NPR 2009-6-02

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

As part of General Motors's bankruptcy² announcement this morning, the automaker said it will idle or close 14 manufacturing plants including one in Spring Hill, Tennessee, that's where the Saturn³ brand was developed in the mid-80s. From member station WPLN in Nashville, Blake Farmer reports.

The last of Saturn production left town in 2007. The brand's exit from its birthplace was tempered by GM's commitment to invest a billion dollars in retooling⁴ the plant. Local Union chairman Mike Herron says workers are disappointed that the plant will be idled, but Spring Hill is well positioned. "Everything in that facility is new. Its state of the art and it's ready to go ahead to build new products, and so we feel very comfortable as we move forward that you know we've got all of our ducks in a row." The plant now is a symbol for the Chevrolet Traverse, but that ends in November. 2,500 employees will be laid off indefinitely. Herron says Spring Hill will compete with other sites for a new assignment, possibly a new small car for GM. He notes that’s where Spring Hill got its start 25 years ago, developing a new fuel-efficient car to help the automaker compete with imports. For NPR News, I'm Blake Farmer in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

As President Obama prepares for a trip this week that will include visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, one of the issues the White House hopes to advance, Middle East peace, remains⁶ contentious⁷. Israel's Prime Minister today rejected a US demand for a settlement freeze while mobs of Jewish settlers attacked Palestinian labors⁸ and burned West Bank fields. In an interview with NPR, the White House stated the president said he is well aware of the challenges involved, but said that should not dissuade⁹ the sides from talking. "There is not a sense that we expect only compromise on one side. It's going to have to be two-sided. I don't think anybody would deny that in theory. When it comes to the concrete, then the politics of it get difficult, both within the Israeli and Palestinian communities. But look, if this was easy it would have already been done." Mr. Obama leaves Washington tomorrow.

The American Civil Liberty Union asked the federal appeals court in New York to allow the release of disturbing pictures of detainee abuse which the Obama administration wants to keep under wraps. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports.

The filing is the other shoe to drop in a legal battle between the ACLU and the Justice Department. The government says releasing photographs of abused detainees would stoke anti-American feelings in the Middle East and in South Asia. In particular, it mentioned the volatile¹⁰ situation in Pakistan as a reason not to release the photographs. ACLU for its part pointed⁵ out that an appeals court and district judge have already ruled that the public has the right to see the photographs. The Obama administration had initially¹¹ planned to release the pictures, and then last month the president changed his mind. The ACLU has sought to release the pictures as part of a freedom of information request that dates back to the Bush administration. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, New York.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 221 points.

This is NPR.

According to a US official, North Korea appears to be readying a missile that would be capable of reaching the US. And there were signs the country's government may be readying a test launch. The comments will seem to confirm a previous report by South Korea's news agency about a pending¹² long range missile test. North Korea last month drew international condemnation¹³ for a series of missile launches and for also carrying out what the country says was an underground nuclear test. South Korea's news agency has reported Pyongyang could be ready to fire the missile within the next week.

Two army recruiters have been shot outside an Army-Navy recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas. Police say they are trying to determine a motive¹⁴. From member station KUAR, Kelly McNeil reports.

Little Rock police say a black SUV pulled up to the recruiting office as the recruiting assistants stood outside. One soldier was killed outright¹⁵. The other was hospitalized. Police Lieutenant¹⁶ Terry Hastings says the driver opened fire with an assault rifle. It's unclear whether the shooter knew the victims or was targeting the recruiting center. “That vehicle left. Our officers stopped it. We have taken the suspect in custody¹⁷. He’s in our detective division. Right now we are interviewing him. We have no motive for the shooting. And that is something we are working on today as we get deeper into the investigation¹⁸.” Police are not looking for any other suspects. For NPR News, I'm Kelly McNeil in the Little Rock.

Pieces of a pottery¹⁹ found inside a cave in southern China could turn out to be some of the earliest evidence of development of ceramics²⁰ by ancient people. The findings were reported in this week edition's Proceedings²¹ of the National Academy of Sciences. Officials say the pottery found in the Yuchanyan Cave appears to the earliest examples found so far dating back as far as 18, 000 years, though human figurines dating back 35, 000 years have been found in the Czech Republic.

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 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。

3 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

4 retooling   

v.（给…）更换工具， （给…）更换机械设备( retool的现在分词 )；改组，革新

参考例句：

• The factory is retooling to start making the new line of cars. 工厂正在重新装备以便开始制造新系列车型。 来自辞典例句
• Among her suggestions: retooling factories to focus on rebuilding America's transportation system. 她的建议包括围绕重新建设美国交通系统这个重心来重组汽车工业。 来自互联网

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 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。

7 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

8 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

9 dissuade   

v.劝阻，阻止

参考例句：

• You'd better dissuade him from doing that.你最好劝阻他别那样干。
• I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares.我曾设法劝她不要投资于股票交易。

10 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

11 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。

12 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

13 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

14 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

15 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

16 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

17 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

18 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

19 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

20 ceramics   

n.制陶业；陶器

参考例句：

• an exhibition of ceramics by Picasso 毕加索陶瓷作品展
• The ceramics bore the imprint of Luca della Robbia. 陶器上印有卢卡·德拉·罗比亚的字样。

21 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼