NPR 2009-07-18

President Obama speaking at the White House today said healthcare legislation will clear Congress this year and the President said in light of new concerns about the cost of a healthcare overhaul¹, some decisions about cost cutting should be turned over to an independent panel of experts. NPR's Julie Rovner has more.

The Independent Medicare Payment Advisory³ Commission already makes recommendation to each year for how to cut cost in a massive health program for the elderly and disabled. But as Mr. Obama pointed⁴ out--"Unfortunately, this report ends up sitting on the shelf." So the President is pressing Congress to add it to overhauled⁵ bill, a measure similar to one being pushed by democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia. It would give the commission more authority forcing first the President and then Congress effectively to vote up or down on the entire package. It's similar to the process Congress set up years ago to address the sensitive political issue of closing surplus military bases. Julie Rovner, NPR News, Washington.

President's top economic advisor² thinks in terms of the overall economy, things are definitely looking up. Larry Summers in what was a fairly positive speech delivered to Washington think tank today, said "If we were at the brink⁶ of a catastrophe⁷ at the beginning of the year, we've now walked some substantial distance back from the abyss."

And Summers said there are other signs of improvement. "A majority of businesses now report that they expect improved market conditions, the opposite of six months ago. Consumer sentiment has also begun to improve."

Echoing recent remarks by President Obama, the head of the National Economic Council said he does expect unemployment to rise in coming months. But Summers still defended the government's $787-billion economic stimulus⁸ plan, saying it is proceeding⁹ on schedule.

A federal Judge has dismissed a Securities and Exchange Commission insider trading case against Dallas Mavericks¹⁰ owner Mark Cuban. NPR's Wade¹¹ Goodwyn has more from Dallas.

The case involves accusations¹² of insider trading after Mark Cuban sold 600,000 shares of Mamma.com. Cuban sold the shares after he received confidential¹³ information from the company CEO and thereby¹⁴ avoided a three quarters of a million-dollar loss. The stock was subsequently deluded¹⁵ in an offering. The Judge ruled that while Cuban did agree to confidentiality¹⁶, the government had not approved that Cuban agreed not to use the inside information for his own benefit. The SEC has 30 days to file an amended¹⁷ complaint and officials say they are reviewing the ruling and considering their options. Wade Goodwyn, NPR News, Dallas.

Home builders were a bit busier last month, eager to break ground on new homes as first-time buyers take advantage of a tax break that runs out in November. Commerce Department reported today single family home and apartment construction was up 3.6% in June.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 32 points to end the week at 8,743. The NASDAQ was up a point. The S&P 500 fell a fraction.

This is NPR.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia now have unemployment rates of more than 10%. And for the first time since 1984, one state Michigan has a jobless rate of more than 15%. That's the latest grim news from the Labor¹⁸ Department which seemed to show the rising tide of job losses is not yet over. The state numbers come on the heels of reports that show nationally the unemployment rate rose to 9.5% in June, its highest level in 26 years.

The state of Pennsylvania's budget impasse¹⁹ is now hitting its biggest city. From member station WHYY Tom McDonald reports.

Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter²⁰ says the city has only about $197-million worth of cash on hand, and a biweekly payroll²¹ in the $170 million range because the state hasn't approved the sales tax hike in changes to the city's pension payments that would save millions. The mayor says his city won't pay its venders for now. "That delay will work much like anyone of us, individually my experience, you are just not sending a cheque right now. It's a delayed payment. That's unfortunately what people are doing in this economy pretty much everyday. They are making choices, decisions about which bill they are paying or the timeliness of paying it because of cash flow."

One city councilman is concerned the minority owned and other small businesses would be squeezed. But Mayor Nutter promises the venders will be paid once the state budget impasse is ended. For NPR News, I'm Tom McDonald in Philadelphia.

 Golfer Tiger Woods may have taken himself out of the British Open today after shooting a 4 over 74 in the second round. Woods had two double-bogeys on the backside today that would make it unlikely he will get through to the weekend despite the fact that he birdied two of the last three holes. When Woods left the courts today, he was tied for 77th.

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

3 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。

4 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。

5 overhauled   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修，换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

7 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

8 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

9 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

10 mavericks   

未烙印的牲畜( maverick的名词复数 )； 标新立异的人，不合常规的人

参考例句：

• And what about the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki? 那达拉斯小牛队和诺维斯基呢？
• And we see it with bringing Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks. 而且我们看到它同实现基德向达拉斯小牛队。

11 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

12 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

13 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

14 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

15 deluded   

v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't be deluded into thinking that we are out of danger yet. 不要误以为我们已脱离危险。
• She deluded everyone into following her. 她骗得每个人都听信她的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 confidentiality   

n.秘而不宣，保密

参考例句：

• They signed a confidentiality agreement. 他们签署了一份保守机密的协议。
• Cryptography is the foundation of supporting authentication, integrality and confidentiality. 而密码学是支持认证、完整性和机密性机制的基础。

17 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

18 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。

19 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

20 nutter   

n.疯子

参考例句：

• Don't call him nutter because it is such a bad term.别叫他“疯子”，这不是个好词。
• But it's awfully ruthless and cold-blooded for a nutter from the other side.但是对那边的疯子们来说，却也实在太冷血无情了。

21 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。