NPR 2011-12-06

 President Obama is delivering a stern warning to Congress to extend the payroll¹ tax cut before it expires at year's end, saying failure to do so would mean average families will see their taxes increased by $1,000. At the White House today Mr. Obama suggested a double standard among Republicans who are opposed to the payroll extension but want to protect Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

 

"How can you fight tooth and nail to protect high-end tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and yet barely lift a finger to prevent taxes going up for 160 million Americans who really need the help?"

 

Some Republicans have said they support an extension but they remain divided on how to pay for it. The president is also pressing lawmakers to extend unemployment insurance, saying failure to do so would be "a terrible mistake". The unemployment rate is still high at 8.6% although it dropped last month - one big reason, many Americans stopped looking for work so they were no longer included in the unemployment tally².

 

The country's top aviation official Randy Babbitt is temporarily off the job, placed on leave after he was arrested for drunk driving over the weekend. According to a police statement the head of the Federal Aviation Administration was pulled over Saturday night in northern Virginia for driving on the wrong side of the road. The future of Babbitt's employment remains³ unknown.

 

The U.S. is pledging to stand with Greece as it weathers its debt crisis that's threatening the eurozone. Joanna Kakissis reports from Athens that visiting Vice⁴ President Joe Biden says it is crucial for the U.S. that Greece stick to financial reforms and recover.

 

Biden met with Lucas Papademos, the former European Central banker appointed premier⁵ last month. Biden told Papademos that the U.S. is standing⁶ with Greece in solidarity⁷ as its government imposes austerity in exchange for billions in international bailout loans. President Obama has said the eurozone crisis is the biggest threat to the recovery of the U.S. economy. Last week the U.S. joined a global effort by central banks to help the eurozone. Papademos is presiding over a fractious three-party coalition⁸ government tasked with carrying out financial reforms. He says he will do whatever it takes to keep Greece solvent⁹ and in the eurozone. For NPR News, I'm Joanna Kakissis in Athens.

 

All the fate of the euro dominates high-level talks this week which began with a face-to-face meeting between two of the region's largest economies, Germany and France. Chancellor¹⁰ Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy were in Paris, where they were expected to discuss tougher financial oversight¹¹ among other measures to contain the debt contagion¹² and save the euro.

 

At last check on Wall Street the Dow was up 74 points at 12,093; NASDAQ gaining 30, it's at 2,657.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Syria is accepting a plan to allow monitors into the country after missing an Arab League deadline. NPR's Deborah Amos reports from Beirut that Arab League ministers have threatened to impose additional economic sanctions.

 

A spokesman at Syria's Foreign Ministry¹³ confirmed the agreement after the Arab League extended the deadline on Sunday. Arab ministers have formulated¹⁴ a plan to end the violence in Syria: the first step, sending 500 monitors to restive¹⁵ cities where death tolls¹⁶ rose dramatically in November. The conditions of Syria's acceptance have not been made public yet. On Sunday the head of the Arab League committee engaged in brinkmanship diplomacy¹⁷ threatening to support U.N. action against Syria. And over the weekend a defiant¹⁸ Syrian regime conducted wargames, including the test firing of missiles. Deborah Amos, NPR News, Beirut.

 

Pakistan's prime minister says his country wants to rebuild ties with the United States despite the latest dispute involving deadly air strikes along the Pakistan-Afghan border in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed. Today Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani told the Associated Press that he believes a new relationship is not only doable but won't take long to achieve.

 

A global think tank finds incomes of the world's wealthiest 10% grow faster than those of the poorest 10%. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is out with a report that proposes developed countries high taxes to create jobs and help narrow the income disparity.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

1 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

2 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

3 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。

4 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。

5 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 solvent   

n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
• A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。

10 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。

11 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

12 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

13 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

14 formulated   

v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• He claims that the writer never consciously formulated his own theoretical position. 他声称该作家从未有意识地阐明他自己的理论见解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This idea can be formulated in two different ways. 这个意思可以有两种说法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。

16 tolls   

（缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏

参考例句：

• A man collected tolls at the gateway. 一个人在大门口收通行费。
• The long-distance call tolls amount to quite a sum. 长途电话费数目相当可观。

17 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

18 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。