NPR 2011-12-17

 In the House, lawmakers eager to leave Washington gridlock behind them for a holiday break have approved a one-trillion-dollar spending bill. Speaker of the House John Boehner announced the vote.

 

“The ayes are 296, the nays² are 121. The conference report is adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.”

 

A Senate vote may not take place until late today or on Saturday. Negotiators forged a compromise later last night. But NPR’s Tamara Keith reports a few other issues remained unresolved.

 

Still missing is a path to extend the payroll³ tax holiday, unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed⁴ and a number of other year-end fixes. Congressional leaders say they want to take care of all these things before heading home for the long winter break. But they still can’t agree on how to pay for what would be hundreds of billions dollars in expenses. Senate Majority Leader Harry⁵ Reid is talking about a “Plan B” that would involve a short-term two-month extension. Tamara Keith, NPR News.

 

The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with civil fraud in connection with the nation’s housing meltdown. SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami.

 

“We allege⁶ that the company and the three former executives charged today adopted a very broad definition of subprime in its disclosure documents. That definition and the resulting disclosures in turn let investors⁷ to believe that Freddie Mac was disclosing all of its subprime exposure. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”

 

Among those facing charges, two former CEOs, Fannie’s Daniel Mudd and Freddie’s Richard Syron.

 

Britain’s Supreme⁸ Court today agreed to hear an appeal by Wikileaks founder⁹ Julian Assange. As Larry Miller¹⁰ reports from London, it’s agreed to hear appeals against extradition¹¹ to Sweden on sex crime allegations.

 

In agreeing to hear the Assange case, the British Supreme Court says the issue raised is of great public importance whether a prosecutor¹² is a ‘judicial authority.’ Assange argues his arrest warrant is invalid¹³ because it was not issued by a judge. Assange denies allegations made by two Swedish women who claimed he raped¹⁴ and then coreced them. He says the arrest warrant is politically motivated, and it means to get him to the US, where he could be prosecuted¹⁵ for publishing the thousands of classified US documents. Bradley Manning is charged with leaking. For NPR News, I’m Larry Miller in London.

 

The case against the Army private accused of leaking sensitive government information to Wikileaks moved to a military courtroom today. Bradley Manning’s case is being heard in a heavily secured courtroom at Fort Meade, Maryland.

 

On Wall Street today, the Dow was down two points at 11,875; NASDAQ up 18. 

 

This is NPR.

 

Ahead of a federal trial over the BP Gulf¹⁶ oil spill one year ago, the maker¹ of a failed blowout preventer is said to pay BP a quarter of a billion dollar. BP is directing that money from Cameron International Corporation to a 20-billion-dollar victim compensation fund.

 

The Defense¹⁷ Department is extending a deadline for colleges to sign on to new requirements if they are to receive federal assistance for active service members. NPR’s Larry Abramson explains.

 

Originally, colleges and universities head into January 1st to sign a memorandum¹⁸, which requires that schools consider official recognition for military training courses. The requirement was meant to ensure fair treatment for students receiving military funding, but many schools said the rule would tie their hands. Now the Defense Department says it will extend that deadline to the end of March. So we can negotiate with colleges that have refused to sign. The military gives up more than 500 million dollars each year in tuition assistance to help active service members attend college. Larry Abramson, NPR News, Washington.

 

Major League slugger Barry Bonds faces sentencing today in connection with a grand jury investigation¹⁹ into steroid abuse. He was convicted on charges of obstruction²⁰ of justice. Prosecutors²¹ are asking for a 15-month prison sentence. The Federal Probation²² Department recommends Bonds get probation, a term of house arrest and community service.

 

Author and essayist Christopher Hitchens has died at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after a battle with cancer. He was 62. He was well-known for his essays in Vanity Fair as manifesto²³ for ADS.

 

I’m Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 nays   

n.反对票，投反对票者( nay的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tally was two ayes and three nays. 投票结果是两票赞成，三票反对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tally was three yeas and two nays, so the yeas have it. 投票结果是三票赞成两票反对，投赞成票者胜利。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

4 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

5 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

6 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 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。

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

10 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。

11 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

12 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

13 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

14 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

15 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

16 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

17 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

18 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。

19 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。

20 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

21 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。

22 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

23 manifesto   

n.宣言，声明

参考例句：

• I was involved in the preparation of Labour's manifesto.我参与了工党宣言的起草工作。
• His manifesto promised measures to protect them.他在宣言里保证要为他们采取保护措施。