NPR 2009-09-20

President Obama promised to work with other G20 leaders next week to end loopholes in regulations that led to last year’s global financial meltdown.

"We know we still have a lot to do in conjunction with the nations around the world to strengthen the rules governing financial markets and ensure that we never again find ourselves in the peculiar¹ situation we found ourselves in just one year ago."

The President said in his weekly address that major steps have been taken since the last time the leaders met in London last April to produce real progress toward halting the global economic crisis. He hosts a summit of the group of 20 next week in Pittsburg.

Conservatives are gathered in Washington today for the fourth annual Values Voter Summit. The event is organized by religious groups as we hear from NPR’s Chris Arnold. House Republican leader John Boehner was among prominent Republicans who spoke² at the gathering³. Boehner criticized what he said was excessive government spending by Democrats⁵.

“When I look back over the first eight months of these new majorities in the Congress and policies coming out of the White House, all I can do to sum this up is to say that my Democrat⁴ colleagues are bankrupting America.”

Democrats counter such criticisms by pointing out that the Iraq War which was started by the Bush administration has ballooned the federal budget deficit⁶. They say many of the multi-billion-dollar Wall Street bailouts likewise were backed by the then Republican administration. Still, Boehner says Americans are fed up with the Democratic majority, referring to recent so-called "Tea Party protests". He said a "political rebellion" was underway in the country. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

Pakistani police raided a local security firm charged with protecting the US embassy and seized dozens of weapons that were allegedly unlicensed. From Islamabad, NPR’s Julie McCarthy has more.

News agencies including Dawn News, the country’s largest English media outlet⁸, say police detained two people from the company Inter-Risk and registered the case of fraud against the security firm. Authority said police confiscated⁹ pistols and some 60 assault rifles, all of which were allegedly unlicensed. The focus on the company contracted by the US State Department to protect its diplomats¹⁰ here comes as scrutiny¹¹ over America’s use of private contractors¹² has intensified¹³. Scandals in Iraq and Afghanistan involving private security firms have deepened apprehensions¹⁴ about such groups operating in Pakistan. Expansion of the US embassy has also fueled speculation¹⁵ about security. Embassy officials say the US has contracted with Inter-Risk in Pakistan and that they understood that the company had obtained a proper license⁷ in weapons to meet the contract. Julie McCarthy NPR News, Islamabad.

Najibullah Zazi, the man at the center of a joint¹⁶ terror investigation¹⁷ in Denver and New York, was expected to report for a fourth day of FBI questioning today in Denver. But a spokesperson for Zazi’s defense¹⁸ says Zazi would not be meeting with the FBI because he needed to meet with his attorney. She says the FBI meeting was canceled. The airport shuttle driver insists he had no roles in a terrorism plot and has no ties to al-Qaeda. This is NPR.

A war of words is heating up over the health care debate that will be played out on a television talk shows tomorrow. President Obama will appear live on no less than five shows. The Senate Finance Committee begins work on Senator Max Baucus’s overhaul¹⁹ bill on Tuesday. He spent the better part of two years, laying the groundwork for a bipartisan solution to revamping the nation’s health care system. Not one Republican stood behind Baucus as he announced the outline of his ten-year plan this week.

Union members at Goodyear Tire & Rubber plants around the country will begin working Monday under a contract that guarantees six plants will stay open. From member station WKSU, M.L. Schultze has details. The deal with the United Steel workers Union ensures Goodyear will keep six US plants open for the four years of the contract. It also commits Goodyear to 600 million dollars in plant upgrades. The protected plants are in Ohio, Alabama, New York, Kansas, Virginia and North Carolina. Not protected is a plant in Tennessee. But the steel workers say there is hope for that plant if tariffs²⁰ on imports of Chinese tires are effective. President Obama approved those tariffs last week. The Goodyear contract covers more than 10, 000 workers. For NPR News, I’m M.L. Schultze in Canton, Ohio.

A 20-year-old man wanted for the murders of four people in Virginia was nabbed by authorities at Richmond International Airport as he was about to board a flight to California. Airport police officers found Richard Alden Samuel McCorsky III sleeping in the baggage claim area after they were tipped off by an airport employee who recognized the man. Police say McCorsky did not resist arrest. Four bodies were found yesterday in a home near the Longwood University campus some 50 miles from Richmond.

1 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

8 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

9 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

10 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》

11 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

12 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 apprehensions   

疑惧

参考例句：

• He stood in a mixture of desire and apprehensions. 他怀着渴望和恐惧交加的心情伫立着。
• But subsequent cases have removed many of these apprehensions. 然而，随后的案例又消除了许多类似的忧虑。

15 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

16 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

17 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。

18 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

19 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。

20 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。