NPR 2009-01-25

President Obama says his administration's 825-billion-dollar economic recovery plan is aimed to doing far more than pulling the nation out of recession and creating jobs. "This is not just a short-term program to boost employment. It's one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure¹ that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century." Mr. Obama speaking in his first weekly radio and Internet address as president, he met with his economic team at the White House today.

House Republican leader John Boehner says GOP lawmakers want to see more fast-acting tax relief and not slow-moving government spending programs. "The trillion-dollar spending plan authored by Congressional Democrats² is chock-full of government programs and projects -- most of which won't provide immediate³ relief to our ailing⁴ economy, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office." Boehner gave the Republicans' weekly address today.

China's Central Bank has given a pointed⁵ response to comments by Mr. Obama's choice to be Treasury⁶ Secretary who has said that China is manipulating its currency to give its exports an advantage. NPR's Anthony Kuhn has more from Beijing.

Vice⁷ Governor of the People's Bank of China Su Ning said the Treasury Secretary nominee⁸ Tim Geithner's comments to the Senate Finance Committee about currency manipulation were misleading as to the causes of the current financial crisis. Su added that government should be taking a critical look at themselves rather than engaging in trade protectionism. The official China Daily newspaper said Geithner's comments marked a shift away from the Bush administration, which refused to officially label China a currency manipulator. State media also reported that Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi spoke⁹ to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by phone on Friday and told her that Washington and Beijing should show consideration for each other's core interests. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Beijing.

Four children were killed today when a municipal gymnasium collapsed¹⁰ near Barcelona during a severe winter storm. Five other people were killed elsewhere in Spain and in France. Jerome Socolovsky has more from Madrid.

The children belonged to a baseball team for preteens in the Barcelona suburb of Sant Boi de Llobregat. Because of the weather, around 20 kids went inside the gym to practice. Then a gust¹¹ of wind tore the corrugated¹² metal roof from its anchors and the entire cinder¹³ block structure collapsed. This eyewitness¹⁴ told Spanish television that he and other neighborhood residents started pulling children from the rubble¹⁵ before emergency services arrived. Wind gusts¹⁶ of up to 122 miles per hour have battered¹⁷ much of Spain and southern France. Large trees were uprooted¹⁸, roofs of houses blew off and brick walls disintegrated¹⁹. More than a million homes were left without power in both countries. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Hall of Fame women's basketball coach Kay Yow has died. Yow coached the North Carolina State University for more than 30 years and led the US Women's Olympic Basketball Team to a 1988 gold medal. NPR's Adam Hochberg has the story.

Kay Yow won more than 700 games in her college coaching career, and continued to lead her team at North Carolina State even as she fought a high-profile 20-year battle against breast cancer. Yow was diagnosed with the disease in 1987 and later established a charitable fund to raise money for cancer research. She missed only a handful of games over the years as she underwent medical treatments. Yow's teams won five Conference Championships and four Conference Tournament titles. She coached gold medal winning teams in the Olympics and the Goodwill²⁰ games. Earlier this month, Yow stepped down as North Carolina State's coach for the season because of her declining health. The university said she died peacefully this morning. She was 66. Adam Hochberg, NPR News, Chapel²¹ Hill, North Carolina.

The pilot who safely landed a crippled US Airways²² jetliner in New York's Hudson River has been given a hero's welcome in his hometown of Danville, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. “Sully” Sullenberger has said little publicly about that experience until today. "Circumstance determined²³ that it was this experienced crew that was scheduled to fly that particular flight on that particular day. But I know I can speak for the entire crew when I tell you we were simply doing the jobs we were trained to do. Thank you." Sullenberger and his wife were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd and an honor guard. They just returned from attending President Obama's inauguration²⁴.

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 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。

7 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。

8 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

9 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。

10 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

11 gust   

n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发

参考例句：

• A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。
• A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。

12 corrugated   

adj.波纹的；缩成皱纹的；波纹面的；波纹状的v.（使某物）起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• a corrugated iron roof 波纹铁屋顶
• His brow corrugated with the effort of thinking. 他皱着眉头用心地思考。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 cinder   

n.余烬，矿渣

参考例句：

• The new technology for the preparation of superfine ferric oxide from pyrite cinder is studied.研究了用硫铁矿烧渣为原料，制取超细氧化铁红的新工艺。
• The cinder contains useful iron,down from producing sulphuric acid by contact process.接触法制硫酸的矿渣中含有铁矿。

14 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

15 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

16 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

17 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

18 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 disintegrated   

v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The plane disintegrated as it fell into the sea. 飞机坠入大海时解体了。
• The box was so old;it just disintegrated when I picked it up. 那箱子太破旧了，我刚一提就散了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

21 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

22 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

23 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

24 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。