NPR 2011-07-15

The FBI will investigate allegations that Rupert Murdock's News Corp. hacked¹ into the private phone accounts of 9/11 terrorism victims. A law enforcement source tells NPR the inquiry² is at an early stage, and investigators³ are not making any predictions about the outcome. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports the investigation⁴ follows calls from several members of Congress.

Congressman⁵ Peter King, a Republican from New York, has been asking the FBI to take a close look at News Corp. King says he was disgusted by reports that people tied to the media giant may have accessed the phones of people who died in the September 11th attacks. Several other lawmakers from both political parties have turned up the heat on News Corp. in recent days. The FBI inquiry's operating out of the Southern District of New York, and it will be supervised by prosecutors⁶ there, according to the law enforcement source. The investigation is much more advanced in London, where a seventh person has been arrested in connection with the hacking⁷ scandal. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

Debt talks resume this hour at the White House. The country's leadership is no close to a solution, and restraint is starting to show. Verbal attacks have intensified⁸, with Democrats⁹ and Republicans accusing each other of blocking a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid defaulting within weeks. White House spokesman Jay Carney says President Obama is not at all interested in a short-term hike in the government's borrowing limit.

"He will not turn this into a tollbooth situation because we are not a third-world country that approaches the brink¹¹ of default every three or four months."

For the first time, Carney indicated that the administration may try to find some other way to increase the debt limit if there's no bipartisan agreement. Today, he said: "The president views Friday as an important moment where we can make an assessment¹² about whether we are moving toward a significant agreement or not."

As the back-and-forth continues over deficit-reduction talks, members of Congress are weighing in from outside the negotiations¹³. Edger Treiguts of Georgia Public Broadcasting spoke¹⁰ to one US senator.

Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson says away from the theatrics of the discussion, there's hard work going on behind the scenes, and he says an ultimate agreement doesn't have to come from just one side.

"I don't discount anybody's thoughts or contributions at the table. They may not all be accepted. They may some be rejected, but I think everybody ought to be putting their best ideas on the table, and let's find the combination that works."

Isakson says Congress should consider a two-year budget process in some of the appropriation¹⁴ of spending annually¹⁵. It's legislation he's co-sponsored with New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen. For NPR News, I'm Edgar Treiguts in Atlanta.

Roger Clemens' perjury¹⁶ trial has been thrown out today. A judge in Washington said there was no way to assure the famed baseball pitcher¹⁷ would be treated fairly after the prosecution¹⁸ showed the jury evidence that the court had deemed out of bounds.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 54 points at 12,437.

This is NPR.

John Edwards' trial is tentatively set for October. The former presidential candidate is charged with six felony counts of misusing¹⁹ campaign funds. The prosecution argues Edwards, also a former US senator, accepted excessive contributions to hide his extramarital affair. Edwards has pleaded not guilty.

The popular digital music service Spotfy is finally available in the United States. But as NPR's Joel Rose tells us, it's not clear if the European company can succeed on this side of the Atlantic.

Spotfy started in Sweden. It built a loyal following in Europe by giving listeners access to 15 million songs. Users can listen for free on their computers, although they have to put up with some ads. But they have to pay a monthly fee to skip the ads or listen from their phones and mobile devices. Spotfy had been talking about the US launch for more than a year, but negotiations with the major record labels prevented that from happening until now. In the meantime, Amazon, Apple and Google all launched their own cloud music offerings. That's in addition to Rhapsody, MOG, Napster and other established music-streaming services. But Spotfy officials insist their superior design and bigger music library will make the service stand out from the cloud. Joel Rose, NPR News.

The earliest surviving Jane Austen manuscript for a novel has been sold for nearly a million pounds or 1.6 million dollars. A draft for "The Watsons" went up for bid in London today. It tripled what the auction²⁰ house thought it would fetch. None of the original manuscripts for Austen's six published novels including "Pride and Prejudice" survived.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 54 points at 12,437.

1 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

2 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

6 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。

7 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

8 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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》

10 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。

11 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

12 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

14 appropriation   

n.拨款，批准支出

参考例句：

• Our government made an appropriation for the project.我们的政府为那个工程拨出一笔款项。
• The council could note an annual appropriation for this service.议会可以为这项服务表决给他一笔常年经费。

15 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

16 perjury   

n.伪证；伪证罪

参考例句：

• You'll be punished if you procure the witness to commit perjury.如果你诱使证人作伪证，你要受罚的。
• She appeared in court on a perjury charge.她因被指控做了伪证而出庭受审。

17 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

18 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

19 misusing   

v.使用…不当( misuse的现在分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• This means we must stop misusing them. 也就是说，我们已必须停止滥用抗菌素不可了。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
• Misusing organic fertilizer may cause a decrease in the soil's quality. 滥用有机肥料可能会导致土地的土质下降。 来自互联网

20 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。