NPR 2010-12-09

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

A Baltimore man is in federal custody¹ for allegedly plotting to blow up a military recruitment site in Maryland. The Justice Department says the suspect, Antonio Martinez, is a 21-year-old Muslim convert. He was nabbed in a sting operation that was months in the making.

With just weeks to go before lawmakers head home for the holidays, President Obama is urging the Senate to get moving on ratification² of the new US-Russia nuclear arms pact³.

"I am confident that we are going to be able to get the START treaty on the floor, debated and completed before we break for the holidays."

And the president recruited additional help from Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski. At their joint⁴ news conference at the White House today, Komorowski said the treaty, known as START, would be an investment in a safer future. He says he also wants to help reset⁵ relations between Russia and the US.

Many Wall Street economists⁷ are upgrading their growth forecasts for next year. Danielle Karson reports the package of tax cuts President Obama and congressional Republicans are hammering out would pump billions of dollars into the economy, as well as add lots of red ink to the federal budget.

The plan would extend tax cuts and unemployment benefits, and it would cut employee payroll⁸ taxes, giving households, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, an extra $130 billion in disposable income. Analysts⁹ say all that will jump-start economic growth, but the plan would also add as much as a trillion dollars to the deficit¹⁰ over the next two years. Wells Fargo chief economist⁶ Stuart Hoffman is in trouble by all that red ink.

"We will need to reduce the budget deficit, but the time to do that is not in 2011 when the US economy is being in, what I call, a half-speed economic recovery."

The tax-cut plan's promise of economic growth has been good for Wall Street lifting stock prices, but worries about the ballooning deficit push down the prices of government bonds. For NPR News, I'm Danielle Karson in Washington.

After some financial institutions choked off funding access to Wikileaks, the group's supporters are fighting back. They have launched cyber attacks on various targets including MasterCard days after it cut ties with Wikileaks' founder¹¹ Julian Assange. The attacks also targeted prosecutors¹² in Sweden, who're trying to get Assange extradited from Britain to face sex crimes charges Assange describes as "politically motivated". Wikileaks is under fire for releasing vast amounts of classified documents and cables without US authorization¹³.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up slightly three points at last check at 11,363; the NASDAQ Composite Index up 11 now at 2,609; S&P 500 up four at 1,228.

This is NPR.

Chile's president is describing as inhumane the overcrowding at a prison where more than 80 inmates¹⁴ died today in a fire. NPR's Juan Forero reports President Sebastián Pi?era is pledging to build more prisons.

The San Miguel prison, south of the capital Santiago, held nearly 2,000 inmates, twice as many as it was built to house. Officials said at least 83 prisoners had died after rioting inmates set fire to the prison's Tower 5. The firefighting units that responded reported that they were summoned to the fire from a caller using a cell phone inside the prison. Many of the inmates who died were asphyxiated¹⁵, and 14 others were so badly burned that officials say their fate is uncertain. Those outside the prison could hear prisoners screaming as the fire spread. Frantic¹⁶ relatives, who'd arrived early because today is visiting day, even tried to climb the prison walls to help their loved ones. Juan Forero, NPR News.

Parts of Upstate New York and Pennsylvania are facing a fourth day of storms that have dumped several feet of snow. The Syracuse area has seen four feet since last weekend, and the region is bracing¹⁷ for more snow tomorrow. Europe is also getting an early dose of a wintry mess. A second major snowstorm in a week is blitzing France. It has caused several flight cancellations at both airports in the French capital.

Here's an update from Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average continues to make gains up seven at 11,366 in moderate trading; the NASDAQ Composite Index up a fraction at 2,609; S&P 500 also up.

1 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。

2 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

3 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

4 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。

5 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

6 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。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

9 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。

10 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。

11 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

12 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

13 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

14 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 asphyxiated   

v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的过去式和过去分词 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人

参考例句：

• The men trapped in the mine were asphyxiated by gas. 那些困在矿井中的人因瓦斯中毒窒息死亡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The men in the coal-mine were asphyxiated by the bad gas. 煤矿坑里的工人们为毒气所窒息。 来自辞典例句

16 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

17 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。