NPR 2008-11-25

The Federal Reserve and the Treasury¹ are reportedly ready to announce a major lending program today as part of the economic recovery effort. It would help underwrite hundreds of billions of dollars in commercial debt including such things as car loans, student loans and credit cards.

Stocks have started the week the way they ended last week with a sizeable rally yesterday on Wall Street after the announcement that New York Federal Reserve Bank head Timothy Geithner will be nominated for Treasury Secretary in the upcoming Obama administration. As Steve Backner of Market News International reports, investors² were also encouraged yesterday by an announced federal bailout of Citigroup.

Before the start of Monday trading, the federal bailout of the nation's second largest bank touched off a rally in financial shares that spread to other sectors³. Later it was confirmed Geithner will take the Treasury post, while former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, another experienced crisis manager, will run the White House National Economic Council.

A plunge⁴ in existing home sales made little impact. The Dow Jones Industrials rose close to five percent, the NASDAQ Composite six and a third, and the S&P 500 nearly 6. 5%. For NPR News, I'm Steve Backner.

President-elect Obama is set to announce a White House budget chief today, reportedly Peter Orszag, who now heads the Congressional Budget Office.

In one of the largest terrorism financing cases ever, a jury has found the Holy Land Foundation and five of its members guilty on all counts including funding the group Hamas, which the US considers a terrorist organization. Bill Zeeble of member station KERA in Dallas has more.

The two and a half month trial ended in guilty verdicts for those accused of secretly funding Hamas declared a terrorist group in 1995. Prosecutors⁵ say at least 12 million dollars went to Hamas disguised as charity. US Attorney Richard Roper says this country will not tolerate those who finance terrorism. "That's a clear message with the resounding⁶ verdict of guilty on all counts. Money is the lifeblood of terrorism, plain and simple. " The unanimous guilty verdicts help reverse last fall's first Holy Land Foundation case when a Hungarian led to a mistrial. For NPR News, I'm Bill Zeeble, in Dallas.

On their fourth and final spacewalk of this mission, astronauts on board the International Space Station finished cleaning and lubricating a jammed solar-wing joint⁷ on the space station. John Ray, the lead spacewalk officer, said that the timing⁸ of tasks and wind movement was tricky⁹. We had to stop it just before the crew's gonna go out, so that we can perform the first lubrication. And then after they finished that, we wanted to get it going again, do the 180 degree rotation¹⁰ and stop it again for the second lubrication. " Unlubricated parts had left metal shavings in the joint and kept it from rotating for more than a year and that prevented solar wings on that side of space station from automatically turning to the sun to generate electricity. This is NPR News.

President Bush has granted pardons to 14 people and commuted¹¹ prison sentences of two others. But his latest group of pardons does not include any high-profile felons¹² such as the junk bond dealer¹³ Michael Milken. He wants a pardon on securities fraud charges. Former California Congressman¹⁴ Randy Duke Cunningham and former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards want their prison's terms shortened. They were convicted in corruption¹⁵ cases. Mr. Bush has issued fewer pardons than other recent presidents.

Information released yesterday shows that one group of youth voters in particular did not turn out in force during the recent election: young people with no college experience. Sarah Hughes reports.

According to the new data, the vast majority or 70 percents of the young people who voted in the recent general election had attended college. The group that released the fact sheet, the Center for Information and Research on Civic¹⁶ Learning and Engagement, says the low number of young people with no college experience who voted is troubling. Many educators across the country say one reason for the problem, too little civic education. They are calling for increased federal and state funding for civic literacy programs. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Hughes.

Ford¹⁷ and its Volvo subsidiary lead the new cars and trucks on the insurance industry's annual list of safest vehicles. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that Ford and Volvo have 16 vehicles on the list together. Honda is next with 13. Volkswagen and its Audi division have nine models on the list, and GM and Toyota each have eight.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 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

3 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

5 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。

6 resounding   

adj. 响亮的

参考例句：

• The astronaut was welcomed with joyous,resounding acclaim. 人们欢声雷动地迎接那位宇航员。
• He hit the water with a resounding slap. 他啪的一声拍了一下水。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

9 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

10 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

11 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

12 felons   

n.重罪犯( felon的名词复数 )；瘭疽；甲沟炎；指头脓炎

参考例句：

• Aren't those the seats they use for transporting convicted felons? 这些坐位不是他们用来押运重犯的吗？ 来自电影对白
• House Republicans talk of making felons out of the undocumented and those who help them. 众议院共和党议员正商议对未登记的非法移民以及包庇他们的人课以重罪。 来自互联网

13 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

14 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

15 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。

16 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

17 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。