NPR 2011-09-20

 President Obama is challenging Congress to quickly pass his latest proposal to shrink the nation's debt. It includes spending cuts in the most financially weighty programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and also calls for an end to certain tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. Treasury¹ Secretary Timothy Geithner says the White House wants the so-called “Buffet² Rule” to be the bedrock of any tax code changes.

 

“How you do it depends on what you do the broader tax system as a whole. We are not going to give the Congress a detailed³ proposal on how to meet that specific principle now, because there are lots of different ways to do that, but we think it should be a basic foundation of tax reform.”

 

The proposal aimed at the wealthiest Americans as named after billionaire Warren Buffet who has said that loopholes in the tax code allow people as wealthy as he to pay less in taxes than workers who earn far less. The plan is expected to run into heavy opposition⁴ from congressional Republicans who are against tax hikes.

 

Stocks are down on continued worries over whether Greece will default on its debts. In the U.S., Dow was down 185 points, or more than 1.5% at 11,324, NASDAQ was off more than 1% at 2,595. NPR's Paul Brown reports that Greece promises to speed up reforms but that's certainly not calming investors⁵.

 

The European Union, the International Monetary⁶ Fund and the European Central Bank are pushing Greece hard to lower its deficit⁷ and raise revenues if it wants a sixth loan installment⁸ to keep it from going bankrupt within weeks. IMF representative Bob Traa says Greece must shrink its civil service sector⁹.

 

“Further progress will require a reinvigoration of structural¹⁰ reforms.” 

 

The Greek Finance Minister pledges that the civil service cuts will happen. Still, investors are anything but certain Greece will deliver on promised reforms. And they have been selling stocks, especially financial stocks with possible exposure to Greek debt. Paul Brown, NPR News.

 

A federal appeals court has thrown out the 17-year sentence imposed on an American, Jose Padilla. As NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports a judge has said the man who was once accused of wanting to attack the U.S. with a “dirty bomb”, did not get a harsh enough sentence.

 

When prosecutors¹¹ first accused Jose Padilla of joining forces with al-Qaeda, they claimed he wanted to use a “dirty bomb” in Chicago. Those charges were eventually dropped. But the mere¹² accusation¹³ is the sin for which he may be best known. He and two co-conspirators were convicted in 2007 of sending money, recruits and supplies to al-Qaeda. He was sentenced to 17 years. Now a three-judge panel has ruled that the Padilla's sentence was too light. The case has been sent back to a lower court for a new sentencing hearing. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News.

 

There is reportedly a tentative labor¹⁴ deal involving some of southern California's largest grocery chains.

 

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Students at Roman Catholic high schools in the Philadelphia area head back to class tomorrow. Now that their teacher union has ratified¹⁵ a labor contract with the archdiocese. More than 700 teachers had been on strike for two weeks in a dispute over job security and working conditions. Details of the contract have yet to be released.

 

Netflix is splitting its DVD-by-mail business from its online streaming service and its betting will be a big consumer draw. Its mail order plan has been renamed Qwikster. Starting in a few weeks, Netflix subscribers to DVDs by mail will have to go to a separate website to access Qwiskter. The streaming service will continue to be called Netflix. The company is already under scrutiny¹⁶ from some customers who are paying as much as 16% more for both services.

 

The Lion King is the top draw in the U.S. and Canadian theaters. NPR's Trina Williams reports the 3D version dominates earnings¹⁷ more than double than studio estimates.

 

Ticket sales for The Lion King are an estimated 29.3 million dollars making the animated¹⁸ feature not only king of the jungle but the theater too. Many will remember the Disney Cartoon was a mega hit when it was first released in 1994. The re-released Lion King pushes last weekend's winner Contagion¹⁹ down a notch²⁰ and shuts out all other newcomers. Drive starring Ryan Gosling opens in third place while the remake of Straw Dogs is fifth. I don’t Know How She Does It debuts²¹ in sixth place. Holdover, The Help is No. 4 on the chart. Trina Williams, NPR News.

 

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

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 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

6 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

7 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。

8 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

11 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。

12 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

13 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

14 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。

15 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

16 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

17 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%。

18 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

19 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

20 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

21 debuts   

演员首次演出( debut的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He never really debuts the idea of taking money from his parents any longer. 他从此就再也没有认真起过向父母要钱的念头。
• This young soprano debuts next month at the metropolitan opera. 这位年轻的女高音歌唱家下个月将在纽约大都会歌剧院举行首演。