NPR 2010-06-24

The top US commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal is out. President Obama made the announcement after hearing about disparaging¹ remarks the general and his aides made about members of the national security team.

"We need to remember what this is all about. Our nation is at war. We face a very tough fight in Afghanistan."

McChrystal’s been replaced by General David Petraeus. We have more on this from NPR's Jackie Northam.

President Obama announced his decision to replace McChrystal following a one-on-one meeting with him earlier in the morning. Mr Obama said he had respect for McChrystal and was sad with the decision, but the president was also angry about an article for Rolling Stone magazine in which McChrystal and his aides made critical remarks about Mr Obama and his national security team. Now, General Petraeus will be in charge of a war which has recently lost momentum². He's well-respected amongst the Obama administration, and his appointment means that there will be continuity to the operation in Afghanistan. Petraeus may also have the ability to knit together the frayed³ relations between military officials in Afghanistan and their civilian⁴ counterparts. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Washington.

Americans across the world are celebrating a stunning⁵ victory in the World Cup in South Africa.

"There it is, the moment, deep, deep into the match to give the USA surely a place in the last 16. It is brilliant... "

Landon Donovan scores a single goal against Algeria on a rebound⁶ 45 seconds into four minutes of injury time.

"I'm just, I'm shocked and I'm so proud of our guys, man, unbelievable."

The US advances to the second round.

The Federal Reserve says the European debt crisis is affecting US economic growth. Fed officials made the comment this afternoon at the end of a two-day meeting where they voted to keep interest rates where they are. More from NPR's Jim Zarroli.

The decision to keep interest rates at their historically low levels was widely expected. So instead investors⁷ were focused on the Fed's statement. It said the recovery is proceeding⁸ and the economy is gradually improving. Businesses are spending significantly more on equipment and software, and household spending is constrained⁹ by modest income growth and high unemployment. For the first time, Fed officials alluded¹⁰ to the debt crisis in Europe. They said financial conditions have become less supportive of economic growth, reflecting developments abroad. Jim Zarroli, NPR News.

New-home sales take an unexpected nosedive, falling 33% in May after the homebuyer tax credits went away. Economist¹¹ Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial attributes the falloff to high unemployment.

"At the end of the day, it's all about job, it's about people qualifying for mortgage with income, with income that's accountable."

The Commerce Department's report follows news of an unexpected drop in existing-home sales.

Last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up six points at 10,299, NASDAQ down eight at 2,254.

This is NPR.

CNN has named two new hosts to take over its 8:00 pm slot on week nights - former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and a syndicated columnist¹² Kathleen Parker. As NPR's David Folkenflik reports the show represents the channel's latest effort to capture prime time viewers.

The show's premise¹³ sounds like an echo of the touchstone ideological¹⁴ debate program "Crossfire¹⁵" banished¹⁶ just a few years ago by Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN's American network. Kathleen Parker is a conservative columnist who won this year's Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Eliot Spitzer was a crusading Democratic state attorney general who became a bare-knuckled political brawler¹⁷ during his brief stint¹⁸ as governor. Klein now promises viewers what he calls a lively roundup of all the best ideas, an implied contrast to the prime time conservatism of Fox News and liberalism of MSNBC. Interestingly, CNN's announcement omitted all reference to the episode that gave Spitzer national infamy¹⁹, his resignation as governor amid the disclosure he'd been a client of a tony prostitution ring. David Folkenflik, NPR News, New York.

An international attempt at limiting whale hunting is at an impasse²⁰ that enables Japan, Iceland, Norway more time to keep hunting, perhaps hundreds of mammals a year. The three whaling nations offered to limit their catch, but they are against ending whale hunting altogether. Collapsed²¹ talks raise fresh doubts about the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission, a group charges with keeping whales from going extinct.

Canadians and Americans were reporting being shaken at midday from a 5.5-magnitude earthquake today felt in Toronto and some US states. No immediate reports of injuries

1 disparaging   

adj.轻蔑的，毁谤的v.轻视( disparage的现在分词 )；贬低；批评；非难

参考例句：

• Halliday's comments grew daily more and more sparklingly disagreeable and disparaging. 一天天过去，哈里代的评论越来越肆无忌惮，越来越讨人嫌，越来越阴损了。 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡
• Even with favorable items they would usually add some disparaging comments. 即使对好消息，他们也往往要加上几句诋毁的评语。 来自互联网

2 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

3 frayed   

adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His shirt was frayed. 他的衬衫穿破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The argument frayed their nerves. 争辩使他们不快。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 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。

5 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

6 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

7 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

8 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

9 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。

10 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

13 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

14 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

15 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

16 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 brawler   

争吵者，打架者

参考例句：

• Drunken Brawler can crit and proc a ground unit, but not an air unit. 醉拳可以躲避地面单位的攻击或者对其产生致命一击，却不能作用于空军。

18 stint   

v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事

参考例句：

• He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
• We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。

19 infamy   

n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行

参考例句：

• They may grant you power,honour,and riches but afflict you with servitude,infamy,and poverty.他们可以给你权力、荣誉和财富，但却用奴役、耻辱和贫穷来折磨你。
• Traitors are held in infamy.叛徒为人所不齿。

20 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

21 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。