NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2014-03-15

 Ukraine's interim¹ Prime Minister made a direct appeal for talks with Russia in the UN Security Council meeting on the crisis in this country. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports US is also making another diplomatic push, trying to prevent Russia's possible annexation² of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula.  

Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says his country is facing military aggression³ from Russia, a veto-holder on the UN Security Council. 

This is absolutely and entirely⁴ unacceptable in the 21st century to resolve any kind of conflicts with tanks, artillery⁵ and boots on the ground. 

He spoke⁶ briefly⁷ in Russian to say he doesn't think Russians want a war. Russia's ambassador said no one does, but blasted the west and protesters in Kiev for starting this crisis. The US is proposing a Security Council resolution to protect Ukraine's territorial⁸ integrity. Russia is sure to veto it. Michele Kelemen NPR News, Washington.  

 

 

President Obama has signed off on the presidential memorandum⁹ that directs the Department of Labour to put in place new rules that will make more workers eligible¹⁰ for overtime¹¹ pay. The President wanted it the most far-reaching executive action put in force. Rules include retail¹² managers and others who often work more than 40 hours a week, for an additional bump bump in pay, something the President says needs to change. 

It doesn't matter of what you do is mostly physical work like stocking shelves; it doesn't matter of your working 50, 60 or 70 hours a week: your employer doesn't have to pay you a single extra dime¹³. And I think that's wrong. 

Legis effort comes as Obama seeks to bypass Congress * on the the zoning areas they can. Critiques of the president's initiative say it would be too much a burden for small businesses. 

 

 

A bipartisan group of Senators is introducing a bill that would increase the capability¹⁴ of the Justice Department. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports law makers¹⁵ wanted an independent watchdog to investigate ethical¹⁶ breaches¹⁷ by prosecutors¹⁸. 

Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah and Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana want to give the inspector¹⁹ general more power to look into attorney misconduct at the Justice Department. Under current practice, those investigations²⁰ to justice are reported up to the attorney general, not an independent agency. But law makers signed a new report by the project on government oversight²¹. That study documents 650 cases of recklessness or misconduct by justice lawyers over the past decade. Senator Lee says people need to know more about these cases, and have confidence they will be handled quickly and responsibly. Carrie Johnson NPR News Washington.    

 

 

Consumers are apparently²² up their spending a bit more last month as the latest released the government's retailer²³ numbers for February show. According to Commerce Department, retail sales last month were up 3/10 of a percent. The gain followed the decline of the previous month. 

 

 

A down day for Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 231 points to 16,108. That was a decline of more than one percent. The NASDAQ was down 62 points. 

 

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New data on some of the models of compact cars has been cut up in a recall by General Motors. According to a study commission by Center for Auto²⁴ Safety, more than 300 deaths have been recorded in some of the models being recalled after the vehicles' air bags apparently failed to deploy²⁵. In announcing a recent recall to the potentially faulty ignition switches in some cars, GM had reported 12 deaths and 34 injuries in the recalled models. GM has come under criticism for decades-long failure to issue a recall of the two models Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn²⁶ Ion in between 2003 to 2007.

 

 

Americans still love their libraries. That's according to a new study report by the Pew research center. The reports ascertained²⁷ files of serious studies on American library habits, focused on how much Americans engaged with public libraries. NPR's Lynn Neary reports.

Conventional wisdom may assume that the growth of new technology has taken a big bite of the public's interest in and use of the library. But according to a Pew report, the most highly-engaged library users are also big technology users. From library lovers and information omnivores, to distant admires and off the grid²⁸, Pew categorized people's attitudes and use of public libraries. Pew found that 69% of all Americans are either highly engaged or moderately engaged with libraries. These groups express broad support for public libraries, and believe there are positive influences on their communities. They also tended to have higher incomes and be more engaged both culturally or socially than groups that had little or no contact with their public libraries. Lynn Neary NPR News Washington.

 

 

Crude oil future's prices closed higher. The price of crude up 21 cents a barrel today to end the session at 98.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. 

 

1 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

2 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

3 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

8 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

9 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

10 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

11 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

12 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。

13 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

14 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

15 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

17 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

18 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。

19 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

20 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

21 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

22 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。

23 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。

24 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

25 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

26 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

27 ascertained   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I ascertained that she was dead. 我断定她已经死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。