NPR 2009-02-27

President Barack Obama today released a more than 3.5-trillion-dollar spending plan that will raise taxes for the richest Americans while also laying the groundwork for universal health care. The plan also forecast the biggest deficit¹ since World War II, upwards² of 1.75 trillion dollars for the current fiscal³ year something the president acknowledged in announcing his new budget. "Having inherited a trillion-dollar deficit that will take a long time for us to close, we need to focus on what we need to move the economy forward, not on what's nice to have." Proposed spending package will be for FY2010 which begins October 1st and is likely to be expanded upon on a more detailed⁴ plan as unveiled in April, while raising taxes for families with earnings⁵ of more than 250,000 dollars a year would make permanent a middle-class tax cut.

There's more data out today showing weakness in the US economy. New jobless claims jumped to a 26-year high. NPR's Chris Arnold reports.

There were 667,000 people looking for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, the most since 1982, though the labor⁶ force was smaller then. There're now more than five million people receiving jobless benefits. Meanwhile, companies are cutting back on equipment purchases at a faster rate than analysts⁷ expected. Nigel Gault is an economist⁸ with IHS Global Insight. "The speed of which things are happening, the speed of the deterioration⁹, it's what's alarming. And the fact is, yet there really isn't any sign of any light at the end of the tunnel at the moment."

Gault says eventually the government's stimulus¹⁰ and bailout effort should take hold and turn the economy around, but he says the latest numbers make it seem unlikely that a recovery will get underway until 2010. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

General Motor's executives are in Washington today amid more steep losses. The carmaker says it lost 9.6 billion dollars in the fourth quarter. NPR's Giles Snyder has that story.

Top GM executives are meeting with the Obama administration's auto¹¹ task force. They're talking about GM's restructuring plans and additional government help. GM has been keeping itself uphold with the emergency loans from the government. That assistance has totaled more than 13 billion dollars so far and GM says it needs up to 30 billion to stay out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy¹² protection. 2008 was a difficult year for GM and automakers in general. GM says it suffered its second biggest annual loss nearly 31 billion dollars for the year, plus it burned through more than six billion dollars in cash in the year's final three months. GM says its auditors¹³ could question the company's ability to continue operations when its annual report is issued next month, but the carmaker says that could depend on whether GM gets more government loans. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 88 points today to close at 7182. The NASDAQ Composite was down 33 points. The S&P 500 fell 12 points today to close at 752.

This is NPR News in Washington.

According to the mayor of a Dutch town near the Amsterdam airport, four Americans were among the nine people killed in the crash of a Turkish Airlines/ jet this week. The mayor says families of victims have all been notified, but names are not being released until all of the bodies have been formerly¹⁴ identified. Investigators¹⁵ are still trying to determine what caused the Boeing 737-800 to crash in a muddy field as it was coming in for landing. A total of 135 people were on board the plane.

Crumbling¹⁶ economy has claimed the first major metropolitan¹⁷ daily newspaper - Scripps Company has announced the Rocky Mountain News will publish its final edition tomorrow. NPR's David Folkenflik reports.

Scripps CEO Rich Boehne told the staff at the Rocky "While you were out doing your part the business model changed and you became a victim." The Rocky Mountain News has been a feisty tabloid¹⁸ competitor to the broadsheet Denver Post. For the past eight years, the two papers have shared business expenses. But Scripps says the News lost 16 million dollars last year and it couldn't find a viable¹⁹ buyer. Papers in San Francisco and Seattle are also imperiled while the Los Angeles Times, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Philadelphia Inquirer are working under bankruptcy protection. Scripps says the paper's masthead, archives and website are for sale, but the online story announcing the paper's demise²⁰ has a cruel teaser in bold encouraging readers to "subscribe²¹ to the Rocky Mountain News". Its newsroom gets to put out one more edition. David Folkenflik, NPR News.

The Senate signed off on legislation that would give presence for the nation's capital to vote in the Congress. The measure approved by the Senate today would give a district to vote in the House of Representatives, at the same time, offsetting²² will be almost a certain gain for Democrats²³ by adding one seat in Republican-leaning Utah. The House takes up the measure next week.

I'm Jack²⁴ Speer, NPR News in Washington.

Glossary:

Groundwork: 基础，preliminary preparation as a basis or foundation

FY2010: 财政年度，fiscal year 2010

Make permanent a tax: 使税率保持不变

cutting back on: 减低， a reduction in quantity or rate

deterioration: 变坏, 退化, 堕落， process of changing to an inferior state

underway:进行中的,，currently in progress

uphold: 维持；批准，keep or maintain in unaltered condition;

feisty: 易怒的, 活跃的，showing courage

tabloid: 小报, 药片，newspaper with half-size pages

viable: 可行的；可实施的，capable of being done with means at hand and circumstances as they are

imperil: 使处于危险, 危害，pose a threat to; present a danger to

Demise: 死亡，the time when something ends

Republican-leaning: 共和党倾向的

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

3 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。

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 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%。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 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。

8 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。

9 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

10 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。

11 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。

12 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。

13 auditors   

n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生

参考例句：

• The company has been in litigation with its previous auditors for a full year. 那家公司与前任审计员已打了整整一年的官司。
• a meeting to discuss the annual accounts and the auditors' report thereon 讨论年度报表及其审计报告的会议

14 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

15 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》

16 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

17 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

18 tabloid   

adj.轰动性的，庸俗的；n.小报，文摘

参考例句：

• He launched into a verbal assault on tabloid journalism.他口头对小报新闻进行了抨击。
• He believes that the tabloid press has behaved disgracefully.他认为小报媒体的行为不太光彩。

19 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

20 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

21 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。

22 offsetting   

n.偏置法v.抵消( offset的现在分词 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管

参考例句：

• Dealers, having concluded a forward contract, should always hedge with an offsetting contract. 外汇经营商在签订了一项远期合同之后总是应进行套头交易签订一项相抵合同。 来自辞典例句
• Where does Germany think offsetting shifts into greater external deficits might occur? 在德国看来，这么大的外部赤字应该转移到哪里？ 来自互联网

23 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》

24 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。