NPR 2008-07-23

Congressional budget analysts¹ say a Bush administration plan to rescue mortgage backers, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, could cost the government up to 25 billion dollars. The House may vote on the rescue package as soon as tomorrow. NPR's Brian Naylor has more.

The prediction came from the Congressional Budget Office. CBO director Peter Orszag says there is, in his words, “probably better than a 50 percent chance that the rescue package will not cost the government anything”. That’s because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may not have to make use of the extra line of credit the administration is proposing. But Orszag says that's far from the only scenario². He said if housing and financial markets continue to deteriorate³, there would be an increased probability that the new borrowing authority would have to be used. If so, he says, that could cost taxpayers⁴ up to 25 billion dollars. Treasury⁵ Secretary Henry Paulson has called on Congress to quickly approve the rescue package, saying that because of their size, Fannie and Freddie's stability are critical to financial market stability. Brian Naylor, NPR News, the Capitol.

Forecasters say a big storm on its way towards Mexico's border with Texas has become a hurricane.The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Dolly strengthened today into a Category One over the Gulf⁶ of Mexico and is now located about 165 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas. A hurricane warning is in effect from Brownswille to Corpus Christi in the nearby Mexican coast.

A task force chaired by the Commodity Futures⁷ Trading Commission says supply and demand, not speculators, are to blame for the spike⁸ in oil prices. NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports.

The commission's findings run counter to the claims of some lawmakers and others who blame the huge rise in oil prices on speculators manipulating the market. The task force said “fundamental supply and demand factors provide the best explanation for the recent crude oil price increase”. On Tuesday, oil prices actually tumbled more than three dollars a barrel to settle at just under 128 dollars. It was the fourth decline in the past five sessions. The news that Dolly was unlikely to hit major US oil and gas platforms in the Gulf helped drive the price of crude downward.  Another factor: a stronger US dollar. When the dollar is weak, investors⁹ sometimes buy dollar-denominated contracts for crude. With the stronger dollar, there is less incentive¹⁰ for currency-related purchases. Wendy Kaufman, NPR News.

Barack Obama's position on withdrawing combat troops from Iraq is drawing fire from his Republican White House opponent. Campaigning in New Hampshire today, John McCain said Obama was wrong to oppose the troop surge and wrong to support a timetable for bringing combat troops home. "He was wrong then, he’s wrong now and he still fails to acknowledge that the surge succeeded." Obama, meanwhile, is now in Jerusalem after touring the war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Stocks finished strong today. The Dow gained 135 points and NASDAQ added 24. This is NPR.

The White House is welcoming a victory for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Singh's government survived a confidence vote in parliament today, keeping a nuclear deal with the US alive. The vote was sparked by opponents of the pact¹¹. They say it will make India's security and energy policies dependent on the United States. Singh says he will now push ahead with the deal which opens India's civilian¹² reactors¹³ to international inspections¹⁴ in exchange for nuclear fuel and technology despite never having signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The pact still needs international approval and the okay from the US Congress.

Actress Estelle Getty has died. Getty was best known for her performance as the feisty Sophia in the long-running sitcom¹⁵ “The Golden Girls”. She died at her home in Los Angeles this morning. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.

Unlike Sophia Petrillo, Estelle Getty was not Italian. She was born into Polish Jewish immigrants on New York's Lower East Side. And she was younger than Bea Arthur who played her daughter. "If I had lived with Stan before we got married, I could have spared us both some very painful times and a bitter divorce." "And possibly given birth to reasonably attractive children." Getty was in her 60s when she finally got the big break that had eluded¹⁶ her for decades. She went on to play a succession of other mothers, including Cher's in the movie “Mask” and Sylvester Stallone's in the “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot”. Getty had suffered from advanced dementia. Her son told the Associated Press “she was loved throughout the world in six continents and if they loved sitcoms¹⁷ in Antarctica, she would have been loved on seven continents”. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

1 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。

2 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

3 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 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。

6 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

7 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

8 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

9 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

10 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

11 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

12 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。

13 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

14 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

16 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 sitcoms   

n.情景喜剧( sitcom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is the stuff most stadard TV sitcoms are made of. 这是大多数标注的电视幽默剧所采用的题材。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In most countries, prime-time Monday night television is dominated by sitcoms. 在大多数国家，周一晚上的电视黄金时段都由连续剧所占据。 来自互联网