NPR 2010-09-17

One in seven Americans lives in poverty. The rate is the highest it's been since 1995. NPR's Tamara Keith brings us the findings of a new Census¹ Bureau report that reveals the recession spared virtually no one.

The reason more Americans are living in poverty is simple: the great recession and the widespread unemployment that brought with it. The report covers 2009, a year that saw the unemployment rate shoot up to ten percent. Heidi Shierholz is an economist² at the Economic Policy Institute.

"The bad income and poverty numbers that we're seeing today were actually to be expected, given how bad the economy was in 2009. But it does show that we need to do more."

In total, 43.6 million people were living in poverty in 2009. That's up more than 14 percent from the year before. The number of people without health insurance also rose, largely because when people lost jobs, they also lost their employer-provided insurance. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Washington.

The report on poverty comes at a politically sensitive time for President Obama whose party faces close races this election year. But the president got some encouraging news today, when the Senate passed a measure to free up lending to small businesses that Mr. Obama says will help generate jobs.

"It's going to make a difference in millions of small business owners across the country, who're going to benefit from tax breaks and additional lending, so companies have capital to grow and hire, and this is really welcome news."

In Baltimore, police are still investigating today's standoff at Johns Hopkins Hospital where a gunman injured a doctor before killing³ his mother then himself. Police Commissioner⁴ Fredrick Bealefeld says Warren Davis received bad news about the condition of his mother and became distraught. He then fired a single shot and struck the doctor.

"The doctor collapsed⁵ just outside the doorway⁶ of the room, and Mr. Davis was last seen running into the room, brandishing⁷ the handgun in the direction of his mother who was confined to the bed."

The doctor underwent surgery and is recovering.

Labor⁸ Department says a spike⁹ in gas price has caused a key inflation parameter¹⁰ to rise last month. More from NPR's Jim Zarroli.

The government said the Producer Price Index, which is a measure of the prices paid at the wholesale¹¹ level, rose by just a tenth of a percentage point. But when energy and food costs were factored in, the increase was considerably¹² higher. Gasoline prices were up by 7.5 percent, which is the most they've risen since last January. Meanwhile, the number of new unemployment claims fell by 3,000 last week to its lowest level in two months. That was better than financial markets were expecting. Over all, the numbers suggest an economy that's stable, if not improving, with inflation low and the job market incrementally¹³ better. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

Dow's up 22 at last check. This is NPR.

A Caribbean musician behind one of the catchiest¹⁴ party anthems¹⁵ of the 1980s has died. Alphonsus Cassell was better known by his stage name Arrow. NPR's Neda Ulaby has this appreciation¹⁶.

Arrow came out of the calypso tradition. But he was less interested in the music's political and social roots than the up-tempo, dance-oriented version of it called soca. Arrow's biggest hit from 1983 was inescapable throughout the decade. It was covered by Buster Poindexter and used as the theme song for the World Cup in Mexico in 1986. It was soca on the international charts that helped usher¹⁷ in a new generation of Caribbean-born pop artists into the US market. Arrow died Wednesday at his home on the Island of Montserrat of brain cancer. He was 60 years old. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

Two hurricanes, Igor and Julia, are still churning out in the Atlantic. They pose no immediate¹⁸ threat to the US mainland or oil producing operations. However, forecasters say Igor could generate dangerous rip currents along the eastern seaboard. The Category-4 storm has top winds of 145 mph and it is expected to get close to Bermuda by this weekend. Meanwhile, hurricane alerts are in effect on Mexico's eastern Gulf¹⁹ Coast because of Hurricane Karl. That storm has already dumped torrential rains on the Yucatan Peninsula as it moved toward the Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to gain strength.

Last check on Wall Street, Dow was up 22 points at 10,595.
 

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

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 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。

4 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

7 brandishing   

v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀

参考例句：

• The horseman came up to Robin Hood, brandishing his sword. 那个骑士挥舞着剑，来到罗宾汉面前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He appeared in the lounge brandishing a knife. 他挥舞着一把小刀，出现在休息室里。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

10 parameter   

n.参数，参量

参考例句：

• It is the parameter of distribution.这就是分布参数。
• One parameter which always comes into play is the national economy.国民经济是一个经常起作用的参量。

11 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

12 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

13 incrementally   

adv.逐渐地

参考例句：

• Incrementally update the shared dimensions used in this cube. 增量更新此多维数据集中使用的共享维度。 来自互联网
• Grand goals are inspiring, but be sure to approach them incrementally. 辉煌的目标令人鼓舞，但一定要逐步实现。 来自互联网

14 catchiest   

（曲调、歌曲）容易记住的( catchy的最高级 )

参考例句：

15 anthems   

n.赞美诗( anthem的名词复数 )；圣歌；赞歌；颂歌

参考例句：

• They usually play the national anthems of the teams at the beginning of a big match. 在大型赛事开始前，他们通常演奏参赛国国歌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rise please, rise for the anthems of & . 请全体起立，奏和两国国歌。 来自互联网

16 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

17 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

18 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

19 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。