NPR 2009-07-24

The top Senate Democrat¹, majority leader Harry² Reid made it official today there will not be a vote by the full Senate on revamping health care until after the August Congressional recess³ rather than before as President Obama had hoped. At a town hall meeting in Ohio, the president said he was comfortable with putting off the vote. More from NPR’s David Welna.

Referring to pending⁴ health care legislation, majority leader, Reid said he’d rather have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness than try to jam something through the Senate before the August break. At a high school in Shaker Heights, Ohio, President Obama reacted calmly to the postponement⁵, saying he wanted the health care overhaul⁶ done by the fall.

"If people are legitimately⁷ working out tough problems and some of these problems are tough, I mean this is a big system and it’s complicated. So I have no problem if, if I think people are really working through these difficult issues and making sure that we get it right. But I don’t want to delay just because of politics."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she still thinks her chamber⁸ can pass health care legislation before leaving for the August recess at the end of next week. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

The US Chamber of Commerce has thrown its support behind President Obama’s pick for the Supreme⁹ Court. The Chamber announced today it will endorse¹⁰ Sonia Sotomayor, calling her a well-qualified judge who would be fair and even-handed on business issues. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue says  Sotomayor has seen firsthand the burdens the legal system places on businesses. On the other side of the issue, the National Rifle Association continues to say it will oppose the nomination¹¹, citing what it terms a hostile view of the Second Amendment¹².

The number of people filing first-time jobless claims was up slightly last week. The government says the adjusted initial claims rose by 30, 000 for the weekend in July 18th to 554, 000, a figure that was in line with analysts¹³’ forecast. The Labor¹⁴ Department also cautioned against reading too much into the numbers, saying the July data was distorted by an unusually large number of seasonal¹⁵ lay-offs.

US stocks were up sharply today on positive earnings¹⁶ news. The Dow rose above 9, 000 for the first time since January. NPR’s John Ydstie reports.

E-bay, Ford¹⁷ and AT&T all posted better earnings results than analysts had expected. That, plus an increase in home sales, helped boost the major stock indexes higher. It was the 12th session in a row that the NASDAQ has gained ground, its longest positive streak¹⁸ since 1992. Ford shares jumped as the carmaker pared expenses and added market share. AT&T earnings were swelled¹⁹ by the rapid sale of Apple’s iPhones. A string of positive earnings reports have helped power the S&P 500 index up 11% since July 10th. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow gained 188 points. That was a gain of more than two percent today. The NASDAQ rose 47 points. The Standard & Poor’s 500 closed up 22 points today.

This is NPR.

The police officer who arrested Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home last week said today he will not apologize to Gates. And he said he is disappointed by President Obama’s remarks about the incident last night during his national broadcast news conference. Referring to Gates’ arrest, Mr. Obama said anyone of us would have been "pretty angry" and he added police acted stupidly in arresting someone when there was proof they were in their own home. However in a radio interview Sgt. James Crowley who is white said the President does not know all the facts. When police came, Gates at first refused to show ID and accused the officer of racism²⁰. The police showed up at Gates’ house after someone called and reported two men were breaking into the home.

Family and friends of the late television news icon²¹ Walter Cronkite mourned his passing at a funeral in New York this afternoon. Reporter Kaomi Goetz has more.

Dozens of Walter Cronkite’s family and friends, and even strangers who had gathered outside of St. Bartholomew's Church in Midtown Manhattan were ushered²² inside for the hour-long service. TV newsmen Matt Lauer, Tom Brokaw, Hill Smith and others all came to pay respects to their former colleague who paved their way in television news. Bill Jacker was visiting from Florida and stood outside the church before the funeral began. The 79-year-old says Cronkite was like an old, trusted friend. "He’s an important part of my life early on. Everyone listened to him and believed in him. And he certainly did a very, very good job as far as I was concerned." The Protestant service included scripture²⁴ readings by family members and humors and emotional remembrances. For NPR News, I’m Kaomi Goetz in New York.

Crude oil futures²⁵ prices were up sharply today. Oil rose $1.76 a barrel to close at $67.16 a barrel in New York.

I'm Jack²³ Speer, NPR News in Washington.

1 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。

2 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

3 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

4 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

5 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

6 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。

7 legitimately   

ad.合法地；正当地，合理地

参考例句：

• The radio is legitimately owned by the company. 该电台为这家公司所合法拥有。
• She looked for nothing save what might come legitimately and without the appearance of special favour. 她要的并不是男人们的额外恩赐，而是合法正当地得到的工作。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

8 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

9 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。

10 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

11 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

12 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

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 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

15 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

16 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

17 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

18 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

19 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

20 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

21 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

22 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 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。

24 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

25 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。