NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-12-20

 The Senate has passed a two-year budget agreement that will roll back across-the-board spending cuts that were set for January. As NPR’s Ailsa Chang reports the deal will reduce the chances of government shutdown in January, but does not guarantee it won’t happen.

 

Just to make it clear, a government shutdown happens when appropriations¹ run out. So Congress still has to pass a spending bill by January 15th to truly keep the government open. This budget deal raises the ceiling on how much money can be spent under that bill and it’s likely members of Congress will want to bicker² in January over how much is being spent on what. But lawmakers are optimistic that the disagreements won’t reach crisis level this time around. The deal reverses $63 billion in spending cuts and several members of Congress are upset that the increased spending meant reducing cost of living increases for military retirees under age 62. Ailsa Chang, NPR News, the Capitol. 

 

President Obama met with members of a Surveillance review panel today to discuss their report. As NPR’s Ari Shapiro tells us a team of experts recommends reign³ in Americans spying activities. 

 

This review suggests taking mass phone and email data away from the government and letting a third party hold onto it. The panel also suggests some transparency steps to help Americans know how much information the National Security Agency’s vacuuming up. In reaction, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said the message to the NSA is now coming from every branch of government and from every corner of our nation. You have gone too far. The ACLU urged President Obama to accept the group’s recommendations, but the White House did not sound eager to fully⁴ throw its way behind the report. A spokesman says President Obama will review the recommendations and deliver a speech next month about his plans. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

 

The Federal Reserve’s main interest rates setting arm wrapped up its two-day meeting in Washington today, announcing beginning next month, it will start to dial back a bit on a bond buying program aimed at boosting the economy, rather than pull back all at once, the Central Bank appears to be ready to do so gradually, announcing it will reduce its current stimulus⁵ program by just $ 10 billion to roughly $75 billion a month. Beth Ann Bovino is an economist⁶ at Standard and Poor’s, says the move comes at a time the Fed. believes the economy is recovering. 

 

We see the economy is getting stronger and stronger, particularly because of the private sector⁷ resilience, it’s been surprisingly robust⁸ despite all these fiscal⁹ shocks. And we think that will continue into 2014. 

 

Fed. says it will keep short term interest rates at near zero until the unemployment rate falls below 6.5%. 

 

Builders broke ground new homes in November, their fastest pace in more than five years. It's the latest sign the housing recovery is picking up steam even with modestly higher mortgage interest rates. Commerce Department says developers began construction on new homes and apartments in November to seasonally¹⁰ adjusted annual rate, just over 1 million units. 

 

A strong response on Wall Street to the Fed.’s message today, the Dow was up 292 points.

 

This is NPR.

 

Anger continues to bubble up in the Indian capital of New Delhi over a U.S. treatment of one of that country’s diplomats¹². According to a New York-based diplomat¹¹, she was subjected to a strip search along with a cavity search, and DNA¹³ swabbing after being arrested on Visa charges. The diplomat accused of lying under Visa application about how much she paid to her housekeeper¹⁴, an Indian national. Prosecutors¹⁵ contended the housekeeper received less than $3 an hour. In response, Indian police remove barricades¹⁶ around the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, officials there also demanded to know the salaries paid to Indian staff in U.S. embassy households.  

 

A 317-year-old Stradivarius violin sold at a London auction¹⁷ today for  $2,268,431. While far off the record, Larry Miller¹⁸ reports it was feared this particular instrument might never be seen to her again.

 

Bidding was described as hotly contested and fierce the focus of the attention, a 1696 Stradivarius violin that had been stolen from an international soloist¹⁹ while she grabbed a bread at a London train station in 2010. The thief offered it to a  bus driver for $140 who turned it down because his daughter already played the recorder. The violin then mysteriously turned up three years later, still in excellent condition.  Jason Price of Tarisio Auction House  told the BBC why it struts²⁰ a various command such a high price. 

 

It sounds great, and it’s a supply and demand issue. There are fewer and fewer of them. They are not making more of them. 

 

Around 600 violins made by Stradivarius remain in the world. For NPR News, I’m Larry Miller in London.

 

For package shipper Fedex, some good news today, the company says its latest quarter profits were up 14%. That was in part on stronger margin²¹ in cost cutting. Even with an uptick, the results were still slightly behind analysts²² estimates. 

 

I’m Jack²³ Speer, NPR News, in Washington.

1 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

2 bicker   

vi.(为小事)吵嘴，争吵

参考例句：

• The two children used to bicker about who should do the washing-up.这两个小孩子过去常为该由谁洗餐具一事而争吵。
• They always bicker when they meet at school.在学校见面时他们总是争吵。

3 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

6 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。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

9 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

10 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

11 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

12 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

14 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

15 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。

16 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

17 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

18 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

19 soloist   

n.独奏者，独唱者

参考例句：

• The soloist brought the house down with encore for his impressive voice.这位独唱家以他那感人的歌声博得全场喝彩。
• The soloist had never performed in London before.那位独唱者过去从未在伦敦演出过。

20 struts   

（框架的）支杆( strut的名词复数 )； 支柱； 趾高气扬的步态； （尤指跳舞或表演时）卖弄

参考例句：

• The struts are firmly braced. 那些支柱上得很牢靠。
• The Struts + EJB framework is described in part four. 三、介绍Struts+EJB框架的技术组成：Struts框架和EJB组件技术。

21 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

22 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。

23 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。