NPR 2009-5-16

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

General Motors has become the latest domestic automaker to sharply slash³ its dealer⁴ network. GM said today it has told more than a thousand of its dealer franchises⁶ they will be terminated by late next year. George Magliano is an auto² industry analyst⁷ at IHS Global Insight.

"It allows them to focus on the good dealers⁸, or the dealers that are existing and get more sales out of those dealers and support them in a better way."

GM declined to reveal which of its dealers are being eliminated, saying it would be left up to franchise⁵ owners to determine how to report the decision to customers. With the cuts, GM will lose about 20% of its US dealers. The automaker has till June 1st to restructure or face possible bankruptcy⁹. Yesterday Chrysler, which is currently in bankruptcy, said it's eliminating around a quarter of its US dealers.

President Obama is planning to restart military tribunals for some of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay but only after rewriting the rules to give the prisoners additional rights. NPR's Scott Horsley has more.

President Obama said in a statement that the use of military tribunals in some cases is the best way to protect the country while upholding its deeply / held values. Mr. Obama had objected to the way tribunals were run under the Bush administration. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the new President is planning a number of changes to the tribunals, including a ban on evidence obtained through cruel or degrading interrogation methods and more freedom for detainees to choose their own lawyers.

"The President believes that in dealing¹⁰ with certain detainees at Guantanamo Bay that this is an appropriate avenue."

The President has promised to close the Guantanamo prison housing roughly 240 detainees by January. Prisoners who aren't prosecuted¹¹ by military tribunals could be tried in civilian¹² courts, transferred to other countries or released. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

CIA director Leon Panetta is responding to charges that the agency misled Congress. Panetta says the agency records show CIA officers briefed lawmakers truthfully. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

In a letter to CIA employees, director Panetta writes "It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress". Panetta writes that the political debates over interrogation reached a new decibel¹³ level yesterday. That's when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi charged that the CIA misled her and other lawmakers about the use of waterboarding. Documents show that terror suspect Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times in August of 2003. A CIA memo¹⁴ says Pelosi was briefed on Abu Zubaydah the next month including the techniques that were employed. Pelosi says that's a lie. The CIA's Panetta writes, “our task is to tell it like it is even if that's not what people always want to hear”. Panetta's advised his workforce¹⁵ "ignore the noise and stay focused on your mission". Mary Louise Kelly, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62 points today to close at 8,268. For the week, the Dow was down more than 3.5%.

 This is NPR.

A measure that would give corporate¹⁶ stockholders more of a say when it comes to executive pay and the nomination¹⁷ of corporate directors is expected to be introduced in the Senate as early as next week. That's according to a source familiar with the matter. The legislation, which is expected to be introduced by New York Democrat¹⁸ Charles Schumer has been dubbed¹⁹ "a shareholder²⁰ bill of rights". It would require companies to hold an annual advisory²¹ vote on executive compensation. The bill would also confirm the authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission to grant shareholders²²' access to the corporate proxy²³ for nominations²⁴ to the board of directors.

Dredging has begun on the Hudson River. It's the start of a multi-year effort to remove some of the more than one million pounds of PCBs discharged into the river by General Electric more than 30 years ago. Gale²⁵ Wheelman reports from Fort Edward, New York.

The PCBs were released from the 1940s until the mid²⁶ 70s by GE facilities north of Albany. Over the years, some of the chemicals have drifted down the Hudson toward New York City, earning that entire section of the river a designation as the longest Superfund site in the US. George Pavlou is the acting²⁷ administrator²⁸ for Region 2 of the EPA. He says what began today was one of the largest environmental cleanups of its kind, in the country.

"The dredging of the Hudson River is a symbol of victory for the environment and for the river communities as well."

This first phase of dredging is essentially²⁹ a test phase. Once all the dredges are working in two months, they are expected to remove up to 265,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment³⁰, that's about 1/10 of the total amount they hope to remove when the full project is completed. For NPR News, I'm Gale Wheelman in Fort Edward, New York.

Crude oil prices fell today. Crude oil futures³¹ were down $2.28 a barrel to close at $56.34 barrel in New York.

I'm Jack Speer, NPR News in Washington.

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 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 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

4 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

5 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

6 franchises   

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ford dealerships operated as independent franchises. 福特汽车公司的代销商都是独立的联营商。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

9 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

12 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。

13 decibel   

n.分贝(音量的单位)

参考例句：

• The noise pollution reached a high decibel level.噪音污染达到了很高分贝。
• In sound we use the decibel scale.在声学中我们采用分贝标度。

14 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

15 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

16 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

17 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。

18 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。

19 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

21 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

22 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

23 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

24 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

25 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

26 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

27 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

28 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

29 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。

30 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

31 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。