-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
In a major setback1 for gay rights advocates, Senate Democrats2 were unable today to get the 60 votes they needed to move forward a measure to repeal3 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, the policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. NPR’s Audie Cornish says it was part of a broader defense4 spending bill.
In addition to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” provision, Senate Democrats wanted to add an amendment5 called the “DREAM Act”, providing a path to citizenship6 for undocumented young people brought to the US as children if they serve in the military or go to college, but Senate Republicans were unified7 in their opposition8 to the add-ons. Ohio Senator George Voinovich says Senate Majority Leader Harry9 Reid is taking the wrong approach.
“To me, this is a cynical10 ‘no’. Take care of the “DREAM Act”; take care of, you know, some of the other issues. Handling these issues the way he’s doing it is frankly11 gonna do more harm than good to the issues that you care about.”
The defense bill includes some $725 billion for military and national security spending. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.
There is better-than-expected data out today on the housing market. The Commerce Department says the number of homes builders broke ground on rose ten percent last month. More on this from NPR’s Chris Arnold.
The latest numbers on housing starts are somewhat encouraging. Analysts12 are looking for any signs of life in the market. That’s because after the expiration13 of a federal home buyer tax credit, sales fell sharply. But even with the ten percent jump in construction, “this is nothing to write home about”. Karl Case is a housing economist14 at Wesley College. He says at the start of the year, more than 600,000 homes were getting built every month. That number then dropped off close to 500,000 and now it’s edged up a bit to 598,000. But “traditionally at this stage in a recovery, we’re pushing up against to a million five, a million six, a million seven on the way to more than two million. That’s not happening. This time it’s not going to happen.” Case says home construction still remains15 at around a 50-year low. Chris Arnold, NPR News, Boston.
A major political shakeup in the Los Angel suburb of Bell today, eight people including the mayor, the former city manager and city council members are under arrest for corruption16. District Attorney Steve Cooley says the defendants17 misused18 public funds and defrauded19 voters.
“This was calculated greed and theft, accomplished20 by deceit and secrecy21.”
The case came to light after residents of the small, working-class city found out officials were paying themselves salaries as high as $800,000.
The Federal Reserve won’t be taking any drastic steps to revitalize the economy. After all, policymakers decided22 today to take a wait-and-see approach on how the economy manages on its own. On news of this, Dow’s up eight points at 10,761 at last check.
This is NPR.
NATO is investigating the deadliest helicopter crash involving coalition23 troops in Afghanistan in several years. Nine service members died in the southern province of Zabul. It’s unclear if Americans were among the dead. The Taliban says it shot the chopper down, but NATO says there is no evidence of that.
Italian magistrates24 have frozen $30 million of a Vatican bank and put its director under investigation25 for alleged26 money laundering27. NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome that the Vatican said it is perplexed28 and surprised.
Vatican bank director Ettore Gotti Tedeschi is a devout29 Catholic who has taught financial ethics30 at Milan’s Catholic University. He’s under investigation for alleged violations31 of European Union money laundering regulations. Italian financial police made the seizure32 following two recent suspicious transfers. Officially known as the Institute for Religious Works, the bank manages funds for the Vatican and religious institutions around the world. It was involved in a major scandal in 1982 when it got involved in a fraudulent bankruptcy33 of Banco Ambrosiano, whose president Roberto Calvi was found hanged under a London birdge. Today, a Holy See statement said the Vatican has been working for some time to make its finances more transparent34 and it expressed full trust in director Gotti Tedeschi. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.
Thousands of Greek truckers marched to parliament today in Athens, railing against politicians who want to see more competition in the trucking industry. Lawmakers are expected to vote tomorrow on a measure that would make it cheaper for people to own and operate their trucks.
I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.
1 setback | |
n.退步,挫折,挫败 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 repeal | |
n.废止,撤消;v.废止,撤消 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 amendment | |
n.改正,修正,改善,修正案 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 citizenship | |
n.市民权,公民权,国民的义务(身份) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 unified | |
(unify 的过去式和过去分词); 统一的; 统一标准的; 一元化的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 cynical | |
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的,不信世道向善的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 frankly | |
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 analysts | |
分析家,化验员( analyst的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 expiration | |
n.终结,期满,呼气,呼出物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 economist | |
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 corruption | |
n.腐败,堕落,贪污 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 defendants | |
被告( defendant的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 misused | |
v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 );把…派作不正当的用途;虐待;滥用 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 defrauded | |
v.诈取,骗取( defraud的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 secrecy | |
n.秘密,保密,隐蔽 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 coalition | |
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 magistrates | |
地方法官,治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 investigation | |
n.调查,调查研究 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 alleged | |
a.被指控的,嫌疑的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 laundering | |
n.洗涤(衣等),洗烫(衣等);洗(钱)v.洗(衣服等),洗烫(衣服等)( launder的现在分词 );洗(黑钱)(把非法收入改头换面,变为貌似合法的收入) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 perplexed | |
adj.不知所措的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 devout | |
adj.虔诚的,虔敬的,衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 ethics | |
n.伦理学;伦理观,道德标准 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 violations | |
违反( violation的名词复数 ); 冒犯; 违反(行为、事例); 强奸 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 seizure | |
n.没收;占有;抵押 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 bankruptcy | |
n.破产;无偿付能力 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 transparent | |
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|