NPR 2010-12-14

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

In a legal blow to the Obama administration, a federal court judge in Virginia has struck down a central piece of the president's health care law. US District Judge Henry Hudson ruled today that requiring Americans to buy health insurance was "unconstitutional". White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the administration's confident the law will remain intact.

"This is the third federal court that's rendered a decision on this portion of the Affordable¹ Care Act. And two of those courts have upheld it. So we are confident that the Affordable Care Act will be upheld."

But congressional Republicans say today's ruling underscores legal concerns they raised when health care legislation was under debate. Required health coverage² does not take effect until 2014.

Senators are expected to start holding a test vote this hour on the tax-cut compromise President Obama struck with the GOP last week. Some Democrats³ had pledged to fight an estate tax provision that they say unfairly benefits the wealthy. They wanted to see tax rates for the wealthiest households rise starting next year. Outgoing White House economic advisor⁴ Larry Summers says the tax-cut deal will help boost the economy. But as NPR's Scott Horsley tells us, Summers warns that deal isn't enough.

Larry Summers says the federal government should make a substantial and sustained effort to rebuild infrastructure⁵ next year. He says such government spending wouldn't only patch roads and bridges, but also help to fill a demand gap that's keeping the economy from reaching its full potential.

"While the economy may be out of the intensive care unit, the patient now faces the long road of not just recovering from previous affliction, but beginning to address chronic⁶ ailments⁷."

Summers' speech at the Economic Policy Institute was his last as a member of the White House economic team. He's stepping down to return to his teaching post at Harvard. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

Cold temperatures and lake-effect snow still causing problems in much of the Upper Midwest, Chuck Quirmbach of Wisconsin Public Radio says many schools are also closed.

Parts of Wisconsin received more than a foot of snow over the weekend. Drifting of that snow combined with below-zero wind chills have prompted some Wisconsin school districts to close their doors today. Patrick Saunders is a superintendent⁸ of the largely rural Luxembourg-Casco School District, where all 1,900 students have been told to stay at home.

"To put a bus out on an area where that hasn't been ploughed or has been drifted shut, the riskiest⁹ was sending a bus down those roads."

Authorities says several deaths in Wisconsin were linked to the weekend storm. The snow and cold are also triggering headaches elsewhere in the Midwest, particularly in northwest Indiana and the Lake Michigan snowbelt. For NPR News, I'm Chuck Quirmbach in Milwaukee.

The Dow's up more than 60 points at 11,472.

This is NPR.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirms US special envoy¹⁰ Richard Holbrooke is in critical but stable condition at a Washington D.C. hospital. Holbrooke was admitted Friday for surgery to repair a torn aorta¹¹.

Today, North Korea warned military cooperation between the US and South Korea could bring a nuclear war to the region. From Seoul, Doualy Xaykaothao reports the new statement was released as South Korea began new firing exercises off its three coasts.

The regularly scheduled naval¹² exercises are being conducted at some 27 locations, but not near Yeonpyeong Island, where North Korea last month fired a barrage¹³ of artillery¹⁴ shells at the South. The North claimed it fired at the island in response to South Korea firing artillery shells into its territorial¹⁵ waters. As today's military maneuvers¹⁶ began, the North, in a commentary by its state-controlled news agency, accused the South of ratcheting up tension in the region by holding joint¹⁷ military exercises with the US and Japan. Meanwhile, at a security forum¹⁸ in the capital earlier, South Korean and US defense¹⁹ officials agreed to form a joint committee that will focus on extended deterrence²⁰. For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao in Seoul.

Iran's top diplomat's been fired. State media report President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sacked Manouchehr Mottaki who's been under growing scrutiny²¹ in the past year amid repeated UN sanctions over Iran's nuclear program. But the statement from the president's office today didn't say why Mottaki was dismissed after more than five years in office. Mottaki's been temporarily replaced by the head of Iran's nuclear program.

1 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

2 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

7 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

8 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

9 riskiest   

冒险的，危险的( risky的最高级 )

参考例句：

• With markets lately rising, the riskiest investments are finding takers. 他说，在周期高峰时，投资者会追逐风险最高的资产。
• The riskiest subprime securitieshave almost no takers. 风险最高的次级证券几乎没有人持有。

10 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

11 aorta   

n.主动脉

参考例句：

• The abdominal aorta is normally smaller than the thoracic aorta.腹主动脉一般比胸主动脉小。
• Put down that jelly doughnut and look carefully at this aorta.放下手头上的东西，认真观察这张大动脉图片。

12 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

13 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

14 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

15 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

16 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

17 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

18 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

19 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。

20 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。

21 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。