NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-10-02

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From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack¹ Speer. 

 

With a looming² government shutdown now less than two hours away, the House and Senate are essentially³ kicking the ball back and forth⁴, House lawmakers again voting to tie continuing spending resolution to President Obama’s health care law. NPR's Tamara Keith has more. 

 

House Republicans are strategizing their next move. They’re back in their basement meeting room in the Capitol, coming up with a plan, figuring out what to send back to the Senate. There are a couple of options, not clear which one they’ll take. They could send back the same thing they're sending over right now, they could send back some other changes to the health care law, or they could send back a short-term clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded maybe just for a few days while negotiations⁵ continue. 

 

Within minutes of the House vote, however, the Senate again voted to strip out the amendments⁷, sending a clean version of the funding bill back to the House, which again has begun debate. This point at least a partial government shutdown seems to be almost inevitable⁸. 

 

President Obama, meantime, had a clear message at the White House today with the possible looming government shutdown, the president telling respective sides to put aside their differences over his health care law and pass a measure that will keep the government running. In an interview with NPR, the president says he’s not delaying the health care law just because some Republicans don't like it. 

 

“The notion that we would even delay them getting that kind of peace of mind, potentially going to a doctor to get treated for illnesses that they currently have simply because the Republicans have decided⁹, ideologically¹⁰, that they’re opposed to the Affordable¹¹ Care Act is not something that we're gonna be discussing.” 

 

Full interview with President airs on Morning Edition tomorrow. 

 

A federal court has barred Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio from arresting people for smuggling¹² themselves. That, as NPR's Ted⁶ Robbins explains, has been the hard-line sheriff's justification¹³ for arresting some immigrants. 

 

As in another places, local law enforcement officials in Arizona turn over undocumented immigrants to federal immigration officers. But in 2005, Arizona also made it a state crime to smuggle¹⁴ immigrants. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America, decided that meant undocumented immigrants already in the country could be arrested for smuggling themselves. His department has charged more than 2,000 immigrants under that rationale. Now a federal judge in Phoenix¹⁵ says it's a direct conflict with federal law. The court barred future arrests of people who are not smuggling others. Ted Robbins, NPR News. 

 

Bank of America is agreeing to pay out 32 million dollars to settle charges it made or authorized¹⁶ harassing¹⁷ debt collection calls to customer cellphones. Some are believed to be the largest cash payout ever under 1991 law meant to protect consumers from unwanted calls. 

 

A lower start to the week for Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 128 points today; the NASDAQ was down ten points. You’re listening to NPR News from Washington. 

 

Authorities in Colorado are now confirming five hikers were killed today by a rockslide on a trail in the south central part of the state. One other person, a 13-year-old girl, was reportedly pulled out with injuries and flown to a nearby hospital. Authorities say the rockslide took place this morning on a trail in the Pike and San Isabel National Forest southwest of Denver. The slide occurred on an easily accessible trail (that) provides a view of the falls and the Chalk Creek¹⁸ Valley. 

 

Kenya's parliament says security and intelligence officials will be testifying about the deadly attack at a shopping mall in Nairobi. The Red Cross says 39 people are still missing. Authorities insist only the bodies of dead terrorists remain inside the mall. NPR's Gregory Warner reports. 

 

The announcement of the hearing comes as a leaked intelligence report seen by NPR showed Kenyan intelligence officials were aware last year of a terrorist plot in the Westgate mall. The report even describes a likely method of attack, where "the operatives storm into a building with guns and grenades." But when militants¹⁹ stormed the Westgate mall, Kenyan security forces seemed caught off guard. Initially²⁰ believing they were responding to bank robbers, police were first outmatched. Security forces then took the upper hand, but Kenyans familiar with the operation say the forces were not equipped to continue their assault after sunset. By night, the terrorists reportedly regrouped and rearmed, killing²¹ more civilians²² and stretching out the siege for four days. Gregory Warner, NPR News, Nairobi. 

 

Police in New York City say they are looking for two people. They think they have parachuted onto a Lower Manhattan street near the World Trade Center site. Private security guards reported seeing two parachuters land in front of the Goldman Sachs headquarters around 3:00 AM. Not clear is whether they jumped from a plane or a building. 

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 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。

6 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

7 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

8 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 ideologically   

adv. 意识形态上地，思想上地

参考例句：

• Ideologically, they have many differences. 在思想意识上，他们之间有许多不同之处。
• He has slipped back ideologically. 他思想退步了。

11 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

12 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

13 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

14 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

15 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

16 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

17 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

18 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

19 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

20 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

21 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。

22 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。