CNN 2009-03-11

Good morning, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Reggie Aqui. Thanks for checking in. Here is what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

President Obama outlined his plan for a major overhaul¹ of the country's education system last hour. "It's time to give all Americans a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career. We've accepted failure for far too long. Enough is enough. America's entire education system must once more be the envy of the world and that's exactly what we intend to do." The president's stimulus² package budgets billions of dollars in grants to local school districts and billions more for building schools and training teachers.

The struggling global economy has led to job cuts at United Technologies. That company announced this morning that it will reduce its global workforce³ by 11,600. The cuts are part of 600 million dollars in additional restructuring actions this year for United Tech whose products include, Carrier heating and air conditioning, Sikorsky helicopters and Otis elevators.

Delta⁴ Air Lines says that it has to cut its international capacity by an additional 10%. That is because of, you guess it, the global recession. The flight cuts will begin in September.

A 410-billion-dollar spending bill is expected to go for a vote in the Senate today. Most of the debate is focused on billions of dollars in pet projects. In actuality they account for less than 2% of the entire bill. Senator John McCain's attempt to strip the bill of its earmarks was defeated last week. The government is expected to run out of cash tomorrow at the stroke of midnight eastern if that bill isn't passed.

Alleged⁵ swindler Bernie Madoff is expected in court today. A federal judge could decide to remove Madoff's attorney for a conflict of interest. The attorney's late father is a former Madoff investor⁶. Madoff will be back in court on Thursday again. He is expected to plead guilty to allegedly masterminding a 50-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Please stick with us here at CNN and CNN.com Live as we bring you the updates throughout the day.

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 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。

3 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

4 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

5 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

6 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。