NPR 2009-03-22

President Obama is seeking to refocus debate on his federal budget proposal away from his 3.6-trillion-dollar price tag to focus instead on the components¹ of the plan. "These investments are not a wish list to priorities that I picked out of thin air. They are a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for too long." Mr. Obama speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address today. But GOP Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi says the price tag of the president's budget is a crucial issue. "President Obama's budget spends too much, taxes too much and borrows too much, breathtaking." Barbour gave the Republican's weekly radio address today.

 

The Obama administration is reportedly planning to take steps to boost oversight² of executive pay of banks, financial institutions and possibly other companies as well. It's part of a plan to overhaul³ financial regulations. While the details of the plan have not yet been worked out, the New York Times says the proposal could include requirements that executive compensation including bonuses be more closely tied to the financial performance of a firm. The plan is being developed in advance of the upcoming meeting of the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations where a major topic is expected to be oversight of financial firms.

 

Courts in Canada and the US have given permission to Nortel Networks to pay bonuses to executives. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, the approval comes despite objections from a group of workers who were laid off.

 

Eight senior Nortel executives are now eligible⁴ for up to 7.3 million dollars in bonuses under a plan approved by judges in Delaware and Ontario. The payments are part of a much larger incentive⁵ plan worth 23 million dollars that would cover more 90 staff members. Nortel says the bonuses are needed to help keep their top employees from defecting while it restructures. The bonuses are tied to cost-cutting targets in affected⁶ key employees with specific skills and experience. The court approvals came despite objections from the lawyer representing about 60 of the 1,100 employees laid off last year without severance⁷ or benefits. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.

 

Farmers in Argentina have escalated⁸ their protest against the government's agricultural policies, setting up dozens of road blocks around the country as part of a strike. Nick Ali reports.

 

Angry farmers are blocking major roads throughout Argentina's provinces in an effort to force the government to listen to their demands. The government is refusing to lower what farmers say a crippling export taxes on soy. The country is also in the midst of its worst drought in half a century and rural leaders say the government has provided no significant relief. Argentina's key exports are soy, livestock⁹ and grains, but the drought has drastically reduced output. While the government denounces the road blocks, farmer leaders say the destructions are unfortunate but necessary response to the government's agricultural policies. For NPR News, I'm Nick Ali in Buenos Aires.

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President Obama says the US has not done a good job of sorting out who should be released from the Guantanamo Bay detention¹⁰ center. In an interview taped for airing tomorrow on CBS's 60 Minutes, Mr. Obama said some of those released so far have rejoined to terrorist groups. But he said the Bush administration's policy of holding detainees indefinitely with no trials is unsustainable and has only fueled anti-American sentiment.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says an estimated 200,000 people are trapped in Northern Sri Lanka's conflict zone where government forces are fighting with Tamil Tigers rebels. Lisa Schlein has the story from Geneva.

The Red Cross reports thousands of people are confined to a rapidly shrinking area. Spokesman Simon Schorno says many people are heading for the coast to escape the fighting in search of safety, food and medical care. "Many of the people trapped in Puthukudiyiruppu are forced to shelter in trenches¹¹. They are in considerable physical danger. After being forced to move from place to place for weeks and even months, they depend entirely¹² on food from outside of the conflicted area." Schorno says Red Cross workers continue to assist civilians¹³, but the humanitarian¹⁴ situation is deteriorating¹⁵ by the day. He says people are at risk of epidemics¹⁶ because of the lack of clean water and proper sanitation¹⁷. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

Two space walking astronauts from the space shuttle Discovery are working to complete a number of tasks outside the International Space Station. They have been doing upgrades on the power grid¹⁸ framework and loosening bolts that are holding down some batteries that are set for replacement¹⁹ on the next shuttle mission scheduled for June.

1 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

2 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

3 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

4 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

5 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

6 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。

7 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

8 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

9 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

10 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

11 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

14 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

15 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

16 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

17 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

18 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

19 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。