NPR 2009-07-13

Committee Chairman in both the Senate and House say they will begin investigations¹ into a secret CIA counterterrorism program that the Bush administration did not disclose to Congress for nearly eight years. Former Vice² President Dick Cheney allegedly ordered the program to be kept from lawmakers. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

Senate Intelligence Chair Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat³, said the law generally tells the CIA and the President to keep Congress informed. "This is a big problem, because the law is very clear." And Democrat Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said it's a simple question.  "Either he did, or he didn't." But Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on Judiciary, said Cheney served with fidelity⁴. "And I hope that nothing like this will impact on his outstanding record." And Republican Senator John Cornyn brought up House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's allegation that the CIA lied to Congress. "And this looks to me suspiciously like an attempt to provide political cover to her and others." Cornyn and Feinstein appeared on FOX News Sunday, Leahy and Sessions on CBS's "Face the Nation". Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

President Obama spoke⁵ by phone with his Supreme⁶ Court nominee⁷, Sonia Sotomayor from the Oval Office today. The White House says he wished her well in her Senate confirmation⁸ hearings, which begin tomorrow and expressed confidence she will be confirmed to succeed Justice David Souter.

Five Iranians, who were held for over two years by US forces in Iraq, have arrived back in Teheran. US forces accused the men of helping⁹ Shiite militants¹¹. NPR's Michelle Trudeau reports from Baghdad.

US forces believe the men to be members of the Iranian revolutionary Guards' elite¹² Quds force, which the military says, back Shiite militias¹³ in Iraq. The Iranians, however, have described the five men as diplomats¹⁴, and denied that they were involved in militant¹⁰ activity. They were arrested in the northern city of Irbil in January, 2007. Officials released the men this past week to the government of Iraq, in compliance¹⁵ with the US-Iraq security agreement that took effect in January. Also as part of the security agreement, US troops pulled out of Iraq cities earlier this month.  Since then the country has seen sporadic¹⁶ violence, which officials there said they were expecting. In Baghdad, roadside bombs has killed at least two civilians¹⁷, and wounded 20 others. Another bomb killed an official in Iraq's cabinet. Michelle Trudeau, NPR News, Baghdad.

NASA has finished fueling the space shuttle Endeavor, which is set for launch in just over an hour barring any last-minute problems. The weather is favorable at the Kennedy Space Center. NASA engineers found no damage from the lightning strikes that occurred near the launch pad on Friday night. And repairs designed to prevent recurrence¹⁸ of the hydrogen gas leaks that forced to delay in the original mid-June launch date have worked apparently¹⁹. NASA test director Steve Payne says Endeavor is ready to go. "Oh it's rock solid. We're very happy with the repair and this was our last major hurdle²⁰. I think today is our day." Endeavor will carry a crew of seven astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Many farmers and ranchers in the US appeared to be having a hard time paying for health insurance that's offered to owners of  small businesses. From Lincoln, Nebraska, Martin Wells has the story.

Family farmers and ranchers are insured at a higher rate than the general population, but 10% were uninsured, or had a family member who was uninsured. That's according to a report from the Access Project, a not-for-profit organization dedicated²² to helping local communities improve health and healthcare access. The survey found more than one-third of the uninsured farmers and ranchers spend more than 10% of their income on healthcare. They were also four times more likely to have incomes under 20,000 than those with insurance. And families with income derived²³ from farming and ranching²⁴ are least likely to be able to afford private health insurance. The report was based on data gathered for a 2007 survey of farm and ranch²¹ operators in seven Great Plain states. For NPR News, I'm Martin Wells in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Gasoline prices have registered their most significant decline since last December over the past few weeks. Prices at the pump have dropped about 10 cents a gallon to a national average of $2.56 for self-service regular.  Industry analyst²⁵ Trilby Lundberg says the decline was expected because crude oil prices have been falling. "Crude oil fell twice as much as gasoline did, about half the cut went to motorists, and about 25% each went to refiners and retailers²⁶." Lundberg says she expects gas prices to drop even further in the coming weeks. Gasoline prices are about $1.55 lower now than they were at this time last summer. The highest gasoline prices in the most recent survey were in Honolulu, the lowest were in Wichita, Kansas.

I'm Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.

1 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

2 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。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 fidelity   

n.忠诚，忠实；精确

参考例句：

• There is nothing like a dog's fidelity.没有什么能比得上狗的忠诚。
• His fidelity and industry brought him speedy promotion.他的尽职及勤奋使他很快地得到晋升。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

8 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

9 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。

10 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

11 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

12 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

13 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

14 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

16 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

17 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。

18 recurrence   

n.复发，反复，重现

参考例句：

• More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
• He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。

19 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。

20 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

21 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

22 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

23 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 ranching   

adj.放牧的

参考例句：

• They cleared large tracts of forest for farming, logging and ranching. 他们清除了大片的森林以经营农耕、采伐与畜牧。
• This is a trade center in a ranching and oil-producing region. 这是一个牧场与产油区的贸易中心。

25 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

26 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。