NPR 2010-08-27

The latest jobs report reveals an unexpected decline in new unemployment claims last week, but economist¹ Hugh Johnson says the better measure on labor² trends, the four-week average, tells a different story.

"The truth is that the jobless claims have been over time edging higher, suggesting that there’s weakness showing up in the labor market."

Tomorrow, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivers a much-anticipated speech in Wyoming. Economists³ are waiting to hear how the Fed will likely respond if recovery keeps slowing.

Crisis is deepening in Pakistan, which is immersed in its worst flood disaster in recent memory. New floods are forcing more than a half million people in southern Pakistan to evacuate⁴. In the city of Larkana, NPR's Julie McCarthy reports workers are struggling to prevent a levee breach⁵.

There’s a huge infrastructure⁶ project underway to shore up the embankments of the Indus River that sits just outside the city. There are fears that the embankment could give away and water come gushing⁷ into yet another town here in the southernmost province of Pakistan. The situation here in Sindh is a grim one. It's estimated that two million people have been made homeless.

NPR's Julie McCarthy.

An explosion at the popular Mexican beach resort of Puerto Vallarta is responsible for more than a dozen injuries. A grenade went off in a nightclub late yesterday. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports the governor of Jalisco state in Mexico is now calling on bar owners to install metal detectors⁸ at their doors.

The governor of Jalisco, Emilio Gonzalez Marquez, says the grenade went off by accident. Speaking on local radio, the governor said some young people had brought grenades into the bar "Pink Cheladas" just off a tourist strip in Puerto Vallarta. One of the young men was carrying a bucket of beers and accidentally tripped the explosive, according to the governor. No one was killed in the explosion, but at least four people had to have their legs amputated. Grenades have become a common weapon of Mexico's drug cartels. This week there have been several grenade attacks in the northern industrial city of Monterrey. Governor Gonzalez in Jalisco says the police can’t patrol every bar and nightclub in part of Vallarta and it's up to bar owners to make sure weapons aren't allowed inside. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Mexico City.

Illinois' ousted⁹ Governor Rod Blagojevich will be retried next year on corruption¹⁰ charges. The federal judge says it won't start earlier than January 4th, but federal prosecutors¹¹ say they won't retry Blagojevich's brother. The former governor's lawyer, Sam Adam Sr., says he finds it odd his client is the only one still charged.

"Now I'm down to one defendant¹², one defendant. I don't know who they’re going to say to expire with himself, I guess."

The defendants¹³ were accused of conspiring¹⁴ to sell or trade President Obama's old Senate seat.

On Wall Street, Dow's down 74 at 9,986 at last check.

This is NPR News.

A hearing in Anchorage, Alaska is focusing on deepwater oil drilling, worker safety and oil spill response a day after a White House commission called the Gulf¹⁵ oil spill a major shared failure of public responsibility by the oil industry and government. NPR's Paul Brown reports environmentalists are concerned about risks connected to Arctic offshore¹⁶ drilling.

Arctic waters are remote. The weather is often hostile. There’s no Coast Guard station nearby. And even if there were, rough weather could easily interfere¹⁷ with attempts to stop an oil leak there as it did in the much less forbidding environment of the Gulf Coast. Marilyn Heiman of the Pew Environment Group is testifying at the hearing in Anchorage, one of a series around the country. She tells NPR the Gulf oil spill proves that better regulations and oversight¹⁸ are crucial as exploration expands.

"We need strict regulations on safety, on spill prevention in place before we go to extreme places like the Arctic Ocean."

Also testifying, oil industry supporters, industry trade groups want a drilling ban lifted soon and they're wary¹⁹ of new regulations. Paul Brown, NPR News.

A federal judge reportedly is recommending that a bankruptcy²⁰ court approve a 12-million-dollar settlement in a salmonella outbreak linked to peanuts. News reports say the judge issued his decision late yesterday to pay more than 120 personal injury claims. That outbreak, traced to plants belonging to Peanut Corporation of America, has been linked to at least nine deaths and hundreds of injuries. The Virginia-based company then filed for bankruptcy.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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》

4 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

5 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 detectors   

探测器( detector的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
• This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者，这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技

9 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。

10 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。

11 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

12 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

13 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

14 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

15 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。

16 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

17 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

18 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

19 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

20 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。