NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2015-12-25

 From NPR news in Washington, I'm Jack¹ Speer.Federal Transportation officials say an eighth person has died in the US due to faulty airbag inflators made by Takata Corporation. Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton reports. The latest victim was a teenager who was driving a relative's Honda Accord. 19 million cars are now recalled for airbag inflators that can rupture², striking front seat occupants with the shards³ of metal. All of the people killed in the US have been in Hondas but the recalling involves millions of other brands as well. So far, only about 27 percent of recalled driver side airbags have been replaced and 26 percent of recalled passenger side airbags. But officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration say the pace of repairs is improving. The government has appointed an independent monitor to oversee⁴ Takata's recall work. For NPR news, I'm Tracy Samilton.

 

 

Among the six US troops killed in Afghanistan this week was Air Force major Adrianna Vorderbruggen. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports she is thought to the first openly gay woman killed in action. Major Vorderbruggen was the only woman of the six airmen killed on Monday when their patrol was attacked by a suicide bomber⁵ north of the Afghan capital. She was a native of Minnesota, assigned with a special investigation⁶ squad⁷ in and out of Eglin air base in Florida. A group that supports gay, lesbian,bisexual and transgender troops and families released a statement mourning Vorderbruggen and extending condolences to her wife and four-year son. It's been five years since the military ended the ban on homosexual troops serving openly. Before that, same sex partners were not formally notified if their husband or wife died in action, nor were they allowed to officially received their loved one's casket when it arrived an the air force base. Quil Lawrence, NPR news.

 

 

Former Federal Reserve board chair Ben Bernanke in interview with the NPR today will not comment about the recent decision by the Fed's interests rates setting arm to move on the interests rates for the first time in 7 years. But he did say at the time the Fed was ratcheting rates down in response to a major recession, the body had no idea how long the rates would remain low. Bernanke says the US economy is clearly in better shape now. I think the US economy, the domestic economy anyway is pretty solid. We've got households and good financial shape. Jobs are being created. The housing sector⁸ is doing pretty well. So there is a lot to be happy about in terms of the full momentum⁹ of the US economy here at home. Bernanke says for overseas economies, the picture is less bright. The former Fed former chairman measured China as well as big industrial powers including Europe and Japan which he says are lagging the US.

 

 

Sales of new single family homes took a bump-up in November after somewhat a weak October. The Commerce Department reporting today new home sales in November rose 4.3 percent. It was seasonly adjusted rate to 497,000.  

 

 

On Wall Street, the Dow was up 185 points. The NASDAQ rose 44 points today. You're listening to NPR.

 

 

The woman facing charges in connection with the death of one person and the injuries of dozens of others made her first appearance in court today. 24-year-old Lakeisha Holloway is accused of intentionally¹⁰ driving a car up on to the sidewalk of the crowed Las Vagus strip last Sunday night. Holloway, who stood in shackles¹¹ did not enter a plea and said little during today's brief hearing when she was arraigned¹² on charges of murder, hit and run and child endangerment. Hearing is scheduled for next month. 

 

 

The best selling band of all time is finally making its music available to legally stream on demand after years of holding out. As NPR's NW reports the Beatles catalogue will be playable online on services of Spotify and Apple Music starting on Christmas Eve. Happy Crimble for download on this website Wednesday was a medley¹³ of its greatest hits. The Beatles and the Universal Misic Group have ignored the digital era for as long as they possibly could. The group was famously late selling songs online. It was impossible to buy a Beatles single on i Tunes¹⁴ until just five years ago. And the band waited until revenues from streaming started to compete with buying songs digitally. As a group that sold more than 1 billion records, the Beatles can afford to slowly release its music in new and remastered formats¹⁵. But while streaming is an ever popular way of listening to music, its top sellers are generally much younger artists.NW, NPR news.

 

 

Crude oil prices posted a third straight say of gains. The price of oil was up a dollar and 36 cents a barrel to end the session at 37.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. I'm Jack Speer, NPR news in Washington.

1 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。

2 rupture   

n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂

参考例句：

• I can rupture a rule for a friend.我可以为朋友破一次例。
• The rupture of a blood vessel usually cause the mark of a bruise.血管的突然破裂往往会造成外伤的痕迹。

3 shards   

n.（玻璃、金属或其他硬物的）尖利的碎片( shard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyewitnesses spoke of rocks and shards of glass flying in the air. 目击者称空中石块和玻璃碎片四溅。 来自辞典例句
• Ward, Josh Billings, and a host of others have survived only in scattered shards of humour. 沃德、比林斯和许多别的作家能够留传下来的只是些幽默的残章断简。 来自辞典例句

4 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

5 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

8 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。

9 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

10 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

11 shackles   

手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊

参考例句：

• a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
• The cars of the train are coupled together by shackles. 火车的车厢是用钩链连接起来的。

12 arraigned   

v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责

参考例句：

• He was arraigned for murder. 他因谋杀罪而被提讯。
• She was arraigned for high treason. 她被控叛国罪。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 medley   

n.混合

参考例句：

• Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
• China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。

14 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 formats   

n.（出版物的）版式( format的名词复数 )；[电视]电视节目的总安排（或计划）

参考例句：

• They are producing books in all kinds of different formats. 他们出版各种不同开本的书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A true GUI includes standard formats for representing text and graphics. 真正的图形用户界面包括表示文字和图形的标准格式。 来自互联网