NPR 2010-02-01

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carol Van Dam.

President Obama's plan to create more jobs could cost around 100 billion dollars. That's according to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs who appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" today.

"We wanna add infrastructure¹ spending, which we know will create jobs, and another part of the president's plan is to take money that the big banks have paid back through TARP, and lend that money through community banks again to small businesses."

House Minority leader John Boehner of Ohio says the policies coming out of the Obama administration over the past year have caused the country to actually lose more jobs.

"We are gonna change those job-killing policies if we expect the economy to grow again, put Americans back to work."

In his State of the Union address last week, the president called for a 30-billion-dollar program giving tax breaks to small businesses that hire new workers.

The federal government's response to the financial crisis makes future crises more likely according to a report on the bank bailout program issued by a Treasury² Department watchdog agency. Steve Beckner of Market News International reports.

The quarterly report to Congress on the 700-billion-dollar Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP, warns that government efforts to rescue banks and prop³ up the housing market are paving the way for a more excess risk-taking. TARP Special Inspector⁴ General Neil Barofsky wrote "Even if TARP saved our financial system from driving off a cliff back in 2008, absent meaningful reform, we are still driving on the same winding⁵ mountain road, but this time in a faster car." In particular, Barofsky had misgivings⁶ about efforts to support housing including massive Federal Reserve purchases of mortgage-backed securities to hold down mortgage rates. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner.

Ten American church members are reportedly being detained by Haitian police after trying to bus 33 orphan⁷ children to Santo Domingo. NPR's Mandalit del Barco has more from Port-au-Prince.

Ten members of Baptist Churches in Idaho are being held at police headquarters in Port-au-Prince after trying to cross into the Dominican Republic with 33 orphan children from Haiti. Sean Lankford says his wife and 18-year-old daughter were among those arrested on charges of child trafficking.

"That's not at all what they were doing. They were down there on a rescue mission for orphan."

Lankford says they picked up the children from an orphanage⁸ that had collapsed⁹ in the earthquake nearly three weeks ago. They'd hoped to take them to a new orphanage in the Dominican Republic to possibly be adopted. Haitian police say the missionaries¹⁰ did not have the proper documents to take the children out of the country. The arrests were made just days after Haiti put new restrictions¹¹ on adoptions¹². Mandalit del Barco, NPR News, Port-au-Prince.

Doctors with the Boston-based Partners in Health say they've medevaced three critically wounded children out of Haiti to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, bypassing bureaucratic¹³ red tape over who pays for more Haitian earthquake victims. The group's clinical director says the children would have died if they stayed in Port-au-Prince. A five-year-girl with tetanus and a 14-month-old boy with pneumonia¹⁴ were among those children.

This is NPR.

Russian police broke up anti-government protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg today, detaining scores of demonstrators. Several hundred protestors gathered in the central square in Moscow in direct defiance¹⁵ of a government ban. The demonstrators say the ban violates the Russian constitution's guarantee of the right to gather. They denounced President Dmitry Medvedev's policies and those of his predecessor¹⁶ Vladimir Putin.

The UN's Refugee Agency reports the humanitarian¹⁷ crisis in Yemen is deepening. It says a quarter of a million civilians¹⁸ have been displaced since the conflict in northern Yemen flared¹⁹ up in 2004. Lisa Schlein says the report more than doubles the number of homeless people recorded last August.

The UN Refugee Agency reports around 7,000 people every week now are fleeing the fighting between the government and al-Houti rebels. Spokesman Andrej Mahecic says these people can no longer cope or sustain themselves in the areas of conflict.

"Making ends meet is getting increasingly difficult for displaced population as well as to get access to basic services such as health and education. Most of them fled, leaving behind almost all their belongings²⁰ and cattle, which was the pillar of their livelihoods²¹ and primary source of income."

Mahecic says camps for displaced people are becoming overcrowded. Many have fled their homes without any belongings and are unable to make ends meet. He says the UNHCR is distributing supplies including tents, mattresses²² and blankets to the homeless. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

Avatar has once again topped all movies at the box office this weekend, earning 30 million dollars. The 3D epic²³ has now raked in more than 594 million dollars. It's already set a worldwide box office record.

I'm Carol Van Dam, NPR News, Washington.

1 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。

2 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。

3 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

4 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

5 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

6 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

8 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

12 adoptions   

n.采用，收养( adoption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Adoption agencies are always so open to alternative family adoptions. 领养中介机构永远都对领养家庭敞开。 来自电影对白
• The number of adoptions has grown in the past year. 去年，收养子女的数字增加了。 来自互联网

13 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

14 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

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 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

17 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

18 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

19 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

20 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

21 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

22 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

23 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。