NPR 2009-5-20

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

President Obama announced new emission² standards for cars and light trucks today which he says puts the country on a path towards a cleaner environment. The plan would require US passenger vehicles and light trucks to achieve 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, something the administration said would save around 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the program.

"For the first time in history, we have set in motion a national policy aimed at both increasing gas mileage³ and decreasing greenhouse gas pollution for all new trucks and cars sold in the United States of America."

To improve fuel efficiency and reduce tailpipe emissions⁴ would come at a cost an estimated 1,300 dollars added to the cost of the vehicle seven years from now, however, the president said drivers would make that investment up within three years and ultimately save money over the life of their cars.

Federal Appeals Court in Washington says a White House office that handles email does not have to make its record public. A government transparency group sued to find millions of potentially missing documents from the Bush administration. NPR's Ari Shapiro has more.

The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics⁵ in Washington, or "CREW" filed this lawsuit⁶ two years ago. They used the Freedom of Information Act to seek documents about emails the White House may have erased⁷. The White House office of administration has responded hundreds of requests under the Freedom of Information Act in the last decade. But in this lawsuit, the office changed course. They said they are not covered by the act so they don't have to comply with CREW's request. Now three judges on the D.C. Circuit Appeals Court have agreed with the White House. The judges said the White House office of administration primarily answers to the president, so the office does not have to share its work with the public. That ruling upholds a lower court decision. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

Latest numbers on the nation's housing market were weaker than expected. The number of new homes getting built fell again; housing starts were down nearly 13%. NPR's Chris Arnold reports.

The overall numbers were pretty ugly, but some economists⁹ are seeing some signs for hope here. It turns out the real drop in construction was seen in apartments and condos. But for regular-row single family homes, the market seems to be leveling off. "I think that we’ve hit bottom." That's Pat Newport, the housing economist⁸ with the forecasting firm Global Insight. "The market for single family homes appears to be rebounding¹¹ and if the economy starts growing again in the second half of this year, I think that, that this rebound¹⁰ will stick." That is in terms of the pace of sales and the number of units getting built. There may be the start of a slow rebound. In terms of prices though, there are still just so many homes on the market, and so many foreclosure sales, that's dragging down prices. And economists expected that to keep happening at least through the rest of the year. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29 points to close at 8,474. The NASDAQ gained 2 points. This is NPR.

Senate Democrats¹² are indicating they want the Obama administration to come up with the plan for housing Guantanamo Bay detainees before they / agree to release any funds to close the camp. Senator Dick Durbin said today the plans to close the facility are not dead. But he says the president needs to make a decision about the detainees' future in order for funding to be released. Secretary of State Robert Gates has said that 50 to 100 detainees may be transferred to US prison facilities. Pentagon has said it still expects Guantanamo to be closed by 2010 as President Obama has ordered.

The nation's top tobacco growing state has its first statewide public smoking ban. From North Carolina Public Radio, Laura Leslie reports.

The measure bans smoking in all North Carolina bars and restaurants that are open to the public. It also gives local governments authority to enact¹³ even stricter bans. Governor Bev Perdue signed it into law today.

"This is really, in no exaggeration of the word, an absolutely historic day for this great state that was built initially¹⁴ on the backbone¹⁵ of tobacco."

Perdue signed the smoking ban in the old State Capitol, often called" the house tobacco built", Last year North Carolina farmers produced nearly half the country's crop. Cigarette makers¹⁶ have fought the ban for years, arguing it would hurt the state's economy. But opinion poll shows strong public support for it. For NPR News, I'm Laura Leslie in Raleigh.

When the Super Bowl winning Pittsburgh Steelers visit President Obama at the White House this week, they will be going without the NFL defensive¹⁷ player of the year linebacker James Harrison. Harrison said just as he did not go when the Steelers won in 2005, he won't go this time. Harrison in an interview said he doesn't believe the invitation is that special, saying Arizona would have gone had they won.

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 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

3 mileage   

n.里程，英里数；好处，利润

参考例句：

• He doesn't think there's any mileage in that type of advertising.他认为做那种广告毫无效益。
• What mileage has your car done?你的汽车跑了多少英里？

4 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

5 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

6 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

7 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

11 rebounding   

蹦跳运动

参考例句：

• The strength of negative temperature concrete is tested with supersonic-rebounding method. 本文将超声回弹综合法用于负温混凝土强度检测。
• The fundamental of basketball includes shooting, passing and catching, rebounding, etc. 篮球运动中最基本的东西包括投篮，传接球，篮板球等。

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

14 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

15 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

16 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。