NPR 2009-07-21

President Obama again called for action on his proposed health care overhaul¹ plan, saying the government can revamp the current health care system in a way that does not add to the deficit² over the next ten years. The president paid a visit to a Washington D. C. Children's Hospital today where he spoke³ to doctors and nurses about the current problems with the health care system.

“We can’t afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. Not this time. Not now. There are too many lives and livelihoods⁴ at stake.”

Mr. Obama said out-of-pocket costs for Americans for health care are spiraling out of control. President’s latest push for his health care plan comes as some of Republicans have criticized the White House, saying it would result in a vast majority of Americans paying more to get less.

 Special Inspector⁵ General for the US Treasury⁶'s 700-billion-dollar TARP bailout funds says the Treasury needs to require banksreceiving the money to provide more detailed⁷ information on how they are using it. NPR’s John Ydstie reports.

Members of Congress have been pressuring Treasury to provide more information on how banks are using the money. A survey by the Inspector General Neil Barofsky finds that 83% of banks say that the bailout money was used to supplement lending, including residential⁸, commercial and business loans. In his report and in an interview with NPR’s morning edition, Barofsky criticizes the Treasury for not asking the banks to track more precisely⁹ how the money is being spent, for instance, documenting whether they’ve increased lending above what it would have been without the government funds. “In our report we show that this is something that can be done. And from a transparency perspective, we think that it must be done.” Top Treasury officials and bankers have argued gathering¹⁰ that kind of information is infeasible. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

The index of leading economic indicators¹¹ was up in June for the third straight month, a sign the nation could be starting to pull out of recession. NPR’s Scott Newman has more.

The index compiled by the private New York-based Conference Board is meant to project economic growth about six months ahead. It was up 0.7% last month after gaining a revised 1.3% in May. The Conference Board's Chairman Ken¹² Goldstein says the latest figures mean we should expect a slow recovery in the autumn. The Board reported a rise in seven of the ten indicators that make up the index, including employment, building permits, stock prices and new orders for consumer goods. But the interest rates spread between yields on ten-year Treasury bonds and the Federal funds rate saw the biggest jump. With interest rates near zero, the large gap between the two could prompt investors¹³ to lend more money for longer terms. Scott Newman, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 104 points to end the session at 8, 848; that was a gain of more than one percent. The NASDAQ gained 22 points today.

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The parents of an Idaho soldier kidnapped in Afghanistan say they have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support they have received. In a statement read by a county sheriff today, the parents of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl said their sole focus now is seeing their son return home safely. Pentagon confirmed over the weekend that Bergdahl was captured in Afghanistan about three weeks ago by the Taliban, something neighbors and others in the community of Hailey, Idaho said they had known about for some time. Recently released Taliban video shows the soldier eating.

Gordon Waller of the pop duo Peter and Gordon has died. During the British invasion of the 1960s, the duo had a string of hits, many written by Paul McCartney. Waller was 64. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.

Gordon Waller and Peter Asher had a No. 1 hit in 1964 with McCartney song "A World Without Love".

"Please lock me away, and don't allow the day, here inside, where I hide with my loneliness.”

Strumming guitars and harmonizing, Peter and Gordon were enormously popular in the US and Britain, but only for about two years. Gordon Waller then tried for a solo career without much success. On the Peter and Gordon website, Peter Asher said of Waller "I'm just a harmony guy, and Gordon was the heart and soul of our duo." Gordon Waller died of a heart attack in Connecticut. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state's top lawmakers have been looking at plans that try to close the state's projected 26.3-billion-dollar budget shortfall. State lawmakers say they expect some kind of deal be worked out this week in the Legislature.

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 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。

3 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。

4 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

5 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

8 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

9 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

10 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

11 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

12 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

13 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会