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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
From NPR News in Washington, I’m Lakshmi Singh.
The US economy shed 20,000 jobs last month, but the unemployment rate dropped to 9.7%. One reason: more people have stopped looking for work, so they’re no longer figured into the Labor1 Department’s unemployment numbers. Mark Zandi, chief economist2 at Moody’s Economy. com, says the report’s encouraging though, it could have been better. “It’s still not really good, and we’re still, uh, looking for some job growth and the unemployment’s still near double-digit, but, uh, we’re heading to a right direction.” The White House says job creation is its No.1 priority. To that end, President Obama is urging banks to provide more credit for small businesses. In a speech to small business owners in Maryland today, Mr. Obama also called for a 5,000-dollar tax break for each additional worker companies hire this year. “Today, we learned the job losses for this January were 20,000; the unemployment rate dropped below 10% for the first time since the summer.” The president plans to meet with lawmakers from both parties on Tuesday to talk jobs.
A powerful snowstorm is bearing down on the mid-Atlantic. The National Weather Service is expecting near-blizzard conditions by tomorrow morning. Winter storm advisories3 are in effect from Georgia to New Jersey4. Daniel Carson has details.
The Washington region will take a beating. It’s bracing5 for up to two feet of snow again. That’s how much mother nature dumped on the D.C. area on December 20th, sending retailers6 into a frenzy7 over holiday sales. Airlines have canceled flights scheduled for this evening and Saturday. Food is flying off grocery shelves as residents load up with staples8. Local transportation officials are deploying9 thousands of trucks carrying tons of salt to spread over roads. Maryland has spent about 50 million dollars in snow removal so far this winter, almost twice what was budgeted. Virginia has spent almost 80 million and it’s dipping into emergency maintenance funds. But the snowstorm apparently10 does have a silver lining11 for some, ski operators in Virginia and Pennsylvania are cheering. For NPR News, I’m Daniel Carson in Washington.
In Portugal, lawmakers have rejected the government’s austerity plan, raising questions about the country’s ability to shrink its deficit12. Concern over Portugal and other European countries’ ability to control their public finances are sending stocks worldwide falling. The FTSE dropped nearly 2% today; Germany’s DAX fell 1.4%; Asia’s stocks closed sharply lower, including Japan’s Nikkei; it fell nearly 3% to 10,057. Certainly feeling effects, on Wall Street at last check, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 100 points below to 10,000 mark now at 9,900, NASDAQ Composite Index dropping seven points at 2,119, and we see that the S&P 500 is down nine points at 1,054.
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A gun battle in Chechnya is blamed in at least 11 deaths. Details from Jessica Gallaher in Moscow.
Russian officials say that insurgents13 and Russian troops are among the dead after a gun battle in war-ravaged Chechnya. Authorities say the fighting began on Thursday and continued into Friday in the mountains southwest of the capital Grozny. Violence in Russia’s North Caucasus region has escalated14 in recent months. There’re nearly daily attacks in the region in which law enforcement and government officials are targeted. Officials blame Islamist insurgents. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev calls the violence the country’s biggest domestic problem. For NPR News, I’m Jessica Gallaher in Moscow.
Shiite pilgrims are again the target of the third deadly strike in Iraq this week. Authorities are reporting a double attack on worshipers today in Karbala where people were headed for a religious event. Either car bomb blasts or mortar15 fires sent panic crowd running down the highway and into the path of a suicide bomber16. The double attack killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 140. Shiite pilgrims are also coming under attack in Pakistan. Today in Karachi, authorities say, suspected Sunni militants17 bombed a bus carrying Shiite worshipers. Hours later, militants attacked a hospital treating the victims. At least 13 people were killed and dozens more were wounded.
Two American aid workers in Haiti reportedly are dead. According to wire reports in local media in Santo Domingo, the men’s helicopter crashed last night in the Dominican Republican near the Haitian border. The victims’ identities have yet to be independently verified. The number of US aid and charity groups has grown, since an earthquake struck Haiti last month and left much of the impoverished18 nation in ruin.
This is NPR.
1 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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2 economist | |
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人 | |
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3 advisories | |
n.(有关进展、动向、建议等的)报告( advisory的名词复数 );公告;通告;通报 | |
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4 jersey | |
n.运动衫 | |
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5 bracing | |
adj.令人振奋的 | |
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6 retailers | |
零售商,零售店( retailer的名词复数 ) | |
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7 frenzy | |
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动 | |
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8 staples | |
n.(某国的)主要产品( staple的名词复数 );钉书钉;U 形钉;主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9 deploying | |
(尤指军事行动)使展开( deploy的现在分词 ); 施展; 部署; 有效地利用 | |
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10 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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11 lining | |
n.衬里,衬料 | |
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12 deficit | |
n.亏空,亏损;赤字,逆差 | |
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13 insurgents | |
n.起义,暴动,造反( insurgent的名词复数 ) | |
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14 escalated | |
v.(使)逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 );(使)逐步扩大;(使)更高;(使)更大 | |
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15 mortar | |
n.灰浆,灰泥;迫击炮;v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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16 bomber | |
n.轰炸机,投弹手,投掷炸弹者 | |
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17 militants | |
激进分子,好斗分子( militant的名词复数 ) | |
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18 impoverished | |
adj.穷困的,无力的,用尽了的v.使(某人)贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 );使(某物)贫瘠或恶化 | |
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