NPR 2009-03-07

The news that employer slashed¹ another 651,000 jobs last month coupled with an unemployment rate that is now above 8% shows an economy firmly in the grip of recession. The unemployment rate which rose at 8. 1% in February is the highest it's been in more than 25 years. Richard Yamarone is an economist² at Argus Research. He says unfortunately the job losses aren't over. "The only bright spot is that it's not as bad as it's going to get, uh, and that's not something to hang your head on. " The government also revised its December and January figures to show bigger job losses than initially³ reported. Since the beginning of the current recession in December of 2007, the US economy has lost 4.4 million jobs, around half of those in the past four months.

President Barack Obama was in Columbus, Ohio today to participate in the graduation ceremony for that city's police training academy. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles explains why.

Ohio will have 25 new police officers on the streets in coming weeks because of an infusion⁴ of federal economic stimulus⁵ dollars. Without that money, city leaders say they couldn't afford to employ the new police recruits. In his speech to the graduating officers, President Obama acknowledged their dilemma⁶. "I don't need to tell this graduating class what it's like to know that your job might be next, because up until a few weeks ago that is precisely⁷ the future that this class faced, a future that millions of Americans still face right now." President Obama says federal dollars are available for safety forces in states throughout the country. For NPR News, I'm Jo Ingles in Columbus, Ohio.

In Cuba, two prominent government officials who were demoted earlier this week as part of a massive shake-up of the Havana government have renounced⁸ all their positions in government and the communist party. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

Carlos Lage, Felipe Perez Roque have been rapidly rising stars in the Cuban political system until this week. Both men were members of the powerful Council of State and members of the Cabinet. Lage, at the age of 57, was a vice⁹ president and Perez Roque who is only 43 had been the Foreign Minister for a decade. After their firings, Fidel criticized them in his News paper column accusing them of being seduced¹⁰ by power. Now the two men have written very similar letters to President Raul Castrol announcing that they are stepping down from all government and communist party posts. Their departure into the political wilderness¹¹ makes it even less clear who will be the next generation of leaders in Havana to succeed the Castrol brothers. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Mexico City.

Officials with the Zimbabwean government are now confirming the wife of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was killed in a car crash. Officials speaking on the condition of anonymity¹² said the Prime Minister and an aide were injured. Earlier reports  indicated that the injuries in the crash which happened on the outskirts¹³ of the capital were not life threatening, however subsequent reports say 50-year-old Susan Tsvangirai was killed.

On Wall Street, the Dow rose 32 points today.

This is NPR.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today predicted the US and Russia will complete a new strategic arms reduction treaty by the end of the year. Prediction comes as Clinton declared what she termed "a fresh start" in US-Russia relations which is on the horizon following a meeting with her Russian counterpart in Geneva. Both Mrs. Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sounded optimistic notes following the session. Clinton said discussions touched on the two nations mutual¹⁴ interest in advancing nuclear disarmament.

Court paper showed Bernard Madoff is a step closer to filing a guilty plea in one of the biggest-ever investment fraud cases. Madoff is accused of running a Ponzi scheme worth upwards¹⁵ of 50-billion dollars. NPR's Ari Shapiro has more.

The deadline for prosecutors¹⁶ to indict¹⁷ Madoff reach a plea deal with him is one week away. And the two sides appeared to be coming closer to a plea deal. Federal prosecutors filed a document in Manhattan’s District Court Friday morning. It's one-page, one-sentence long. The document says prosecutors will file a criminal information against Madoff “upon the defendant's waiver of an indictment”. Legal experts say that's one step towards entering a guilty plea. Prosecutors and Madoff's lawyers are sorting through a series of legal issues: how much money can be returned to investors¹⁸ for example; and how much money Madoff's wife gets to keep. In December Bernard Madoff admitted to running a giant Ponzi scheme. It appears to be one of the biggest frauds in the history of Wall Street. Ari Shapiro, NPR News.

Interior Secretary Ken¹⁹ Salazar announced today he will uphold decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and the Great Lakes from the endangered list. The Bush administration announced the removal of the wolf from the endangered list in January but the Obama administration had called for a review.

1 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

4 infusion   

n.灌输

参考例句：

• Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
• Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。

5 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。

6 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

7 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

8 renounced   

v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• We have renounced the use of force to settle our disputes. 我们已再次宣布放弃使用武力来解决争端。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Andrew renounced his claim to the property. 安德鲁放弃了财产的所有权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 seduced   

诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷

参考例句：

• The promise of huge profits seduced him into parting with his money. 高额利润的许诺诱使他把钱出了手。
• His doctrines have seduced many into error. 他的学说把许多人诱入歧途。

11 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

12 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

13 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

14 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

15 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。

16 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

17 indict   

v.起诉，控告，指控

参考例句：

• You can't indict whole people for the crudeness of a few.您不能因少数人的粗暴行为就控诉整个民族。
• I can indict you for abducting high school student.我可以告你诱拐中学生。

18 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

19 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.