NPR 2011-11-15

 A long-anticipated legal battle over the country's health care law is now slated¹ to unfold before the nation's highest court. The US Supreme² Court decides next year whether Congress acted within its constitutional authority in passing a law that requires most Americans to either have health insurance or pay a penalty.

 

The Obama administration meanwhile is announcing an initiative to replicate³ successful health care models and expand the US health care workforce⁴. NPR's Paul Brown reports up to $1 billion in new funding will go to programs that are already working well.

 

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says the initiative is another step in fulfilling the health care bill's promise of improved, more accessible care with restrained costs. She says grand funds will help people and programs with records of improving health care in their communities.

 

"By supporting sustainable projects that can be rapidly deployed⁵ and a high priority will be given to the projects that are creating the next generation of health care workers."

 

That will boost health care employment, which the White House sees as good in a tough job market and it could help address a predicted shortage of doctors and other medical personnel in a decade or more ahead. Paul Brown, NPR News, Washington.

 

Germany's Chancellor⁶ Angela Merkel is calling for tighter political union in Europe to overcome the ongoing⁷ debt crisis in that region which she calls maybe Europe's most difficult hours since World War II. NPR's Eric Westervelt has details on the chancellor's latest response to debt woes⁸ that threaten the future of the single currency.

 

Chancellor Merkel told members of her conservative CDU party that the European Union's treaties have to be overhauled⁹ to create a stronger political and by extension, fiscal¹⁰ union. She renewed the call for measures to force eurozone countries in violation¹¹ of fiscal discipline rules to face strong and quick sanctions. She said the euro is more than a currency. It's a symbol of Europe's unification for half a century of freedom and peace, adding "Now we have to make sure Europe emerges strengthened from the crisis." Merkel has faced strong criticism within her own party for the costly¹² bailouts of debt-burdened Greece and other countries. She's also taken flak from critics who say her cautious take-it-slow approach to eurozone reforms has only made the crisis worse. Eric Westervelt, NPR News.

 

A bipartisan committee's deadline to identify at least $1.2 trillion in deficit¹³ cuts is just 10 days away. They remain divided over the same issues that have stalled previous debt talks, higher taxes as well as deeper spending cuts. But the lawmakers say they're still optimistic they will find common ground.

 

At last check on Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 90 points at 12,064; NASDAQ off 17 at 2,662.

 

This is NPR News.

 

The Syrian government warns the Arab League's decision to suspend Damascus is "extremely dangerous". It has called on the league to hold an emergency meeting in an apparent effort to delay the suspension that was prompted by Syria's deadly crackdown on political dissidents. Jordan is adding its voice to the condemnations against Syria. King Abdullah has told the BBC that he believes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should resign. The United Nations estimates more than 3,500 people have died since the uprising began in Syria more than seven months ago.

 

Amazon is shipping¹⁴ its new tablet out one day early. NPR's Zoe Chace reports Amazon is banking¹⁵ on the price of the Kindle¹⁶ Fire attracting a lot of customers.

 

OK, it's not the first tablet to hit the market but it's one of the cheapest. The Kindle Fire costs $199. Apple's iPad 2 costs about $500, which is the point. Amazon is hoping to snap up everyone who sat out of the iPad frenzy¹⁷ because the iPads were too expensive or the line was too long to get one.

 

"Amazon is trying to put a storefront in your hands for which they're willing to more or less give it away."

 

Andrew Rassweiler is with iSuppli, a company who estimated that Amazon sells each Kindle Fire at about a $10 loss, that is, it costs $10 more to make it than they're charging for it. Because once you have your little tablet, you're kind of married to the company who manufactured it. You buy all your books, movies and music at the Amazon. That's the strategy anyway. Zoe Chace, NPR News, New York.

 

US stocks trading lower with the Dow down 84 points at last check at 12,070.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

1 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

4 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

5 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

6 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

9 overhauled   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修，换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

11 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

12 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

13 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。

14 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

15 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

16 kindle   

v.点燃，着火

参考例句：

• This wood is too wet to kindle.这木柴太湿点不着。
• A small spark was enough to kindle Lily's imagination.一星光花足以点燃莉丽的全部想象力。

17 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。