NPR 2009-5-22

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

Reactions were along party lines on Capitol Hill to the speech President Obama delivered today at the National Archives. The President broadly addressed national security and safeguarding the constitution and more specifically his aim to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. More from NPR's David Welna.

It was thumbs-down for the President's speech from his recent GOP opponent Senator John McCain. "It was very good rhetoric² as always, no substance, no policy." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also panned the speech. "A big flowery campaign speech is fine, but what the Congress voted for yesterday is not for a speech, but for a plan." But the No. 2 Senate Democrat³ Dick Durbin said Democrats⁴ who joined Republicans in scuttling⁵ money for closing Guantanamo did get a plan from the President. "I think there's concern about closing Guantanamo when members couldn't see the way out what was next? And the President had that responsibility and he met it today, with the speech. I think it'll be a different discussion and different debate from this point forward. " Senate Majority Leader Harry⁶ Reid, however, said the speech was no game-changer. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

Four men accused of planting what they thought were explosives near two Bronx synagogues reportedly expressed disappointment that the World Trade Center was no longer around to attack. Prosecutors⁷ say the men also allegedly planned to shoot down a military plane in Newburgh, New York. An assistant U. S. attorney says the four had expressed the desire to "bring death to Jews". The suspects appeared today at a New York court following their arrest yesterday. Their defense⁸ lawyer did not seek bail⁹ for the men.

United Auto¹⁰ Workers has tentatively agreed to a deal with General Motors to cut the automaker's labor¹¹ and retiree health care costs. GM still must cut a deal with bondholders to avoid bankruptcy¹². Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton has more.

Details haven't been released, but the deal means the union agreed to accept a great deal of stock instead of cash to pay for a union-run retiree health care trust. Gary Chaison is a labor expert at Clark University. He says the agreement is risky¹³ for the UAW but so is heading into bankruptcy court without a deal. That could allow a judge to throw out the union's entire contract. "I think that the agreement will be ratified¹⁴ by the membership, because it's too scary not to ratify¹⁵. " The US Treasury¹⁶ says GM must also get 90 percent of its bondholders to accept stock in exchange for their bonds. That requirement is widely expected to force GM into bankruptcy by June 1st. For NPR News, I'm Tracy Samilton in Ann Arbor¹⁷.

The number of people filing first-time jobless claims fell slightly last week. The government reports that new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally¹⁸ adjusted 631, 000, that's down 12, 000 from the previous week.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 129 points, closing at 8,292. That was a loss of 1. 5%. The NASDAQ lost 32 points today. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 15 points.

This is NPR.

Three US soldiers were killed toady¹⁹ along with a dozen Iraqis at a crowded morning market. NPR's JJ Sutherland reports from Baghdad.

Bodies of US soldiers and Iraqi civilians²⁰ were strewn across the street amidst the shattered remains²¹ of the fruit and vegetable stands. One eyewitness²² says shops and carts were completely destroyed, leaving wreckage²³ everywhere. Iraqi police say 25 civilians were injured. The American military wouldn't say how many soldiers were, or how seriously. Three more bombs struck around Iraq: in a town south of Baghdad, near a police station in the north of the city, and a suicide bomber²⁴ struck among a crowd of US-backed Sunni militiamen in the city of Kirkuk. All told, nine people were killed and at least another two dozen wounded. It's been quiet for Iraq in recent days, but a massive bomb yesterday that killed 40 people and today's strikes left people in Baghdad shaken. JJ Sutherland, NPR News, Baghdad.

Government forecasters predicted there will be between nine and fourteen named tropical storms this year, four to seven of which they expect would be hurricanes. The National Hurricane Center issued its latest forecast today.

Even though he has admitted to being a Bears' fan, President Barack Obama played host to the Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers at the White House today. The President says he rooted for the Steelers over the Arizona Cardinals²⁵ in the Super Bowl, Mr. Obama ticking off some famous names from the past who played for the team. "When I started playing and I started paying attention to football, it was guys like Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris and the Steel Curtain." Steelers' president Dan Rooney was a major fundraiser for the Obama campaign. In March, he was appointed by the President to be US Ambassador to Ireland.

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 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

3 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。

4 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》

5 scuttling   

n.船底穿孔，打开通海阀（沉船用）v.使船沉没( scuttle的现在分词 )；快跑，急走

参考例句：

• I could hear an animal scuttling about in the undergrowth. 我可以听到一只动物在矮树丛中跑来跑去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• First of all, scuttling Yu Lung (this yuncheng Hejin) , flood discharge. 大禹首先凿开龙门（今运城河津市），分洪下泄。 来自互联网

6 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

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 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

10 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。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 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。

13 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

14 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

15 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

16 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。

17 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

18 seasonally   

参考例句：

• The price of vegetables fluctuates seasonally. 蔬菜的价格随季节变动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They moved seasonally among various vegetation types to feed on plants that were flourishing. 它们还随着季节的变化而在各种类型植物之间迁移，以便吃那些茂盛的植物。 来自辞典例句

19 toady   

v.奉承；n.谄媚者，马屁精

参考例句：

• He flung it in my teeth that I was a toady.他责备我是个马屁精。
• Arrogance has no defense against a toady.傲慢防不了谄媚者。

20 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。

21 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

22 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

23 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

24 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

25 cardinals   

红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数

参考例句：

• cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
• A conclave of cardinals was held to elect the new Pope. 红衣主教团举行了秘密会议来选举新教皇。