NPR 2010-07-16

The oil has stopped leaking. For the first time in 12 weeks, crude is not spewing from the blown-out well in the Gulf¹ of Mexico. This the result of a critical pressure test BP's conducting. NPR's Richard Harris joins us now in the studio with the latest.

And I was watching the underseas cameras about 35 minutes ago, and the huge cloud of oil that's been billowing out of them just simply stopped flowing. Now, this is part of a test, and there are no guarantees here. The test is looking at the condition of the well under the sea. And if it turns out that the well is in good shape, this could well be the beginning of the end of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe², though let's remember there's a huge amount of oil still to clean up on the surface. And if the test finds that the well is in bad shape, they will open these valves again, and once again oil will spill. Ships at the surface are standing³ by, and in the next few days, they should be able to collect most of the oil. There was a huge of real sound of relief in the voice of the BP official Kent Wells who announced this event just a few minutes ago.

Alright, thanks Richard. NPR's Richard Harris' tracking the story on the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico.

Another news: Senate lawmakers have adopted the biggest rewrite of the financial regulatory system since the Great Depression. The bill was approved on a vote of 60 to 39. From Capitol Hill, here's NPR's Audie Cornish.

The legislation includes many provisions targeted at consumers. Mainly it would add a new bureau to Federal Reserve that would write and enforce rules for banks and large credit unions. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Republicans fundamentally disagree with this approach.

"That creates a vast new unaccountable bureaucracy that, if past experience is any guide, will lead to countless⁴ burdensome, unintended consequences for individuals and small businesses."

The new bureau would also have the power to police mortgages, credit cards, student loans and other kinds of lending, but lawmakers essentially⁵ exempted⁶ car loans, check cashers and payday lenders. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

Clean energy and jobs, two big themes in President Obama's trip to Holland, Michigan today. He visited a new factory that will make batteries for electric cars. Here's NPR's Ari Shapiro.

President Obama said this is the ninth electric car battery factory to open with the boost from government spending.

"We're leveraging⁷ nearly three private dollars for every public dollar that's spent. That's an incredible bang for our buck⁸. By making critical seed money available, we've attracted more than $280 billion in investment from private companies and others."

Republicans see it differently. In the Detroit News, House Minority Leader John Boehner published an op-ed column with the headline: Spending Spree Won't Fix Our Ailing⁹ Economy. Boehner said the economy has lost three million jobs since President Obama took office. The president pointed¹⁰ out that the economy has gained jobs every month through the last six months. Ari Shapiro, NPR News.

Last check on Wall Street, Dow was down seven at 10,359.

This is NPR News.

Today, Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, giving gay couples the same rights as heterosexual couples. We have more on this from NPR's Juan Forero.

At 4:10 am, after 14 hours of debate, the Senate approved the law giving gays the right to marry. Argentina became the second country after Canada to approve same-sex marriages in the Americas. Gay rights advocates worldwide closely followed the vote because Argentina is a Catholic country in a region where the church is fighting hard to stop same-sex unions. But polls show that 70% of Argentines supported the measure including the president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The new law gives gays all the same rights, responsibilities and privileges as straight couples including the right to adopt. In some ways, it made perfect sense for the law to be approved in Argentina. Buenos Aires, its biggest city, is filled with bars, restaurants and luxury hotels catering¹¹ to gays. Juan Forero, NPR News.

Iranian state media are reporting bomb blasts outside a mosque¹² in southeastern Iran. As many as 20 people may have been killed.

There's a lot of buzz surrounding a 21-year-old golfer from Northern Ireland after a jaw-dropping performance in the first round of the British Open. Rory McIlroy shot a nine-under-par 63, tying the major championship record.

"That was a fantastic score. You know, I didn't get off to a flying start. I was one under through eight holes, and then the eagle on nine really sort of turned things around for me, and I just got going from there."

The last person to shoot so low in one of the four major tournaments was Tiger Woods in 2007.

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1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 exempted   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His bad eyesight exempted him from military service. 他因视力不好而免服兵役。
• Her illness exempted her from the examination. 她因病而免试。

7 leveraging   

促使…改变( leverage的现在分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• De-leveraging is a painful process: it has barely begun. 去杠杆化是个痛苦的过程：它才刚刚开始。
• Archimedes said, saying: Give me a fulcrum, I can leveraging the Earth. 阿基米德说过一句话：给我一个支点，我可以撬动地球。

8 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

9 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

10 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。

11 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

12 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。