NPR 2011-10-14

 President Obama says he's working with America's international allies to hold Iran accountable for allegedly plotting to assassinate³ a Saudi diplomat⁴. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports the president called the conspiracy⁵ part of a pattern of dangerous behavior by the Iranian government.

 

President Obama would not say whether he believes Iran's leader was aware of the assassination⁶ plot. He did say the alleged² conspiracy violates the basic principles of how international diplomats⁷ have been treated for centuries.

 

"Even if at the highest levels there was not detailed⁸ operational knowledge, there has to be accountability with respect to anybody in the Iranian government engaging in this kind of activity."

 

Two men with ties to Iran were arrested in the US and charged with plotting to kill Saudi Arabia's US ambassador. President Obama spoke⁹ at a news conference with the visiting leader of South Korea. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

 

Company officials say Blackberry services are back to normal after a three-day outage that affected¹⁰ millions of customers around the world. But Research In Motion says it is now on the process of flushing through stalled messages. Mike Lazaridis is the founder¹¹ and co-CEO of the company.

 

"I apologize for the service outages this week. We've let many of you down. But let me assure you that we're working around the clock to fix this."

 

The company says the problem originated Monday with a failed link in its European network and then the backup failed. Lazaridis says the company is now looking into ways of winning back consumer trust.

 

The Labor¹² Department says the number of people filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits dropped slightly last week. They fell to 404,000. Danielle Karson says economists¹⁴ say the job market remains¹⁵ stagnant¹⁶.

 

New claims were steadily¹⁷ falling [at] the beginning of the year but have hovered¹⁸ around 400,000 since April. Analysts¹⁹ say the level is too high to suggest much job growth. Chris Christopher, an economist¹³ at IHS Global Insight, says the problem is that businesses and consumers are stuck in a catch-22 situation.

 

"Businesses are sort of saying "Hey, growth is very bad and consumers are not spending so I'm not gonna hire." And then consumers are saying "Hey, I'm not gonna spend too much because firms are not hiring so I'm gonna hold back a little."

 

The labor market showed some signs of life last month, with employers adding 103,000 jobs in September. But the economy needs to add double that number each month to make a dent¹ in the jobless rate. For NPR News, I'm Danielle Karson in Washington.

 

Foreclosure activity is apparently²⁰ picking up, suggesting banks are becoming more aggressive against borrowers in default. RealtyTrac says the number of foreclosure filings in the third quarter edged up less than 1%, reversing a trend of three straight quarters of declines.

 

On Wall Street just before the close, the markets were mixed. The Dow was down 41; the NASDAQ up 15; the S&P was down four.

 

This is NPR.

 

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is no longer under investigation²¹ by French authorities. The Paris prosecutor's office today dropped the probe into a writer's claim that Strauss-Kahn tried to rape²² her, and they cited lack of sufficient proof. Prosecutors²³ say Strauss-Kahn did admit to a lesser²⁴ charge of sexual assault. It is the second legal victory for Strauss-Kahn, who faced rape charges in New York but saw them dropped when prosecutors questioned the victim's credibility.

 

In Afghanistan, two NATO soldiers have died in separate incidents. Also, NPR's Quil Lawrence reports a US military investigation has cleared commanders of any wrongdoing in an August helicopter crash that killed 30 US soldiers.

 

NATO said improvised²⁵ bombs killed soldiers in the south and east of the country but did not provide further details. A US army investigation concluded that the shootdown of a Chinook helicopter in August was not due to [a] strategic error. Commanders had crowded 30 soldiers into one airship in order to get them quickly to a target in Wardak province, just west of Kabul. A group of Taliban fighters were able to shoot down the Chinook by firing several rocket-propelled grenades from the top of a building. One of them hit a rotor blade. It was the deadliest incident of the war for US troops. American officials say they later killed the Taliban commander responsible. Quil Lawrence, NPR News, Kandahar.

 

There are likely plenty of prayers at the Washington National Cathedral today as a crane removed parts of a pinnacle²⁶ from the structure's central tower. Engineers used a crane to remove three pieces weighing two tons from the tower. The stonework was damaged by the August earthquake that hit the East Coast.

1 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

2 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

3 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

4 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

5 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

6 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

7 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

9 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。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

12 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。

13 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。

14 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

17 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

18 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

19 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

20 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

21 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。

22 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

23 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。

24 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

25 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

26 pinnacle   

n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰

参考例句：

• Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
• It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。