NPR 2010-03-19

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

 

President Obama is hailing a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that says his healthcare bill will reduce the deficit¹. NPR’s Mara Liasson reports.

 

In the Rose Garden just before signing a jobs bill into law, President Obama trumpeted² the latest assessment³ of the Congressional Budget Office—the official number cruncher and referee⁴ of the healthcare debate. The CBO says the healthcare bill will reduce the deficit by $1.3 trillion over 20 years.

 

“This is but one virtue⁵ of a reform that will bring new accountability to the insurance industry and greater economic security to all Americans.”

 

The president is doing everything he can to get the votes he needs in the House to pass the healthcare bill. He’s meant to talk to two dozen wavering Democrats⁶ and he’s postponed⁷ his trip to Asia which was scheduled to begin on Sunday. The White House says he’ll now make the trip to Indonesia and Australia in June. Mara Liasson, NPR News, the White House.

 

US casualties in Iraq are going up. An American soldier was killed in combat today in Baghdad. Nearly 4,400 members of the military have died in Iraq since the war began seven years ago this month.

 

The United States is urging Russia to delay putting a nuclear power plant online in Iran this summer. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered that message on a visit to Moscow. And NPR’s David Greene has details.

 

Shortly after Secretary Clinton landed, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made the announcement: The Russian-built nuclear power plant in Iran should be up and running this summer. Clinton criticized the move, saying Iran has to show it’s only interested in civilian⁸ nuclear power, not nuclear weapons.

 

“In the absence of those reassurances⁹, we think it would be premature¹⁰ to go forward with any project at this time, because we want to send an unequivocal message to the Iranians.”

 

Clinton was addressing reporters alongside Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He said delivering on the promise to build the Bushehr power plant is a way to encourage Iran to cooperate. Secretary Clinton wraps up her visit Friday after meetings with Putin and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. David Greene, NPR News, Moscow.

 

The woman who calls herself Jihad Jane is pleading not guilty. Colleen Larose appeared before a federal court judge in Philadelphia today and denied the terror-related charges against her. She’s accused of conspiring¹¹ with Jihadists and plotting to kill a cartoonist who depicted¹² Islam’s prophet Mohammed in a way that outraged¹⁴ many Muslims.

 

In the US, there’s a new law on the books; it offers employers tax breaks, if they put people back to work. Today, President Obama signed that bill, the first in a series of jobs legislation intended to bring down the 9.7% unemployment rate. Earlier, the Labor¹⁵ Department reported that new unemployment claims dropped last week for the third time in a row.

 

US stocks continue to gain ground today. At last check, the Dow was up 45 points at 10,779.

 

This is NPR.

 

Actor Fess Parker, best known for playing American folk hero Davy Crockett, has died. The Los Angeles Times reports he died of complications from old age at his home in California. Mr. Parker was 85 years old.

 

Residents in areas of the Upper Midwest have stacked millions of sandbags in preparation for flooding. Minnesota Public Radio’s Rupa Shenoy reports.

 

The sandbags and levees are in place. National Guard troops and home owners are patrolling dikes along the Red River in Fargo, Moorhead. The focus is on making sure those temporary structures are high enough. Rivers are rising because of fast-melting snow and ice as well as recent rains. Ice jams are already causing flooding in unexpected places. Minnesota and North Dakota have closed stretches of several highways. The Red River in Fargo is expected to crest¹⁶ some time late on Sunday, just shy of last year’s all-time record of 40 feet. Weather forecasts show a chance of rain into the weekend. For NPR News, I’m Rupa Shenoy.

 

Anti-government protesters in Thailand are threatening to keep rallying in Bangkok and prolonged disruptions are already affecting business in the capital. Tens of thousands of people are still camped out in the heart of Bangkok, demanding new elections. They’ve used a number of radical¹⁷ tactics to express their outrage¹³, including splattering jugs¹⁸ of their own blood at the prime minister’s home yesterday.

 

Back in the US, we’ve seen hardly changing consumer prices, Labor Department reporting that last month’s prices edged up 0.1%. Food prices went up, but that was offset¹⁹ by a drop in energy costs.

 

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.
 

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 trumpeted   

大声说出或宣告（trumpet的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Soldiers trumpeted and bugled. 士兵们吹喇叭鸣号角。
• The radio trumpeted the presidential campaign across the country. 电台在全国范围大力宣传总统竞选运动。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

5 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

6 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》

7 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

8 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

9 reassurances   

n.消除恐惧或疑虑( reassurance的名词复数 )；恢复信心；使人消除恐惧或疑虑的事物；使人恢复信心的事物

参考例句：

• We have had some reassurances from the council that the building will be saved. 理事会保证会保留那座建筑，这使我们得到了些许安慰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Everybody's reassurances have encouraged me. 大家的勉励鼓舞了我。 来自辞典例句

10 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

11 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

12 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

13 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

14 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

15 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。

16 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

17 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

18 jugs   

（有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two china jugs held steaming gravy. 两个瓷罐子装着热气腾腾的肉卤。
• Jugs-Big wall lingo for Jumars or any other type of ascenders. 大岩壁术语，祝玛式上升器或其它种类的上升器。

19 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。