NPR 2008-07-31

President Bush today signed a five-year plan to triple the amount of US funding to globally fight AIDS. Mr. Bush called the 48-billion-dollar package " the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in human history". "HIV/AIDS is still one of the world's greatest humanitarian¹ challenges. No question about it, but it is a challenge we are meeting." The president first launched the program to fight AIDS around the world in 2003. The original five-year package was funded at 15 billion dollars.

Barack Obama is campaigning across Missouri today. He told a crowd in a high school gym that economic fears are growing around the country and he promised to offer a stark² change from the policies of President Bush. More from NPR's David Greene.

Obama told a crowd in Springfield that he's ready to debate John McCain over how best to help working Americans. Obama said his opponent may offer tax cuts, but he said they’d mostly benefit wealthy Americans. Obama also warned that McCain would continue President Bush's economic agenda. "He thinks it's okay the way things are going right now. Let me tell you we can't afford to keep on doing more of the same, and that's why I'm running for President of the United States of America." Obama recently finished a week-long trip abroad and several days of meetings in Washington. But Obama is now sending a message that he's back on the stump³. He planned to finish his day in Missouri flipping⁴ burgers with residents at a barbecue. David Greene, NPR News, traveling with the Obama campaign.

John McCain is campaigning in America's heartland today. This morning, he held a closed-door meeting with the Archbishop of Denver before heading out to Kansas City. Before leaving Denver, he once again said Congress has done nothing to improve the country's energy problems. "I spoke⁵ up against this administration and Congress who just gave us another energy bill with more giveaways to big oil, but with nothing, nothing to free us from our dangerous dependence⁶ on foreign oil.” McCain will travel to Milwaukee this evening.

Nissan says it will offer buyout packages to some of its workers in the US. Detroit Public Radio's Jerome Vaughn has more.

Nissan says about 6,000 workers will be offered the buyout packages at two facilities in Tennessee. Employees will be eligible⁷ for lump sum payments of 100,000 or 125,000 dollars, depending on their tenure⁸. Some car purchase and medical benefits will also be available. Technicians and salaried workers can choose now whether to take the buyout this year, next year or in 2010. Employees will be offered the same option in 2009 and 2010, but the benefit packages will be reduced. The automaker says high gas prices and a sluggish⁹ economy have hurt sales of trucks and sport-utility vehicles. As a result, the Smyrna Tennessee plant will eliminate its night-time truck production shift. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Vaughn in Detroit.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 186 points to close at 11,583. From Washington, this is NPR News.

The House Judiciary Committee voted today to cite former White House aide Karl Rove for contempt. Rove has refused to appear before the panel to discuss allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department. Today's vote was 20-14 along party lines. Republicans unanimously opposed the measure. Rove has denied any involvement with justice decisions.

The Food and Drug Administration says it has made a key breakthrough in tracking down the source of salmonella that resulted in a nationwide outbreak. The FDA's doctor David Acheson told a congressional hearing that a strain of salmonella has been found in irrigation water and a serrano pepper at a Mexican farm.

The International Olympic Committee said today that it had previously¹⁰ cut a deal with China that some Internet information would be censored¹¹ in China during the Olympics. China had pledged that foreign media would be free to report during the Games. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing.

IOC press chief Kevan Gosper said he regretted the announcement by Beijing that some websites would not be accessible during the Games. He said that this was the result of negotiations¹² between IOC officials and the Beijing Games Organizing Committee. He added that the censored information would not be directly related to the Games. China routinely blocks websites about politics, human rights, Tibet and Taiwan. But it has also pledged that during the Olympics, foreign reporters would have freedom to report not just on the Games but on the rest of China. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Beijing.

And the International Olympic Committee has cleared the way for some Iraqi athletes to participate in next month's Games in Beijing. The IOC originally banned all Iraqi athletes after determining that the Iraqi government was attempting to interfere¹³ with that country's Olympic body.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

3 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

4 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

7 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

8 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

9 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

10 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

11 censored   

受审查的，被删剪的

参考例句：

• The news reports had been heavily censored . 这些新闻报道已被大幅删剪。
• The military-backed government has heavily censored the news. 有军方撑腰的政府对新闻进行了严格审查。

12 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

13 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。