NPR 2010-05-13

Congressional investigators¹ say three previously² undisclosed defects in a critical safety device may have contributed to the massive oil spill in the Gulf³ of Mexico. The rig was owned by Transocean and leased by energy company BP. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

The problems are in the blowout preventer, a stack of hydraulic⁴ rams⁶ and seals that sit on the wellhead deep undersea. The device failed to function when a blowout killed 11 workers on the rig, sank the rig itself and caused the still worsening oil spill. At a hearing today, Democratic Congressman⁷ Bart Stupak of Michigan said the blowout preventer seemed to be leaking hydraulic fluid from a loose fitting. He said the unit had been modified. A piece of testing equipment had been installed in place of a ram⁵ that could have reduced the oil flow and he said the control pod had a dead battery. That would have disabled an emergency backup called a "deadman switch". Peter Overby, NPR News,Washington.

Meanwhile, BP says the new container it's dropped into the Gulf of Mexico has reached the ocean floor, but it's not on top of the gushing⁸ pipeline⁹. BP says engineers are double-checking that the contraption works. It's intended to sit atop the gushing well and funnel¹⁰ leaking oil straight up to the surface. BP hopes that will make it easier to collect the pipes in a larger dome¹¹ that were clogged¹² with ice. This time engineers will try to warm up the smaller dome so it will work properly.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited President Obama today at the White House. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports the two men presented a united front at a press conference.

A few weeks ago, Presidents Obama and Karzai were publicly criticizing each other. On this visit, the tone has been completely different. President Obama called the friction¹³ between the two men "overstated".

"I'm very comfortable with the strong efforts that President Karzai has made thus far."

And President Karzai returned the assurances.

"The bottom line is that we are much more strongly related to each other today than we ever were before."

Neither man openly discussed the corruption¹⁴ that has dogged to the Karzai government. Karzai said his country will work with the US to make sure American resources going to Afghanistan are spent well and with care. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

Officials in Libya say terrorism did not cause the plane crash today in Tripoli. The airbus was coming in for a landing when it went down. More than 100 people are believed dead. One person survived the accident - a Dutch child. Officials in the Netherlands say there were 61 Dutch passengers aboard the flight. There's no word on what may have caused the crash. The weather was good. Air traffic controllers in Europe say ash from Iceland's volcano probably had no role in the incident.

On Wall Street just before the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 150 points. It was at 10,898.

This is NPR.

The share prices of investment bank Morgan Stanley fell about 2.5% in trading today. The Wall Street Journal reports federal prosecutors¹⁵ are investigating the firm. They want to learn whether Morgan Stanley traders misled investors¹⁶ about complicated deals involving derivatives¹⁷. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

The report said the investigation¹⁸ is at an early stage. It involves pools of mortgage-related assets that Morgan Stanley bundled into packages that were then sold by other firms to investors. At the same time, the Journal said Morgan Stanley was also betting against the same investments. The packages were named after Presidents Jackson and Buchanan and traders called them the "Dead Presidents" deals. The allegations are similar to those made against Goldman Sachs by the Securities and Exchange Commission recently. Neither the SEC nor the Justice Department would comment on the report and Morgan Stanley said it had received no indication of any investigation from US officials. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

The federal government says the trade deficit¹⁹ got larger in March. The Commerce Department says it expanded to more than $40 billion. That's a 2.5% increase and the largest monthly gap since December, 2008. American exports increased more than 3%, but Americans imported more expensive items, particularly crude oil. The cost of oil also went up.

Representatives for the Republican National Committee have chosen Tampa as the site for the GOP's 2012 presidential convention. The Florida city beat competitors Salt Lake City and Phoenix²⁰. The full Republican National Committee must ratify²¹ the decision later this year. It's not expected to change.
 

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。

5 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

6 rams   

n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
• More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

10 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

11 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

12 clogged   

（使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞

参考例句：

• The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
• The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。

13 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

14 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

15 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

16 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

17 derivatives   

n.衍生性金融商品；派生物，引出物( derivative的名词复数 )；导数

参考例句：

• Many English words are derivatives of Latin words. 许多英语词来自拉丁语。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These compounds are nitrosohydroxylamine derivatives. 这类合成物是亚硝基羟胺衍生物。 来自辞典例句

18 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

19 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。

20 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

21 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。