NPR 2008-10-28

Alaska Senator Ted¹ Stevens has been convicted on all counts against him at his corruption² trial in Washington. The longest-serving Republican in the Senate could face up to five years in prison for each of the seven counts he was found guilty on. Stevens was accused of lying about $250, 000 worth of home renovations and other gifts he received from a wealthy oil contractor³. Gifts, the Acting⁴ Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division with the Justice Department Matthew Friedrich maintained, came with strings⁵. "This company, the evidence showed, was not a charity, and in fact, solicited⁶ Senator Stevens for assistance in numerous areas during the same time frame, that it provided Senator Stevens with these gifts and things of value." Stevens said he is not dropping out of the Senate race. The 84-year-old lawmaker said he will appeal his conviction and he accused the Justice Department of unconscionable behavior.

Republican John McCain is trying to get the upper hand on the economy. He met early in the day with his economic team in Cleveland. From member station WCPN, Dan Bobkoff has more.

As the economy has suffered, so have McCain's poll numbers. Flanked by his panel of economic advisors⁷ including former presidential candidate Mitt⁸ Romney, eBay founder⁹ Meg Whitman and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, McCain sought to distance himself from both Senator Obama and President Bush. "This is the fundamental difference between Senator Obama and me, the fundamental difference. We both disagree with President Bush on economic policy. The difference is that he thinks taxes have been too low, and I think, and I think the spending has been too high." McCain said he would focus on reducing spending and cutting taxes. And he warned about putting control of the House, Senate and Presidency¹⁰ in the hands of Democrats¹² Nancy Pelosi, Harry¹³ Raid and Obama. He called them a "dangerous threesome". For NPR News, I'm Dan Bobkoff in Cleveland.

With a little more than a week remaining in the presidential race, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama laid out his closing argument in the battleground state of Ohio today. From member station WKSU in Canton, Ohio, Amanda Rabinowitz reports.

Barack Obama appeared in Canton, Ohio where he underscored the need for change. Obama outlined his plans for tax cuts for the middle class, job creation and health care. He criticized John McCain for not breaking from Bush on economic policies. "In one week you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election, that tries to pit region against region, and city against town, Republican against Democrat¹¹, that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope." Obama is expected to spend most of his final week in key battleground states, Ohio and Pennsylvania. For NPR News, I'm Amanda Rabinowitz in Canton, Ohio.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 203 points today to close at 8175. The NASDAQ lost 46 points. The S&P 500 dropped 27 points.

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Syria's foreign minister is condemning¹⁴ a US military raid inside Syrian territory that resulted in the deaths of at least eight people. Calling it an act of criminal and terrorist aggression¹⁵, Syria's Foreign Ministry¹⁶ said that if there is a repeat of this weekend's raid, the country will defend our territories. US military officials have only confirmed US forces conducted a raid in Syria targeted at a network of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters. Syria says troops in four helicopters attacked a building. They say four of the eight individuals killed in that raid were children. A US counter-terrorism official says forces killed the head of a Syrian network that funnelled¹⁷ foreign fighters in Iraq, weapons and cash.

Two students are dead after a shooting Sunday night on the campus of University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. From member station KUAR, Kelly McNeil reports.

Campus police aren't talking about what they think might have led to the shooting, but they do say they don't think it was random¹⁸. Two suspects are in custody¹⁹, but police are trying to track down two more. The incident occurred just outside the freshman²⁰ dormitory where one of the victims 18-year-old Ryan Handerson lived. Also dead is 19-year-old sophomore²¹ Shivares Brark. One other man, not a student, was injured. UCA President Tom Courtway says police and resident assistants did everything correctly to secure the campus, but safety policies will be reviewed just in case. "We are going to make sure that our students faculty²² and staff have a completely safe environment to learn and work." Classes were cancelled but they will resume Tuesday as usual. For NPR News, I'm Kelly McNeil in Little Rock.

Crude oil prices continued to fall today, hitting a 17-month-low. The near month contract for benchmark crude fell $1. 20 a barrel ending the session at $62. 95 a barrel in New York.

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

6 solicited   

v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求

参考例句：

• He's already solicited their support on health care reform. 他已就医疗改革问题请求他们的支持。 来自辞典例句
• We solicited ideas from Princeton University graduates and under graduates. 我们从普林斯顿大学的毕业生与大学生中征求意见。 来自辞典例句

7 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

8 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

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 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 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。

16 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

17 funnelled   

漏斗状的

参考例句：

• He secretly funnelled credit-card information to counterfeiters. 他偷偷地把信用卡信息传递给造假者。
• The water funnelled through the gorge and out onto the plain. 水穿过峡谷流到平原。

18 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

19 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

20 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

21 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

22 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。