NPR 2008-02-27

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Paul Brown.

 

Two politically-charged votes on the Iraq War are on the Senate's schedule today. One Democratic-sponsored bill would cut off most funding for the war three months after enactment¹. Previous measures have been rejected. Another bill would require President Bush to specify² the US strategy to defeat terrorist groups including al-Qaeda.

 

In eastern Afghanistan today, a roadside bomb killed five Afghan policemen and a child. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson has more on that from Kabul.

 

The attack occurred in eastern Khost Province near the border with Pakistan. The provincial³ police chief says an 8-year-old boy who was killed was the son of one of the officers. Afghan officials say the Taliban planted the roadside bomb. Police officers are a favorite target of Taliban militants⁴. Their attacks are aimed at discouraging Afghans from joining the fledgling police force that the government with western help is trying to build. Taliban officials say they also plan to start bombing cell phone towers this week, if providers failed to agree to shut off phone service at night. The threat is an attempt by the Taliban to prevent NATO-led forces from finding militants by tracking their cell phone signals. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Kabul.

 

Spending on health care in the US will nearly double in the next ten years. That's according to a new projection⁵ from government analysts⁶. Here's NPR's Joanne Silberner with some details.

 

Every year the Department of Health and Human Services collects data and makes a projection. What will health care cost ten years from now? Most years the growth rate is more than the growth rate in the gross domestic product, meaning that health care is taking a bigger and bigger bite out of the nation's economy. According to the new analysis, the nation will spend 4.3 trillion dollars on doctors, hospitals, drugs and the like in 2017, compared to 2.2 trillion dollars last year. Part of the reason for the increase, the baby boom generation is hitting the age for Medicare. The government will pay proportionally more for Medicare, Medicaid and other programs. The actuaries expect the growth in hospital spending will decrease and the growth in prescription⁷ drug spending will increase. Joanne Siberner, NPR News, Washington.

 

New crash test results are out for popular SUV models and Russ Rader(just a spokesman's name) of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says there was one standout.

 

"We tested nine midsize moderately priced SUVs 2008 and 2009 models; the top performer getting a gold star is the Nissan Murano."

 

The Murano was the only SUV tested to receive the highest rating in front, rear and side collisions. The larger Hummer H3 came out of the test with some of the poorest results including the possibility of driver leg injures in frontal collisions. Its maker⁸, General Motors, responded that the tests are, quote, "one measurement of crash performance".

 

This is NPR News.

 

A new study out of California says that immigrants in that state commit far less crime than the average US native. NPR's Richard Gonzales reports from San Francisco.

 

The study by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California finds that people born outside of the United States make up about 35% of California's adult population. But they represent only about 17% of the state prison population. US-born adult men are sent to state prison at rates more than 3 times higher than foreign-born men. The age group most likely to commit crime is between 18 to 40 years of age. In that category, US-born men are ten times more likely than immigrants to be in county jail or state prison. The study did not differentiate⁹ between legal or illegal immigrants, but its author say that fears that immigration is a threat to public safety are unjustified. Richard Gonzales, NPR News, San Francisco.

 

Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are to debate tonight in Cleveland. That's their last debate before next week's primaries in Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont. The debate is sponsored by MSNBC. Clinton has said Texas and Ohio are must-win states for her. Yesterday she again attacked Obama without mentioning his name suggesting in a speech that his approach to foreign policy is both reckless and naive¹⁰.

 

Republican John McCain was blunt about his prospects¹¹ in the presidential race yesterday. Speaking in Ohio, McCain said that if he is to win the White House, he has to convince Americans that US policy in Iraq is succeeding. He later backed off that comment somewhat saying that Iraq will play a role in voters' consideration of him.

 

I'm Paul Brown, NPR News in Washington.

 

1 enactment   

n.演出，担任…角色；制订，通过

参考例句：

• Enactment refers to action.演出指行为的表演。
• We support the call for the enactment of a Bill of Rights.我们支持要求通过《权利法案》的呼声。

2 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

3 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

8 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。

9 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

10 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

11 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。