NPR 2010-07-22

The White House is apologizing to Shirley Sherrod, a black USDA employee, who was forced to resign this week after being accused of racial bias¹ against a white family decades ago. On CNN today, Sherrod accepted the apology.

 

"I accept the apology. You know, I’m bigger than some of them. I can move beyond this."

 

Sherrod says she was ousted² after a video surfaced with her making controversial remarks. It turns out the speech for March was actually edited by conservative bloggers, prompting some of her critics to retract³ their statements.

 

While the flap over Sherrod appeared to briefly⁴ overshadow the White House's landmark⁵ victory earlier today, President Obama signed into law an overhaul⁶ to the country’s financial regulations.

 

"So, all told, these reforms represent the strongest consumer financial protections in history."

 

The president says the law will crack down on abuses in the mortgage industry, requiring clearer information about possible risk borrowers and demand greater accountability on all sides.

 

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are trying to delay action on an extension to unemployment benefits, saying Democrats⁷ haven’t figured out how to pay for it. A final vote may be delayed until late tonight.

 

Weather is complicating⁸ plans for permanently⁹ plugging a leaking oil well in the Gulf¹⁰ of Mexico. NPR’s Joe Palca reports a hurricane may be forming near Puerto Rico that could enter the Gulf.

 

If a major storm does form, and if it heads for the Louisiana coast, oil company BP would probably have to suspend all operations around the well for 10-14 days. For now, equipment remains¹¹ in place above the well. A temporary cap continues to prevent any more oil from leaking into the Gulf. And if weather allows, BP could start as soon as Friday to begin a procedure known as a "static kill" that would be a more permanent solution to plugging the well. The company still plans to use a newly drilled well to do what’s called a "bottom kill" on the leaking well, but that procedure probably won’t start until next month. Joe Palca, NPR News, Washington.

 

British scientists believe they have identified a 'monster' star, perhaps the heaviest ever discovered. As Larry Miller¹² reports from London, the star called R136a1 makes the Earth look pretty small.

 

The team of the University of Sheffield scientists say they’ve used both telescopic evidence and information from the International Space Station to create an understanding of the star. Astrophysicist Paul Crowther is the team leader.

 

"There are bigger stars in terms of physically¹³ bigger. This is just the heaviest. The sun weighs around about a million times more than the Earth, and so this weighs about 300 millions times more than the Earth."

 

Crowther says the star used to weigh even more, but it's still twice as heavy as any previously¹⁴ discovered. It’s about 165,000 light years from the Milky¹⁵ Way galaxy¹⁶. For NPR News, I’m Larry Miller in London.

 

Dow’s down more than 100. This is NPR.

 

Ousted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is not testifying in his federal corruption¹⁷ trial as the defense¹⁸ rested its case without calling any witnesses. The move might have surprised those who became used to hearing the former governor speak extensively about his case outside the courtroom. Blagojevich reflected on that.

 

"I’ve learned a lot of lessons from this whole experience and perhaps maybe the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that I talk too much."

 

Blagojevich had pleaded not guilty to charges including scheming to sell or trade President Obama’s old Senate seat.

 

West Virginia voters will elect a new senator this November to the seat left vacant after Robert Byrd died last month. Emily Corio reports the short race includes no Republican candidates so far.

 

Republican Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito announced today that she will not run in the special election and will instead focus on winning reelection to the House this November.

 

"I had made a commitment, and I’m one of those kind of people like most West Virginians who stick to their commitment."

 

That leaves West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin and former Congressman¹⁹ Ken²⁰ Hechler, who served in Congress with Byrd, as the only candidates listed in the race. They will compete in the August 28th Democratic primary. For NPR News, I’m Emily Corio in Morgantown, West Virginia.

 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today announced a new round of sanctions against North Korea. Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were in the South Korean capital Seoul, where tensions with North Korea have been rising.

 

Last check on Wall Street, Dow was down 110 points at 10,120, NASDAQ down more than 30 at 2,187

1 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

2 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

3 retract   

vt.缩回，撤回收回，取消

参考例句：

• The criminals should stop on the precipice, retract from the wrong path and not go any further.犯罪分子应当迷途知返，悬崖勒马，不要在错误的道路上继续走下去。
• I don't want to speak rashly now and later have to retract my statements.我不想现在说些轻率的话，然后又要收回自己说过的话。

4 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

5 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

6 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

7 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》

8 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

9 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

10 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。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

13 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

14 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

15 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

16 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

17 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

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 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

20 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.