NPR 2012-05-04

 GOP Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota has endorsed² presumptive Republican presidential nominee³ Mitt⁴ Romney. NPR's Craig Windham reports Bachmann says her one-time rival for the GOP nomination⁵ promises a new vision of prosperity and liberty.

 

Bachmann says Romney would sweep away failed economic policies and government controls and boost job creation.

 

"That's our future in America. That's something to get excited about. It's why we must elect Mitt Romney."

 

Bachmann is a Tea Party favorite who has waited for months to endorse¹ Romney following her exit from the GOP race after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses⁶. Just prior to those caucuses, Bachmann told ABC that Romney cannot beat President Obama because the former Massachusetts governor, in her words, wrote the blueprint⁷ for the health care law the president pressed Congress to enact⁸. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.

 

Meanwhile, Romney is slamming the Obama administration for allowing one of the best-known Chinese activists⁹ to leave the US embassy in China. Chen Guangcheng escaped house arrest in a rural part of that country, spending six days in the US embassy. He left after US officials got Chinese officials to assure them he would be left alone. Romney, though, says the US failed him.

 

"(It's also apparent), according to these reports, if they're accurate, that our embassy failed to put in place the kind of verifiable measures that would assure the safety of Mr. Chen and his family. If these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom."

 

But State Department officials say Chen never asked for asylum¹⁰ during his stay at the US embassy. He is now asking for that asylum for both himself and his family in the United States.

 

The Labor¹¹ Department says last week's jobless claims fell more than the market expected. As NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, it comes just ahead of Friday's monthly unemployment report.

 

The weekly claims for unemployment benefits had been creeping up in recent weeks, adding farther to speculation¹² the job market was hitting another slump¹³. But last week the number of seasonally¹⁴ adjusted claims fell by 27,000 to 365,000. Meanwhile, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas says this morning employers announced more job cuts in April than the previous month or previous year led by cutbacks in teaching jobs and government work. Economists¹⁵ expect the Labor Department's Friday report will show another month of weak private-sector job growth, and that the jobless rate will remain unchanged at 8.2%. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

 

Mortgage rates are at record lows once again. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac says the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan is down to 3.84%. It's the lowest since long-term mortgages were created in the 1950s. The 15-year rate is also lower, down to an average of 3.07%, also a record.

 

On Wall Street just before the close, preliminary numbers have the Dow down 62 points at 13,207, NASDAQ down 36, the S&P 500 down 11.

 

The family of a Florida A&M marching band member who died in a hazing¹⁶ incident wants the school to cancel the famed band. Robert Champion's mother says it's the only way to stop hazing in the musical group. That comment comes a day after 13 people were charged in her son's death. Eleven were charged with felony hazing. Two others face misdemeanor counts.

 

Illinois Senator Mark Kirk is heading home three months after the Republican lawmaker suffered a stroke. NPR's David Schaper reports that Kirk has been released from a rehabilitation¹⁷ hospital in Chicago. But there's still no word on when he might be able to return to work in Washington DC.

 

The 52-year-old Kirk has been hospitalized since January. He underwent emergency surgery in the days after suffering a stroke which included the temporary removal of part of his skull¹⁸ to allow for swelling¹⁹. As his condition improved, Kirk moved to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in February. And his family and staff say the first-term senator's been making steady progress ever since. While hospitalized, he's been meeting frequently with his staff and his Illinois congressional colleagues, including Democratic Senator Dick Durbin. A statement from his office says Kirk is now moving home with his family. Mark Kirk is a moderate Republican who served in the House for ten years before winning what had been President Obama's US Senate seat in 2010. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

 

A new dinosaur²⁰ hall's coming to Washington DC. David Koch is donating a record 35 million dollars to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History to build a new dinosaur hall on the National Mall. That's the single biggest gift in the museum's 102-year history, and it will be named in Koch's honor. Koch is a billionaire from New York City. He was the Libertarian Party's VP candidate in 1980. He's been a major donor²¹ to conservative political causes. 

1 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

2 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；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：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

4 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。

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 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

7 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

8 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

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 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

13 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

14 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

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 hazing   

n.受辱，被欺侮v.（使）笼罩在薄雾中( haze的现在分词 )；戏弄，欺凌（新生等，有时作为加入美国大学生联谊会的条件）

参考例句：

• With labor, the hazing period ends. 费了好大力气，痛苦的时期终于过了。 来自互联网
• A high-gloss paint surface is one that directly reflects light with minimum hazing or diffusion. 高度光洁的漆表面可以直接反射光源。 来自互联网

17 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

18 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

19 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

20 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

21 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。