NPR 2012-02-03

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

 

The sound of tear gas in Cairo, Egypt, where a peaceful march deteriorated¹ into clashes with Egyptian police today. Thousands of people gathered outside the Interior Ministry², angry about the police's response to a soccer riot that claimed more than 70 lives yesterday. The marchers blamed the violence on the country's military rulers, underscoring deteriorating³ security since Hosni Mubarak was ousted⁴ nearly a year ago.

 

The Federal Reserve chairman is warning against sharp deficit⁵ cutting that might help in the short term but hurt in the long run in the US. Ben Bernanke testified before the House Budget Committee that full recovery could take at least three more years.

 

"Fortunately, over the past few months, indicators⁷ of spending, production and job market activity have shown some signs of improvement; and, in economic projections⁸ just released, the Federal Open Market Committee participants indicated that they expected somewhat stronger growth this year than in 2011. The outlook remains⁹ uncertain, however, and close monitoring of economic developments will remain necessary."

 

Well now, here's more encouraging news on jobs. NPR's Dave Mattingly says unemployment claims have fallen again by an additional 12,000.

 

Weekly jobless claims declined to a seasonally¹⁰ adjusted 367,000, and for the third straight week, there was a drop in the four-week average. That suggests there is some hiring going on in the US economy. This comes a day before the Labor¹¹ Department reports on last month's unemployment rate in the US. Economists¹² are forecasting a gain of about 160,000 jobs in January. In December, the nation's jobless rate declined to 8.5%. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

 

The Republican presidential candidates are focused on getting votes in Nevada which holds its caucuses¹³ Saturday. Recent polls show Mitt⁶ Romney ahead of Newt Gingrich, with Rick Santorum and Ron Paul trailing.

 

Senate Democrats¹⁴ plan to hold hearings soon on Super PACs, the independent political groups spending millions of dollars in the presidential primaries. The latest from NPR's Peter Overby.

 

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer told reporters there needs to be more disclosure and new rules on how close a Super PAC can get to a candidate it supports.

 

"So we’re now living in a world created by the Citizens United decision, and it's a disaster for our democracy."

 

Super PACs sprang to life in 2010 after the Supreme¹⁵ Court's Citizens United decision and some other rulings. The big Super PACs are raising million-dollar contributions and are even outspending some candidates in the Republican presidential primaries. Schumer chairs the Senate Rules Committee and said hearings will start later this month. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

 

US stocks mixed with the Dow down 11 points at 12,705, NASDAQ up nine and S&P 500 up slightly.

 

You’re listening to NPR News.

 

Ban Ki-moon is thanking the Gazan people for their warm welcome, but the UN secretary-general's reception at the Erez Crossing between Gaza and Israel today was anything but warm. The families of Palestinian prisoners hurled¹⁶ slippers¹⁷ and wooden sticks at Ban's convoy¹⁸. They also held up signs that read "Ban Ki-moon, enough bias¹⁹ to Israel." The UN chief is in the region to keep informal peace talks alive between the Palestinians and Israelis, who is also visiting with UN-affiliated humanitarian²⁰ groups.

 

North Korea says before international nuclear disarmament talks can resume, South Korea must meet specific conditions. From Seoul, Doualy Xaykaothao has more on the North's demands.

 

North Korea wants an end to war games between the US and South Korea as well as an apology from South Korea for not sending an official condolence delegation²¹ to Pyongyang following the death of long-time ruler Kim Jong-il. These and other demands were released by the Policy Department of the North's National Defense²² Commission through Pyongyang's official state-run news agency. The statement came a day after assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell met with South Korean officials and reiterated²³ that Washington and Seoul are open to direct talks that would restart long-stalled international negotiations²⁴ to end North Korea's nuclear programs. For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao in Seoul.

 

Helicopters and ships still searching the waters off eastern Papua New Guinea in search of victims of a ferry accident today. About 100 people are reported to be missing. Two hundred thirty others were rescued after their ferry sank.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

1 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

4 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

5 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。

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 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

8 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 seasonally   

参考例句：

• The price of vegetables fluctuates seasonally. 蔬菜的价格随季节变动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They moved seasonally among various vegetation types to feed on plants that were flourishing. 它们还随着季节的变化而在各种类型植物之间迁移，以便吃那些茂盛的植物。 来自辞典例句

11 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。

12 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》

13 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

14 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》

15 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

16 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

18 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

19 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

20 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

21 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

22 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

23 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

24 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。