NPR 2009-01-15

The House today has voted to expand the government-sponsored State Children’s Health Insurance Program known as SCHIP for another four and a half years at a cost of 32. 3 billion dollars. By an overwhelming vote of 289 to 139, House lawmakers voted to increase the Federal tax on cigarettes by another 61 cents a pack. House speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a tough economy the measure is needed. "At a time of economic crisis, nothing could be more essential than ensuring that children of hardworking families receive the quality health care they deserve." The measure would provide the additional four million children of working families including children of legal immigrants with health care. Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to begin writing a similar bill on Thursday.

Commerce Department today reports retail¹ sales in the US dropped sharply in December. They fell 2. 7%. It was the sixth consecutive² monthly decline. NPR's Yuki Noguchi has more.

The pullback on spending during the holidays proved much more severe than analysts³ had anticipated. December sales declined 9.8% from the same period last year. And November sales were lower than previously⁴ reported. The Commerce Department revised its figure in November from a 1.8% decline to a 2.1% decline. For all of last year, retail sales were down slightly, but the biggest drop in sales came from gasoline stations, which saw a nearly 36% decline. Auto⁵ dealers⁶ saw a decline of almost 25% during the year. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

The State Department has been talking to Israeli officials to find out why Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been claiming he got the Bush administration to abstain⁷ from Security Council vote on Gaza. NPR's Michele Kelemen has more.

Olmert told Israelis that he interrupted a speech President Bush was making and insisted that the US should not vote for the Security Council resolution that calls for a ceasefire. The Israeli Prime Minister said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was left feeling pretty embarrassed. But State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says that is just not true. "The description of events, as reported, is fiction, 100% fiction." He said US officials have been talking to Israelis about Mr. Olmert’s comments but haven't spoken directly to the Prime Minister about it. Secretary Rice also denied Olmert's account. She spent several days working on the language after the resolution but said she abstained⁸ from the vote because she thought it was premature⁹. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has announced he is taking a medical absence until the end of June. The announcement apparently¹⁰ was made in an email that went out to employees today. Last week Jobs said he had a hormone¹¹ deficiency. It was behind his recent dramatic weight loss. It is not clear why he has now decided¹² to take the leave of absence from the company.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 248 points to close at 8, 200. The NASDAQ lost 56 points.

This is NPR.

A Federal judge has ordered the military to release one of its first Guantanamo Bay detainees, a 21-year-old man, who has been accused of being a terrorist and held since the age of 14. US District Judge Richard Leon said today that Mohammed el Gharani, a Chadian national, who's lived in Saudi Arabia, should be released from the US prison in Cuba forthwith. The military had accused el Gharani of working with the Taliban to fight US forces in Afghanistan. However, the judge ruled those allegations were based on testimony¹³ from other Guantanamo Bay detainees which he deemed unreliable.

A leading Italian rabbi has accused Pope Benedict  XVI of turning back the clock on 50 years of Catholic-Jewish dialogue, an editorial in a Jesuit journal. He announced  Italian Jews will boycott¹⁴ the Church's annual celebration of Judaism, NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome.

Venice chief rabbi Elia Enrico Richetti said the Vatican's reintroduction of a prayer during  Holy Week which Jews considered disrespectful is the reason for the boycott. Pope Benedict has relaxed Jews' restrictions¹⁵ on the old Latin Mass that has been celebrated¹⁶ before Second Vatican Council reforms in the 1960s. That brought back a prayer recited during Holy Week, the cause for the conversion¹⁷ of Jews. Rabbi Rochetti said if we add to this Pope's recent statements on dialogue, said to be useless because the superiority of the Christian¹⁸ faith is proven anyway. Then it is clear we are moving toward the cancellation¹⁹ of 50 years of church history. Jewish groups are also irritated by recent papal statements glorifying²⁰ Pope Pius XII, the wartime pope accused by many Jews and non-Jews alike of turning a blind eye to the holocaust²¹. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

Crude oil closed at $37.28 a barrel today.

1 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。

2 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

7 abstain   

v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免

参考例句：

• His doctor ordered him to abstain from beer and wine.他的医生嘱咐他戒酒。
• Three Conservative MPs abstained in the vote.三位保守党下院议员投了弃权票。

8 abstained   

v.戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 )；弃权（不投票）

参考例句：

• Ten people voted in favour, five against and two abstained. 十人投票赞成，五人反对，两人弃权。
• They collectively abstained (from voting) in the elections for local councilors. 他们在地方议会议员选举中集体弃权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

10 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。

11 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

12 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。

13 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

14 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

15 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

16 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

17 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

18 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

19 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

20 glorifying   

赞美( glorify的现在分词 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣

参考例句：

• I had no intention of either glorifying or belittling Christianity, merely the desire to understand it. 我并没有赞扬基督教或蔑视它的立意，我所想的只是了解它。
• You are glorifying a rather mediocre building. 你正在美化一栋普普通通的建筑。

21 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。