NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-11-09

 A bill banning workplace discrimination based on central orientation¹ or gender² identity won passage today in Democratic-led Senate. As NPR’s David Welna explains ten Republicans join all of the Senate voting Democrats⁴ for a final tally⁵ of 64 to 32. 

 

The Senate’s passage of Employment Non-discrimination Act was hailed by the first senator who is openly gay, Wisconsin Democrat³ Tammy Baldwin.

 

When we say something is wrong and it should not be done, that sends a powerful message.

 

But House Republicans show no sign of taking up the bill. At a news conference, majority leader Harry⁶ Reid appealed to their leader. 

 

Speaker Boehner please, please do what is right for the American people, let’s do this legislation. It is fair. This legislation is only about fairness.

 

29 states currently have no anti-discrimination laws for gay and transgender workers. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

 

The government shutdown caused billions of dollars and lost productivity and lost revenue. NPR’s Tamara Keith reports that is the conclusion of preliminary report from the White House office budget office.

 

The office of management in budget says the 16-day government shutdown result in some 20 billion dollars and lost productivity as hundreds of thousands of government workers were forced to stay home and later given back pay. White House Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell says the national parks estimate they missed out a millions of visitors.

 

The national park services estimated that the shutdown led to over 500 million in lost visitor’s spending.  

 

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner says “we would prefer to avoid this shutdown and any economic impact” but he also suggests the administration may be using the report to distract from healthcare laws troubled rollout. Tamara Keith, NPR News, the Capitol.

 

US economy continues to grow during the third quarter though consumer’s spending show some signs of slowing. Commerce Department says the Gross Domestic Product that is the broadest measure of economy was expanding in 2.8% annual rate during the three month ending in September. That is after spending a 2.5% rate during the previous quarter. Economist⁷ Scott Brown is with Raymond James & Associates.

 

We are still definitely in recovery mode. It is not especially strong, we really want to see it lot lot stronger but it is not terribly weak either. It is sort of very gradual path of improvement.

 

Meanwhile in a second report the government says spending by consumer’s weekend to in 1.5% annual rates.   

 

Number of people filing first time jobless claims failed last week. The Labor⁸ Department says initial claims for unemployment benefits to climb by 9,000 to a seasonally⁹ adjusted rate of 336,000.

 

On Wall Street today, stock has given back all their gain from yesterday and then some, the DOW Industrial Average failing 152 points at close of 15,593. The NASDAQ was down 74 points. The S&P 500 lost 23 points today.

 

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Typhoon Haiyan, a powerful storm be called the strongest so far this year, has now slid into the central islands of the Philippines, cutting power, grounding, air and sea transport and forcing millions to flee to shelters. The strong Category 5 typhoon has set maximum wind up to 170 miles an hour. Storm is forecasted the path just to the north in the Philippines’s second largest city homed to about 2.5 million people. Damages from the storm are not yet known. The one US-based weather experts say he expects there will be catastrophic.

 

Another Tesla Motors S the all-electric car has caught fire. It is the third fire in six weeks for this small California-based automaker. NPR’s Sonari Glinton reports Tesla will start to take a beating.

 

This burnt fire was in Smyrna, Tennessee when a Tesla Motors S ran over a tow hitch¹⁰, hitting the under carriage of the car and causing an electrical fire. Like the two other fires, no passengers were hurt. Karl Brauer, a senior analyst¹¹ at Kelley Blue Book, says there is no evidence yet of structural¹² problem with the Model S. 

 

But we see headline that says Tesla on fire and we get afraid out and we were like Ooh My Gosh the cars what is wrong with them. And the stock takes a beating from levels that probably should not be at the first place.

 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is contacting local authorities to determine if the accident mirrors action on average several hundred cars caught fire each day in the US. Sonari Glinton, NPR News, Culver City.

 

Toyota has announced recall some of its cars in pickup¹³ trucks. The Japanese automaker says it plans to recall about 33,000 vehicles most in Japan. Toyota officials say about 4,000 common pickups sold in the US will be involved in the recall. The vehicles have engine valve springs could develop to cracks.  

 

1 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

2 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

6 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

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 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

10 hitch   

v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉

参考例句：

• They had an eighty-mile journey and decided to hitch hike.他们要走80英里的路程，最后决定搭便车。
• All the candidates are able to answer the questions without any hitch.所有报考者都能对答如流。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

13 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。