NPR 2009-04-25

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

The Mexican government is battling a new strain of flu virus which has killed nearly 60 people, sickened hundreds of others and threatens millions in the world's largest and most densely² populated capital city. James Blears reports from Mexico City.

Mexico's Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova says that this is a new form of flu, from a testing government laboratory show is mutated from pigs list leapt into the human health cycle. Mexico City and its surrounding suburbs has a population of more than 20 million. So drastic measures have already been taken, all schools have been closed until further notices as well as libraries, theaters, museums and other public buildings. Mexico City’s metro³ system which carries millions of people daily is still running. Tens of thousands of people are wearing surgical⁴ masks in the street. Laboratory samples from Mexico were being compared to those of people who’ve fallen ill in Texas and California. For NPR News, I'm James Blears, in Mexico City.

NPR News has learned that an iconic American automobile⁵ brand Pontiac is apparently⁶ the latest victim of slow vehicle sales and a weak economy. Automaker General Motors, according to people familiar with the company's plans, will eliminate Pontiac, famous for the GTO and the Firebird among others. The news comes as it was announced US taxpayers⁷ are putting another two billion dollars in the troubled General Motors in the form of government loans. That's on top of the more than 13 billion the struggling automaker has already received. GM confirmed yesterday it will shut down 13 of its North American assembly plants for two months or more, beginning next month.

President Obama today renewed his call to end the involvement of private companies in making student loans. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

President Obama has proposed ending what he says are wasteful⁸ subsidies⁹ to private companies that make college loans that are guaranteed by taxpayers. The private federal family education loans line the pockets of banks according to the president, while costing taxpayers some five billion dollars a year. Mr. Obama wants instead to expand a direct loan program. The president also said colleges and universities have a responsibility to control spiraling costs. “I challenge state college and university leaders to put affordability¹⁰ front and center as they chart a path forward.” Mr. Obama said skyrocketing tuition costs are putting new pressures on struggling families at a time he said a college education is more important than ever. Brian Naylor, NPR News, the White House.

Nation's big banks are receiving report cards that detail how well it performed on a government stress test over an apparent effort to avoid whirling the financial markets’ details of how well the financial firms have been to be holding up. It will not be officially released until next month. Federal regulators would begin privately¹¹ briefing officials for the country's 19 biggest banks today about their perceived soundness.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 119 points, however for the week the Dow was down 0.7%. The NASDAQ closed up 42 points today, the S&P 500 climbed 14 points.

This is NPR.

A second day of deadly suicide bombings in Iraq has left 60 people dead and more than 125 others wounded. Latest attacks followed two bombings yesterday in separate areas that were blamed for at least 80 deaths. In the latest incident, bombers¹² apparently detonated explosive belts within minutes of one another near separate gates to the tomb of the Shiite saint. The explosions took place as worshipers were streaming into the mosque¹³ for Friday prayers.

Concerns are growing for the safety of civilians¹⁴ trapped in Sri Lankan's shrinking war zone. Government forces are pushing ahead on efforts to crush Tamil Tigers rebels as the UN estimates nearly 6.5 thousand of civilians have been killed in the past three months. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

The Tamil Tigers are hold up in a patch of costal land, about twice the size of New York Central Park. The Sri Lanka military surrounded them on land and at sea. The United Nations says about 50,000 civilians are still with the separatists, fighting continues around them. The International Red Cross says hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured in the last few days alone. Today, Sri Lanka's giant neighbor, India sent several senior envoys¹⁵ to the island to press for an end to the fighting. The trapped civilians are from the island's Tamil minority. India's coalition¹⁶ government which is fighting a general election is under pressure from its own large Tamil population to do something to help them. Over the last few days, more than 100,000 people have escaped the conflict zone. Overwhelming government officials have placed them in interment camps for screening. Philip Reeves, NPR News, New Delhi.

Crude oil futures¹⁷ prices ended the session higher today. Crude for June delivery was up $1.93 a barrel to end the session at $51.55 a barrel in New York.

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 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

3 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

4 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

5 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

8 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

9 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 affordability   

可购性

参考例句：

• Performance-Based Logistics Affordability: Can We Afford Categorical Conversion to Performance-Based Acquisition? 基于性能的后期的可承受性：能否担负得起向基于性能的采办的无条件的转变？
• There would be no crisis of affordability, as't for food or clothing. 就想食物与服装一样，因为供给没有危机。

11 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

12 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

14 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

15 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

16 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。

17 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。