NPR 2009-08-03

Treasury¹ Secretary Timothy Geithner says in order for the nation to have a sustained economic recovery, the administration will have to reduce the massive federal budget deficit². NPR's Audie Cornish has the story.

 The federal deficit is now more than a trillion dollars, Secretary Geithner says that in order for a full economic recovery, future deficits³ have to be reined⁴ in. Whether that could eventually lead the Obama administration to consider tax hikes, Geithner wouldn't say."We can't make these judgments⁵ yet about exactly what it's gonna take and how we're gonna get there." The Treasury Secretary made the comment on ABC's This Week. Geithner also said the administration's support extending unemployment insurance, because employers are not hiring back workers as quickly as anticipated. The economic stimulus⁶ package earlier this year, had already extended the program, but still, more than a million and a half Americans would have used up their benefit by the end of this year. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

 Three American troops were killed in eastern Afghanistan today when their convoy⁷ was ambushed⁸ by insurgents⁹. Just yesterday, three other U.S. troops were killed by a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson has the story from Kabul.

 NATO says militants¹⁰ killed the U.S. troops during a gunfight after their convoy struck a roadside bomb. Officials refused to say where in eastern Afghanistan the attack happened. Yesterday the roadside bomb attack that killed three other American troops took place in Kandahar Province in the south. Today's attack brings to nine the number of Western troops killed in the past two days. In July, 74 international troops were killed in Afghanistan, making it the deadliest month since 2001. The spiking¹¹ violence this summer was expected, given the arrival of additional international troops here and the upcoming presidential elections which the Taliban has vowed¹² to disrupt, roadside bombs are the militants' weapon of choice. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Kabul.

 Some human remains¹³ found buried in the desert of Iraq have been positively¹⁴ identified as those of the last American servicemen still listed as missing since the first Gulf¹⁵ War. Navy pilot Michael "Scott" Speicher was shot down on the first night of that war back in 1991. In Arkansas, Nels Jensen, former classmate of Speicher’s said, he and others had held out hope that Speicher might have survived the crash and might have been held captive. "It's gonna be hard for family naturally. Um, after all these years and some of the friends have given their hopes up and, and you know, this massive roller coaster ride, we all were on." U.S. military at first had listed Speicher as Killed in action and then ten years ago changed to missing or captured. U.S. Marines were led to his remains by an Iraqi citizen who said he was present when Speicher's body was first found after the crash and then buried by Bedouins.

 This is NPR News from Washington.

 Police in Tel Aviv are searching for the gunman who opened fire at a club for gay teenagers there yesterday. Two people were killed and at least 11 others were wounded in the attack.

 Swiss diplomats¹⁶ are talking with Iran's foreign ministry¹⁷ in an effort to confirm the status of three American hikers who are reportedly in custody¹⁸ there. Iran's state-run television says the three were detained Friday when they crossed into Iran from northern Iraq. Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Iran.

 Britain's deputy prime minister says gender¹⁹ equality should be required at the highest levels of government in that country. Larry Miller²⁰ has the story from London.

 Men in power cannot be trusted, claims Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Harriet Harman now in charge while Gordon Brown is on vacation. Harman has spearheaded a controversial new equality bill that gives employers a legal right to favor a female candidate over an equally-qualified man. She told the Sunday Times men cannot be left to run things on their own. And that's a thoroughly²¹ bad thing to have a man-only leadership policy. She insists that in a country where women regard themselves as equals, they are not prepared to see men who running the show themselves. Harman says she tried to change Labour Party rules to make it mandatory²² that a woman always be given one of the two top jobs, prime minister or deputy prime minister. But that was rejected by the male leadership. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

 The Obama administration says the government's popular "cash for clunkers" auto²³ trade-in program will be suspended this week unless the Senate follows the lead of the House and approves an additional two billion dollars in funding. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he is optimistic the Senate will act quickly.

1 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。

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 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

4 reined   

勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理

参考例句：

• Then, all of a sudden, he reined up his tired horse. 这时，他突然把疲倦的马勒住了。
• The officer reined in his horse at a crossroads. 军官在十字路口勒住了马。

5 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

6 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

7 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

8 ambushed   

v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The military vehicles were ambushed. 军车遭到伏击。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 spiking   

n.尖峰形成v.加烈酒于( spike的现在分词 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。 来自辞典例句
• We could be spiking our own guns. 我们可能要遭到失败。 来自辞典例句

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

15 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

16 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》

17 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

18 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

19 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

20 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

21 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

22 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

23 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。