NPR 2012-05-19

 The New president of France is assuring President Obama that French troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by year's end as he pledged in his campaign. Hollande spoke¹ through a translator after meeting with Mr. Obama at the White House. 

We also discussed Afghanistan and I reminded President Obama that I made a promise to the French people to the effect that our combat troops would be  withdrawn  from Afghanistan by the end of 2012.

For his part, President Obama told reporters. 

It's important that we sustain our commitment to helping² Afghans build security and continue down the path of development.  

 

 

Leaders of the world's eight leading economies are gathering³ at Camp David today, A two-day Nato summit begins in Chicago, Sunday. Massive protesters ** there. 

 

 

Federal House officials are proposing that all baby boomers get tested for hepatitis C. NPR's Richard Harris tells us the virus kills 15,000 Americans a year. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 2 million people born between 1945 and 1966 are infected with hepatitis C. Most people don't know they are carrying this blood-born virus. But it's a leading cause of liver diseases, including cancer. Hepatitis C is usually tradable if it's detected before someone get seriously ill. So health officials are now calling for a national campaign, indeed, Baby Boomers. Most infected Americans are in that cord, because the virus spread silently for many years before there was a test to detect it. The CBC is proposing a one-time testing campaign aimed at this age group. It could identify 800,000 infections. The recommendation is currently a proposal open to public comment and will be finalized⁴ later this year. Richard Harris, NPR News.

 

 

More than 18 billion dollars worth of Facebook share sold today, starting at 38 dollars a share, climbing in early trading, but falling back towards its opening price by day's end. We get details from NPR's Wendy Kaufman.

More than 100 million shares of Facebook traded in the first minutes on the stock exchange reflecting an incredible appetite for the social networking company. But after the opening popping price, the stock struggled to stay off the IPO figure. And sources told the Wall Street Journal that Facebook's underwriters stepped in to support the price and keep it from falling further. Some traders reported difficulty is changing, or canceling order's suggesting problems with NASDAQ's queue. At its current share price, Facebook is valued more than 100 billion dollars and some analysts⁵ and investors⁶ question whether the company can generate the revenue and profit to justify⁷ that figure. Indeed, the company received what is likely the first sell rating of its stock that Pivotal Research Group said a per share price of 30 dollars. Wendy Kaufman, NPR News.

 

 

On Wall Street, approaching the close, the Dow was down 89 at 12,354; The NASDAQ down 36. 

This is NPR.

 

 

The Labor⁸ Department is reporting that unemployment rates dropped in 37 states last month, the greatest decline in three months. Nationally, April's unemployment rate was 8.1%. 

 

 

Did former senator John Edwards as a presidential candidate break the law when money from wealthy donors⁹ was used to hide his pregnant mistress. The question is now before a jury in Greensboro, North Carolina. The panel today asked for office supplies and evidence, specifically eight exhibits and all of the notes from a wealthy heiress.

 

 

A worker at a defense¹⁰ plant in Russia has been convicted of treason. Jessica Gallaher reports the man was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay a fine. 

A regional court in Yekaterinburg sentenced Alexander Gniteyev to eight years in prison and ordered him to pay a more than 3,000 dollar fine for devoting missile secrets to foreign intelligence. Russian officials refused to say, however, which country Gniteyev was spying for. Russia News agency is reporting that Gniteyev passed secrets about the Bulava missile, meant to arm the latest generation of Russia's nuclear subs. The verdict follows February's conviction of a Russian military officer accused of spying for the CIA. Relations between Moscow and Washington has been tensed recently, as the two countries continues to disagree over Washington's plans to put a missile defense system in eastern Europe. For NPR News, I'm Jessica Gallaher, in Moscow. 

 

 

In a commencement address, at ** Georgetown  University in Washington, Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius was briefly¹¹ interrupted by anti-abortion heckler in her speech. She paid tribute to the US commitment to separation of church and state.

1 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。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 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

7 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

8 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。

9 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。