NPR 2010-08-07

The unemployment rate holds steady at 9.5%, with job growth lagging in July. But President Obama says things are looking up in the private sector¹.

"(But the) fact is, we've now added private sector jobs every month this year."

Mark Zandi, chief economist² with Moody's Economy.com, says in order for the jobless rate to drop, it needs more than the 71,000 jobs created in the private sector last month.

"That's not enough to forestall³ further increases in unemployment because you have more than that coming into the workforce⁴ looking for a job every month."

And this report has been affecting US stocks which had seen a steady decline today.

BP could someday tap the same oil reservoir that's wreaked⁵ havoc⁶ in the Gulf⁷ of Mexico this summer. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports the company plans to kill its blown-out well, but could later drill in the same deepwater lease.

Analysts⁸ believe there could be as much as four billion dollars worth of crude remaining in the reservoir, and BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles doesn't rule out the possibility of drilling elsewhere in that same pool.

"Clearly there is lots of oil and gas here and we'll have to think about what to do with that at some point. What we've always stated is the original well - the well that had the blowout - and the relief wells would be abandoned, and that's what we're doing."

Engineers have cemented the blown-out well from the top in a so-called "static kill" this week. Next, BP will use a "bottom kill" to plug the well from deep below the Gulf floor. Suttles says a relief well for that procedure should be complete in the next ten days. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.

Federal investigators⁹ are joining a Missouri probe into a fatal highway accident. St. Louis Public Radio's Rachel Lippmann tells us why the National Transportation Safety Board is getting involved.

NTSB Vice¹⁰ Chairman Christopher Hart says the agency chose to investigate this accident because it involves school bus and construction zone safety. Both areas are of concern to the federal government. Hart says investigators will consider whether a seat belt could have saved one of the victims, 15-year-old Jessica Brinker. She and other members of the John F. Hodge High School band were traveling in two school buses to an amusement park when the accident occurred. The school is located about 100 miles southwest of St. Louis. Another driver involved was also killed. Government investigators will not be assigning blame. The initial investigation's expected to take about seven to ten days with a full report available in 18 months. For NPR News, I'm Rachel Lippmann in St. Louis.

Solicitor¹¹ General Elena Kagan's being honored this afternoon, a day before she's to be sworn in to the US Supreme¹² Court. At a reception hosted by President Obama today, Kagan talked about keeping links to the Democratic Party in check.

"Now, once I put on that role, I'm only going to vote with them when they have the better of the argument, which, let's be frank, is not in every case."

That's Elena Kagan to be sworn in tomorrow in the US Supreme Court.

This is NPR News.

The city of Hiroshima in southern Japan is commemorating¹³ the 65th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack. Lucy Craft reports from Tokyo that Hiroshima's annual memorial drew some high-profile figures.

For 65 years, a moment of silence and then the sounding of a bell in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park has become the ritual for paying respects to victims of the atomic bombing in 1945. But this year, calls for the total elimination¹⁴ of nuclear weapons by 2020 were bolstered¹⁵ by the first-time presence of a US official, American Ambassador John Roos. In all, a record 74 countries paid their respects this year along with Ban Ki-moon, the first appearance here by a UN secretary-general. Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, an A-bomb survivor¹⁶ and a leading anti-nukes activist¹⁷, said it's time for Japan to take the lead in nuclear disarmament. For NPR News, this is Lucy Craft in Tokyo.

Amtrak says the widespread disruptions from this week's derailment should be done by tomorrow. Spokesman Cliff Cole says several major services along the East Coast were affected¹⁸ with a number of cancellations.

"It affected thousands of passengers who use our service."

Several major cities including New York, Washington, D.C. and Miami were affected.

US stocks were seeing a slide significant earlier today on news of a weak jobs report. At last check, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 21 points at 10,653, NASDAQ Composite Index also losing ground, down five points at 2,288, S&P 500 down four at 1,122.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.
 

1 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 forestall   

vt.抢在…之前采取行动；预先阻止

参考例句：

• I left the room to forestall involvements.我抢先离开了这房间以免受牵累。
• He followed this rule in order to forestall rumors.他遵守这条规矩是为了杜绝流言蜚语。

4 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

5 wreaked   

诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city. 地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• They have wreaked dreadful havoc among the wildlife by shooting and trapping. 他们射杀和诱捕野生动物，造成了严重的破坏。

6 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

7 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。

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 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 solicitor   

n.初级律师，事务律师

参考例句：

• The solicitor's advice gave me food for thought.律师的指点值得我深思。
• The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case.律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。

12 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。

13 commemorating   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements. 他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The post office issued a series commemorating famous American entertainers. 邮局发行了一个纪念美国著名演艺人员的系列邮票。 来自互联网

14 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

15 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

16 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

17 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

18 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。