NPR 2010-07-21

Millions of Americans who've been out of work for more than six months are getting some relief. This afternoon, the US Senate voted 60-40 to extend unemployment benefits. NPR's Scott Horsley’s been tracking the story for us. Passage comes after heavy lobbying from the president.

That's right, Lakshmi. The president appeared in the White House Rose Garden yesterday to urge lawmakers to grant this extension. By the time he spoke¹, it was already clear the Senate would do so, but it was a chance for Mr. Obama to call out Republicans who'd blocked three earlier attempts.

And it was a new senator from West Virginia who gave Democrats² the winning margin³?

Yes, Senator Carte Goodwin of West Virginia, who was sworn in today, replaced the late Robert Byrd. Along with two GOP senators from Maine, he provided Democrats the 60 votes they needed to beat back a filibuster⁴.

Em, well, thanks Scott. NPR's Scott Horsley reporting on the Senate's vote today to advance long-term unemployment benefits.

President Obama's hosting British Prime Minister David Cameron who's on his first official trip to Washington since his election. One of the major issues was Iran.

"The Iranian government must fulfill⁵ its international obligations. The new sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, the United States and other countries are putting unprecedented⁶ pressure on the Iranian government. And I thanked David for Great Britain's efforts to ensure strong European Union sanctions in the coming days."

Cameron also pledged continued commitment in Afghanistan even as the death toll⁷ among coalition⁸ forces continues to rise. NATO says an Afghan soldier killed two fellow service members and two American civilians⁹ at the military base in northern Afghanistan. The violence erupted as an international donor¹⁰ conference attended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was underway in Kabul.

The US and South Korea will be conducting large-scale joint¹¹ military exercises next week. As NPR's Rachel Martin tells us, the exercises are meant to send a message to North Korea that the alliance between the US and South Korea is stronger than ever.

Pentagon officials say the exercises will be the first in a series of stepped-up joint demonstrations¹² between the US and South Korea. They're designed as a boat show of force in the face of an increasingly aggressive North Korean regime, which is blamed for sinking a South Korean ship this past spring, killing¹³ 46 sailors. Secretary of Defense¹⁴ Robert Gates has been in South Korea since Monday. He'll be joined there by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tomorrow for a conference with their South Korean counterparts. The two US leaders will pay a rare visit to the demilitarized zone or the DMZ, the 155-mile-long no man's land that divides the North and the South. The US-South Korean exercises will start Sunday and last four days. They'll include about 8,000 US and South Korean troops, warships¹⁵, submarines and a massive US aircraft carrier.

This is NPR.

The US military plans to do more to help train and equip African forces, trying to stabilize¹⁶ Somalia. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports the US has been worried about Islamist rebels in the lawless country and their increasing reach beyond Somalia's borders.

The head of US Africa Command, Army General Kip Ward¹⁷, says the US has been helping¹⁸ African Union forces in Somalia in several ways.

"We are working very closely with, with their logistics, their training, their transportation, information that they would use to be more effective in what they do. And we'll continue looking to ways based on what they ask us to enhance those efforts."

General Ward told the Center for Strategic and International Studies that he was looking into this even before Al-Shabaab militants¹⁹ claimed responsibility for deadly bombings in Uganda. Talking about his overall job, he said the three-year-old Africa Command has become more well-established, that he gets fewer questions about why it exists and more requests for what else he can do to support stability in Africa. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

Supreme²⁰ Court nominee²¹ Elena Kagan won approval today, divided Senate judiciary committee, moving her a step closer to becoming President Obama's second appointee on the high court. With support of just one Republican Lindsey Graham, the Democratic-led panel voted 13-6 to recommend that the full Senate confirm Kagan.

The head of the SEC testified on Capitol Hill today for the first time since Congress gave the agency new powers to regulate financial firms. In prepared remarks, Mary Schapiro said the SEC began modernizing its systems and reforming the ways it operates

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

5 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

6 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

7 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

11 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。

12 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

13 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。

14 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。

15 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

16 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

17 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

18 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

19 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

20 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

21 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。