NPR 2009-04-04

Authorities in Binghamton, New York say 14 people are dead, four others are listed in serious condition after an armed man walked into an immigration services center and opened fire today. Joseph Zikuski is chief of the Binghamton Police Department. He says it's believed the gunman is dead. "Among the dead, there is a male victim that has a satchel¹ around his neck or arms, and there is ammunition² in there. Our original information is that the shooter was using handguns and we did recover two handguns at the scene. So at this point, not 100%, but we have very good reason to believe that the shooter is among the dead." Officials say the gunman barricaded³ a back door to the center with his car. New York's governor called it a tragic⁴ day, while President Barack Obama issued a statement saying he and first lady Michelle Obama were "shocked and saddened by the shooting". Police were still investigating a motive⁵.

President Obama held a town hall meeting in Strasbourg, France today where he called for renewing US-European partnership⁶. NPR's Don Gonyea was there and has audience’s reaction.

The president and first lady were greeted with thunderous applause. Mr. Obama was cheered again when he explained why he decided⁷ to close the Guantanamo prison camp. But he also said Europe needs to do its part in Afghanistan and in fighting terrorism. He said the US can't shoulder the burden alone. This 16-year-old Strasbourg student's reaction was typical. "He said what we wanted to hear about the ecology, no torture, less nuclear weapon. He had a very European point of view." One student asked if the White House has a new dog yet, the president responded "Soon." Don Gonyea, NPR News, Strasbourg.

With millions of Americans facing foreclosure, a federal regulator issued a new report today on efforts to keep people in their homes by reworking their loans. NPR's Chris Arnold reports.

The report found that when lenders lower homeowners' payments, that's very likely to keep the person in their home. But it also found that during 2008, in most cases lenders were not willing to do that. John Dugan is the US Comptroller of the Currency. "We found some interesting findings, um, some a little surprising." Dugan says that when the industry intervened to modify a mortgage, the lender in most cases did not lower the payments and the borrower was likely to defaults again. "About a third of the modifications⁸ involved payments that increased not decreased." Still, in the latter part of the year, the industry was more likely to cut deals with homeowners. And in cases where lenders did reduce the borrowers' payments by more than 10%, about 75% of people were able to recover and were not seriously delinquent⁹ after six months. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39 points ending the week at 8,017. The NASDAQ was up 19 points today.

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Heavy equipment maker¹⁰ Caterpillar¹¹ announced today it is speeding up some planned layoffs¹³ at the company by several weeks in effort to cut cost. The Peoria-based company says that it’s letting a thousand of its workers go two weeks early with pay rather than keeping them through April 13th that it had initially¹⁴ been planned. The company says it decides to accelerate the layoff¹² to meet the continued slowdown in demand for its mining trucks and large earth moving equipment. Layoffs, which are occurring at the company's Decatur, Illinois facility, are part of more than 24,000 job cuts taking place at Caterpillar.

South Carolina's governor today became the last in the nation to accept funds from the federal stimulus¹⁵ package. Republican Governor Mark Sanford had been a vocal¹⁶ critic of the stimulus but he agreed to formally request the money to keep the state's options open. NPR's Adam Hochberg reports.

Governor Sanford previously¹⁷ staked himself out against accepting about 700 million dollars in stimulus money earmarked for education, about 25% of South Carolina's total stimulus funds. As a federal deadline approached to request the funds, Sanford had threatened to inform the White House that South Carolina was turning down the money. Sanford's position created a fire storm of opposition¹⁸ with even many of his fellow Republicans criticizing him for leaving money on the table at a time when his state faces a huge budget shortfall. Now Sanford says he’ll start the process of applying for stimulus funds, but he stresses he still could turn down the education portion later. He wants state legislators to commit to using the money to pay down long-term state debt rather than spending it on immediate¹⁹ budget needs. Adam Hochberg, NPR News.

The Institute for Supply Management in an important purchasing managers group says its service sector²⁰ index fell to 40.8 last month. Any reading below 50 denotes contraction²¹ in the service sector while a reading above that level indicates expansion.

1 satchel   

n.(皮或帆布的)书包

参考例句：

• The school boy opened the door and flung his satchel in.那个男学生打开门，把他的书包甩了进去。
• She opened her satchel and took out her father's gloves.打开书箱，取出了她父亲的手套来。

2 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

3 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

4 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

5 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

6 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。

7 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。

8 modifications   

n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变

参考例句：

• The engine was pulled apart for modifications and then reassembled. 发动机被拆开改型，然后再组装起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The original plan had undergone fairly extensive modifications. 原计划已经作了相当大的修改。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 delinquent   

adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者

参考例句：

• Most delinquent children have deprived backgrounds.多数少年犯都有未受教育的背景。
• He is delinquent in paying his rent.他拖欠房租。

10 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

11 caterpillar   

n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫

参考例句：

• A butterfly is produced by metamorphosis from a caterpillar.蝴蝶是由毛虫脱胎变成的。
• A caterpillar must pass through the cocoon stage to become a butterfly.毛毛虫必须经过茧的阶段才能变成蝴蝶。

12 layoff   

n.临时解雇，操作停止，活动停止期间，失业期

参考例句：

• Finally, prepare an explanation about what led to your layoff.最后，要准备好一套说辞来解释你被解雇的原因。
• Workers were re-employed after the layoff.在暂时解雇不久后工人们又被再度雇用了。

13 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

14 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。

15 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。

16 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

17 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

18 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

19 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

20 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

21 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。