NPR 2008-02-22

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Raum.

 

President Bush is wrapping up his five-nation African tour with a visit to Liberia. He arrived today in the capital Monrovia named for President James Monroe. Liberia had been founded by freed slaves. The U. S. has provided 715 million dollars as an aid to Liberia since a 14-year civil war ended in 2003. White House officials say the president will announce today that the U. S. will provide enough money to Liberia to pay for 1 million textbooks for school children by the start of the next school year.

 

A navy cruiser shot down a spy satellite over the Pacific Ocean last night. The satellite had lost power shortly after it was launched in 2006. It was coming back to Earth. It's expected to hit the Earth with a tank of toxic¹ fuel. The Pentagon feared it could land on a populated area. President Bush approved shooting down the satellite, in an effort to destroy the fuel tank before it could reach Earth. Harvard University astronomer² Jonathan McDowell says it's highly unlikely that anybody will be hurt by the debris³. "In the 40 years that space debris has been raining down, uh, there has been one recorded instance of someone grazing their arm when they were hit by a small piece of metal coming down from space. " Pentagon officials say they should be able to confirm today whether the fuel tank was destroyed.

 

A new study from the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that all 50 states are better-prepared for a pandemic or biological attack than they were in 2001, but the study also points out that many states still lack trained staff and specialized⁴ facilities. NPR's David Nogueras has more.

 

The study, which was the first such report compiled by the CDC, found that all states are now staffed to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to urgent health threats. Dr. Richard Besser is the director of the CDC's Coordinating⁵ Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response. He told reporters during a conference call that the states have come a long way. "This report focuses on the building of systems, we now need to insure that these systems are working effectively to safeguard health and save lives. " Besser points out that the states need to effectively run their programs amid decreasing resources. More importantly, he says, they need to prepare for the distribution of countermeasures in the event of a pandemic. The CDC says it will issue this report once a year. David Nogueras, NPR News, Washington.

 

Wall Street opens this morning with the NASDAQ Composite Index at 2327. It gained nearly 21 points yesterday. The S&P also advanced, it rose 11 points to close at 1360. The DOW finished the day at 12, 427, up 90 points. It had been down 110 points earlier in the day. Oil prices are holding steady today, after rising above $101 a barrel for a time yesterday.

 

This is NPR News.

 

The financial services company GMAC announced yesterday it will cut nearly 1000 jobs as part of cost-cutting effort. Detroit Public Radio's Jerome Vaughn has more.

 

GMAC is looking to reduce its cost in the wake of slower auto⁶ sales and shrinking access to consumer credit. The company will take 20 offices located in U. S. and Canada and combined them into 5 regional centers. The job cuts will comprise about 15% of the workforce⁷ in GMAC's auto loan business. The lending company lost more than 2. 3 billion dollars last year. Profits in the auto loan business could not settle large losses in GMAC's mortgage loan business. The company predicts that it will return to profitability this year though. General Motors sold a 51% stake in GMAC to a partnership⁸ including Cerberus Capital Management for 14 billion dollars in 2006. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Vaughn, Detroit.

 

Democrat⁹ Barack Obama has picked up another labor¹⁰ endorsement¹¹, the Teamsters Union. President James Hoffa says he believes Obama can win. "Our polling indicates that there is an enthusiasm for him. I think it's going to grow. I think his candidacy is just starting to take off. " Ohio and Pennsylvania have owned the largest numbers of the union workers. Their primaries are coming up in the next few weeks.

 

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is holding a news conference this morning. He is expected to discuss some reports about him published by the Washington Post and the New York Times. The reports say that 9 years ago, McCain had a close relationship with the telecommunications lobbyist, whose company had business before the Senate Commerce Committee, at which McCain was a member. A spokeswoman for McCain called the reports "part of a smear¹² campaign".

 

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News, in Washington.

 

1 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

2 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

3 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

4 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

5 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

6 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

7 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。

8 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

9 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。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

12 smear   

v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• He has been spreading false stories in an attempt to smear us.他一直在散布谎言企图诽谤我们。
• There's a smear on your shirt.你衬衫上有个污点。