NPR 2009-6-18

President Obama today called for a new consumer protection agency as part of his sweeping¹ effort to rewrite the financial rules of the road and avoid future economic meltdowns. NPR's John Ydstie reports.
 
Speaking to an audience in the East Room of the White House, President Obama said the economic crisis was partly the result of individual Americans signing contracts that they didn't understand like exotic mortgages sometimes offered by lenders who didn't tell the truth. The president said a new powerful consumer financial protection agency would rectify² that.
 
"This agency will have the power to set standards so that companies compete by offering innovative³ products that consumers actually want and actually understand.”
 
The president's reforms would also give the Federal Reserve oversight⁴ over large financial institutions whose failure could destabilize the system. The plan would also regulate derivatives⁵ like credit default swaps⁶ that help fuel the crisis. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.
 
While Senate lawmakers get down to negotiating details of a health care reform bill, Republicans in the House have unveiled their counter-proposal. More from NPR's Audie Cornish.
 
Heading up the GOP health reform effort is Missouri Republican Roy Blunt. He says Republicans are against the Democrats⁷' idea of creating a public health option to compete in the private market place.
 
"If there is a government competitor, you will not be able to keep what you have. Because if there is a government competitor, the government will never compete fairly. And before you know it there are no competitors, so what you had is no longer available for you to have. "
 
Republicans unveiled their own plan that includes many tax rates for small businesses and tax credits for low income Americans to encourage access to health care coverage⁸ to the uninsured. While the senate Democrats' plan is estimated to cost more than a trillion dollars, the Republicans declined to say how much theirs would cost or how many uninsured people it would cover. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.
 
Commerce Department is reporting the nation's broadest measure of trade, the current account deficit⁹, was down sharply in the first three months of the year. The government reported the current account deficit fell 34.5% from the final quarter of last year to $101.5 billion. Bob Brusca is chief economist¹⁰ at Fact and Opinion Economics and says the decline is a positive.
 
"The deficit has been trimmed quite a bit. And it means a little bit…a little bit …actually quite a bit less reliant on capital flows from abroad. And so whittling¹¹ down the deficit is a good thing. "
 
Current account deficit takes into account not just trade of goods and services but also investment flows between the US and other nations. It’s the lowest reading for the measure since the US was last in a recession in 2001.
 
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell seven points to end the session at 8,497. The NASDAQ closed up 11 points. The S&P 500 was down a point to end the day at 910.
 
This is NPR News in Washington.
 
As demonstrations¹² continue in Iran in the wake of disputed presidential election, the country's leaders are now accusing the US of intolerable meddling¹³ in that nation's affairs. Teheran is also alleging¹⁴ Washington has helped to fuel the bitter post- election disputes something US officials have denied. The latest development comes as amateur video has been going out of the internet, showing thousands of people marching in apparent support of pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Mousavi has accused the Iranian government of rigging a recent election in favor of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
 
Chrysler says it will resume making vehicles at seven of its North American factories, beginning June 29th. Michigan Radio's Vincent Duffy reports.
 
Chrysler shut all of its factories down in May, just after it went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy¹⁵ protection. Last Monday it resumed production of the Viper¹⁶ at a plant in Michigan. And now the company has confirmed it will restart factories in Sterling¹⁷ Heights and Warren, Michigan; St. Louise; Toledo, Ohio plus two plants in Ontario and one in Mexico. The plants that supply parts for those assembly factories will also restart on June 29th. Most of Chrysler's assets were sold to a new company led by Italian automaker Fiat¹⁸. And that new company emerged from bankruptcy protection last week. Work on the assembly lines will only be temporary. Chrysler is still scheduled to idle all of its plants for a two-week summer shutdown in July to prepare to launch the 2010 models. For NPR News, I'm Vincent Duffy in Ann Arbor¹⁹, Michigan.
 
Giant package shipper FedEx posted a wider than expected quarterly loss. The Memphis, Tennessee based company says its loss has widened to $876 million. However, excluding previously²⁰ announced charges, the company says it actually would have posted a profit of 64 cents a share.

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 rectify   

v.订正，矫正，改正

参考例句：

• The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
• You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。

3 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

4 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。

5 derivatives   

n.衍生性金融商品；派生物，引出物( derivative的名词复数 )；导数

参考例句：

• Many English words are derivatives of Latin words. 许多英语词来自拉丁语。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These compounds are nitrosohydroxylamine derivatives. 这类合成物是亚硝基羟胺衍生物。 来自辞典例句

6 swaps   

交换( swap的名词复数 )； 交换物，被掉换者

参考例句：

• He swaps his old car for a new motorcycle. 他用旧车换了一辆新摩托车。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• Swaps the anchor and end points of the current selection. 交换当前所选内容的定位点和结束点。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

9 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

10 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。

11 whittling   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Inflation has been whittling away their savings. 通货膨胀使他们的积蓄不断减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is whittling down the branch with a knife to make a handle for his hoe. 他在用刀削树枝做一把锄头柄。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

13 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

14 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

15 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。

16 viper   

n.毒蛇；危险的人

参考例句：

• Envy lucks at the bottom of the human heart a viper in its hole.嫉妒潜伏在人心底，如同毒蛇潜伏在穴中。
• Be careful of that viper;he is dangerous.小心那个阴险的人，他很危险。

17 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

18 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。

19 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。

20 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。