NPR 2010-01-15

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

 

Helicopters are flying in aid to Haiti where millions of people lost their homes in Tuesday's earthquake. The White House says the airport in the capital Port-au-Prince has been secured. But because the site's overcrowded, only eight flights are being allowed in for now. The death toll¹ from this week's 7.0 quake is expected to be in the tens of thousands. In the US, families are anxiously waiting for word on the fate of their loved ones in Haiti. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates reports one California family is breathing a little easier today.

 

Starry² Dawn Sprenkle, a 28-year-old doctoral candidate at the University of California Davis, was working in Haiti and living with her physician husband, Erlantz Hippolyte, and their toddler daughter. Her parents hadn't heard from her since the quake and feared that the small family had perished. On Thursday morning, Sprenkle's father Stephen called the university to report that his daughter had managed to contact him. She told him she and her family were fine although like many quake survivors³ they were sleeping outdoors because of the aftershocks. Through a university spokeswoman, Sprenkle expressed gratitude⁴ for his daughter's safety and noted⁵ the difficulty of what comes next. "They've survived the earthquake and now if they can survive the aftermath, then we are all good," he said. What's going on in Port-au-Prince is just unimaginable. Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR News.

 

President Obama wants to impose a ten-year fee on the nation's largest financial firms to recoup billions of dollars in bailout funds.

 

"Our goal is not to punish Wall Street firms but rather to prevent the abuse and excess that nearly caused the collapse⁶ of many of these firms in the financial system itself. "

 

At the White House today, the president said the proposal reaffirms the government's promise to hold banks and other companies accountable to taxpayers⁷. The initiative requires congressional approval.

 

Well-known Muslim clerics in Yemen declared today that if foreign power sent troops to Yemen, it'll trigger a holy war. The announcement came as Yemen said it was in a state of war with al-Qaeda. NPR's Peter Kenyon has this from Sana.

 

State media today quoted security officials as saying that Yemen is involved in an open war with al-Qaeda elements, and warning Yemenis not to shelter wanted militants⁸. Prominent Muslim clerics, meanwhile, announced their total rejection⁹ of US military bases in Yemen and their opposition¹⁰ to any foreign troops in the country. When Sheikh al-Zindani announced at a Sana'a mosque¹¹ that any foreign invasion must be met by force from all believing Muslims, he was interrupted by loud shouts of support. The cleric's warning comes as Washington moves to rapidly increase its military aid to Yemen. The US has also assisted in Yemeni air strikes against al-Qaeda operatives who claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day attempted plane attack in the US. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Sana'a.

 

This is NPR News.

 

A suicide bomber¹² has killed as many as 20 people including children and wounded more than a dozen others in a busy market district of central Afghanistan. According to the Associated Press, the Uruzgan province's police chief says the assailant may have been targeting a meeting of NATO and Afghanistan officials as well as tribal¹³ elders.

 

In the US, the latest figures on consumer spending are disappointing. Steve Beckner of Market News International has more.

 

While December retail¹⁴ sales were expected to grow considerably¹⁵ less than in November, few thought they would drop. But the Commerce Department says that's what happened. It says retail and food service sales fell 0. 3%. Excluding motor vehicles in parts, sales were down 0. 2%. Upward revisions to prior months' sales took away some of the sting. Still, the results were much worse than anticipated. There were strengthened service station sales due to higher gasoline prices and furniture sales were up modestly, but there was broad weakness in other areas. Sales of electronic goods fell 2. 6%. Food and beverage¹⁶ sales were down 0. 8%, clothing sales 0. 6%. For all of last year, overall sales fell 6. 2%, biggest drop since 1992. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner.

 

New unemployment claims have risen again. The Labor¹⁷ Department reports 11, 000 more Americans filed for jobless insurance for the first time last week. Economists¹⁸ had predicted an increase of 3, 000. One reason for the higher-than-expected surge, people hired only for seasonal¹⁹ work in retail and other industries are out of job again.

 

At last check on Wall Street, Dow was up 40 at 10, 721.

 

This is NPR.
 

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 starry   

adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的

参考例句：

• He looked at the starry heavens.他瞧着布满星星的天空。
• I like the starry winter sky.我喜欢这满天星斗的冬夜。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

8 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

9 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

11 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

12 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。

13 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

14 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

15 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

16 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

17 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。

18 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。