NPR 2009-10-30

President Obama today hailed new economic numbers that show the economy might be finally pulling out of recession. NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

 

President Obama told a group of small-business owners that the news the economy grew 3.5% in the third quarter of this year is welcome and it's a big change from the first quarter when the economy shrunk by 6.4%. But he said that's not enough.

 

"While this report today represents real progress, the benchmark I used to measure the strength of our economy is not just whether our GDP is growing, but whether we are creating jobs, whether families are having an easier time paying their bills, whether our businesses are hiring and doing well."

 

Sometimes it takes a very long time for job growth to catch up with economic growth. And that jobs number is the most important political indicator¹ for the president's party which is facing a tough mid-term election next year. Mara Liasson, NPR News, the White House.

 

Economists³ are also weighing in on today's better-than-expected quarterly growth numbers, though their optimism is slightly more tempered. Nigel Gault is chief US economist² with IHS Global Insight. He says today's numbers don't mark an official end to the current recession, the worst since the 1930s. And he says until companies begin hiring again, any economic recovery is likely to remain fragile.

 

"If you look on the employment side, what the business is doing with employment, at the moment, they're still shedding workers. So on the big decisions being taken in the private sector⁴ by businesses, capital spending and for employment, unfortunately, those at the moment are still going down."

 

Economists also pointed⁵ to the fact that some of the rise in third quarter GDP, perhaps as much as 2 percentage points worth, was due to the government's various economic stimulus⁶ plans.

 

An early season snowstorm in the Rocky Mountain West is halting traffic and forcing schools and businesses to shut down for a second day. From Denver, NPR's Jeff Brady reports.

 

Sections of freeway around the region have been closed periodically as crews worked to clear accidents and snow that's accumulating on the road. Travelers at the Denver airport are negotiating delays and cancellations. Although snow has some headed for the backcountry to ski, Ethan Greene with the Colorado Avalanche⁷ Information Center has a warning. He says there already was snow in the mountains from storms in recent weeks.

 

"The new snow resting on that could pose a significant avalanche, problems especially in areas where the wind has formed blizzards⁸."

 

Forecasters say Denver can expect up to 9 more inches of snow today. But that will end this evening and the sun is expected to back out tomorrow. Jeff Brady, NPR News, Denver.

 

Oil giant Exxon weighed in with better-than-expected quarterly profit numbers today, though the world's largest publicly traded oil company says a worldwide glut⁹ of petroleum¹⁰ supplies could push oil prices lower. For the July to September quarter, the company says its profit fell 68% to 4.7 billion dollars.

 

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 199 points. That was a rise of 2%. The NASDAQ was up 38 points today.

 

This is NPR.

 

President Barack Obama today called a middle-of-the-night visit to the families of fallen US soldiers a sobering reminder¹¹ of the sacrifices of war. The President told the reporters today his view of how to go forward in the war in Afghanistan will be affected¹² by the suffering of military personnel and their families. The visit to Dover Air Force Base in the early morning hours today comes as Mr. Obama continues to weigh a request for more troops for the war there from his top military commanders.

 

US Education Department has confirmed what school reformers have long been complaining about. Many states are lowering, not raising, their academic standards. More from NPR's Claudio Sanchez.

 

The US Education Department’s 47-state-study looked at students' performance on reading and math tests and found that what most states considered proficient¹³ was not proficient at all. In 26 states, the level of rigor¹⁴ was pretty low. Only 12 states have made an effort to make their tests more rigorous. And that's worrisome because one of the goals of the No Child Left Behind Law is that students be proficient by the year 2014. Every state, though, gets to choose what proficient means. The lower the bar, the more children in the state can claim that they are proficient. Education Department officials say that's deceptive¹⁵. In too many states, a child who is proficient in reading is in reality a child that is only basic in reading and could be struggling. The study is important because 48 states recently agreed to adopt common academic standards with which to better gauge¹⁶ children’s progress nationally. Claudio Sanchez, NPR News.

 

The new movie on Michael Jackson has sent the king of pop back to the No.1 spot in the first day of release. Distributor Sony reports today the opening day of the film on the late entertainer earned 7.4 million dollars in the US and 12.7 million overseas. The film documented Jackson's rehearsals¹⁷ for a planned concert tour.

 

1 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

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 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

7 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

8 blizzards   

暴风雪( blizzard的名词复数 )； 暴风雪似的一阵，大量（或大批）

参考例句：

• Even in the summertime we might be struck by blizzards. 甚至在夏天，我们也可能受到暴风雪的袭击。
• Blizzards battered Britain for the third day. 大风雪袭击英国已进入第三天。

9 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

10 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

11 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

12 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。

13 proficient   

adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家

参考例句：

• She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
• I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。

14 rigor   

n.严酷，严格，严厉

参考例句：

• Their analysis lacks rigor.他们的分析缺乏严谨性。||The crime will be treated with the full rigor of the law.这一罪行会严格依法审理。

15 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

16 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

17 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》