NPR 2009-03-18

From NPR News in Washington. I'm Jack¹ Speer.

On Capitol Hill lawmakers are making plans to recoup the government bailout money that insurance giant AIG used to pay executive bonuses. NPR's Audie Cornish reports.

After offering billions in rescue money almost half a dozen times that is in many months, the federal government essentially² owns up to 80% of AIG. But company executives say AIG was still contractually bound to pay out 165 million dollars in bonuses. New York Senator Charles Schumer says that answer isn't good enough. "We'll take this money back by taxing virtually all of it. So let the recipients³ of these large and unseemly bonuses be warned: If you don't return it on your own, we'll do it for you." Schumer was among several lawmakers who've penned a letter to the AIG chair demanding he renegotiate the bonuses. The same group is backing the idea of tax code legislation to retrieve⁴ the bonus money. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

The wife and sons of jailed financier Bernard Madoff will be asked to forfeit⁵ millions of dollars along with jewelry⁶ and watches. That's according to the information filed in a federal court document by prosecutors⁷. The filing follows an earlier government notice of intent to seek forfeiture⁸ of certain assets linked to Madoff. Madoff pleaded guilty last week to charges he ran one of the biggest frauds in Wall Street history. Authorities have contended the 70-year-old Madoff will face a sentencing in June bilked investors⁹ out of as much as 60 billion dollars in a massive Ponzi scheme.

President Barack Obama has made his first judicial¹⁰ nomination¹¹. He picked Judge David Hamilton to serve on a federal appeals court in the Midwest. NPR's Ari Shapiro has more.

Judge Hamilton is currently serving as a federal district court judge in Illinois. President Clinton appointed him to that job in the 90's. Now President Obama has nominated Hamilton to be a judge for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. That circuit hears cases from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Hamilton is widely considered a moderate. He has the support of both Indiana senators, Republican Richard Lugar and Democrat¹² Evan Bayh. Hamilton used to work for Bayh. By picking a centrist for his first judicial nomination, President Obama may be sending a message that he hopes to avoid some of the ideological¹³ battles that delay judicial confirmations¹⁴ during the Bush and Clinton years. Republican senators had earlier threatened to filibuster¹⁵ judges unless President Obama re-nominates one of President Bush's nominees¹⁶ who was not confirmed during the last Congress. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

Better-than-expected news from the home building sector¹⁷ gave the financial market a lift today on top of big gains last week. Government says housing starts rose more than 22% to an annual rate of 583, 000 units last month, the biggest increase in almost 20 years and the first gain since April.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 178 points closing at 7, 395. The NASDAQ was up 58 points. The S&P 500 rose 24 points today.

This is NPR.

The parents of a German teen who went on a shooting spree last week killing¹⁸ 15 people said they're shocked and saddened by their son's actions. The parents of 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer also said they never imagined their son will be capable of such a crime. Kretschmer opened fire at his former high school on March 11th, gunning down nine students, three teachers and three bystanders before taking his own life.

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cameroon today for the first leg of his first papal journey to Africa, a continent where the Catholic churches are growing but also facing competition from other religions. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.

Before his departure, the Pope said he wants to wrap his arms around the entire continent with what he called its painful wounds, its enormous potential and hopes. Benedict said he wants to reach out to victims of hunger, disease, injustice¹⁹ and fratricidal conflicts. He's expected to talk about the AIDS epidemic²⁰ which is affecting about 22 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. But the Pope is not likely to change his position that sexual abstinence is the key to fight the spread of the disease. During the flight, Benedict told reporters you can't resolve AIDS with a distribution of condoms, on the contrary, he added, it increases the problem. Benedict also dismissed suggestions that he's facing increasing opposition²¹ and isolation²² within the Catholic Church. The myth of my solitude²³, he said, makes me laugh. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

Thousands of revelers in New York turned out in less than ideal spring weather for the city's 248th annual wearing of the green today - the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. According to one tourist visiting from Ireland the annual event is even better than the ones at home. Meanwhile, there were also parades today in Chicago and in Savannah, Georgia.

1 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。

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

5 forfeit   

vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物

参考例句：

• If you continue to tell lies,you will forfeit the good opinion of everyone.你如果继续撒谎，就会失掉大家对你的好感。
• Please pay for the forfeit before you borrow book.在你借书之前请先付清罚款。

6 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

7 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

8 forfeiture   

n.（名誉等）丧失

参考例句：

• Both face maximum forfeitures of about $1.2 million.双方都面临最高120万美元左右的罚金。
• If he should break his day,what should I gain by the exaction of the forfeiture?如果他到期不还我从这罚金中又能得到什么好处？

9 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

10 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

11 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

12 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

13 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

14 confirmations   

证实( confirmation的名词复数 )； 证据； 确认； （基督教中的）坚信礼

参考例句：

• Never use transitory dialogs as error messages or confirmations. 绝不要用临时对话框作为错误信息框或确认信息框。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Dismissing confirmations thus becomes as routine as issuing them. 因此关闭确认对话框和发起确认对话框一样成为例行公事。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

15 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

16 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

17 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

18 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。

19 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

20 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

21 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。

22 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

23 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。