NPR 2008-08-09

Opening ceremonies in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Games where the show began with movie director Zhang Yimou's version of Chinese history complete with drummers and lavish¹ traditional garb². With the lighting³ of the Olympic Flame, the Games officially got underway with 80 foreign heads of state in attendance including President Bush. Opening ceremonies also featured the traditional parade of athletes to China's National Stadium and some 30,000 fireworks. A gold medal gymnast hoisted⁴ to the top of the Olympic Stadium on wires lit the Olympic torch. On the first full day of competition at the Games, seven gold medals will be up for grabs.

The Bush administration has pledged to support for the territorial⁵ integrity of Georgia as the ex-Soviet state tries to get control of a breakaway region that is backed by Russia. NPR's Michelle Keleman has more.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is urging Russia to stop its aircraft and missile attacks in Georgia and withdraw all combat forces. She's also sending a diplomat⁶ to the region to try and negotiate a cease-fire. The crisis started when Georgia launched its latest bid to retake South Ossetia, a region that broke away in the 1990s. Russia responded to the latest moves by sending in troops and bombing Georgian air bases. US military officials have been monitoring the situation, but say they haven't received any specific request for help from Georgia. Georgia is an ally of the US and the Bush administration has supported the ex-Soviet state's efforts to join NATO, a move Moscow opposes. Michelle Keleman, NPR News, Washington.

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is now admitting the rumors⁷ in the tabloid⁸ reports he had an extramarital affair were true after all. After vigorously denying an affair with Rielle Hunter, a woman hired to do videos for his political action committee, Edwards in an interview with ABC's Bob Woodruff on "Nightline" now admits the affair. However Edwards says he's not the father of Hunter's six-month-old daughter, born earlier this year. He said he told his wife of the 2006 affair and asked for her forgiveness. Edwards' wife Elizabeth is battling cancer.

US stock prices soared today with the major stock indexes up more than 2%. Jim Zarroli reports.

The price of a barrel of oil finished the day at a little more than 115 dollars, a drop of nearly five dollars. Oil has fallen sharply since earlier this year when it peaked at 147 dollars a barrel. Energy analyst⁹ Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading says the decline in price is beginning to be felt by consumers. "I mean anybody who's filled up their cars in the last week sees the prices are well down from their highs. And this is a trend that could continue. " The drop in oil prices has sent stocks sharply higher. The decline has happened in part because of signs that the European and Asian economies are slowing down. And that signals that the demand for oil and other commodities could fall. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

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The death toll¹⁰ from an overnight bus crash near Sherman, Texas has now risen to 14. Authorities today removed the crumpled¹¹ wreckage¹² of the charter bus which fell onto its side, hit a guardrail and then slid off Highway 75. The passengers were part of a Vietnamese Catholic group that was on a trip to Missouri. Many of those killed were apparently¹³ crushed to death. Police say investigators¹⁴ have interviewed the bus driver who is in stable condition. They say it appears a blown tire may have been to blame for the accident.

Tyson Foods has come to a new agreement with employees of a Tennessee poultry¹⁵ plant. This year they will have both Labor¹⁶ Day and the Muslim celebration Eid-al-Fitr as paid holidays. From member station WPLN in Nashville, Blake Farmer reports.

Tyson had dropped Labor Day in favor of the Muslim celebration at the union's request. Tyson's spokesperson Libby Lawson says the change was a practical concern. At least 250 Somali refugees work at the Shelbyville plant. Many Muslim employees were taking off Eid-al-Fitr unpaid¹⁷. "For many, many, many years at that particular plant, team members worked on Labor Day anyway. So I don't think that they thought that this was such a big deal. " After a media backlash this week, Tyson asked to renegotiate. Now workers will get paid for both Labor Day and Eid-al-Fitr. The plant will drop a paid floating holiday meant for birthdays. For NPR News, I'm Blake Farmer in Nashville.

American workers were slightly less productive during the April to June quarter. The Labor Department says productivity still rose. The government says worker productivity in the second quarter grew an annual rate of 2.2%.

On Wall Street, the Dow closed up 302 points to end the week at 11, 734. That was a gain of 3.6%. The S&P was up 30 points.

1 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

2 garb   

n.服装，装束

参考例句：

• He wore the garb of a general.他身着将军的制服。
• Certain political,social,and legal forms reappear in seemingly different garb.一些政治、社会和法律的形式在表面不同的外衣下重复出现。

3 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

4 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

5 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

6 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

7 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 tabloid   

adj.轰动性的，庸俗的；n.小报，文摘

参考例句：

• He launched into a verbal assault on tabloid journalism.他口头对小报新闻进行了抨击。
• He believes that the tabloid press has behaved disgracefully.他认为小报媒体的行为不太光彩。

9 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。

10 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。

11 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

12 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

16 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。

17 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。