NPR 2009-10-24

There was a big jump in sales of previously¹ owned homes last month, though a lot of that was likely attributable to a soon to expire 8,000 dollar tax credit for new home buyers. The National Association of Realtors says sales of previously owned homes shot up by 9.4% in September, their biggest rise in some 26 years. Warner Maloney is a spokesman for the Real Estate Industry Trade Group.
 
"First-time buyers are clearly responding to the tax credit, and that is freeing many other sellers to make a trade and buy another home. And it’s helping² to bring inventories³ down. The supply of homes on the market is the lowest we’ve seen in two and a half years."
 
Most analysts⁴ expect when home sales numbers come out in the month ahead, they will fall back again with the expiration⁵ of the program. For that reason, there have been calls for Congress to extend the plan.
 
There's a reason to hope for less fraud in a second round of elections in Afghanistan. That was the word today from the Obama administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.
 
Special Envoy⁶ Richard Holbrooke says he thinks the runoff set for November 7th shows that the constitutional process in Afghanistan is working.
 
"It is reasonable to hope that there will be lesser⁷ irregularities this time for several reasons. One, there're only two candidates. Two, there's the experience factor."
 
And he says US forces are now at full strength, ready to go all out to make the election a success. Senator John Kerry, not Holbrooke, laid the diplomatic groundwork for this, persuading Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to agree to a runoff. When asked about his strained relation to the Afghan leader, Holbrooke said they are fine and appropriate, and that he looks forward to working with Karzai if he is re-elected. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.
 
The number of individuals who have contracted swine flu continues to grow according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Federal health officials say already as many people have fallen ill with flu is typical during the regular flu season.
 
Microsoft earnings⁸ fell in the first quarter of the fiscal⁹ year, but those numbers were much better than expected and helped drive the software-maker’s stock price higher. NPR's Larry Abramson reports.
 
Microsoft announced revenue of just under 13 billion dollars for the quarter that ended on September 30th. That's a 14% decline compared with last year. Net earnings were 40 cents per share, a drop from last year, but again better than expected. Wall Street analysts had predicted a much steeper decline and the improvement is seen as a sign that sales of personal computers and the company's Xbox gaming system are recovering. PC sales have been rising after months of declines. The news comes a day after Microsoft released Windows7, the long-awaited upgrade to its troubled Vista¹⁰ operating system. This week, other tech companies, such as Apple and Google, also announced better-than-expected earnings. Larry Abramson, NPR News, Washington.
 
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 109 points. The NASDAQ lost 10 points today.
 
This is NPR.
 
Safety investigators¹¹, looking into details surrounding a 150-mile overflight by a Northwest Airlines jet, say the plane in question had an older model cockpit voice recorder. Officials say they have determined¹² the pilots of the plane en route to Minneapolis flew past their destination at an altitude of 37,000 feet before realizing they’d overshot the airport, forcing them to turn around. The pilots have claimed they were in a heated discussion about airline policy and simply made a mistake. However, because of the older model cockpit voice recorder, National Transportation Safety Board may have a difficult time confirming that.
 
Three militant¹³ attacks in Northwest Pakistan killed at least 15 people today, including members of a wedding party whose bus struck a roadside bomb. From Islamabad, NPR’s Julie McCarthy reports.
 
The wedding goers became victims traveling on a road in the agency of Mohmand, one of seven that make up Pakistan's violence-wracked Federally Administered Tribal¹⁴ Areas known as FATA. The name suggests that the government is in charge, but the reality is that FATA is a lawless area infested¹⁵ with militants¹⁶. In the FATA agency of South Waziristan, a week-old military offensive against the Taliban is aimed at re-establishing government authority in the district. The army said today it killed 13 militants and detained six. Violence struck Peshawar again when a controlled car bomb exploded outside a restaurant in an upscale area of the city, seriously injuring at least a dozen people. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Islamabad.
 
Some former employees of Eastman Kodak were in a New York courtroom today, voicing their objection to a proposed settlement with the Rochester-based company. It issues a 21.4 million dollar proposed deal to settle lawsuits¹⁷ by black employees at the company who claimed they were paid and promoted less than their white counterparts.

1 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。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 inventories   

n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制

参考例句：

• In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
• The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。

4 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。

5 expiration   

n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物

参考例句：

• Can I have your credit card number followed by the expiration date?能告诉我你的信用卡号码和它的到期日吗?
• This contract shall be terminated on the expiration date.劳动合同期满，即行终止。

6 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

7 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

8 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%。

9 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

10 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

11 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》

12 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。

13 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

14 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

15 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。

16 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。

17 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句