NPR 2008-07-02

New vehicle sales in the US dropped 18% in June, just the latest in a string of bad sales months for the auto¹ industry. From Michigan Radio, Dustin Dwyer reports.

The only major automaker that managed to show any improvement in June was Honda. It had a sales increase of one percent. This June did have three fewer business days for car dealers² than last June, but the overall factor affecting the market continues to be gas prices. Analyst³ Rebecca Lindland of Global Insight says plenty of people are looking to buy a new car so that they can get better fuel economy, but only 12% of the vehicles on the market get better than 25 miles per gallon. “So, if you're in the market and think I want to improve my fuel economy significantly from what I am driving now, there just are not a lot of choices.” And those choices that are available are in short supply, because the automakers can't build enough small cars to keep up with demand. For NPR News, I'm Dustin Dwyer.

 Iraqi government says fewer civilians⁵ died last month in war-related violence despite several high-casualty bombings. At the same time, the death toll⁶ for American forces rose slightly in June to 29. NPR's Corey Flintoff reports from Baghdad.

Iraq's Health Ministry⁷ said 448 civilians died in violence last month, down from 505 in May. Those figures conflict slightly with statistics kept by the Associated Press, which counted more than 550 civilian⁴ dead in June. The most deadly single attack was a truck bombing in Baghdad on June 17, which killed 63 people. More recently, bombers⁸ targeted local council meetings where Americans were present. An attack in Baghdad's Sadr City district killed two American soldiers and two civilians who worked for the US government as well as six Iraqis. A bombing at a council meeting in Anbar Province left 20 people dead, including three US marines and their interpreters. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Baghdad.

 Retired General Wesley Clark has rejected suggestions he should apologize for remarks made during a television interview where he said that John McCain's military service does not qualify him for the White House. In an interview with NPR today, Clark said his comments about the presumptive Republican presidential nominee⁹ have been misconstrued. “When one candidate, like John McCain, has had obvious early experience in the Armed Forces, it is natural then to ask how much is (does) that experience contribute to shaping his judgment¹⁰ and how good his judgment now.” Obama, who did not serve in the military, has frequently cited his own opposition¹¹ to the 2003 invasion of Iraq as evidence of the judgment needed to be commander-in-chief.

 On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32 points today to close at 11, 382. The NASDAQ gained nearly 12 points, ending the session at 2, 305. The S&P 500 rose nearly five points.

 This is NPR.

Coffee giant Starbucks is announcing major cutbacks. The Seattle-based coffee retailer¹² says it will close nearly 600 of its underperforming US stores. The move is expected to result in a loss of as many as 12, 000 full&part time jobs, around seven percent of the company's global workforce¹³. The company announced today it expects to have completed the majority of the closings by the end of March of 2009. Starbucks President Howard Schultz called the decision to close the stores a difficult one to make. Starbucks estimates total pretax charges associated with severance¹⁴ would be in the range of 328 million to 348 million dollars.

The FBI is investigating the death of a 19-year-old man who was jailed a day earlier for killing¹⁵ a policeman in Maryland. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports.

The Maryland Medical Examiner ruled Monday that Ronnie White's death in a Prince George's County jail was from strangulation. The Maryland State Police and FBI are investigating, and the FBI is focusing on possible civil rights violations¹⁶. Ronnie White had been charged with first-degree murder in the death last week of a Prince George's County officer. The officer got out of his car and was hit and dragged by a truck. Authorities said White was driving the truck and that it had been stolen. White was one of four people arrested when the truck was found at a nearby apartment complex shortly after the officer was killed. Prison guards say they put White in a maximum-security cell and had been checking on him every half hour. At 10: 15 a.m., they say he was alert and sitting on the side of his bunk¹⁷. Fifteen minutes later, he was found dead. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, Washington.

More signs problems in the housing market have further to go: the government says construction spending fell four-tenths of a percent in May.

1 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。

2 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

7 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。

8 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

10 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

13 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。

14 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

15 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

16 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

17 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。