NPR 2012-01-20

 Four Republican presidential candidates remain just hours ahead of the debate in South Carolina. Texas Governor Rick Perry is out.

 

"I am suspending my campaign and endorsing¹ Newt Gingrich for President of the United States."

 

NPR's senior Washington editor Ron Elving says the fact that Perry is dropping out only two days before the South Carolina primary is puzzling.

 

Rick Perry's announcement today is difficult to understand in terms of timing², except that it appears he did not want to participate in the final debate tonight, and it appears that he did not want to take the licking that he was going to take on Saturday. He is running at about 4% in the polls in South Carolina. That is a far cry from where he began on August 13th when he began his candidacy by announcing in South Carolina, and he did not want to have that final judgment³ rendered against his campaign by the voters of South Carolina on Saturday.

 

NPR's Ron Elving.

 

Newt Gingrich meanwhile is gaining momentum⁴ in South Carolina and continues hurling⁵ attacks at GOP frontrunner Mitt⁶ Romney. But today, he also poked⁷ a little fun at President Obama who's on a tourism boosting trip this hour to Florida's Disney World.

 

"I want you to think about the president standing⁸ with Mickey Mouse on one side and Goofy on the other. And I'll let you decide which Cabinet office he'll likely offer to the two of them while he's there." 

 

Well, Gingrich struck a more serious tone earlier though in reacting to reports that his ex-wife says Gingrich asked her to allow him to have both a wife and a mistress. Marianne Gingrich, the former House Speaker's second wife, says in an interview to air-run ABC News' Nightline tonight that she refused to go along with that idea.

 

Roadways in western Washington state are treacherous⁹ and flights canceled for a second day as an ice storm dumps on top of yesterday's blanket of snow. The National Weather Service used the emergency alert system to break into Thursday morning broadcast with an ice storm warning. From member station KUOW in Seattle, Patricia Murphy has the latest.

 

At least 90,000 homes are without power. There are spun-out cars in ditches on the side of the road. Highways are closed because of fallen trees. The Washington State Patrol's Julie Startup says even emergency workers are running into trouble.

 

"We have some troopers that, I say, we are out there trying to deal with threesome trees and got stuck between the trees, so, they've determined¹⁰ that that roadway's just too treacherous for any commuters right now."

 

A Washington transportation department worker was injured after a multi-car collision. The slow-motion storm is expected to leave almost a half-inch of ice before temperatures rise later today. It's the first ice storm to hit the Seattle area in almost two decades. For NPR News, I'm Patricia Murphy in Seattle.

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up 32 points at 12,611 in trading of more than two billion shares.

 

This is NPR News.

 

The chairman of the Joint¹¹ Chiefs, Martin Dempsey, arrives in Israel today for his first meeting with Israeli officials since taking office. As Linda Gradstein tells us, there he's expected to address differences over how to stop Iran's nuclear program.

 

General Dempsey's visit comes amid growing nervousness in Israel. The former chief of military intelligence, Major-Genral Amos Yadlin, today told an Israeli newspaper that Iran has all of the components¹² needed to make a nuclear bomb, and that a military option should be considered. The US opposes such action, concerned that an Israeli military strike could spark a regional conflict in the Middle East. US officials say they believe the current round of stepped up sanctions will succeed. Iran has said its program is for energy, not weapons. For NPR News, I'm Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem.

 

In the US, builders are coming off a three-year losing streak¹³ in the housing sector¹⁴ at least. Today the Commerce Department found that construction began on more than 600,000 homes. In a healthy market, economists¹⁵ say, that number is more than a million. Last year was also the worst on records dating back a half-century for single-family home construction. Government also reporting today that new claims for unemployment dropped last week drastically, and that's boosting investor¹⁶ confidence about the state of the job market.

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up 33 points at 12,612, NASDAQ up more than 20 at 2,791, S&P 500 up 5.5% at 1,315.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

1 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 来自互联网

2 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

3 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

4 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。

5 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

7 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

13 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

14 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。

15 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。