NPR 2011-01-25

Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel says he'll appeal a court's decision today to boot him off the February 22nd ballot¹ for Chicago mayor.

"I have no doubt that we will in the end prevail at this effort. As my father always used to say: 'Nothing's ever easy in life.' So nothing's ever easy. So this is just one turn in the road."

Illinois Appellate Court ruled 2-1 that Emanuel's name cannot be on the ballot because he didn't live in Chicago for the year prior to the election. Emanuel returned to Chicago in October after he left his job at the White House.

Here's some better-than-expected news out today on the US economy. NPR's Chris Arnold reports a quarterly survey of businesses finds a big jump in hiring plans and other spending.

Every few months, the National Association for Business Economics calls up all kinds of businesses around the country to basically check the vital signs of the economy.

"I did find that survey more encouraging than I expected, particularly that employment figure."

Ken² Simonson is an economist³ with the survey. He says only 7% of businesses expect to cut jobs, while 42% expect to hire people. That's the best ratio that the survey has seen in more than 10 years.

"To have six times as many firms say that they'd be expanding employment as decreasing it, I think it's really very positive news at the time when the economy has been frankly⁴ pretty sluggish⁵."

Simonson is hopeful that the economy could soon start adding 200,000 or 300,000 jobs a month, which will help bring down the unemployment rate much more quickly. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

Russian officials suspect a suicide bomber⁶ was behind today's attack on Moscow's busiest airport. More than 30 people died and more than 130 were wounded.

A gun fight in St. Petersburg this morning left two police officers dead after a SWAT team tried to arrest a Florida man. As WUSF's Scott Finn tells us, the gunman was also killed.

Thirty-nine-year-old Hydra⁷ Lacy Jr. spent time in prison in the 90s for sexual battery and false imprisonment⁸ of a child. His family and neighbor said he vowed⁹ never to go back again. Early in the morning, two St. Petersburg police officers and a deputy US marshal were attempting to serve a warrant on him for aggravated¹⁰ battery. St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon:

"When we got there, they became engaged in a fire fight where numerous, numerous bullets, shells were fired in both directions. Two of my officers were struck."

The two officers died, and the deputy US marshal was injured. At least six Florida police officers have been killed by gunmen since June. Two in Tampa, two in Miami last week, and now two in St. Petersburg. For NPR News, I'm Scott Finn in Tampa.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up 88 points at 11,959. The NASDAQ Composite Index rose 28. It's at 2,717.

This is NPR News.

A freeze is bearing down on the northeastern US, pulling temperatures down to as low as minus 5, the further north you go. Certainly test the male residents such as Mark Joy, a school crossing guard in Vermont who thinks anything but joyful¹¹ today.

"I really. I'm cold. Just get about to go inside to the school, warming up a little bit."

Schools were closed in other parts of Vermont, New Hampshire, Upstate New York and Pennsylvania.

A truck driver convicted in the US as deadliest human smuggling¹² attempt is getting 34 years in prison rather than multiple life sentences. He was re-sentenced today during a hearing in Houston.

In Iraq, a suicide bomber targeting Shiite pilgrims has killed at least 20 people and wounded at least 30 others. NPR's Kelly McEvers tells us from Iraq that this marks a third day of attacks against pilgrims during an annual march to the holy city of Karbala.

Officials said the attacker struck in a parking lot where pilgrims unload from buses and walk the rest of the way to the holy shrine¹³ of Imam Hussein. Cars inside the city have been banned during the ritual. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites from inside and outside Iraq have converged¹⁴ on the site to mark the end of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, who was killed in a battle in the 7th century. Shiites were not allowed to perform the ritual under the rule of Saddam Hussein. The attack is the latest in a string of bombings targeting Shiite pilgrims. More than 100 people were killed last week in attacks that also targeted police. The latest upswing in violence after months of relative calm have many worried that Iraqi forces aren't ready to provide security as American troops withdraw. Kelly McEvers, NPR News.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

3 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。

4 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

5 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

6 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

7 hydra   

n.水螅；难于根除的祸患

参考例句：

• Let's knock down those hydras and drive them to the sea!让我们铲除祸根，把他们赶到大海去！
• We may be facing a hydra that defies any easy solution.我们也许正面临一个无法轻易解决的难题。

8 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

9 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

10 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

11 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

12 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

13 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

14 converged   

v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的过去式 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集

参考例句：

• Thousands of supporters converged on London for the rally. 成千上万的支持者从四面八方汇聚伦敦举行集会。
• People converged on the political meeting from all parts of the city. 人们从城市的四面八方涌向这次政治集会。 来自《简明英汉词典》