NPR 2012-06-11

 Spain's prime minister is hailing his country's bailout as a victory for the euro, but also acknowledges that Spain's 25% unemployment rate is likely to rise before it goes down. Lauren Frayer reports from Madrid on the Spanish leader's first comments since his government acknowledged it would become the fourth and largest eurozone nation to seek financial help. 

 

For weeks, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy denied Spain would need a bailout. He was nowhere to be seen on the night the request was finally made. A day later, he held a news conference, denying reports EU officials pressured Spain into a bailout deal before Greek elections next week. “No one pressured me into this. I pushed forward myself because I wanted a line of credit.” Rajoy told reporters, refusing to call it a bailout. Rajoy then hopped¹ on a plane to Poland to watch Spain play Italy in Europe’s soccer championships. It's a game some have dubbed² the “debt derby” because of both countries poor economies. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Frayer, Madrid.

 

In France, it looks like the Socialist³ agenda of President Francois Hollande could have the backing of a strong leftist representation in parliament. First-round parliamentary elections there this weekend show leftist candidates winning strong support. Conservatives currently dominate the lower house of the French parliament, and it remains⁴ uncertain who will end up in control of the National Assembly after the decisive second round of voting, June 17th.

 

In the US, political losses for organized labor⁵ in races in Wisconsin and California are affecting the race for the new leader of one of the nation's largest labor unions. NPR's Allison Keyes tells us labor leaders are debating what direction to take as the November elections loom⁶.

 

The president of the American Federation⁷ of State, County and Municipal Employees, Gerald McEntee, is retiring after 31 years. He's endorsed⁸ the union's No. 2 official Lee Saunders, who's defended the union's multi-million-dollar support of Democratic candidates. But his opponent Danny Donohue, the union's leader in New York state, has said the union's to focus on galvanizing its members and focus less on national campaigns at the expensive states like Wisconsin. In Tuesday's election, Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who's curtailed⁹ collective bargaining powers for most union public employees, defeated a Democratic challenger. Political pundits¹⁰ see the win as a loss for the labor union. Allison Keyes, NPR News.

 

Rafael Nadal is chasing his record, seventh French Open crown in men's final play against Novak Djokovic. But play in Paris has been rained down today. When the second of two rain delays came, Nadal was leading 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 1-2. Djokovic, who won eight consecutive¹¹ games in the third set, is up a break in the fourth. The French Open resumes tomorrow when the forecast in Paris is still for rain.   

 

This is NPR.

 

The Miami Heat are back in the NBA Finals. Last night, the Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter and beat the Boston Celtics 101-88 in the seventh and deciding game of the Eastern Conference Finals. NPR's Tom Goldman reports Miami won with a team effort. 

 

Game 7 was a reminder¹² why they came together, why Chris Bosh and Leblang James joined Dwyane Wade¹³ in Miami a couple of years ago, a move that made the Heat a hated team outside Miami. Indeed, there was nothing but love last night. At Miami's American Airlines Arena¹⁴, as 20,000-plus fans watched the Big Three score all 28 of the Heat's fourth quarter points and sealed the win. Bosh scored 19 for the game, including three key three-point shots. Hearing the high praise from James. 

 

“Game ball automatically goes to him. I mean without his production tonight, we don't win.”

 

But Miami doesn't win this hard-fought series without James. He averaged almost 34 points a game and single-handedly saved the Heat from elimination¹⁵ in Game 6. Miami plays the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday. Tom Goldman, NPR News.

 

In hockey, the New Jersey¹⁶ Devils have kept their Stanley Cup hopes alive with a second straight win over the Los Angeles Kings.

 

In the Florida Panhandle, damage assessments¹⁷ are still underway after floodwaters from torrential rains tore through homes and closed roads.

 

At the box office this weekend,  with more than 60 million dollars in ticket receipts, “There it is. The casino. Perfect. That’s where we’ll find the penguins¹⁸.” the No. 1 spot goes to Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.

 

I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.

1 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

2 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

4 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。

5 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。

6 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 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》

9 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

11 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

12 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

13 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

14 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

15 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

16 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

17 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

18 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》