NPR 2009-07-25

President Obama expressed regret today for saying the Cambridge police acted stupidly when they arrested Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates last week. NPR's Scott Horsley has more.

The President spoke¹ by telephone with the police sergeant² who arrested Gates and called him "an outstanding police officer and a good man." The president's comments earlier in the week added fuel to a fiery³ national conversation over whether Sergeant James Crowley acted properly in arresting Gates, a prominent African-American scholar outside his own home. Mr. Obama said the attention sparked by the case simply illustrates⁴ the sensitivity that still surrounds race relations. "In my choice of words, I think, I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning⁵ the Cambridge police department or Sergeant Crowley specifically, and I could have calibrated⁶ those words differently." Mr. Obama said he hoped this would encourage everyone to spend more time listening to each other and less time flinging accusations⁷. Scott Horsley NPR News, Washington.

Treasury⁸ Secretary Timothy Geithner was on Capitol Hill today where he told lawmakers he welcomes debate on how to strengthen oversight⁹ of the financial system to prevent another economic meltdown from occurring. However, he said stakeholders would need to move quickly. In a testimony¹⁰ before the House Financial Services Committee, Geithner defended the administration's plan even though some federal regulators are pushing back against the proposal someway will strip them of their consumer protection duties. The administration is calling for a separate agency to focus on that mission. Geithner said the current system has consumer protection oversights¹¹ spread amongst too many agencies and is also often too slow to respond.

President Obama is announcing at a White House ceremony this hour that he will sign a major United Nations Human Rights Treaty. NPR's Joseph Shapiro reports.

Three years ago, the United Nations passed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. As a model, the UN used the major disability civil rights on the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act. But the US said it would not sign the UN treaty. That reluctance¹² ended when President Obama summoned disability leaders to the White House to celebrate the 19th anniversary of the American law. And there he announced that he would instruct his ambassador to the United Nations to sign the UN convention, and he will ask the Senate to begin the ratification¹³ process. Last year, a presidential council on disability policy concluded that the UN convention would have little impact on existing disability law in the United States. Joseph Shapiro, NPR News.

Ousted¹⁴ Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, in a show of defiance¹⁵, walked under a border chain today to take a few symbolic¹⁶ steps back into his country, nearly a month after he was removed in a military coup¹⁷. Zelaya, who briefly¹⁸ crossed the border today from Nicaragua said he was forced to take action after US-backed talks failed to reach a negotiated settlement. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Zelaya's actions reckless.

On Wall Street today, the Dow was up 23 points.

This is NPR.

A plane crash in Iran has left at least 17 people dead and at least 20 others injured today. That's according to Iran's official state news agency, which reports the Russia-made plane with more than 150 people on board was landing in northeastern Iran when it exploded into flames and went off the runway. Initial reports are the plane's tyres failed and it skidded¹⁹ into a wall. The crash is the latest in a series of mishaps²⁰ involving Iranian airliners²¹, many of which are aging. A crash earlier this month killed 168 people.

The self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America, Arizona's Joe Arpaio has begun a three-day crime and immigration sweeping²² in Phoenix²³. Arpaio's department has already been investigated for alleged²⁴ racial profiling during similar sweeps last year. Arizona Public Radio's Gillian Ferris Kohl reports.

Sheriff Arpaio and his deputies reportedly arrested 39 people in the first few hours of the sweep. In a statement released by his office, the sheriff said eight of those taken into custody²⁵ were suspected of being undocumented immigrants. Arpaio has run several sweeps in Maricopa County in the past year aimed at rounding up illegal immigrants for arrest and eventual²⁶ deportation²⁷. Those sweeps drew widespread criticism, charging Arpaio's department with racial profiling. Arpaio denies the allegation and accuses the Justice Department of targeting his office's efforts to combat illegal immigration in Maricopa County. That includes Phoenix, which has one of the highest concentrations of undocumented immigrants in the country. For NPR News, I'm Gillian Ferris Kohl in Flagstaff.

Shares of software giant Microsoft took a hit today, that's after the company announces its first annual sales decline in more than two decades. For the just completed fiscal²⁸ year, the company says sales sank three percent.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

3 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

4 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

5 maligning   

vt.污蔑，诽谤（malign的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• She was criticized for maligning innocent people. 她由于中伤好人而受到批评。 来自互联网

6 calibrated   

v.校准( calibrate的过去式和过去分词 )；使标准化；使合标准；测量（枪的）口径

参考例句：

• Power pesticide dusters can be calibrated and used to apply pertilizer. 动力杀虫剂可以调整用来施肥。 来自辞典例句
• The flexible diaphragm is connected to a plat cantilever-calibrated spring. 柔韧的膜片一扁平的悬臂校正弹簧相连。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 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。

9 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

10 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

11 oversights   

n.疏忽( oversight的名词复数 )；忽略；失察；负责

参考例句：

• He saw shocking oversights and inefficiencies that made the Separatist invasion possible. 他看出在首都遭到分裂势力入侵的背后是惊人的疏漏与低效。 来自互联网
• Instead it means that the submitted code has no glaringly obvious oversights. 相反，它意味着所提交的代码没有突出的显而易见的疏忽或错漏。 来自互联网

12 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

13 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

14 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

15 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

16 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

17 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

18 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

19 skidded   

v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的过去式和过去分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区

参考例句：

• The car skidded and hit a lamp post. 那辆汽车打滑撞上了路灯杆。
• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。

20 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

21 airliners   

n.客机，班机( airliner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The fog grounded the airliners. 大雾迫使班机停飞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They placed very stable and accurate atomic clocks on regularly scheduled jet airliners. 他们将非常稳定、准确的原子钟装在定期飞行的喷气式班机上。 来自辞典例句

22 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

23 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

24 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

25 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。

26 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

27 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

28 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。