NPR 2009-03-27

From NPR news in Washington. I'm Jack¹ Speer.

A key Senate committee has sighed off on President Obama's budget blueprint² setting the stage for debate on the 3.6 trillion dollars spending package some time next week. Approval by the Senate Budget Committee sets up what’s likely to be a showdown between backers of the plan and those lawmakers unhappy over the large deficits³ it contains. Over on the House side today GOP lawmakers released their response to the budget including a promise to simplify the tax code and cut income tax rates to 10% for those making less than 100,000 dollars a year. Lawmakers also promised to cut domestic spending below current levels.

President Obama tomorrow will unveil his new strategy for Afghanistan. Officials said it includes even more US troops to provide training for Afghan forces and more civilian⁴ experts to help rebuild the war-torn country. NPR's Tom Bowman has more.

The president has already announced that he’ll send 17,000 American troops to Afghanistan. Tomorrow at the White House, Mr. Obama is expected to say he'll send another 4,000 US soldiers to help train the Afghan security forces. Pentagon sources tell NPR those trainers will come from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and they’ll head over some time this summer. American commanders in Afghanistan hope to double the size of the Afghan army to 134,000 by 2011. The president will also say he's sending hundreds more civilian government experts to help rebuild Afghanistan and will ask NATO countries to do the same. Tom Bowman NPR News, Washington.

A couple of new initiatives announced by Vice⁵ President Joe Biden are aimed at helping⁶ to get the lagging economy moving again. The vice president said today that individuals who received disability or social security will be getting a one time payment of 250 dollars, something the vice president said would pump 13 billion into the US economy. Biden also said state and local governments are set to begin receiving grants to weatherize government buildings.

General Motor says 7,500 union workers accepted a special buyout offer, that's about 12% of the automaker's remaining hourly workers. Michigan Radio’s Tracy Samilton reports.

In 2006, 34,000 hourly GM workers took buyouts followed by another 19,000 in 2008. This time 7,500 workers took the buyout even though it was less generous than previous offers. Richard Block is a professor of Labor⁷ and Industrial Relations at Michigan State University. He says the offer would be most attractive to older workers near retirement⁸ and it came after months of speculation⁹ about GM’s survival. "That uncertainty¹⁰ also may have encouraged some people (to) take it out with something as opposed to perhaps getting out with nothing." GM must reduce the size of its workforce¹¹ as one of the conditions for getting more federal loans. For NPR News, I'm Tracy Samilton in Ann Arbor¹².

You have to go a long way to find mortgage rates as low as they are right now. Freddie Mac says from its latest survey, the interest rate on the 30-year, fixed-rate loan fell to 4.85%. That's the lowest level on record.

On Wall Street today, the Dow was up 174 points. The NASDAQ gained 58 points. This is NPR.

Somali pirates are reported to have hijacked¹³ two European-owned tankers¹⁴ within 24 hours of one to another. It was being described as the highest profile strike since foreign (na) navies began patrolling the area’s busy sea lanes. The first vessel¹⁵, a 9, 000-ton Greek-owned ship with a crew of 19 was 450 miles east of Somalia’s south coast when it was taken over. Officials say the second ship, a 23, 000-ton Norwegian-owned vessel was seized 250 miles off the coast. Somali pirate gangs’ demanding millions of payments have become a growing problem.

New York musician Manny Oquendo has died. The 70-year-old percussionist¹⁶ died after suffering a heart attack Wednesday night in New York. That's according to his record producer. Manny Oquendo was a behind-the-scenes musician influential¹⁷ to development of the sound of Latin music. NPR's Felix Contreras has this appreciation¹⁸.

Manny Oquendo played timbales. Just as a drummer sets the pace for a jazz big band, the job of a timbalero in a typical Afro-Cuban band is to play intricate parts along with congas and bongos to create a seamless wall of rhythm. What Manny Oquendo did was make it sound easy. Manny Oquendo started his career in the late 1940s as a sideman with many of the great Latin band leagues, became a leader in 1974 with his own band Conjunto Libre which he led until his death. Manny Oquendo’s recordings¹⁹, his improvisations and his encyclopedic knowledge of Afro-Cuban music influenced a whole generation of percussionist world wide. Felix Contreras, NPR News.

1 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。

2 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

3 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

9 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

10 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

11 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

12 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

13 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

14 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

15 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

16 percussionist   

n.打击乐器演奏者

参考例句：

• She overcame her deafness and eventually became a successful percussionist. 她克服了耳聋的毛病，最后当了打击乐队敲打手。 来自辞典例句
• For many years I practiced these techniques as a professional percussionist in jazz and new music. 许多年来作为一个职业的爵士乐和新音乐演奏者我不断实践着。 来自互联网

17 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

18 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

19 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐