NPR 2011-08-03

 US stocks are sharply lower before the close, all indexes dropping more than 2% in the wake of more disappointing economic news. The government finds that people scaled back their spending 0.2% in June while their incomes grew by the smallest amount in nine months. The Commerce Department says incomes were up just 0.1%. At last check, the Dow was down more than 2% or 262 points lower at 11,870; the NASDAQ was off 2.75% at 2,669; S&P 500 down 2.5% at 12,054.

 

All these are also in the wake of a just ended battle over hiking the debt ceiling. That latest chapter of the debt ceiling debate over with President Obama signing into law a measure today that heads off the government default by raising the debt limit. Mr. Obama says hopefully there won't be a repeat of waiting to the 11:00 to compromise, especially since the political fight over deficit¹ reductions is far from over.

 

"We've seen in the past few days that Washington has the ability to focus when there's a timer ticking down, and when there's a looming² disaster. It shouldn't take the risk of default — the risk of economic catastrophe³ — to get folks in this town to work together and do their jobs."

 

NPR's David Welna tracked the measure's tumultuous passage through Congress which culminated⁴ in a vote of 74-29 in the Senate today.

 

There's little love for the bill that congressional leaders in the White House cobbled together over the weekend. Republicans feel it does too little to change Washington's spending habits, while Democrats⁵ deplore⁶ its reliance on spending cuts alone to reduce the deficit while leaving tax policy unchanged. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was a key architect of the deal, says it shows Congress can still act when it needs to.

 

"It's a testament⁷ to the goodwill⁸ of those on both sides that we were able to reach this agreement in time. Neither side wanted to see the government default, and I'm pleased we were able to work together to avoid it."

 

The bill authorizes⁹ President Obama to request another 1.7 trillion dollars in borrowing authority, enough to keep the government solvent¹⁰ through the end of next year. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

 

Now as the Senate prepares to recess¹¹ within hours, lawmakers are grappling with yet another crisis. This one involves the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency is partially¹² shut down. Thousands of its employees are out of work. And if there's no resolution by the time the Senate leaves, these workers could remain unemployed¹³ until September when Congress reconvenes. The shutdown was triggered by a dispute over subsidy¹⁴ cuts in rural air service amounting to 16.5 million dollars. If the shutdown drags on, it could cost the government 1.2 billion in lost revenue.

 

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 266 points, more than 2%, at 11,867.

 

This is NPR.

 

Oklahoma and Texas appear to be under a bull's eye for extreme dry conditions which climatologists don't predict to end until at least the fall. From member station KOSU, Michael Cross tells us agriculture producers are going into the hottest days of the year, dealing¹⁵ with a drought which started in Oklahoma last October.

 

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture says cotton is expected to be 35% to 40% of the normal crop, and Associate Commissioner¹⁶ Blayne Arthur says cotton's not the only produce getting hit. 

 

"The majority of the corn that we have in Oklahoma has burned up by this time of the year, and we had probably more corn planted this year than we had in previous years."

 

Arthur says ranchers aren't fairing any better as there's less forage¹⁷ for cattle, and lake and river beds have started drying up. She says many of the producers are either selling their herds¹⁸ or trying to lease them to other states not under drought conditions. For NPR News, I'm Michael Cross in Oklahoma City.

 

The operator of Japan's damaged nuclear power plants says it has sealed an area with high levels of radiation. Tokyo Electric Power says radiation levels around the complex are not rising, a sign there's no duct leak at the affected¹⁹ reactor²⁰. The plant was breached²¹ in the March's earthquake and tsunami²².

 

Karachi, Pakistan is said to be under escalated²³ security after two days of clashes left 34 people dead. The Associated Press reports paramilitary forces have been patrolling the streets to contain the violence, much of which stems from political rivalry²⁴.

 

At last check on Wall Street, Dow was down 266 points, more than 2%, at 11,867.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

1 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。

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

3 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

4 culminated   

v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• a gun battle which culminated in the death of two police officers 一场造成两名警察死亡的枪战
• The gala culminated in a firework display. 晚会以大放烟火告终。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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》

6 deplore   

vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾

参考例句：

• I deplore what has happened.我为所发生的事深感愤慨。
• There are many of us who deplore this lack of responsibility.我们中有许多人谴责这种不负责任的做法。

7 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

8 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

9 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。

10 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。

11 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

12 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

13 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

14 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

17 forage   

n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻

参考例句：

• They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
• Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。

18 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

19 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。

20 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

21 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

22 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

23 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

24 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。