NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-12-04

 The federal government’s new health insurance website is seeing twice its usual weekday traffic as Americans try to beat the deadline to sign up for coverage¹ begins January 1st. NPR’s Scott Horsley reports some would-be users have been pushed into an online waiting area.

 

The Obama administration says some 375,000 people have logged onto the website by noon Monday, testing the limits of the site’s new and improved capacity. As response time slowed, and error rates rose, some users were forced to wait or asked to supply emails so that they could come back later. White House Spokesman Jay Carney says that was by designed. 

 

We absolutely anticipated that on this day in particular, we would see a surge. 

 

The website fell short of its target of accommodating 50,000 simultaneous users, but officials say it should still meet the goal of handling 800,000 users per day. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

 

In New York, some commuters endured the lengthy² delays today as crews continue to clear the site of yesterday’s major derailment that claimed the lives of four people and left dozens of others hurt. Investigators³ say they’ve already been able to retrieve⁴ some of the train’s black box information that could help to determine what happened. One thing National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener says they know for sure the train was traveling well above the posted speed. 

 

The preliminary information and let me emphasise⁵ this is preliminary information from the event recorder shows that the train was traveling at approximately 82 miles per hour as it went into a 30 mile-an-hour curve. 

 

One hundred and fifty people were on board. The  Metro-North train went off the rails on a bend where Harlem and Hudson rivers meet near the Bronx. Many of those who were hurt are out of the hospital now. Investigators are continuing the probe. 

 

Bank of America will pay $400 million to mortgage giant Freddie Mac  to settle claims over bad home mortgages. NPR’s Chris Arnold reports it’s part of a series of settlements involving many of the nation’s big banks. 

 

These cases essentially⁶ involved banks allegedly selling garbage home loans to investors⁷ after first telling them the loans were good. This was back during the housing bubble   when this took place.  The government-controlled mortgage firms  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought or guaranteed tens of billions of dollars worth of these loans that went bad. And this latest settlement $400 million is actually smaller potatoes. Bank of America earlier this agreed to pay $3.6 billion in a similar settlement with Fannie Mae. And JPMorgan Chase recently struck a deal with both Fannie and Freddie to pay them about $5 billion for selling loans that were lower quality than the bank said they were. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

 

Huddled⁸ with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday in the host of other so-called retail⁹ holidays were bombarded with, well, like another one on the list today, Cyber Monday. Most analysts¹⁰ expect upwards¹¹ of 2 billion in sales today. 

 

Stocks closed lower, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 77 points; the NASDAQ lost 14 points today.

 

This is NPR.

 

Gay marriages are now underway in Hawaii as part of a new law allowing for same-sex couples to register for a license¹² and to be married on the same day. The process that appeals to tourists who are visiting for just a short time. Six couples at a resort in Waikiki were among the first to be married today exchanging vows¹³ side by side in front of a few hundred guests. Just the first few hours of  the new law, Hawaii issued 40 licenses¹⁴ for same-sex marriage. State began accepting applications for licenses on its website at midnight.

 

Farmers are cutting and delivering millions of Christmas trees. But NPR’s Paul Brown tells us there is a growing problem for U.S. Christmas tree farmers, a mould that makes roots rot and trees shrivel. Researchers are trying to breed resistant¹⁵ trees. 

 

When the mould called Phytophthora  contaminants farmers’ Christmas tree fields years of work and waiting can bring only losses. The well-known Fraser fir is acceptable to the root rot, fir trees from Eurasia are not. North Carolina farmer Jeff Poller is experimenting with the Turkish fir. He says it offers good needle retention¹⁶, strong limbs and pleasant if not great, older.

 

It doesn’t smell as good as a Fraser fir though, I will tell you that. But it’s close.

 

And he says so far, his customers are happy. Breeders are also working to create hybrid¹⁷ Christmas trees from the Fraser fir and the Turkish fir. Paul Brown, NPR News.

 

Amazon apparently¹⁸ has a different proposed use for drone aircraft rather than military or police, delivering packages. The online retailer¹⁹, according to a report presented on CBS News Program 60 Minutes, is actually working on a project that  could allow for system that'll get purchases to customers in less than 30 minutes due to the use of drones.

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

5 emphasise   

vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重

参考例句：

• What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢？
• The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。

6 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。

7 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

8 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

9 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

10 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。

11 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

12 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

13 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

14 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

15 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

16 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

17 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

18 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

19 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。