NPR 2009-02-16

Arizona Republican Senator John McCain says the 787-billion-dollar stimulus¹ package passed by Congress last week is flawed. "It is incredibly expensive. It has hundreds of billions of dollars in projects which will not yield in jobs." McCain spoke² on CNN. Earlier President Obama’s senior advisor³ David Axelrod told FOX News Sunday the measure is necessary. "Ultimately we're going to put people to work doing the work that America needs done in energy, in health care, in education, rebuilding our roads, bridges, dams and levees. That's going to have a long-term effect and a short-term effect. But a lot of those projects are going to begin soon." The President is due to sign the stimulus bill Tuesday.

Illinois junior Senator Roland Burris this hour took reporters’ questions about an affidavit⁴ released Saturday. The affidavit says Burris was approached by the brother of impeached⁵ Governor Rod Blagojevich asking for fund-raising help. "A fact that I fully⁶ disclosed in my affidavit to the impeachment⁷ committee." Burris says he declined the request but he did not advise state lawmakers looking into the issue prior to his appointment. Now Illinois Republicans are calling for Burris' resignation and an investigation⁸ into whether he perjured⁹ himself.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Muslims gathered for one of the country’s most important Shiite religious events despite series of bomb attacks that have killed dozens of pilgrims. From Baghdad, NPR s Corey Flintoff has the story.

Event called Arba'een marks the death of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, Imam Hussein who was killed in a battle in the 7th century. Hussein’s death was the beginning of the sectarian divide in Islam between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Some Sunnis believed that Shiites are heretics and this observance was abandoned in Iraq during the regime of Saddam Hussein. Suicide bombings and car bomb attacks against the pilgrims are believed to be part of an effort to stir up sectarian violence. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Baghdad.

Voters in Venezuela are casting ballots¹⁰ today on a referendum that scraps¹¹ term limits and allows President Hugo Chavez to run for office indefinitely. NPR’s Juan Forero has more from Caracas, Venezuela.

President Chavez calls the constitutional reform a small change. And he hints that he might not even run for office after his current term ends in four years. But opposition¹² leaders say Chavez, already in office a decade, wants to be president for life. Today’s vote is the second time Chavez has tried to lengthen¹³ his presidency¹⁴. In 2007 voters rejected a broad constitutional reform package that would have permitted him to run indefinitely. Chavez says the amendment¹⁵ is vital if Venezuela is to complete its transformation¹⁶ into a socialist¹⁷ state. Juan Forero, NPR News, Caracas.

This is NPR News.

Negotiations¹⁸ for General Motors and the United Autoworkers are scheduled to resume bargaining talks today after they broke off Friday. Its issue is how to fund retiree health care. GM has until Tuesday to submit a restructuring plan to the government under the terms of its federal bailout.

A team of about 60 fire specialists from the U. S. has arrived in southeastern Australia, in Victoria to help deal with the country’s worst ever outbreak of wildfires. The blazes have killed 181 people and the death toll¹⁹ is expected to rise. Lindsey Arkley has more from Melbourne.

Australian authorities requested U. S. help under a bilateral²⁰ agreement for the two countries to help each other during wildfire emergencies. The arrival of the Americans comes after several days of mild weather in Victoria that has allowed containment²¹ lines around a number of fires to be strengthened. But even though no communities are currently under threat, officials say it is too soon to declare the emergency to be over. In any event, most of the American team members have not been selected for their expertise²² in actually fighting fires, rather most are specialists in burned area rehabilitation²³, and that’s going to be a problem in Victoria for many months. For NPR News, I' m Lindsey Arkley in Melbourne.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has embarked²⁴ on her first trip abroad as top U. S. diplomat²⁵. She’s heading to East Asia where she’ll visit Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and China. Before departing, Clinton said the trip highlights the importance of Asian countries in tackling the global financial crisis as well as climate change.

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 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

4 affidavit   

n.宣誓书

参考例句：

• I gave an affidavit to the judge about the accident I witnessed.我向法官提交了一份关于我目击的事故的证词。
• The affidavit was formally read to the court.书面证词正式向出席法庭的人宣读了。

5 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

8 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。

9 perjured   

adj.伪证的，犯伪证罪的v.发假誓，作伪证( perjure的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The witness perjured himself. 证人作了伪证。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Witnesses lied and perjured themselves. 证人撒谎作伪证。 来自辞典例句

10 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

12 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。

13 lengthen   

vt.使伸长，延长

参考例句：

• He asked the tailor to lengthen his coat.他请裁缝把他的外衣放长些。
• The teacher told her to lengthen her paper out.老师让她把论文加长。

14 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

15 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

16 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

17 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

18 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

19 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

20 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

21 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

22 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

23 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

24 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

25 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。