NPR 2010-08-28

The US economy’s growing more slowly than expected. The Commerce Department’s downgrading the nation’s second-quarter growth to 1.6 percent, down from 2.5 percent. Dean Croushore, chairman of the Economics Department at the University of Richmond, says the consumer holds the key to economic health.

"One good piece of news is that consumer spending was revised up a bit. But until we really get stronger growth in consumption spending, I don’t think the economy is going to grow at a very rapid pace."

But the downward revision wasn’t as much as investors¹ had feared and that coupled with the Fed chief’s promise today to take action if economy continues to falter² spurred gains on Wall Street. Dow was up 165 points at last check at 10,151.

Federal officials laid out plans today to replace the 50-foot-tall blowout preventer on top of BP’s crippled oil well in the Gulf³ of Mexico. NPR’s Dan Charles reports that the operation is supposed to get underway early next week.

Engineers are ready to put a final cement plug into the base of the blown-out well. But before they do that, they want a more secure cap on top of the well. That means removing the existing cap along with the massive blowout preventer that failed to prevent the blowout back in April. If all goes well, on Monday or Tuesday engineers will lift that blowout preventer off of the well and cut off the pipe below it. The original blowout preventer will be preserved as evidence. A new, stronger one should be in place within a few days and then work can resume on the so-called “bottom kill” that’s suppose to seal the well forever. Dan Charles, NPR News, Washington.

The American held prisoner in North Korea for some seven months is back home. He arrived in Boston today with former President Jimmy Carter, who negotiated his release.

A pair of car bombs exploded early this morning in the capital of the Mexican state, Tamaulipas. This is the same state where 72 migrants were found massacred this week. We’ve more details from NPR's Jason Beaubien.

The cars exploded in front of a police station and the studios of Televisa television network in Ciudad, Victoria. There were no reports of injuries. Just north of Ciudad Victoria, investigators⁴ continued to search a ranch⁵ where on Tuesday Mexican Marines found the bound and blindfolded⁶ bodies of 58 men and 14 women. President Felipe Calderon’s office says the migrants were gunned down because they refused to go to work for the drug cartel that was holding them captive. The lone⁷ survivor⁸ of the attack said in a statement that the migrants were killed because they refused to pay ransoms¹⁰. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Matamoros, Tamaulipas

And another development with this story: The president of Mexico announced today that the state prosecutor¹¹, who’d been investigating the deaths of 72 migrants, has been missing for two days.

Here’s an update from Wall Street: Dow’s up 165 points at last check at 10,151.

This is NPR News.

A Somali pirate pleads guilty for his role in a violent attack on a US Navy ship. NPR’s Carrie Johnson reports on a case that began off the African coast in April.

Jamal Idle Ibrahim is one of six men accused of attacking the USS Ashland. The plea deal says the pirates thought they had spotted¹² a merchant ship to seize and hold for ransom⁹. They chased the ship on the open seas and strafed it with gunfire before figuring out it was a US Navy vessel¹³. US Attorney Neil MacBride says the plea represents the first piracy¹⁴ conviction in Virginia in more than 150 years. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

USA Today announced a sweeping¹⁵ reorganization and a layoff¹⁶ of approximately nine percent of its staff as it retools¹⁷ for a more Digital Age. NPR’s David Folkenflik reports that advertising¹⁸ revenue and paid circulation for the nation’s second largest paper has(have) declined.

The presentation to employees started with a quotation¹⁹ attributed to the late management guru, William Edwards Deming: “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory²⁰.” Executives told staffers that growth was online, especially in Mobile, and that they needed to move more nimbly to break news to be cable channels’ news sites. They changed a lot of faces in the top editor and executive suites²¹, redefined the newsroom structure and promised to deal fewer stories but better enterprise reporting in print and a lot more stories, a lot quicker on line. The paper’s realignment also places a greater emphasis on collaboration²² between the editorial and business sites and developing content that appeals to readers and to advertisers. David Folkenflik, NPR News.
 

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 falter   

vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚

参考例句：

• His voice began to falter.他的声音开始发颤。
• As he neared the house his steps faltered.当他走近房子时，脚步迟疑了起来。

3 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。

4 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》

5 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

6 blindfolded   

v.（尤指用布）挡住（某人）的视线( blindfold的过去式 )；蒙住（某人）的眼睛；使不理解；蒙骗

参考例句：

• The hostages were tied up and blindfolded. 人质被捆绑起来并蒙上了眼睛。
• They were each blindfolded with big red handkerchiefs. 他们每个人的眼睛都被一块红色大手巾蒙住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

8 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。

9 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

10 ransoms   

付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The kidnappers exacted ransoms for their hostages. 绑匪勒索人质的赎金。
• Hotel:Wealthy captives sleep at the hotel for an increase in their ransoms. 酒店：富有的俘虏们要住在酒店等待足够的赎金以回家。

11 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

12 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

13 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

14 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

15 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

16 layoff   

n.临时解雇，操作停止，活动停止期间，失业期

参考例句：

• Finally, prepare an explanation about what led to your layoff.最后，要准备好一套说辞来解释你被解雇的原因。
• Workers were re-employed after the layoff.在暂时解雇不久后工人们又被再度雇用了。

17 retools   

v.（给…）更换工具， （给…）更换机械设备( retool的第三人称单数 )；改组，革新

参考例句：

18 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

19 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。

20 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

21 suites   

n.套( suite的名词复数 )；一套房间；一套家具；一套公寓

参考例句：

• First he called upon all the Foreign Ministers in their hotel suites. 他首先到所有外交部长住的旅馆套间去拜访。 来自辞典例句
• All four doors to the two reserved suites were open. 预定的两个套房的四扇门都敞开着。 来自辞典例句

22 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。