NPR 2010-11-27

Early signs point to bigger-than-usual crowds for a Black Friday, when retailers² hope post-Thanksgiving Day sales catapult them into the black through the holiday shopping season. The chance to snap up huge bargains typically draws Canadian shoppers as well across the border. But as Dan Karpenchuk tells us, this year Canadian retailers are fighting back.
Border crossings are jamming up as Canadian consumers head south, hoping to cash in on bargains, especially with the Canadian dollar almost at parity³ with the US greenback. But the Retailer¹ Council of Canada says there are many reasons for Canadians to do their shopping north of the border. It says retailers are in the central part of local economies and employ about ten percent of the workforce⁴ and tax dollars help pay for health and education, and Canadian retailers are slashing⁵ prices in a bid to keep their shoppers from heading south. Stores such as Toys "R" Us and Sears have already posted sales ads and some say they are cutting even beyond that. There are no official figures of what Canadians spend in the US on the Black Friday weekend. But it's enough for Canadian businesses to fight hard to keep their shoppers from traveling south. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.
There's no sign the US will back out of its joint⁶ naval⁷ exercises with South Korea this weekend despite the threat of another attack by North Korea. Today, the Pentagon said the drills are used to strengthen deterrence⁸ against Pyongyang. These comments come days after the North fired on a South Korean island, killing⁹ four people. General Walter Sharp, commander of US Forces Korea, says during a tour of Yeonpyeong Island that the North's action's a clear violation¹⁰.
"What I've seen here physically¹¹ that North Korea attacked this island, which is a clear violation of the armistice¹² agreement."But Pyongyang says it has the right to defend itself against threats from Seoul and its Western allies.
US authorities are interrogating¹³ suspects in connection with a tunnel used to smuggle¹⁴ drugs between Mexico and San Diego. James Blears reports the passage was uncovered yesterday.
The tunnel is the second to be found within the area in less than a month. It's more than half a mile long, starting at a Tijuana house, reaching a warehouse¹⁵ in San Diego. A combined US federal task force includes DEA, Customs and Border Patrol agents. They found a consignment¹⁶ of marijuana in a trailer on the US side. They arrested several suspected drug cartel members. Earlier this month, 20 tons of marijuana were seized by US authorities. It had been stored in trailers on the US side of the border. For NPR News, I'm James Blears in Mexico City.
President Obama had to get 12 stitches in his lip after getting injured during a basketball game today with a group of family and friends for this Thanksgiving holiday. But otherwise, the White House says, President Obama is doing fine.
US stocks closed down.
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There may be more than calories to watch out for on the cheese platter this holiday season. As NPR's April Fulton tells us, several kinds of cheese have been recalled this month for potentially making people sick.
Whole Foods Market announced the most recent cheese recall on Thanksgiving Day. It affects several varieties of cheddar sold at Whole Foods stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Bravo Farms of California announced earlier in the week that it was recalling all of its cheeses including cheddar sold under Whole Foods' label after E. coli was found in some of its Dutch-style Gouda earlier this month. E. coli can cause diarrhea and cramps¹⁷ and can be serious. Twenty-five people have reported getting sick from the cheese, nine of them hospitalized. The Gouda was sold at Costco stores in the western US. Unrelated cheese recalls this month have included gorgonzola sold at Costco and queso fresco¹⁸ from a company called Del Bueno. April Fulton, NPR News, Washington.
Damage assessment¹⁹ is under way from western Tennessee to southwest Louisiana where forecasters believe tornadoes²⁰ touched down last night. The Associated Press reports more than two dozen homes have been damaged; however, no one was injured.
Standard & Poor's ratings agency's downgrading Ireland's banks with possibility that a bailout for Ireland could require top bondholders to help cover financial losses. S&P announced today that Anglo Irish Bank had fallen six notches²² to a junk-bond B grade; Bank of Ireland is down to a BBB+; and Allied²³ Irish Banks also falls one notch²¹ to a BBB.

1 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

2 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

3 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

4 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

5 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

8 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。

9 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。

10 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

11 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

12 armistice   

n.休战，停战协定

参考例句：

• The two nations signed an armistice.两国签署了停火协议。
• The Italian armistice is nothing but a clumsy trap.意大利的停战不过是一个笨拙的陷阱。

13 interrogating   

n.询问技术v.询问( interrogate的现在分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• She was no longer interrogating but lecturing. 她已经不是在审问而是在教训人了。 来自辞典例句
• His face remained blank, interrogating, slightly helpless. 他的面部仍然没有表情，只带有询问的意思，还有点无可奈何。 来自辞典例句

14 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

15 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

16 consignment   

n.寄售；发货；委托；交运货物

参考例句：

• This last consignment of hosiery is quite up to standard.这批新到的针织品完全符合规格。
• We have to ask you to dispatch the consignment immediately.我们得要求你立即发送该批货物。

17 cramps   

n. 抽筋, 腹部绞痛, 铁箍 adj. 狭窄的, 难解的 v. 使...抽筋, 以铁箍扣紧, 束缚

参考例句：

• If he cramps again let the line cut him off. 要是它再抽筋，就让这钓索把它勒断吧。
• "I have no cramps." he said. “我没抽筋，"他说。

18 fresco   

n.壁画；vt.作壁画于

参考例句：

• This huge fresco is extremely clear and just like nature itself.It is very harmonious.这一巨幅壁画，清晰有致且又浑然天成，十分和谐。
• So it is quite necessary to study the influence of visual thinking over fresco.因此，研究视觉思维对壁画的影响和作用是十分必要的。

19 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

20 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

21 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

22 notches   

n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级

参考例句：

• The Indians cut notches on a stick to keep count of numbers. 印第安人在棒上刻V形凹痕用来计数。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They cut notches in the handle of their pistol for each man they shot. 他们每杀一个人就在枪托上刻下一个V形记号。 来自辞典例句

23 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。