NPR 2009-12-10

President Obama said today he welcomes apparent progress in the Senate toward reaching a compromise on whether a so-called public option should be included in a health care overhaul¹ bill. President’s comments come even as the details of the compromise remain sketchy².

The Senate made critical progress last night with a creative new framework that I believe will help pave the way for final passage and a historic achievement on behalf of the American people.

The broad agreement the Senate Majority Leader Harry³ Reid announced last night would not entirely⁴ resolve whether a government-run health care option will be taken out of the bill, but instead it will present a number of options proponents⁵ say would do the same thing. It would include a tentative agreement to include a health plan to be administrated by the agency that handles federal employees’ health care, while also open Medicare to uninsured Americans that in earlier age. The Senate is in its 10th straight day of debate on the health care overhaul.

NPR has learned a federal grand jury in New York has started looking at the evidence the Justice Department has collected against the mastermind of 9-11 attacks and four others. NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston reports.

Attorney General Eric Holder⁶ announced last month that the professed⁷ mastermind of 9-11 attacks - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men will be tried in the US district court in New York. Now sources tell NPR the next step in the process, a federal grand jury weigh in whether there is sufficient evidence to bring indictment⁸ has just started. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is already under indictment in the southern district of New York for his alleged⁹ role in 1995 plot to blow up Airlines over the Pacific. The grand jury is now looking at bringing in entirely different indictment related to the September 11th attacks. Officials expect the grand jury will finish their work in a matter of weeks. It isn’t clear whether the indictment will be kept under wraps or made public. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, New York.

The Obama administration said today it’s extending the controversial TARP financial rescue program until October of next year, despite calls by some lawmakers vote to be shut down. NPR’s John Ydstie reports.

To extend the TARP, the administration only needed to notify Congress of its intent. Treasury¹⁰ Secretary Timothy Geithner did so in a letter to House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid. Geithner told them the 700-billion-dollar program had helped to bolster¹¹ confidence in the financial system. So far, most TARP funds have been used to shore up big financial firms and auto¹² companies. In a new report, the TARP Congressional Oversight¹³ Panel criticized the program for doing too little to stay of off home foreclosures and boost the lending for small businesses. In his letter, Geithner said the TARP will focus on those issues in the coming year. He also said the government would recover all but 42 billion of the 364 billion dollars disbursed¹⁴ by the TARP in the last fiscal¹⁵ year. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow was up 51 points.

This is NPR.

Officials say a missing US student who turned up in Pakistan is alleged to have left behind what investigators¹⁶ were referring to as a farewell video. They say it features / American casualties in a statement saying the Muslims must be defended. Officials say the student as one of five missing students being detained by Pakistani authorities. The five including a Pakistani-American and an Egyptian-American and a Yemeni-American have been the object of an FBI manhunt for the past week. One was apparently¹⁷ a student at Howard University in Washington. The five were picked up in a raid on a home in eastern Pakistan.

Tens of thousands of people are still without power across Wisconsin that’s after the season's first major snow storm. We have more from the Milwaukee Public Radio’s LaToya Dennis.

Weather conditions across the state of Wisconsin are now a mixed back. Last summer digging out from under the 18 inches of snow that fell over night, people in Milwaukee are dealing¹⁸ with the remnants of rain snow mixture that let the road slippery and the many without power. Suffered school at districts gave students the day off, and all the state government offices have been ordered / closed. According to meteorologists, areas of the state could see wind gusts¹⁹ up to 50 miles per hour. Temperatures are also expected to approach the zero degrees by Thursday morning. Wisconsin is under a state of emergency until midnight. For NPR News, I'm LaToya Dennis in Milwaukee.

The social networking site Facebook has announced a revision to its privacy settings. It says it’s aimed at giving its more than 350 million users greater control. Starting today, Facebook says it will require all its users to review and update their privacy settings. The company says new control should simplify its previous privacy system.

I m Jack²⁰ Speer, NPR News in Washington.

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 sketchy   

adj.写生的，写生风格的，概略的

参考例句：

• The material he supplied is too sketchy.他提供的材料过于简略。
• Details of what actually happened are still sketchy.对于已发生事实的详细情况知道的仍然有限。

3 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。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

6 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

7 professed   

公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的

参考例句：

• These, at least, were their professed reasons for pulling out of the deal. 至少这些是他们自称退出这宗交易的理由。
• Her manner professed a gaiety that she did not feel. 她的神态显出一种她并未实际感受到的快乐。

8 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。

9 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

10 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。

11 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

12 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

13 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。

14 disbursed   

v.支出，付出( disburse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the 2000—2008 school year, $426.5 million was disbursed to 349085 students. 2000至2008学年，共有349085名学生获发津贴，总额达4.265亿元。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bank has disbursed over $350m for the project. 银行已经为这个项目支付了超过3.5亿美元。 来自辞典例句

15 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

16 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》

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 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

19 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

20 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。