NPR 2010-11-19

General Motor's back to being publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, a major milestone¹ in GM's quest for independence from government ownership. We have the latest from Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton.
GM CEO Dan Akerson says he's pleased by the initial result of the IPO. About 90 percent of the stock was purchased by investors² in North America. Akerson held a media conference call after ringing the opening bell on the stock exchange and says the IPO should not change the government's role, which so far has been to let management run the company.
"They've, they stayed out of the boardroom to put it bluntly."Akerson does expect to continue his bimonthly updates with auto³ task force head Ron Bloom. He says it's up to the US Treasury⁴ when to sell more of its GM stock. The IPO brought the government's stake in GM down to about 33 percent. For NPR News, I'm Tracy Samilton in Ann Arbor⁵.
The University of California is hiking its student fees again by eight percent, effective next fall. The UC Board of Regents also decided⁶ today to expand financial aid to more students. The increase comes on the heels of a 32 percent increase UC imposed this year to raise an estimated $180 million in annual revenue. Students protest that it is becoming difficult to afford an education, make that more difficult to afford an education. And yesterday, a student demonstration⁷ led to 13 arrests.
In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, police have broken a protest against the United Nations and the government. Sabri Ben-Achour from member station WAMU reports today's cholera⁸ focus protest was the first to reach the capital city.
A group of a couple hundred protestors ran through the streets near Haiti's Ministry⁹ of Health this morning, singing songs and slogans, blaming the United Nations for Haiti's cholera outbreak and demanding compensation. Protesters criticized the government for its response. The crowd charged towards UN soldiers, throwing rocks and bottles. Soldiers fired shots into the air. As Haitian police began to disperse¹⁰ the crowd, using tear gas, protesters smashed car windows, threw rubble¹¹ to block streets and set fire to tires, signs and anything they can grab from the side of the road before dispersing¹². A spokesman for the UN forces in Haiti said he was confident these protests would not become widespread. National elections are still scheduled for the end of this month. For NPR News, I'm Sabri Ben-Achour in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
The head of Ireland's Central Bank says he expects the financially embattled government to receive tens of billions of euros in loans from the IMF and other European countries. Patrick Honohan spoke¹³ as officials from the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the IMF started talks on a possible rescue package.
This and GM's reemergence in the market making US stocks go up, Dow's up nearly 180.
This is NPR.
We're seeing an uptick in unemployment claims. Labor¹⁴ Department analysts¹⁵ say the number of people who filed applications for the first time rose last week by 2,000 to a seasonally¹⁶ adjusted 439,000. However, the four-week average, which is less volatile¹⁷, fell for the fourth time in five weeks.
The Australian airline Qantas says as many as 40 Rolls-Royce engines may need to be replaced after an oil leak caused an explosion during one of its flights earlier this month. As Larry Miller¹⁸ reports from London, that's half the engine maker¹⁹'s total output.
Rolls-Royce asked Airbus to pull Trent 900 engines off the assembly line to replace those already in service. But with each A380 Airbus selling for $350 million, the European plane maker is unhappy about it. The A380 is the world's biggest passenger jet. It's seven stories tall and carries more than 500 people. The faulty engines cost ten million dollars each. In addition to Qantas, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines use them. Rolls-Royce has said little since the explosion except that it has identified the fault and is fixing it. Since the incident, Rolls-Royce shares have fallen around nine percent. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.
The number of Americans at risk of foreclosure dropped in the last quarter, but not enough to suggest that the housing market isn't still weak. The Mortgage Bankers Association says just over nine percent of homeowners missed at least one mortgage payment July to September. That's down from 9.9 percent the previous quarter.
Dow's up nearly 180 points at 11,187.

1 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

4 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。

5 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

8 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

11 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

12 dispersing   

adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Whereas gasoline fumes linger close to the ground before dispersing. 而汽油烟气却靠近地面迟迟不散。
• Earthworms may be instrumental in dispersing fungi or bacteria. 蚯蚓可能是散布真菌及细菌的工具。

13 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。

14 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。

15 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。

16 seasonally   

参考例句：

• The price of vegetables fluctuates seasonally. 蔬菜的价格随季节变动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They moved seasonally among various vegetation types to feed on plants that were flourishing. 它们还随着季节的变化而在各种类型植物之间迁移，以便吃那些茂盛的植物。 来自辞典例句

17 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。

18 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。

19 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。