NPR 2011-05-11

President Obama was on the US-Mexican border today in an effort to create public pressure on Congress to try again to pass an immigration overhaul¹ bill. NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

President Obama promised Hispanic voters in 2008 that he would pass a bill that'd enhance border security and also provided a path to legalization for undocumented workers, but when Democrats² were the majority in Congress, he wasn't able to.

"Everybody recognizes the system is broken. The question is: will we finally summon the political will to do something about it? And that's why we're here at the border today."

The president made an economic argument for immigration reform, saying one way to strengthen the middle class is to get rid of the massive underground economy that exploits illegal immigrants as a cheap source of labor⁴, depressing wages for everyone else. Mara Liasson, NPR News, the White House.

Federal Appeals Court says the government's mishandling of mental health claims by returning war veterans is unconstitutional. NPR's Richard Gonzales reports the appeals court is ordering a massive overhaul of the Department of Veterans Affairs mental health care system.

In unusually strong words, a three-judge panel of the US 9th Circuit says the VA's unchecked incompetence⁵ has gone on long enough. The court notes that an average of 18 veterans commit suicide every day. A quarter of them were enrolled⁶ in the VA health care system. The court says veterans suffering from severe depression or post-traumatic stress disorder⁷ were forced to wait weeks for an appointment and then wait an average of four years for full mental health services. The ruling overturns a lower court that said there is no system-wide crisis in mental health care delivery for vets⁸. The appeals court says it would have preferred that the Congress or president fix the VA, but it says those branches of government have chronically⁹ failed. Richard Gonzales, NPR New, San Francisco.

Federal Appeals Panel today heard arguments in two Virginia lawsuits¹⁰ challenging the country's health overhaul plan. The three-judge panel, the 4th US Court of Appeals, is vigorously questioning lawyers on both sides, though much of the debate was over whether the law's requirement that individuals buy insurance is constitutional. Ken³ Cuccinelli is Virginia's Attorney General and says the hearing before the appeals court is little more than a warm-up for what's next.

"We hope to hear from the 4th Circuit sometime this summer, and then we will be on to the Supreme¹¹ Court."

Richmond-based 4th Circuit has historically been built as the nation's most conservative appeals court. A recent Democratic appointment has steered¹² it towards a more ideological¹³ center.

Stocks held on to some of their gains, with the market shrugging off early losses, as investors¹⁴ tried to determine [the] future direction of the market. The market was boosted by a couple of stronger-than-expected earnings¹⁵ reports along with Microsoft's deal to buy Skype. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 75 points to close at 12,760; the NASDAQ gained 28 points, ending the session at 2,871; the S&P 500 was up ten points today.

You're listening to NPR News in Washington.

Guitarist Cornell Dupree has died. His playing can be heard on thousands of recordings¹⁷ by the likes of Aretha Franklin, Miles Daivs, Paul Simon, Joe Cocker and many more. As NPR's Felix Contreras reports, the 68-year-old musician died from complications of emphysema in Fort Worth.

One of Cornell Dupree's first recordings as a session musician was the song "Rainy Night in Georgia" by vocalist Brook¹⁸ Benton in 1970.

"Hoverin' by my suitcase, tryin' to find a warm place to spend the night."

Cornell Dupree played on many landmark¹⁹ recordings in the 70s and 80s, and he worked so often with the same small group of session musicians. They formed their own supergroup of sorts called Stuff. Just four weeks ago, Cornell Dupree finished recording¹⁶ his 11th solo album, which will be released in September. Felix Contreras, NPR News.

Online search engine Google is moving into music, announcing a new service that will let users store their music remotely then access it via mobile phone, tablet or computer. Called Music Beta by Google, the service will be available by invitation and will be free to users while it's being tested. It will allow users to load up to 20,000 songs to remote servers and access them through an Internet connection. The service will compete with Amazon's cloud-based service that lets users play songs they've uploaded themselves to a remote server.

Crude oil futures²⁰ prices after giving some ground last week appear to be inclined to take some of it back this week. After yesterday's more than five-dollar-a-barrel rise, oil was up another dollar and 33 cents a barrel today to settle at 103 dollars and 88 cents a barrel in New York.

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

4 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。

5 incompetence   

n.不胜任，不称职

参考例句：

• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
• She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得，本是老板无能，但她却成了替罪羊。

6 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

8 vets   

abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• I helped train many young vets and veterinary nurses too. 我还帮助培训了许多年青的兽医和护士。 来自互联网
• In fact, we've expanded mental health counseling and services for our vets. 实际上，我们已经扩大了退伍军人的心理健康咨询和服务。 来自互联网

9 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

10 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

11 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。

12 steered   

v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。
• The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 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

15 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

16 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

17 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

18 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

19 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

20 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。