitality. 他硬要我们款待他。 来自互联网

11 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。

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

13 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

16 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

17 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

18 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

19 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

20 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

21 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！