NPR 2009-02-10

President Obama continues to press Congress aggressively to pass his economic stimulus¹ plan. NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

With an increasingly aggressive tone toward his Republican opponents in Congress, President Obama is using every tool in his kit² to bend lawmakers to his will. He took a bunch of congressmen, including one Republican who voted against the bill in the House with him to Elkhart, Indiana today where Mr. Obama held a town hall meeting and called on Congress to pass the bill immediately. Elkhart's unemployment rate shot up to 15. 3% from 4. 7% over the last year. Tonight, the president will hold a prime time press conference where he will be asked to defend the plan and possibly to explain why when his job approval rating is in the mid³ 60s, the stimulus plan itself is less popular. All this week, through the use of the bully⁴ pulpit across the country, President Obama will try to transfer some of his own popularity to a plan he hopes will help fix the economy. Mara Liasson, NPR News, Washington.

The Senate is due to vote this hour on whether to end debate on the economic stimulus bill. If Senators vote for cloture, the next vote they cast on the matter will be on the stimulus legislation itself scheduled for tomorrow.

In Iraq, four American soldiers and their interpreter were killed today after a suicide car bomber⁵ detonated explosives near a US convoy⁶ in the northern city of Mosul. It's the deadliest attack on American forces this year. Mosul is Iraq's second largest city. While violence has declined there, Al-Qaeda and Sunni groups have carried out scattered⁷ attacks. Earlier today, three policemen were killed by a mortar⁸ attack.

The US army has suspended research at its main biological weapons lab in Maryland because of problems tracking its inventory⁹. It's the same lab where anthrax suspect Bruce Ivins worked. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston has more.

The Maryland lab sent an email to its workforce¹⁰ last week, saying it would temporarily suspend research so it could work out some kinks in its inventory system. The lab was in the news last year after the FBI said one of its scientists Bruce Ivins was the man behind the deadly anthrax mailings in 2001. Ivins killed himself before the bureau could indict¹¹ him. In a statement, the lab said that they'd been working on inventory improvements for months and for the next several weeks lab technicians would comb through the storage freezers to find any samples of pathogens that might not be reflected in their current inventory database. The Fort Detrick lab does research on a number of pathogens, including anthrax. Ivins had been a longtime employee there. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News.

On Wall Street today, the Dow fell nine points to close at 8, 270. The NASDAQ was off just a fraction of a point to close at 1591. And the S&P climbed one point.

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Alleged¹² criminal money manager Bernard Madoff has reached an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that permanently¹³ freezes his assets. A preliminary injunction had been put on the assets after his arrest in December. This will eventually force Madoff to pay a civil fine and return money to his investors¹⁴, but he will not have to admit or deny allegations against him.

The woman at the center of a politically charged right-to-die case in Italy died today after 17 years in a vegetative state. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli has the story from Rome.

Eluana Englaro's death came four days after her feeding tube was disconnected and as lawmakers were rushing through a law to force doctors to put her back on life support. Her case has dominated news headlines for months. Last year, her father won a decade-long legal battle to allow her feeding tubes to be removed. But the Catholic Church mobilized and under government pressure no hospital could be found willing to carry out the ruling until last week. On Friday, doctors began reducing her nutrition, but Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi backed by the Vatican launched a political battle to pass legislation that will prohibit food and water from being suspended for patients who can't feed themselves. Analysts¹⁵ said Berlusconi was using the Englaro case to widen his executive powers. News of Englaro's death arrived as lawmakers were debating in the Senate. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez today admitted he used performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003. Responding to a report by Sports Illustrated¹⁶ that he tested positive for steroids in 2003, Rodriguez says he hasn't used the banned substance since. He said he took the drugs because of the pressures of being baseball's highest-paid player.

1 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

2 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

3 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

4 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

5 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

6 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

7 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

8 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

9 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

10 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

11 indict   

v.起诉，控告，指控

参考例句：

• You can't indict whole people for the crudeness of a few.您不能因少数人的粗暴行为就控诉整个民族。
• I can indict you for abducting high school student.我可以告你诱拐中学生。

12 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

13 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

14 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

15 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

16 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。