NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2014-01-08

 Janet Yellen was confirmed by the Senate today to be the first woman to head the Federal Reserve. As NPR’s Johnny Stick explains Yellen gained bipartisan support.

 

The vote to confirm Yellen was 56 to 26 with eleven Republicans joining all the Democrats¹ present to support her. Weather-related problems caused a number of members to miss the vote. Yellen is expected to be sworn in on February 1st, the day after Ben Bernanke complete his second term as Fed chairman. As head of the Fed, Yellen will be one of the world’s most powerful policymakers. But she faces significant challenges. They include winding² down the Fed’s unprecedented³ stimulus⁴ program without hurting the economy or destabilizing the financial system. How fast to wind down the stimulus is a matter of contention⁵ on the Fed’s policymaking committee that Yellen will have to manage. Johnny Sti, NPR News, Washington.

 

US Supreme⁶ Court has halted same sex marriages in Utah at least for now. About [the sance/desence], the justices putting on hold of/a[as] federal judges’ decision striking down the state’s ban on same sex unions till the decision is reviewed by a Federal Appeals Court. NPR’s Nidi Toudenburg has more.

 

The court’s apparently⁷ unanimous decision to put on hold the lower court ruling is hardly a shock when the court first considered its same sex marriage issues last term. It also kept the state ban intact in California while that case was reviewed. In that case, however, the lower courts also issued temporary holds, something that did not occur in Utah in part because the State Attorney Generals Office was tardy⁸ in making a request for a stay. Nina Toudenburg, NPR News, Washington.

 

Some of the coldest and most dangerous weather of the season is not ready has Midwest firmly as/and its grip has been pushing east and south. In Miniaplis, Minnesota it was 23 degrees below zero today. That’s without \of the wind chill, by the way, which made it feel like was/with minus 48 degree. Freezing temperatures in Saint Louis and Chicago also led to some cancel to airline flights. Nancy Watt⁹ is a spokesperson for AAA.

 

Many of the cancellations are happening at major hubs because this weather is unexpectedly cold in regions of the country that normally don’t deal with blows your own temperatures. So we’re seeing a lot of unusual weather-patterned cancellations and delay. So it’s really important that people stay abreast¹⁰ of what’s going on with their destination and from point to point.

 

From Dakota to Maryland, some schools and day care centers also shut down because of the extremely cold weather that’s expected to remain bitter cold in many areas at least till tomorrow. 

 

Fourteen commuters in Chicago suffered what were reported as minor¹² injuries when a commuter¹¹ train struck a posted downtown station. Chicago metro¹³ officials blaming the crush into what’s known as a bumping posts on the bad weather there.

 

On Wall Street today, the DOW was down 44 points and [session its]it’s at 16,425; the NASDAQ lost 18 points.

 

You’re listening NPR.

 

The southeastern coast of Britnese being hammered by record-high waves today, there are some residents along lower-lying coastal¹⁴ areas being evacuated¹⁵ from their homes amid fears of further flooding. Waves up to 25 feet high were recorded lands and on the southwestern tip of the UK. A number of homes, businesses and student residents also had to be evacuated along the Welsh Coast. So far at least seven people have died in stormy weather that battered¹⁶ Britain since December.

 

For the first time a generation of new Boston Mayor were sworn in today. As NPR’s Tobbie Smith reports Marty Walsh is now running the city following the 20-year [rate about/readabout of] outgoing Mayor Thomas Menino.

 

Walsh, a 46 years old former state representative who beat cancer as a child and alcoholism as an adult, opened his inaugural¹⁷ address proclaiming Boston “a city of second chances and redemption and a city of dreams”.

 

“Look at this, a kid from [chash in dour¹⁸ tch the] who is now mayor of this great city. And I know my mother is not the only one surprised that I’m standing¹⁹ up here.”

 

Walsh, who is a long-time Labor²⁰ leader, says improving public education will be a priority along with the economy and making the city safer. He choose the issue of reducing inner city violence for his first meeting just hours after being sworn in. Tovia Smith, NPR News, Boston.

 

A collision between a hangback whale and a boat off the coast of Boha, California, left three people injured. According to Mexican authorities a 67-year-old tourist and the captain of the vessel²¹ suffered injuries to their ribs²² and arms. The collision is in the area known as [carbo forsou] off the tip of the Boha, California peninsular. All of those who [revolver/have already] rescued by the Mexican navy. It’s not clear whether the whale was injured. January is a key month for whale birthing off the Boha Coast.

1 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》

2 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

3 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

4 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。

5 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 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。

8 tardy   

adj.缓慢的，迟缓的

参考例句：

• It's impolite to make a tardy appearance.晚到是不礼貌的。
• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。

9 watt   

n.瓦，瓦特

参考例句：

• The invention of the engine is creditable to Watt.发动机的发明归功于瓦特。
• The unit of power is watt.功率的单位是瓦特。

10 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

11 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

12 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

13 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

14 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

15 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

16 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

17 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

18 dour   

adj.冷酷的，严厉的；（岩石）嶙峋的；顽强不屈

参考例句：

• They were exposed to dour resistance.他们遭受到顽强的抵抗。
• She always pretends to be dour,in fact,she's not.她总表现的不爱讲话，事实却相反。

19 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

20 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。

21 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

22 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。