NPR 2010-02-10

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman.

 

President Obama met with Republican and Democratic lawmakers at the White House today. They discussed job creation programs, health care and cutting the deficit¹.

 

"I'm gonna continue to seek the best ideas from either party as we work to tackle the pressing challenges ahead."

 

Mr. Obama spoke² with reporters at the White House as well today who asked him about a variety of issues including Iran. Iranian media says Teheran has started to enrich uranium, a process the U.S. fears could be a cover for a weapons program. Mr. Obama says Iran is risking new punishment.

 

"What we are gonna be working on over the next several weeks is developing a significant regime of sanctions that will indicate to them how isolated³ they are from the international community as a whole."

 

The Iranian Foreign Ministry⁴ says new sanctions would be a mistake.

 

Some 100 Iranians protested at the Italian Embassy in Teheran today, throwing eggs and shouting slogans against Italy and its Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome.

 

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told the Senate that the protest was hostile, and that the group tried but failed to assault the building. He said about 100 members of Iran's religious militia⁵ dressed as civilians⁶ shouted "Death to Italy" and "Death to Berlusconi." He said the attackers hurl⁷ stones at the embassy, but Iranian police intervene to stop a full-blown assault. Italy is one of Iran's main European trading partners. Last week on a visit to Israel, Prime Minister Berlusconi announced Italy was scaling back its economic dealings with Iran and wants tighter sanctions against the Teheran government. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

 

A winter storm blowing to the Midwest has forced school closures. And in Chicago, authorities have canceled flights of the city's airports. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

 

Slip roads, school closures, flight delays, all the stuff of winter is playing out in the Midwest. The city of Chicago has put its full fleet of 275 snow plow⁸ trucks on the streets in an effort to keep the roads passable. A blizzard⁹ watch is in effect until tomorrow. And the National Weather Service is forecasting more than a foot of snow for the Chicago area with winds that could gust¹⁰ up to 40 mph. With the snow has come plenty of flight cancellations and delays, more than 500 flights have been canceled at Chicago's O'Hare Airport because of earlier snow on the East Coast along with the snow here. For flights that have been getting out, there's been a delay of 90 minutes or more. At Chicago's Midway Airport, Southwest Airlines canceled all of its flights through tomorrow morning. Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago.

 

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials are up 168 points at 10,081 on trading of some 3.5 billion shares; the NASDAQ is up 25 at 2,151; the S&P 500 is up 14 points.

 

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President Obama has signed an executive order creating a task force aimed at getting government agencies to work together to combat childhood obesity¹¹. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

 

As First Lady Michelle Obama unveils details of a campaign dubbed¹² "Let's Move" aimed at encouraging more physical activity and healthier eating, the president is asking his cabinet secretaries to put their heads and agencies together to come up with some sound strategies to nudge families towards healthier lifestyles. Signing the executive order, Mr. Obama said obesity is one of the most urgent health issues the nation faces.

 

"This has enormous promise in improving the health of our children, in giving support to parents to make the kinds of healthy choices that oftentimes are very difficult."

 

He said without effective intervention¹³ aimed at combating obesity, many more children will endure serious illnesses that put a strain on the nation's health care system. Allison Aubrey, NPR News, Washington.

 

Toyota is recalling its next batch¹⁴ of vehicles to fix problems. Nearly 440,000 Prius and Lexis vehicles need repairs for brake problems. Some drivers have complained of a lag when pushing on brakes, especially when driving over bumpy¹⁵ roads. The brake problem adds to Toyota's recalls for millions of vehicles with gas pedals. Some of these are sticky, others have gotten trapped underneath¹⁶ floor mats.

 

Authorities in Southern California are warning hundreds of people to leave their homes for fear of mudslides. There's a flash flood watch posted from neighborhoods to the northeast of Los Angeles that were in the burned path of wildfires last year. There's nothing to hold back flood water or mudslides as a new round of storms bears down on the region.

 

I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.

 

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 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。

3 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

4 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。

5 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

6 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。

7 hurl   

vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂

参考例句：

• The best cure for unhappiness is to hurl yourself into your work.医治愁苦的最好办法就是全身心地投入工作。
• To hurl abuse is no way to fight.谩骂决不是战斗。

8 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

9 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

10 gust   

n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发

参考例句：

• A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。
• A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。

11 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

12 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

14 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

15 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

16 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。