NPR 2008-08-01

President Bush and Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates said today the number of US troops in Iraq might be able to be reduced, because conditions in Iraq have dramatically improved. At the White House today, President Bush said he'll make a final decision on troop cuts, once General David Petraeus makes recommendations next month. At a Pentagon briefing, Gates says the desire to increase US troops in Afghanistan will not affect whether troops leave Iraq. "General Petraeus's timeline is tied strictly² to Iraq, and has nothing to do with, as far as I know, nothing to do with Afghanistan. " Meanwhile, in eastern Afghanistan today, government and US-led forces are in the third day of fierce battles against Taliban militants³. 

NASA scientists say there is water on Mars. They made the conclusion after analyzing⁴ a sample of ice soil that NASA's Phoenix⁵ Lander scooped⁷ up from just below the Martian surface. NPR's Joe Palca has more.

Phoenix landed near the north pole of Mars a little more than two months ago. Scientists chose the landing site because other spacecraft had detected water in the form of ice at the site. Phoenix's cameras showed pictures of a white material just below the surface. But when the lander's robotic arm scooped up the material, it would stick to the scoop⁶ and wouldn't drop into the onboard instruments for analysis. So mission managers decided⁸ to put what appeared to be dry soil into the instrument and to their delight, it turned out that the sample contained water after all. Scientists will be analyzing the sample over the coming weeks to see whether it could possibly be compatible with life. Joe Palca, NPR News, Washington.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil set another earnings⁹ record in the second quarter of this year with profits of nearly 12 billion dollars. It's the largest quarterly earnings of any company in history. Bill Zeeble with member station KERA in Dallas has details.

The Irving, Texas energy company reported its second-quarter net income of 11, 970 million dollars, or $2. 27 a share. A year ago, the company earned close to 11.5 billion dollars. Current numbers exclude the tax charge tied to maximum punitive¹⁰ damages set by the Supreme¹¹ Court on the Exxon Valdez case. The record profits followed the record-setting price of oil. A barrel has hovered¹² between 125 and 140 dollars a barrel for weeks. Still Exxon Mobil's earnings fell below analysts¹³' expectations. CEO Rex Tillerson partly blamed rising operating costs. Retail¹⁴ profits saved for gasoline were limited. He also cited problems in Venezuela and a labor¹⁵ strike in Nigeria. For NPR News, I'm Bill Zeeble in Dallas. 

On Wall Street today, the Dow fell 205 points to close at 11, 378. The NASDAQ ended the day down 4 points at 2, 325. The S&P was off 16.

This is NPR News. 

A federal judge has rejected the Bush administration's claim of executive privilege for presidential advisors¹⁶. US District Court Judge John Bates ruled that former Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former Counsel Harriet Miers are not immune from congressional subpoenas¹⁷. A House committee had subpoenaed¹⁸ them while investigating whether US attorneys were fired for political reasons. 

The governor of Massachusetts has signed a law that effectively allows same sex couples from other states to get married in Massachusetts. From member station WBUR in Boston, Abigail Beshkin reports.

The repeal¹⁹ makes Massachusetts the second state after California to allow out-of-state gay couples to marry. The law was from 1913 and was originally intended to prevent inter-racial marriages. It said any couple not allowed to get married in their home state also couldn't get married in Massachusetts. Governor Deval Patrick called the repeal "ground-breaking". "Today by repealing²⁰ a nearly century-old law, we affirm the right of same-sex couples from out of state to marry in Massachusetts to enjoy all of the protections of our good laws." Lawmakers also attached a preamble²¹, so the repeal would take effect right away, saying they want the couples to take advantage of the summer wedding season. " For NPR News, I'm Abigail Beshkin in Boston. 

At the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said he'll wait 30 days before entering a plea on genocide charges. Karadzic was arrested last week after evading²² authorities for more than a decade. He also said he's going to represent himself.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

3 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。

4 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

5 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

6 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

7 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

13 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。

14 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

15 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。

16 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

17 subpoenas   

n.（传唤出庭的）传票( subpoena的名词复数 )v.（用传票）传唤（某人）( subpoena的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• My company has complied with committee subpoenas by supplying documents confirming all that I have said. 本公司按照委员会的要求，提供了能够证实我刚才发言的文件。 来自辞典例句
• Congressional Investigations: Subpoenas and Contempt Power. Report for Congress April 2, 2003. 金灿荣：《美国国会的监督功能》，载《教学与研究》2003年第2期。 来自互联网

18 subpoenaed   

v.（用传票）传唤（某人）( subpoena的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court subpoenaed her to appear as a witness. 法庭传唤她出庭作证。
• The finance director is subpoenaed by prosecution. 财务经理被检查机关传讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

20 repealing   

撤销，废除( repeal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In addition, repealing the alternative minimum tax would also help. 此外，废除替代性最低税也会有所帮助。
• Repealing the investment tax credit. 取消投资税款扣除。

21 preamble   

n.前言；序文

参考例句：

• He spoke without preamble.他没有开场白地讲起来。
• The controversy has arisen over the text of the preamble to the unification treaty.针对统一条约的序文出现了争论。

22 evading   

逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• Segmentation of a project is one means of evading NEPA. 把某一工程进行分割，是回避《国家环境政策法》的一种手段。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Too many companies, she says, are evading the issue. 她说太多公司都在回避这个问题。