U.S. stocks drop on Japan disaster and high oil prices

    NEW YORK, March 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks declined on Tuesday on high oil prices and possible earning lost from airline companies because of Japan disaster.
    With no economic news released on Tuesday, investors¹（投资者） paid attention to the company front. Delta² Air Lines Inc., the second largest U.S. airline, said Tuesday its 2011 revenue will be cut by 250 million U.S. dollars to 400 million dollars due to the crisis in Japan.
    In the previous session, Tiffany cut its first-quarter earnings³ forecast as it suffered some store closings in Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami⁴.
    Meanwhile, oil prices was around 105 dollars per barrel on Tuesday. Concerns that high oil prices would hurt U.S. economic recovery were still hovering⁵ around investors' mind.
    The Dow Jones industrial average was down 17.9 points, or 0.15 percent, to 12,018.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 4.61 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,293.77. The Nasdaq declined 8.22 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,683.87.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 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

2 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。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

5 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。