NPR 2011-01-19

The House is due to begin debate this hour on a bill to repeal¹ the nation's health care law. A vote is scheduled for tomorrow. Meanwhile, North Dakota's Democratic Senator Kent Conrad announced today he won't seek re-election next year, a move that could help pave the way for a shift in the Senate. As NPR's David Welna reports, Conrad's decision to retire follows the recent departure of North Dakota's two other congressional Democrats³.

By the time Kent Conrad's fifth term is over next year, the 62-year-old will have spent nearly half his life in the US Senate. Conrad now says in a statement that after months of consideration, he's decided⁴ not to seek a sixth term. The Budget Committee chairman adds that with serious challenges such as the 14-trillion-dollar debt, he'd rather spend his remaining time in the Senate, trying to solve problems than be distracted by a re-election campaign. Conrad, who's seen as a centrist, has led efforts in Congress to address growing fiscal⁵ deficits⁶. But he's also seeing the departure of his two closest friends in Congress with last year's retirement⁷ of Byron Dorgan, who'd served as the other Democratic senator for North Dakota, and the defeat of North Dakota House Democrat² Earl Pomeroy. Both their seats are now held by Republicans. David Welna, NPR News, the capital.

Turkey and Qatar are working on the diplomatic front to help resolve Lebanon's political crisis. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports some schools are closed and security forces are now on alert to watch for unrest in the streets of Beirut.

Just days after Lebanon's government collapsed⁸ in a dispute over the case of the 2005 assassination⁹ of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a draft indictment¹⁰ was handed to a pre-trial judge for the UN-backed special tribunal. Prosecutor¹¹ Daniel Bellemare said the names in the draft indictment will remain under seal unless and until a judge agrees the evidence warrants a trial and decides to unseal the information.

"In the meantime, any speculation¹² about the contents of the indictment would be counter-productive as the pre-trial judge may not agree with me."

Hezbollah fears its members may be implicated¹³ in the assassination although it denies any involvement. Lebanese security forces were on alert for unrest in the streets as Turkish and Qatari officials travel to Beirut to explore ways of forming a new government. Peter Kenyon, NPR News.

The LA Unified¹⁴ School District reports two students have been injured when a gun discharged at Gardena High School. There are no further reports about what happened. Police are on the scene.

A rock'n'roll icon¹⁵ has died. Promoter and producer Don Kirshner gave a stage for major rock acts, including Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Kiss and The Ramones, with his weekly program "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert". Before that, he was behind the growth of bubblegum music and the rise of classic songwriters such as Neil Sedaka and Carole King.

On Wall Street at this hour, the Dow is up 60 points; the NASDAQ is up six.

This is NPR.

The Federal Communications Commission has given the go-ahead for Comcast to take over NBC Universal. Comcast is the nation's largest cable company. It's been given permission to buy a 51% stake in NBC. Comcast will pay General Electric nearly 14 billion dollars in cash and assets.

Boeing is again postponing¹⁶ the first delivery date for its new fuel-efficient jet airplane, the 787 Dreamliner, this timeuntil the third quarter of this year. NPR's David Schaper reports the announcement of the delay had been expected and is actually good news for the company's stockholders.

Chicago-based Boeing says first delivery of the oft-delayed Dreamliner will now happen some time between July and September instead of next month as had previously¹⁷ been planned. But industry experts and analysts¹⁸ had expected a much more significant delay, following an electrical fire on a test flight in early November that forced an emergency landing. And investors¹⁹ are embracing the news of the new delivery schedule, sending Boeing stock price up. After the November test flight fire, Boeing stock price plummeted²⁰ nearly 10%. Boeing is implementing²¹ a software fix in the plane and resumed limited flight testing for the cutting-edge, lighter-weight, fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner in December. The much heralded²² plane is already three years behind the schedule because of supply chain and production delays. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

President Obama has ordered a review of all regulations designed to boost economic growth. He says while some government regulations protect the public, others place unreasonable²³ burdens on business that stifle²⁴ innovation and job creation.

I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.

1 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

6 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

8 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。

9 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

10 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

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 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

13 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 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：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

15 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

16 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

17 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

18 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。

19 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

20 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

22 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

24 stifle   

vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止

参考例句：

• She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
• It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈，我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。