NPR 2010-04-15

President Obama has met with the bipartisan leadership of Congress at the White House. They discussed financial re-regulation legislation. As NPR’s Mara Liasson reports, the parties sound as though they are moving farther apart, not closer together on the bill. 

 

The president said he’s confident the bill will not lead to more taxpayer¹ bailouts for Wall Street as the Republicans of charge. In fact, Mr. Obama said the purpose of the bill is to make sure there are no more “too big to fail” banks, but right after the meeting, the Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell came to the White House driveway and blasted the Democrats². 

 

“It’s a bill that actually guarantees future bailouts of Wall Street banks. And in fact, if you look at it carefully, it will lead to endless taxpayer bailouts to Wall Street banks.”

But Democrats say Republicans are making the charge about bailouts to cover up the fact that in this debate Republicans are siding with Wall Street which is lobbying hard against the Dodd bill. Mara Liasson, NPR News, the White House.

 

The Senate has failed to extend long-term unemployment benefits for Americans who’ve been out of work for more than six months. Democratic senators needed 60 votes to block a Republican filibuster³. They have 58. Republican say they don’t want to add to the costs of the deficit⁴ by paying for these unemployment benefits. They say this bill should be paid for by cutting something out of the bill.

 

Former vice⁵ presidential nominee⁶ Sarah Palin headlined a rally today in Boston. Thousands of Tea Party activists⁷ have gathered on Boston Common. It is a short distance from the side of the colonial Tea Party in 1773. From member station WBUR, Sonari Glinton reports.

 

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin may have been the guest of honor at Boston’s Tea Party rally, but it was President Obama who was the main topic of conversation. Palin took on the president’s agenda point by point: health care, the stimulus⁸ program, the proposed financial regulatory overhauls⁹, and even his campaign slogan.

 

“Is this what their ‘change’ is all about? I want to tell ’em, nah, you know, we’ll keep clinging to our Constitution and our guns and religion, and you can keep the change.”

 

Absent from the Boston Tea Party rally was the junior senator from Massachusetts, Scott Brown, whose election was seen as benefiting from the movement. The next stop for the Tea Party Express—a rally tomorrow on Tax Day in Washington. For NPR News, I’m Sonari Glinton in Boston.

 

At least 400 people have died in rural western China from a powerful earthquake today. The tremor¹⁰ struck Qinghai Province earlier in the day, toppling buildings and triggering landslides¹¹. Survivors¹² are using shovels¹³ and their hands to dig through rubble¹⁴ to find other survivors. Estimates suggest at least 10,000 people are hurt. The Chinese government is mounting a relief effort, but the epicenter of the quake is so remote. It will take time for a great deal of aid to arrive.

 

On Wall Street before the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 105 points at 11,125.

 

This is NPR.

 

Officials from the Pentagon say Iran could build a nuclear weapon in about a year. But the vice chairman of the Joint¹⁵ Chiefs of Staff says it would take longer than that for Iran to build a delivery system of missile to use with the weapon. General James Cartwright told the Senate Armed Services Committee today Iran would also need time to test any weapon it builds.

 

Gay rights groups are criticizing the Vatican over a statement from a Catholic cardinal¹⁶ in response to criticism over how Catholic Church leaders are dealing¹⁷ with the sex abuse scandal. The cardinal claimed pedophilia is linked to homosexuality. NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli reports.

 

In a televised press conference in the Chilean capital, Santiago, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s number two, said many psychologists and psychiatrists¹⁸ have shown there’s no relationship between celibacy¹⁹ and pedophilia, while others have demonstrated the link between homosexuality and pedophilia. Gay groups from Latin America to Europe condemned²⁰ Bertone’s claim. Italy’s biggest homosexual association, Arcigay, described it as shocking and irresponsible. And a Chilean gay group said neither Bertone nor the Vatican has the moral authority to give lessons on sexuality. A statement today by the Vatican spokesman appeared to take its distance from Cardinal Bertone. Father Federico Lombardi said it’s not church authorities’ brief to make general statements of a psychological or medical nature, which should be left to specialists. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News.

 

Voters in Poland will probably go to the polls June 20th to choose a new president. The country’s late President Lech Kaczynski was killed last weekend in a plane crash along with head of Poland’s leading opposition²¹ party and 94 other people.

 

1 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

2 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》

3 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

4 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。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

7 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

9 overhauls   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的第三人称单数 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• The plant overhauls 8 locomotive, manufactures and repairs 100 train vehicles annually. 年机车解体大修8部，修、制各类型铁路车辆百余辆。 来自互联网
• The wind turbine generator overhauls what is the standard flow? 风机检修的的标准流程是什么？ 来自互联网

10 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

11 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

12 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

13 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

14 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。

15 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。

16 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

17 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

18 psychiatrists   

n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
• Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分

19 celibacy   

n.独身(主义)

参考例句：

• People in some religious orders take a vow of celibacy. 有些宗教修会的人发誓不结婚。
• The concept of celibacy carries connotations of asceticism and religious fervor. 修道者的独身观念含有禁欲与宗教热情之意。

20 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

21 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。