NPR 2011-06-10

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

The top staff of Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign have resigned en masse. As NPR's Mara Liasson reports, their departure raises the question of whether the Gingrich campaign, rocky from the start, can go on.

Gingrich's entire staff in Iowa, his national consultants¹ and his long-time aide Rick Tyler have resigned. This occurred just as Gingrich came back from a controversial vacation in the Greek islands with his wife Callista. The Greek cruise was seen as yet another political problem for the former House speaker, who had raised eyebrows² when it was discovered he had once had a charge account at Tiffany's with a balance of over 250,000 dollars. Gingrich's former aides in Iowa complained that he wasn't doing what was necessary to get his campaign off the ground. Mara Liasson, NPR News, Washington.

Defense³ Secretary nominee⁴ Leon Panetta says he thinks US troops should stay in Iraq past the end of the year if Baghdad asks. He called for a careful drawdown of troops from Afghanistan scheduled to start next month and for US allies to stay the course against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"I think there are some signs that if we continue the pressure, if we stick with it, that ultimately Gaddafi will step down."

The CIA director addressing the Senate Arms Services Committee today. He is seeking Senate confirmation⁵ to succeed Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Abu Dhabi is hosting a meeting on a post-civil war Libya. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is there.

Clinton said she's aware that people close to Gaddafi have been making overtures⁶ to negotiate his departure, but she says there's still no clear path forward. She says momentum⁷ is building against him.

"We have very good reason to believe that time is on our side so long as we sustain the pressure."

She was speaking after a meeting of the so-called contact group on Libya. Clinton said there's growing support for the rebel government, the Transitional National Council. A new funding mechanism⁸ was launched to help get aid and loans to the TNC. Italy, Turkey, Kuwait and Qatar were among the countries promising⁹ hundreds of millions of dollars after the council agreed that a future Libyan government would pay back any loans. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Abu Dhabi.

President Obama is promising federal help to Arizona, saying as much in a phone call to government Jan Brewer¹⁰, whose state is enduring its second largest ever wildfire. The Wallow blaze in eastern Arizona's White Mountains is 525 square miles, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate¹¹. Robbie Roberdu is staying at a Red Cross shelter for people with special needs, worrying whether her home will survive this fire.

"I had just bought my first trailer and my very own home, and it's still parked over and swing our villa¹², and I've been worried about being left homeless if are burned."

Fire officials say there's no immediate¹³ threat to power lines affecting three states.

Dow was up 75.

This is NPR News.

The US trade deficit¹⁴ is narrowing. In April, the gap shrank by 6.7%, bolstered¹⁵ by higher exports, but continued trouble in the jobs market. Jobless claims rose last week to 427,000. More from NPR's Yuki Noguchi.

Analysts¹⁶ expected the Labor¹⁷ Department's jobless claims numbers to decline slightly. Instead they ticked up. The fact that jobless claims for unemployment insurance keep registering above 400,000 reinforces that the labor market remains¹⁸ stagnant¹⁹ and weak. People are still losing their jobs, but the Labor Department's report last week indicated businesses are also reluctant to hire in large enough numbers to get people back to work. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

Some 275,000 nonprofit groups have lost their tax-exempt status for failing to file required forms with the Internal Revenue Service. Tax experts say most of the groups are defunct²⁰ as NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

The IRS has been warning nonprofits for several years that it would revoke²¹ their tax-exempt status unless they filed a newly required tax form. The move is in part an effort to clean out the agency's files, which include the names of many nonprofits that no longer exist, but the National Council of Nonprofits worries that some volunteer-run groups might be affected²² because they were unaware²³ of the new requirement. The IRS says that legitimate²⁴ organizations can apply to get their tax-exempt status reinstated. Some names on the list appear to reflect changes in tax-exempt operations. The Georgetown University Alumni Association, for example, is listed under a tax ID number that it does use now for fundraising. Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington.

This is NPR.

1 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

2 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

5 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

6 overtures   

n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲

参考例句：

• Their government is making overtures for peace. 他们的政府正在提出和平建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship. 最近他开始主动表示友好，样子笨拙却又招人喜爱。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

9 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

10 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

11 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

12 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

13 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

14 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。

15 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

16 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。

17 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。

18 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。

19 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。

20 defunct   

adj.死亡的；已倒闭的

参考例句：

• The scheme for building an airport seems to be completely defunct now.建造新机场的计划看来整个完蛋了。
• This schema object is defunct.No modifications are allowed until it is made active again.此架构对象不起作用。在重新激活之前，不能进行任何改动。

21 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。

22 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。

23 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

24 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。