NPR 2009-02-20

On his first foreign trip since taking office, President Barack Obama met today with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The two men talked about a variety of issues ranging from the war in Afghanistan to the current state of the economy. At a news conference in Ottawa, Mr. Obama thanked his host and said there are already some areas that two nations have agreed to work on. “The Prime Minister and I discussed our respective plans to create jobs and lay a foundation for growth. The work that's being done by this government to stimulate¹ the economy on this side of the border is welcomed. And we expect that we can take actions in concert to strengthen the auto² industry as well.”

Mr. Obama also said he wants to begin talks to add enforceable labor³ and environmental provisions to NAFTA. Canada, the US’s largest trading partner has been somewhat leery of changes to the deal.

FBI officials have served civil papers on Texas billionaire Allen Stanford without arresting him. Stanford was reportedly found in Virginia by special agents.  Meanwhile Banking⁴ regulators in Latin America and the Caribbean have been rushing to contain a panic, following allegations that Stanford defrauded⁵ clients to the tune⁶ of at least nine billion dollars. Government of Venezuela today took over a bank run by Stanford after customers made a run on deposits. Stanford was reported to have been located in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area.

According to the Labor Department, the number of people filing new unemployment claims topped 600,000 last week and overall the number of people who remain in need of help reached a record high. NPR’s Kate Davison has more.

627,000, that’s how many people filed new unemployment claims last week, the same number as the week before. Though that number remained steady, it also remained at large, hovering⁷ close to a 26-year high. Meanwhile, a surge of people stayed on the unemployment rolls through the first week of February breaking all previously⁸ available records. Close to five million people continued to draw unemployment benefits. The new figures come a day after the Federal Reserve released its projections⁹ for the year anticipating an unemployment rate around 8.5%. Fed leaders said unemployment would remain high through at least 2011. Kate Davison, NPR News, Washington.

Nine days after Israel’s national elections, majority of parliament members say Benjamin Netanyahu should be the next Prime Minister. Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem.

The head of the centrist Kadima Party Tzipi Livni today told party members that Israel is heading toward an extreme right-wing government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. She said, "This is not our way and there is nothing for us in such a government,” signaling her intention to lead Kadima into opposition¹⁰. Kadima actually won one more seat than Netanyahu’s Likud but can not put together a government. Today 65 Israeli parliament members asked President Shimon Peres to choose Netanyahu to form a government. Netanyahu would prefer a broader-based government with Kadima and the third largest party Yisrael Beiteinu. But he has said he will also govern with a narrower coalition¹¹. For NPR News, I’m Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem.

This is NPR.

Defense¹² Secretary Robert Gates said today the announcement by the government of Kyrgyzstan that it's voted to evict¹³ the US from a key military base may not mean an immediate¹⁴ pullout. Gates said that US would still be willing to consider paying a higher rent for the Manas airbase which is used to resupply US troops in Afghanistan. However, Robert Gates also said the base is not irreplaceable in the talks underway with other nations about getting supplies into the country.

There are continuing protests in expressions of the outrage¹⁵ over a cartoon published Wednesday in the New York Post. About 200 activists¹⁷ chained outside the newspaper’s Manhattan offices vowing¹⁸ they’ll be back tomorrow. NPR’s Margot Adler reports.

The cartoon showed two police officers, one having just shot a gun killing¹⁹ a chimpanzee, a reference to a 200-pound chimpanzee recently shot in Connecticut. But inside the cartoon bubble, one officer says to the other, “They will have to find someone else to write the next stimulus²¹ bill,” clearly linking President Barack Obama to a chimp²⁰. Many including New York Governor David Paterson, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand say the cartoon has a racial subtext. There is a long history of racist²² imagery equating²³ blacks with monkeys and chimps²⁴. The New York Post has defended the cartoon as a clear parity²⁵ of the political process and as stood by the work. Activist¹⁶ Al Sharpton said at the New York City protest, “I guess they thought we were chimpanzees, they will find out we are lions.” Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

Officials in Georgia now say last night’s bad weather which included reported tornado²⁶ sightings, high winds and large hail claimed at least one life and left more than a dozen others injured. Emergency official says in one county alone as many as hundreds of structures were damaged.

1 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

2 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。

3 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。

4 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

5 defrauded   

v.诈取，骗取( defraud的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He defrauded his employers of thousands of dollars. 他诈取了他的雇主一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He defrauded them of their money. 他骗走了他们的钱。 来自辞典例句

6 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

7 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

10 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。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 evict   

vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走

参考例句：

• The lessor can evict the lessee for failure to pay rent.出租人可驱逐不付租金的承租人。
• The government always says it's for the greater good when they evict farmers from their land.当政府把农民从他们的土地赶出去的时候，总是号称是为了更大众的利益。

14 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

15 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

16 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

17 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

19 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

20 chimp   

n.黑猩猩

参考例句：

• In fact,the color of gorilla and chimp are light-color.其实大猩猩和黑猩猩的肤色是较为浅的。
• The chimp is the champ.猩猩是冠军。

21 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。

22 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

23 equating   

v.认为某事物（与另一事物）相等或相仿( equate的现在分词 )；相当于；等于；把（一事物） 和（另一事物）等同看待

参考例句：

• [ Ray ] I definitely started equating crossword puzzles with songwriting. 我已经干脆开始把字谜游戏等同于歌曲写作了。 来自电影对白
• But they have a hard time equating plural marriage with those evils. 但是他们很难把这种多妻婚姻与上面说的那些坏事联系起来。 来自互联网

24 chimps   

（非洲）黑猩猩( chimp的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Chimps are too scarce, and too nearly human, to be routinely slaughtered for spare parts. 黑猩猩又太少，也太接近于人类，不可以作为人器官备用件说杀就杀。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

25 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

26 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。