NPR 2009-03-23

The Obama administration is hoping to draw significant private investment into its effort to buy up troubled assets from banks in order to free up lending to businesses and families. Treasury¹ Secretary Timothy Geithner is slated² to announce details of the plan tomorrow. But economist³ Diane Swonk with Mesirow Financial says whether private investors⁴ will be willing to participate is still unclear. “Unfortunately because of all of the backlash to AIG bailout bonuses, etc, um, many private investors may be somewhat leery to do anything with the government’s aid, because it may expose their entire business to a level of scrutiny⁵ that they are just not comfortable with.” The administration’s plan reportedly includes establishment of a new government entity⁶ to hold banks’ toxic⁷ assets until they can be sold.

The administration is warning Congress not to go too far in pursuing the tens of millions of dollars in bonuses paid to executives at American International Group. The White House says the president has problems with the House bill that would impose hefty taxes on these bonuses. NPR’s Robert Smith has more.

President Obama’s economic team said on the Sunday morning talk shows that the president would consider the House plan to tax AIG bonuses at a ninety percent rate but they warned that the President doesn’t wanna govern out of anger. Jared Bernstein is the economic advisor⁸ to vice⁹ President Joe Biden. “I think the president would be concerned that this bill may have some problems in going too far. The House bill may go too far in terms of some legal issues, constitutional validity, using the tax code to surgically¹⁰ punish a small group. That may be a dangerous way to go.” Bernstein was speaking on ABC’s “This Week”. The plan to tax the AIG bonuses now goes to the Senate where it’s likely to be modified. Robert Smith, NPR News, New York.

The head of the White House Council of Economic Advisors¹¹ Christina Romer says she feels incredibly confident about the prospects¹² for the US economy. She says she believes the economy will be growing again by the end of this year.

British officials have confirmed that they have received a video tape showing one of five British citizens who were taken hostage by militants¹³ in Iraq nearly two years ago. NPR’s Lourdes Garcia-Navarro has more from Baghdad.

Peter Moore and four of his British security guards were seized by heavily armed men in police uniforms in May 2007 from the Finance Ministry¹⁴ here. At the time of the kidnapping, Iraqi officials blamed Shiite militiamen loyal to anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, but it’s now believed the men are being held by a Shiite splinter group. There had been no news of the men for over a year. Embassy officials here say that in the video, a British man who is reported to be Peter Moore looks well. It’s believed that the rest of the men are still alive. The British Embassy here says it’s working for the men’s safe release.  Lourdes Garcia-Navarro NPR News, Baghdad.

Pope Benedict has wrapped up his trip to Africa. He told a gathering¹⁵ in Angola that it’s nearly always women who protect and defend cultural and religious values.

This is NPR News.

A trouble plate device on the International Space Station that’s designed to recycle urine into clean drinking water is on the blink again, despite new components¹⁶ delivered by the space shuttle Discovery. NASA wants the gizmo operating properly before expanding the crew on the orbiting outpost from three to six in May.

A fourth police officer has died in Oakland California of wounds sustained in the showdown yesterday with a man who was wanted on a parole violation¹⁷. Mina Kim of member station KQED says the deadly clashes began with a routine traffic stop.

Oakland police officer John Hege was pronounced dead at 11:25 Sunday morning local time. Hege was one of the two motorcycle officers that stopped a vehicle Saturday afternoon. The driver Lovelle Mixon reportedly shot and killed one policeman and gravely wounded Hege during the stop. Mixon then fled and was cornered by a SWAT team in an apartment building. Mixon fatally shot two police officers before he was shot and killed by police. Arrangements are being made for donating Hege’s organs. For NPR News, I’m Mina Kim in Oakland.

Gasoline prices have dropped a bit over the past two weeks: down one cent a gallon to a national average of $1.95 for self service regular. It’s the first decline in prices at the pump this year. But industry analyst¹⁸ Trilby Lundberg says there are a number of reasons that gas prices are likely to resume their upward trend in the coming weeks. “All of the indicators¹⁹ point to a pump price increases: crude oil up, gasoline demand up. Environmental regulations that make gasoline cost more are seasonal²⁰ and they will kick in very soon.”  Lundberg says the highest gas prices in the most recent survey were found in Honolulu, the lowest were in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

3 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

4 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

5 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

6 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

7 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

8 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。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

10 surgically   

adv. 外科手术上, 外科手术一般地

参考例句：

• Unsightly moles can be removed surgically. 不雅观的痣可以手术去除。
• To bypass this impediment an almost mature egg cell is removed surgically. 为了克服这一障碍，通过手术，取出一个差不多成熟的卵细胞。

11 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

12 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

13 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

14 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

15 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

16 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

17 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。

18 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

19 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

20 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。