NPR 2010-03-05

The New York governor’s communications chief is resigning over the political scandal overshadowing the state’s top office. In a statement today Peter Hoffman says that given the recent developments, he had to quit. Governor David Paterson is under pressure by members of his own party to resign after a series of political mishaps¹ and an alleged² ethics³ violation⁴. Paterson had said he would not step down but he did agree to drop out of the gubernatorial race.

 

Consumers seem to be splurging a little more, the latest retail⁵ numbers are any indication. NPR’s Wendy Kaufman reports that in February, merchants saw their sixth straight months of gains.

 

Across the price spectrum⁶ from Target and Cosco to North Druid, most retailers⁷ did well last month. Roughly three out of four beat Wall Street expectations. Total comparable store sales for February compared to the same period last year rose roughly 4%，the biggest monthly gain in a long time. Analysts⁸ pointed⁹ it dependent upon demand holiday sales large turnouts even amid massive winter storms, and strong sales of spring merchandise at full price. As a couple of retail analysts put it，the consumer is starting to come out of hibernation¹⁰. While the numbers are encouraging and might suggest a strong Easter shopping season in March, some experts caution not to read too much into the results, since February is generally a slow shopping month. Wendy Kaufman, NPR News.

 

Scientists are sounding a new warning about methane¹¹ gas in a new report out today. The gas is not only seeping¹² out of the Arctic Ocean seabed, NPR’s Richard Harris reports it’s happening at a surprising rate.

 

Methane gas is trapped in the permafrost in the frozen North. And it seems that methane was likely to stay in the permafrost that’s under the seafloor. But that’s not so. Scientists from Alaska and Russia have been measuring methane gas bubbling up into the Arctic Ocean and they say it’s seeping out of the undersea permafrost at a surprising rate. So far the amount of methane is too small to have a significant impact on the earth’s temperature. But if the Arctic continues to warm as it has been, more and more of this permafrost methane is likely to vent¹³ into the atmosphere and that in turn can trigger more warming and yet more methane. The result was published in this week’s Science Magazine. Richard Harris, NPR News.

 

Companies are under more pressure to hire. The latest numbers on productivity or any indication the Labor¹⁴ Department is reporting output rose at an annual rate of 6.9% in the final three months of 2009. However economists¹⁵ say there is only so much growth that businesses can achieve without adding jobs so they will have to consider rehiring workers soon.

 

At last check on Wall Street: the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 27 points at 10,424, NASDAQ up five at 2,286.

 

You are listening to NPR News.

 

Chile is in for a long recovery from an earthquake that has claimed more than 800 lives and displaced tens of thousands of survivors¹⁶. Now outgoing President Michelle Bachelet is warning it could take the country three to four years to rebuild.

 

Damage assessment¹⁷ is under way in southern Taiwan where a 6.9 earthquake struck early Thursday local time. It sparked at least one fire and brought transportation to a halt, authorities say 64 people were hurt, from Beijing NPR’s Anthony Kuhn says Taiwan’s government has already dispatched troops.

 

Taiwan’s Defense¹⁸ Ministry¹⁹ said helicopters and soldiers have been sent to the quake’s epicenter in mountainous parts of Gaoxiong County to look for casualties and assess damage. Several students in Jiayi County were injured by falling debris²⁰. The southern part of Taiwan’s high speed railway was shut down as was Gaoxiong’s subway. In the capital Taipei buildings rocked for several minutes and there were scattered²¹ power outages. President Ma Yingjiu activated²² an emergency response plan to deal with the quake, he was criticized for his slow response to Typhoon Morakot which struck last summer in the same area as today’s earthquake. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News Beijing.

 

Two subsidiaries of American International Group will pay more than six million dollars to settle claims of discrimination against African American borrowers. According to court documents filed today, Wilmington Finance and Federal Savings²³ Bank are accused of charging black clients higher home loan fees than white borrowers were charged. AIG, a recipient²⁴ of more than 180 billion dollar tax payer bailout denies it discriminated²⁵ against anyone.

 

1 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

3 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

4 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。

5 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

6 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

7 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。

8 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。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 hibernation   

n.冬眠

参考例句：

• Bears wake up in the spring after a winter of hibernation.熊经过一个冬天的冬眠后在春季苏醒。
• The tortoise spends the winter months in hibernation.乌龟在冬眠中度过寒冬季节。

11 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

12 seeping   

v.（液体）渗( seep的现在分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water had been slowly seeping away from the pond. 池塘里的水一直在慢慢渗漏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chueh-hui could feel the cold seeping into his bones. 觉慧开始觉得寒气透过衣服浸到身上来了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

13 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

14 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

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

15 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》

16 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

17 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？

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 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

20 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

21 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

22 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

23 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

24 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

25 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？