NPR 2009-6-24

President Obama said today the US is appalled¹ and outraged² by the crackdown on opposition³ protesters in Iran. But he stopped short of outlining any consequences to the Iranian government. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
 
President Obama turned up the rhetorical heat during a White House news conference, denouncing the Iranian crackdown in his strongest language today. The president's underlying⁴ message though was unchanged as he said what’s most important is what happens inside Iran and he insisted he was not responding to US critics who’ve urged him to be more outspoken⁵.
 
"Only I'm the president of the United States and I've got responsibilities in making certain that we are continually advancing our national security interests."
 
Mr. Obama repeated that the US does not want to provide ammunition⁶ to Iran's government by appearing to meddle⁷ in that country's politics. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
 
Washington DC emergency officials joined by officials with the National Transportation Safety Board now say all of the victims of yesterday's DC Metro⁸ rail crash have been found. But the death toll⁹ in what is being described as the system's worst ever accident now said at nine. Scores of others were injured when one train ran into the rail of another during rush hour. The NTSB is in the earlier stage of its probe. It has been focusing on the subway train involved in the crash one of the oldest in Metro's fleet. The agency raised alarms about older model trains after a crash in 2006. It's not clear what caused the crash.
 
Ford Motor Company is receiving billions of dollars in loans from federal government to retool¹⁰ US plants. From member station WDET in Detroit, Brian Larsen has more.
 
Ford will get $5.9 billion in loans to refit 11 plants. It's part of a total of $8 billion in federal money announced by the Department of Energy aimed at building more fuel-efficient vehicles. Nissan will receive $1.6 billion and Tesla Motors will pick up $425 million. Energy Secretary Steven Chu made the announcement at Ford's research and innovation center.
 
“These loans will help the auto¹¹ industry meet and even exceed the president's tough new fuel standards, while creating jobs, reducing our dependence¹² on foreign oil and ensuring America's competitiveness."
 
Ford CEO Alan Mulally says the money will help the automaker transform two truck plants to manufacture cars. He says the automaker already has a plan to pay the loan back. For NPR News, I'm Brian Larsen in Detroit.
 
The interest rate setting arm of the Federal Reserve began the first day of a two-day meeting in Washington today, though most analysts¹³ expected when all are said and done, the Federal take no action on rates. The Fed pushed interest rates to near zero at the end of last year and is expected to maintain that rate possibly through the remainder of this year.
 
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points to end the day at 8,322. The NASDAQ lost a point. The S&P 500 was up two points today.
 
This is NPR.
 
Airplane builder Boeing announced today it is again postponing¹⁴ the test flight of its long-awaited 787 dream liner. The company says part of the plane needs to be reinforced before that can occur. Inaugural¹⁵ test fight of the 787 was originally expected in late 2007. However, it's been put off because of production problems. Customers are expected to get the first of new jets in the first quarter of next year, some two years behind schedule.
 
National Commission on prison rape¹⁶ is out with a report today on the state of sexual abuse in the nation's prisons saying it found many facilities reporting problems that need to be addressed. NPR's Laura Sullivan has more.
 
The commission's report is several years late and cost twice as much as planned. But it found that almost 5% of all inmates¹⁷ reported being sexually assaulted in the previous year. The report finds some prisons don't have enough outside oversight¹⁸ to correct the problem and they don't do enough inside to make sure the assaults don't happen. The panel recommends our prison and jail officials create a written zero tolerant policy, create a standardized¹⁹ system for inmates to report rape and provide counseling when it does happen. According to the commission, rape cuts across all groups, both male and female. But some are more vulnerable than others, juveniles²⁰, small inmates and those new to prison. The attackers were also slightly more likely to be prison or jail staff members. Laura Sullivan, NPR News, Washington.
 
Even Harvard is apparently²¹ feeling the heat with the dwindling²² endowment resulted from the current economic downturn. The university announced today it is cutting 275 staff jobs. Harvard President Drew Faust says the cutbacks come at the time the Ivy²³ League schools endowment has fallen by 22% to around $28.7 billion.
 
I'm Jack²⁴ Speer, NPR News in Washington.

1 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

3 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。

4 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

5 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

6 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。

7 meddle   

v.干预，干涉，插手

参考例句：

• I hope he doesn't try to meddle in my affairs.我希望他不来干预我的事情。
• Do not meddle in things that do not concern you.别参与和自己无关的事。

8 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

9 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

10 retool   

v.改组，重新装备

参考例句：

• Each time the product changes,the machines have to be retooled.每次更换产品，就得重新装备机器。
• In the computer industry,engineers have to retool frequently.在电脑业中，工程师必须经常以新知识充实装备自己。

11 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。

12 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

13 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

14 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

15 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

16 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

17 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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。

19 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

20 juveniles   

n.青少年( juvenile的名词复数 )；扮演少年角色的演员；未成年人

参考例句：

• Do you think that punishment for violent crimes should be the same for juveniles and adults? 你对暴力犯罪的惩罚对于青少年和成人应一样吗？ 来自生活英语口语25天快训
• Juveniles Should we not exactly in need of such strength and conviction? 少年的我们难道不正是需要这种力量和信念吗？ 来自互联网

21 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

22 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

23 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

24 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。