NPR 2009-03-08

President Obama is urging Americans to be patient and as positive as possible in the face of a seemingly endless succession of negative economic news. Mr. Obama says the nation will make it through the current crisis. "This is a moment of challenge for our country. But we've experienced great trials before. And with every test, each generation has found the capacity to not only endure but to prosper¹, to discover great opportunity in the midst of great crisis." Mr. Obama speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address after a week in which major stock averages fell to their lowest levels in more than a decade, and in which the Labor² Department announced the third straight month of sharp job losses.

Mr. Obama said reforming the health care system to restrain costs and widen availability will be a major goal of his administration this year. But although the details of Mr. Obama's health care proposals have yet to be worked out, he's already been criticized by some Congressional Republicans for his willingness to consider some form of government-sponsored health care. Missouri Congressman³ Roy Blunt delivered the Republicans' weekly address today as NPR's Kate Davidson reports.

Blunt said he's concerned that if the government steps in, it would eventually force out private health care plans. He said employers could simply stop offering coverage⁴, hoping the government would fill in the slack. "Just imagine a health care system that looks like a government-run operation most of us are all too familiar with, the local DMV." Blunt said real competition is the key to health care. In his budget, Mr. Obama asks Congress for more than 600 billion dollars as a down payment on his push for universal health care. Kate Davidson, NPR News, Washington.

Escalating⁵ attacks by religious extremists across Pakistan combined with political clashes are fueling international concerns about that country's stability. A remote-controlled bomb exploded today in Peshawar, killing⁶ seven policemen and one civilian⁷. NPR's Anne Garrels has more from Pakistan's capital.

Bashir Bilour, a senior minister in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, had just returned from the funeral for the dead policemen who were lured⁸ into a clever trap. You can see, he said, how bad things are here. The Pakistani Taliban and other extremists have overwhelmed the Pakistani military and police in some regions, and even where they aren't in control, they've some fear. Three separate bombings killed more than a dozen people in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday. There are also reports a pilotless US drone crashed along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where the main Pakistani Taliban leader is based. If these weren't enough, Pakistan's president and his erstwhile coalition⁹ partner are locked in an increasingly bitter political battle that will take to the streets next week. Anne Garrels, NPR News, Islamabad.

Sudan's president is calling the foreign relief workers being expelled from his country spies and thieves. The UN is looking into whether those expulsions constitute a human rights violation¹⁰.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Turkey for meetings with that country's leaders today. And she announced that the president will make a similar trip soon. "President Obama will be visiting Turkey within the next month or so." Clinton said the US and Turkey share a commitment to democracy, religious freedom and a belief in free market. The predominantly Muslim NATO ally is also seen as critical in assisting the US withdrawal¹¹ from Iraq and combating a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.

Famed newspaper editor Jim Bellows¹² has died in Santa Monica, California at the age of 86. He helped transform struggling newspapers in New York, Washington and Los Angeles, and he helped make the show Entertainment Tonight a TV hit. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates has more.

Jim Bellows liked to say he made a career of making the second best newspapers in town livelier and more reader-friendly. A slight man with a sixth sense for the next big newspaper thing, Bellows created the now-standard political gossip column while heading the Washington Star in the early 70s. He gave the Los Angeles Times a run for its money when he ran the Los Angeles Herald¹³ Examiner in the early 80s. There he created a style section that is now widely imitated by other papers. But it was his work at the New York Herald Tribune in 1960s that changed to journalism¹⁴ forever. Bellows promoted promising¹⁵ writers such as Tom Wolfe and Jimmy Breslin. He hired Clay Felker to edit the Trib's Sunday magazine, which would later morph into the highly successful New York magazine. Bellows often said a newspaper had two primary functions, to print the news and raise hell. He did both for decades. Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR News.

Daylight Saving Time begins overnight or rather 2 am Sunday, to be exact. That means people in all states except Arizona and Hawaii turn their clocks forward one hour.

1 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

2 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。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

5 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 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。

8 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

9 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。

10 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

11 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

12 bellows   

n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫

参考例句：

• His job is to blow the bellows for the blacksmith. 他的工作是给铁匠拉风箱。 来自辞典例句
• You could, I suppose, compare me to a blacksmith's bellows. 我想，你可能把我比作铁匠的风箱。 来自辞典例句

13 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

14 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

15 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。