NPR 2011-09-15

 The major US stock indexes were all up more than 2% at one point on news of positive development from today's debt crisis emergency talks. Among the heads of France, Germany and Greece, the subject of the teleconference. As Eleanor Beardsley reports, Greek officials are assuring its partners that the country would meet its obligations and follow through on promised austerity measures.

 

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou assured German Chancellor¹ Angela Merkle and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the eurozone's strongest nations, that his country would do what was necessary to reduce its deficit². And all three leaders confirmed that Greece was an integral part of the eurozone. Eurozone nations approved a second massive bailout for Greece in July upon condition that Greece would meet its austerity commitments. But despite attempts by European officials to stem the debt crisis, it only seems to worsen. In France Wednesday, two banks were downgraded for holding two much Greek debt. And despite protests in the streets, the Italian parliament gave final approval to a national austerity package. Meanwhile, top EU officials have warned that the failure of the euro could wreck³ the European Union. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.

 

An energized⁴ college crack greets President Obama at North Carolina State University, where he played up the benefits of a jobs creation package he's hoping the public will persuade Congress to pass right away.

 

"Pass this bill, and right here in North Carolina, about 19,000 construction workers will have a job again."

 

President Obama spoke⁵ the same day the government reported that retail⁶ sales and wholesale⁷ prices were flat in August as consumers were more cautious amid volatility⁸ in the stock market.

 

A new report blames BP, Transocean and others for a series of failures that led to the oil rig explosion that triggered the massive oil spill in the Gulf⁹ of Mexico last year. We have details from NPR's Debbie Elliott.

 

Investigators¹⁰ found that the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon could have been prevented if not for system deficiencies and crew mistakes leading up to the April 2010 explosion. They cite poor maintenance of equipment, the bypassing of alarm systems and a culture that did not emphasize safety. The report also finds BP made critical management and operational mistakes that led to the failure of the well's blowout preventer, resulting in nearly five million barrels of oil flowing  into the Gulf of Mexico. Investigators say the government also shares some of the blame for a lack of proper oversight¹¹ and regulation of deepwater drilling. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.

 

Housing Republicans are probing a more than half-billion-dollar federal loan to a now-bankrupt solar company. Those investigating say the Obama administration may have rushed a federal review of the loan to Solyndra which President Obama had cited as an example of how his economic stimulus¹² bill would grow jobs through investments in renewable energy.

 

This is NPR.

 

Three of the six men crew aboard the International Space Station is scheduled to return to Earth later this week. Their replacements¹³ were supposed to fly up to the station next week. But as NPR's Joe Palca reports, that's not gonna happen.

 

The two cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut replacing the departing crew members were supposed to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 22nd. Russian space agency officials have delayed the launch while they investigate why an unmanned cargo¹⁴ vehicle carrying supplies to the space station crashed into the Altai Mountains. According to the ITAR-Tass news agency, the new launch date is November 12th. If there's a further delay, it's possible that the station will have to be abandoned at least temporarily since the crew members remaining on the station will have to come home by early next year at the latest. Joe Palca, NPR News.

 

US diplomats¹⁵ arrive in the Middle East today in an effort to persuade the Palestinians not to ask the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had announced plans to do so because peace talks with Israel are again stalled. Israel's foreign minister warns of "dire¹⁶ consequences" if the Palestinians seek UN endorsement¹⁷ when the General Assembly convenes¹⁸ in New York September 20th.

 

It's back home to Australia for an investment banker accused of placing a fake bomb around a student's neck while attempting to extort¹⁹ money from her millionaire father. Today Paul Douglas Peters appeared in US District Court in Louisville, Kentucky where he waived²⁰ extradition²¹.

 

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was up more than 1% at 11,247; NASDAQ was up 1.5%.

 

This is NPR News.

1 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。

2 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。

3 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

4 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

7 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

8 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

9 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

10 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》

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 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

13 replacements   

n.代替( replacement的名词复数 )；替换的人[物]；替代品；归还

参考例句：

• They infiltrated behind the lines so as to annoy the emery replacements. 他们渗透敌后以便骚扰敌军的调度。 来自辞典例句
• For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. 对于石油的替代品来说，价格变得无足轻重了。 来自互联网

14 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

15 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

17 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

18 convenes   

召开( convene的第三人称单数 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The Premier convenes and presides over the executive meetings and plenary meetings of the State Council. 总理召集和主持国务院常务会议和国务院全体会议。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法
• Chinese woman tenth the National People Congress convenes grandly today in Beijing. 中国妇女第十次全国代表大会今天在北京隆重召开。

19 extort   

v.勒索，敲诈，强要

参考例句：

• The blackmailer tried to extort a large sum of money from him.勒索者企图向他勒索一大笔钱。
• They absolutely must not harm the people or extort money from them.严格禁止坑害勒索群众。

20 waived   

v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• He has waived all claim to the money. 他放弃了索取这笔钱的权利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I waived the discourse, and began to talk of my business. 我撇开了这个话题，开始讲我的事情。 来自辞典例句

21 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。