NPR 2010-01-11

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

 

China has surpassed Germany as the world's largest exporter after a more-than-17% surge in 2009. Critics in the U.S. and other nations have complained that China's export success was bolstered¹ in part by subsidies² that gave its exporters unfair advantage over foreign rivals. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing.

 

Figures released by Chinese Customs on Sunday show that China's exports last month rose 34%, the first year-on-year increase since November of 2008. Chinese imports particularly of raw materials grew even faster last month, shrinking China's trade surplus by more than a third year-on-year. Exporters benefited from China's 586-billion-dollar fiscal³ stimulus⁴ package, which helped them to overcome slumping⁵ global demand. Finance Minister Xie Xuren said Sunday that the fiscal stimulus spending would continue to be robust⁶ in 2010. Analysts⁷ point out that while China now exports more goods than Germany, many products are simply processed or assembled in China by foreign firms. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Beijing.

 

A British correspondent has been killed in Afghanistan, making him the 18th journalist killed in that country, since the US-led invasion in 2001. Larry Miller⁸ has details from London.

 

Rupert Hamer, the defense⁹ correspondent for the Sunday Mirror Newspaper, was killed along with a US marine¹⁰ and an Afghan soldier when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Helmand Province. Hamer died at the scene; photographer Philip Coburn and four US marines were seriously injured. The two journalists were embedded¹¹ with the marines. British Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth said he knew the man well and was impressed by their hard work and professionalism. A colleague said the 39-year-old Hamer got on with the job and died where he would have wanted to be, right at the front. He leaves a wife and three small children. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

 

The Africa Cup of Nations is underway in Angola, while the soccer team from Togo is preparing to return home after Friday's attack on their bus. The games began with a moment of silence to remember the three killed in last week's ambush¹². The BBC's Alex Capstick has more for Angola.

 

It's been a difficult build-up to the tournaments. Some have suggested it should not have gone ahead after the gun attack on the Togo team bus, but the organizer has gone, otherwise, and the Angolan people have come to this futuristic looking stadium on the outskirts¹³ of Luanda to party. They started arriving seven hours before kick-off. The Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is among the crowds. There’s a small section of Mali fans, but most of audience here are hoping the host nation to make it a winning start. For the next few hours, at least, the focus of the Africa Cup of Nations will be on the football.

 

That's BBC's Alex Capstick reporting from Angola.

 

From Washington, this is NPR News.

 

Officials in Northern California say there were minor¹⁴ injuries and light property damage following a 6.5-magnitude earthquake yesterday afternoon off the Pacific coast. Bob Hensley of Capital Public Radio has details.

 

The town of Ferndale 260 miles north of San Francisco is the community closest to the epicenter. Police Department spokeswoman Lindsey Frank says the ground shook for about ten seconds, but there were no reported injuries and damage was limited.

“It's just a bunch of superficial damage to the outside of buildings, and insides, items being knocked off shelves, walls, covers coming off bins¹⁵ .”

 

Twenty miles northern the city of Eureka, there were reports of minor injuries and moderate property damage. Utility crews worked throughout the night in an effort to restore power to 25,000 residents in Humboldt County. Shortly after the quake occurred, officials assured the public there was no threat of the tsunami¹⁶. For NPR News, I'm Bob Hensley in Modesto, California.

 

The Republican Party Chairman's calling on Democratic Senator Harry¹⁷ Reid to give up his position as majority leader. On Fox News Sunday, GOP Chairman Michael Steele criticizes Reid for racially insulting remarks made about President Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign. According to a new book, Reid describes Mr. Obama as a “light-skinned” African-American with “no Negro dialect”. President Obama says he has accepted Reid's apology.

 

NBC is sending late night host Jay Leno back to his old time slot after some local affiliates¹⁸ threatened to drop the comedian’s new show. The network’s Chief Entertainment Executive Jeff Gaspin said today the drumbeats started getting louder to move Leno whose ratings tanked at 10 p.m. and cost affiliates major ad revenues.

 

1 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

2 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 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。

5 slumping   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的现在分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Hong Kong's slumping economy also caused a rise in bankruptcy applications. 香港经济低迷，破产申请个案随之上升。
• And as with slumping, over-arching can also be a simple postural habit. 就像弯腰驼背，过度挺直也可能只是一种习惯性姿势。

6 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

9 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。

10 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

12 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

13 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

14 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

15 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

16 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

17 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。

18 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。