NPR 2012-06-08

 The Syrian government is under diplomatic fire for reportedly mass killing¹ in a small Hama province village. At the United Nations today, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon issued what may have been his most scaving comments yet about the Syria’s apparent snob² of the UN backed peace plan Damascus had previously³ endorsed⁴. Ban said he was shocked by the reports of stabbings and burnings of 78 men, women and children at the hands of Syrian forces.

We condemn⁵ this unspeakable barbarity(残忍) and renew our determination to bring those responsible to account.

Ban says UN monitors came under fire as they tried to reach the site of massacre⁶ in Qubair, no one was hurt; they have since pulled back for the evening.

 

 

Republican Mitt⁷ Romney’s presidential campaign raised far more money last month than the Obama campaign had. NPR’s Ari Shapiro reports the Romney total is almost 77 million dollars while the Democratic incumbent⁸ pulled in 60 million.

April marks the first time that the Obama and Romney campaigns raised close to the same amount of money. Now May figures show that Romney has pulled ahead of President Obama’s monthly haul. Both campaigns emphasize the importance of small donors⁹ in their fund-raising. The Obama team says 98% of their donors give less than 250 dollars. In contrast, 93% of donors to the Romney campaign gave 250 dollars or less. The main difference in fund-raising comes from big checks. According to the campaign finance institute, through April, 62% of Romney’s money came from donors who gave the maximum amount of 2,500 dollars. In contrast, only 16% of President Obama’s money came from donors who maxed out. Ari Shapiro, NPR news, the White House.

 

 

The latest snapshot of weekly unemployment claims reveals a decline. NPR’s Wendy Kaufman tells us the Labor¹⁰ Department’s report takes some of the sting out of the latest data on job creation.

The number of people lining¹¹ up for new unemployment payments fell by 12,000 to a seasonally¹² adjusted figure of 377,000, those numbers from the US Department of Labor. Last week’s drop in initial claims for jobless benefits reversed a trend in which claims had risen for a month and followed last Friday’s jobs report, which show that during the month of May, employers added the fewest workers in a year. In a note to clients, UBS said the drop in jobless claims gives us more confidence, that the trend in payrolls¹³ is stronger than the latest jobs report implied. A total of roughly 6 million people were collecting either regular of emergency unemployment benefits in May. Wendy Kaufman, NPR news.

 

 

And of course economy continues to be prominent at the selection year. President Obama is campaigning in Las Vegas this hour, outlining his plan for helping¹⁴ the middle class.

 

 

Dow is up 64 before the close.

 

 

This is NPR.

 

 

George Zimmerman will get another bond hearing. The neighborhood watch volunteer is charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. NPR’s Greg Allan reports Zimmerman’s bond was revoked¹⁵ last week.

At George Zimmerman’s first bond hearing in April, his wife Shelly said the couple didn’t have any savings¹⁶ to pay for bail¹⁷. When asked how much was in PayPal account Zimmerman set up for his defense¹⁸, she said she didn’t know. Last week, prosecutors¹⁹ produce transcripts²⁰ at jail phone conversations recorded before the bail hearing between Zimmerman and his wife, in which they discussed how much was in the PayPal account and how much to withdraw. Judge Kenneth Lester revokes²¹ Zimmerman’s bond and ordered him back to jail. Zimmerman’s lawyer says his client’s failure to tell the court about funds was a mistake, result of his fear, mistrust and confusion. Zimmerman will be back in court, asking for bail once again on June 29th. Greg Allan, NPR news, Miami.

 

 

The Feds says it is prepared to buffer²² the US economy if financial trouble mounts, that promise today by Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke who’s been monitoring the threats Europe’s debt crisis poses on the US’s recovery.

 

 

And speaking odd in Greece, politics can certainly turn ugly, especially with its financial troubles there but today it turned into a smack²³ down for all the countries to view. The spokesman for a ultra-right wing party lunged(猛冲) at two female left wing politicians, during a popular morning TV talk show, throwing water at one guest and slapping the other several times in the face.

 

 

Before the close, US stocks mix with the Dow up 46 points at 12,461; NASDAQ off 14 and the S&P 500 down slightly.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 snob   

n.势利小人，自以为高雅、有学问的人

参考例句：

• Going to a private school had made her a snob.上私立学校后，她变得很势利。
• If you think that way, you are a snob already.如果你那样想的话，你已经是势利小人了。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 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》

5 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

6 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

7 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。

8 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

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 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。

11 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

12 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

13 payrolls   

n.（公司员工的）工资名单( payroll的名词复数 )；（公司的）工资总支出，工薪总额

参考例句：

• Indices of employment, payrolls, and production steadied in February 1931931年2月，就业、工资额和生产指数稳定。 来自辞典例句
• Wall Street responded to the payrolls figures with gusto. 华尔街对就业数据作出了积极的反应。 来自互联网

14 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。

15 revoked   

adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It may be revoked if the check is later dishonoured. 以后如支票被拒绝支付，结算可以撤销。 来自辞典例句
• A will is revoked expressly. 遗嘱可以通过明示推翻。 来自辞典例句

16 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

17 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

18 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。

19 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。

20 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

21 revokes   

v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• NTFS file system allocates and revokes the storage by cluster. It manages by MFT. NTFS文件系统以簇为单位分配和回收外存空间，通过主文件表来进行管理。 来自互联网

22 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

23 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。