NPR 2008-09-16

President Bush tried to calm investors¹' nerves this morning, a day after two venerable financial institutions were hobbled by the mortgage crisis. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports.

The president spoke² to reporters just hours after investors began to react to a dramatic weekend, in which US government officials and Wall Street bankers sought to help two financial powerhouses avoid bankruptcy³. Mr. Bush tried to send a message of calm. "In the short run, adjustments in the financial markets can be painful both for people concerned about their investments and for the employees of the affected⁴ firms. " But he said that was only temporary and the economy was resilient enough to deal with the latest upheaval⁵. President Bush's comments come after around-the-clock discussions this weekend with US officials and Wall Street bankers. They were trying to help the nation's largest brokerage firm Merrill Lynch avoid bankruptcy. Merrill agreed to let Bank of the America buy it. Lehman Brothers couldn't find a white knight⁶ and filed for bankruptcy today. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News. 

Turbulence⁷ on the financial markets sent stocks into a tailspin today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 504 points. That's a nearly 4.5% loss. The NASDAQ dropped 81 points. The S&P 500 was down 59 points today.

In the area of Texas coast ravaged⁸ over the weekend by Hurricane Ike, search and rescue crews are still looking door to door to make sure everyone is accounted for. In some coastal⁹ areas, rescuers said they could discover more fatalities¹⁰. In some spots the storm leveled dozens of properties. The death toll¹¹ from Ike and remnants of the storm in Texas and eight other states has risen to at least 34.

Millions of people in the Midwest remain without power and thousands are flooded out of their homes as the remnants of Ike left a path of destruction from the Gulf¹² Coast up into Canada. NPR's David Schaper has more.

Near hurricane force winds in Ohio left two million homes and businesses without power including portions of Columbus and Cincinnati. About 450 Ohio school districts canceled classes today. A National Weather Service hydrologist says there is flash flooding all over the place. National Guard troops helped evacuate¹⁴ communities in Northwest Indiana. A portion of Interstate 94 in Chicago has been closed because of high water. On the city's northwest side, the Chicago River flooded the Albany Park neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of close to 400 homes. One of those homes belongs to Maryland Dollar. " So my refrigerator, my couch, my six-foot dresser, all my scrambing stuff is floating about this far from the ceiling. " More than nine inches of rain fell on Chicago from Saturday morning through Sunday night. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

In Southern California today some rail commuters embraced as they grieved the loss of fellow passengers in last Friday's collision between a Metrolink commuter¹⁵ train and a freight train that killed 25 people near Los Angeles. L. A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa boarded a commuter train earlier today saying he hoped to dispel¹⁶ any fears about taking the train.

This is NPR News.

Republican vice¹³ presidential candidate Sarah Palin told a crowd in the Denver suburb of Golden today that regulations governing financial markets need a complete overhaul¹⁷. NPR's Jeff Brady has more.

Palin addressed hundreds of supporters in a dirt floor arena¹⁸ in the Denver suburb of Golden. She said she was pleased the Federal Reserve and Treasury¹⁹ declined to bail²⁰ out investment bank Lehman Brothers. Palin said the regulatory system for financial markets is outdated²¹ and needs to be reformed. "Washington has been asleep at the switch and ineffective and management on Wall Street has not run these institutions responsibly and that's put companies and markets at risk. " Palin received big cheers when she said as president John McCain would put a stop to multi-million dollar payouts to CEOs who break the public trust. She didn't provide specifics but the crowd didn't seem to mind. Many came to see in person the GOP's newest star and hear her speak. Jeff Brady, NPR News, Denver.

As for her Democratic counterpart Senator Joe Biden said today the McCain ticket is simply offering more of the same. Speaking to a crowd in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, Biden said McCain, despite his much vaunted independence, has adopted many of the same policies as President Bush. "John McCain doesn't stand with the middle class by that measure. He stands firmly with George Bush in the corner of the wealthy and the well-connected. " Biden blamed the Bush administration for inaction in the face of job cuts in the auto²² industry and said McCain, like Mr. Bush, is out of touch with the economic suffering of average Americans.

Appliance maker²³ Whirlpool says it'll lay off 700 employees at its Fort Smith, Arkansas factory. The company blames the layoffs²⁴ on softer consumer demand and higher costs for raw materials.

1 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

2 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。

3 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

6 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

7 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

8 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

9 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

10 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 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。

13 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

14 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

15 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

16 dispel   

vt.驱走，驱散，消除

参考例句：

• I tried in vain to dispel her misgivings.我试图消除她的疑虑，但没有成功。
• We hope the programme will dispel certain misconceptions about the disease.我们希望这个节目能消除对这种疾病的一些误解。

17 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

18 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

19 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。

20 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

21 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

22 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。

23 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

24 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌