NPR 2009-08-13

The interest rate setting arm of the Federal Reserve has wrapped up its two-day meeting in Washington, taking no action on a key overnight bank lending rate it controls. In its end of meeting statement, the members of the Fed's Open Market Committee also signaled the economy appears to be showing signs of leveling off, though policymakers say economic activity is likely to remain weak for some time. Richard Yamarone is an economic, or economist¹ rather, of Argus Research. He says while there's some reason for optimism, the wild card remains² companies becoming confident enough to begin hiring again.

 "We had a considerable improvement in economic conditions, even from housing to somewhat in the automotive sector³. But that one thorn in this handful of roses that we've had in a wave of economic indicators⁴ over the last couple of weeks, the one thorn remains unemployment."

 Fed has been keeping short-term interest rates at between zero and 0.25% and indicated following today's meeting, it is prepared to continue doing that for what it termed "an extended period of time".

 On Wall Street, investors⁵ seemed to applaud the Fed's actions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 120 points today. The NASDAQ was up 28 points.

 A Minnesota man accused of traveling to Somalia to join a terrorist group there pleaded guilty to lying to an FBI agent in a Minneapolis court. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports.

 Kamal Said Hassan is a small part of a broader federal investigation⁶ into the disappearance⁷ of more than two dozen young Somali-Americans from the Twin Cities over the past two years. Hassan traveled to Somalia to fight for a militia⁸ there called al-Shabaab. When Hassan returned to the US, he apparently⁹ lied to the FBI about where he'd been. He's now in US custody¹⁰. This is the third indictment¹¹ in the case the FBI has called the largest terrorism investigation in this country since 9/11. US intelligence is concerned that al-Shabaab recruits could decide to return and attack here. Al-Shabaab is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations. Its leadership has ties to al-Qaeda, although intelligence officials are divided over how much sway Al Qaeda has over the group. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News.

 Federal government's pool of red ink grows in July as Federal outlays¹² to fight a widening recession continue to increase. Government says the July budget deficit¹³ of 180.6 billion dollars, a record for the month, brings the fiscal¹⁴ year to date budget shortfall (to) just over 1.2 trillion dollars. That is more than triple the deficit for the same period a year ago. In a separate report, the government also announced a rise in the monthly trade gap to 27 billion dollars.

 Once again recapping Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 120 points to close at 9,361. The NASDAQ was up 28 points, ending the session at 1,998. The Standard & Poor's 500 also gained ground today in light of the Federal Reserve's moves. The S&P 500 was up 11 points, ending the session at 1,005.

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 There are continued reports of heavy fighting between US Marines and members of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan as a force there seeks to gain control of the strategic Taliban-held town ahead of critical elections next week. Officials say 500 US and Afghan troops exchanged heavy fire with insurgents¹⁵, killing¹⁶ at least seven people.  And the ofensive, they say, is aimed at cutting off Taliban's supply lines. It's the first time NATO troops have entered the area which has been under Taliban control for several years.

 Congressman David Scott of Georgia says racism¹⁷ has taken over the debates surrounding the overhaul¹⁸ of health care. From Georgia Public Broadcasting, Susanna Capelouto reports.

 David Scott is a Democrat¹⁹ who had to confront people angry over possible changes in health care at a town hall meeting. He's also African-American. And his office has received faxes with racial slurs²⁰ which he's turned over to the FBI. And this week a swastika was spray-painted over his name at his suburban²¹ Atlanta district office. Scott blames conservative talk radio for injecting race into the health care debate. "Now when you look at Rush Limbaugh, saying, ‘Hey, we want Obama to fail’, what do you think that means for them? And they are using the American people. And they are pricking²² their conscience with this racism. That is so much there with us.  Just...And they know how to do it." Scott says in his seven years in Congress, he's never gotten this high a level of racial threats. For NPR News, I'm Susanna Capelouto in Atlanta.

 The bodies of the five Italian tourists killed this, in this past weekend's collision between a small private plane and a sightseeing helicopter, have been flown back to Italy. The crash which occurred Saturday over the Hudson River left a total of nine people dead. The final two victims' bodies were pulled from the waters yesterday.

 I'm Jack²³ Speer, NPR News in Washington.

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 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。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 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。

5 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

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

8 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

9 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。

10 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。

11 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

12 outlays   

v.支出，费用( outlay的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They report substantial slashes in this year's defense outlays. 他们报道今年度国防经费的大量削减。 来自辞典例句
• For MU, there were no upfront risks or cash outlays. 对摩托罗拉大学而言，没有风险或现金费用。 来自互联网

13 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。

14 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

15 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

16 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

17 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。

18 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。

19 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。

20 slurs   

含糊的发音( slur的名词复数 )； 玷污； 连奏线； 连唱线

参考例句：

• One should keep one's reputation free from all slurs. 人应该保持名誉不受责备。
• Racial slurs, racial jokes, all having to do with being Asian. 种族主义辱骂，种族笑话，都是跟亚裔有关的。

21 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

22 pricking   

刺，刺痕，刺痛感

参考例句：

• She felt a pricking on her scalp. 她感到头皮上被扎了一下。
• Intercostal neuralgia causes paroxysmal burning pain or pricking pain. 肋间神经痛呈阵发性的灼痛或刺痛。

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。