NPR 2009-03-31

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack¹ Speer.

With President Obama rejecting General Motors and Chrysler's restructuring so far, Michigan lawmakers wonder how much more auto² industry stakeholders can be asked to sacrifice. From member Station WDET, Sarah Cwiek reports.

 President Obama says GM and Chrysler's viability³ plans don't go far enough to justify⁴ additional government aid. He gave GM 60 days to come up with a new plan and Chrysler 30 days to reach a partnership⁵ agreement with Italian automaker FIAT⁶. The president acknowledged that will require further painful sacrifices from union workers, bondholders and other stakeholders. But Michigan Republican Congressman⁷ Thaddeus McCotter says the company's initial plans cut 50, 000 jobs and wonders how much more the industry can sacrifice. “If that plan was not enough, what is the new viability plans, goals in terms of how many people have to lose their jobs and how much the retirees have to sacrifice to have a sufficient viability plan.” McCotter says he's concerned about how retiree's pensions and benefits will fare if the automakers head into bankruptcy⁸, a tool the president says he's prepared to use if they don't meet their new deadlines. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Cwiek in Detroit.

The President has signed legislation that sets to assign more than 2 million acres as protected wilderness⁹. Speaking at the signing ceremony at the White House today, the president said that often the most valuable things in life for those that are already possessed¹⁰. The law will protect land from California Sierra Nevada Mountain all the way to the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia. It's been built as one of the largest expansions of wilderness protection in a quarter century.

Reports of Internet fraud are way up, that's according to the National Organization that handles such complaints. The Internet Crime Complaint Center has just released its annual report tracking online scams. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

People who’ve been hit by an Internet scam can file a report online. The Internet Crime Complaint Center received 275, 000 of those complaints last year. That's up a third from a year before. The center referred about 75, 000 cases to law enforcement officials. For the first time, auction¹¹ fraud was not the most common scam. Instead, non-delivered merchandise made up about a third of the cases referred for prosecution¹². That's the kind of scam where someone sells goods on the site like Craigslist, and then the seller cashes the check without delivering the item. Early numbers for 2009 suggests this year will be even worse. Complaints from March of this year were up 50% over last March. Officials from the Internet Crime Complaint Center say crime always goes up when the economy goes down and now, more people have access to the Internet than ever before. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

Schools and businesses remain closed in Fargo, North Dakota today as residents prepare for a snow and windstorm that could cause problems for hastily erected¹³ levees. So far the piles of sandbags have been holding back the swollen¹⁴ Red River. The river has dropped just over 39 feet, less than the record high set earlier. However, it remains¹⁵ nearly 22 feet above flood stage.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 254 points; the NASDAQ slid 43 points today; the S&P 500 was down 28 points.

 This is NPR.

 Secretary of State, Robert Gates for the most part has ruled out US military action in the event of a North Korean rocket test expected next month, despite mounting concerns over the anticipated launch. Appearing on Fox News over the weekend, Secretary Gates said the Pentagon has pretty much decided¹⁶ against employing its own missile interceptors to disrupt the launch that's despite repeated statements from US officials including Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, that the launch will be viewed as a provocative¹⁷ act. North Korea has said that the launch is to put a communication satellite into orbit.

The Israeli military today said its own investigation¹⁸ into allegations of misconduct in the recent Gaza war were purposely exaggerated by graduates of a military school. From Jerusalem, NPR's Eric Westervelt has details.

 An Israeli military school leaked accounts to Israeli newspapers which included claims that sniper shot and killed unarmed Palestinian women and children in the Gaza Strip. Today, the Israeli military's top lawyer said its ten-day investigation showed that, "Crucial components¹⁹ of the soldiers’ description of events were based on hearsay²⁰". The judge Advocate General said he concluded there was not evidence to support the most serious charges including alleged²¹ instances where Israeli soldiers shot civilians²³ without cause and destroyed civilian²² property. Several groups including Physicians for Human Rights-Israel issued statements calling for an independent investigation and called the Israeli army’s speedy closing of the case, "The army’s attempt to wipe its hands off all blame for illegal activity in Gaza". Eric Westervelt NPR News, Jerusalem.

Crude oil future prices fell below 50 dollars a barrel today. The near month contract for benchmark crude was down $3.97 a barrel, to settle at $48.41 a barrel in New York.

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 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。

3 viability   

n.存活(能力)

参考例句：

• What is required to achieve or maintain such viability? 要达到或维持这种生存能力需要什么？
• Scientists are experimenting to find ways to ensure the viability of seeds for even longer periods of time. 正如我们所说，科学家正在试验努力寻找让种子的生命力更加延长的方法。

4 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 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。

9 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。

10 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

11 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

12 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

13 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

14 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

18 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

19 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。

20 hearsay   

n.谣传，风闻

参考例句：

• They started to piece the story together from hearsay.他们开始根据传闻把事情的经过一点点拼湊起来。
• You are only supposing this on hearsay.You have no proof.你只是根据传闻想像而已，并没有证据。

21 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

22 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。

23 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。