NPR 2011-06-29

France's Finance Minister Christine Legarde will become the first woman to lead the International Monetary¹ Fund. She was elected today with the backing of the world's major economies. The changes at the IMF come during tumultuous times for the organization, especially in light of Greece's deepening debt troubles. But investors² are increasingly confident the country will pass sweeping³ measures to avoid default, and that's sending US stocks higher. At last check before the close, the Dow was up more than 1% at 12167; Nasdaq up 1.5% at 2729. Watching the markets, here's NPR's Margot Adler in New York.

The stock indexes rose after a three-day slide. Speculation⁴ for the upswing is focused on the parliament of Greece. The Greek parliament is debating austerity measures that must be passed for the country to get the next installment⁵ of emergency loans. On Monday, French banks agreed that Greek debts could be repaid at a slower rate, which would help avoid default. There is some optimism that the government will approve huge austerity measures and avoid default in their debt crisis. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

But the sentiment is quite different in the streets of Athens, Greece. Public transport workers, doctors, ambulance drivers and workers from many other industries swarmed⁶ Athens today, angered by Greece's push to make cuts that they say will make it much more difficult for the average person to earn a living. Reporter Joanna Kakissis is there.

The protests were part of a 48-hour general strike called by unions. A few thousand people surrounded parliament in a mostly peaceful demonstration⁷ that degenerated⁸ into street fights between young anarchists⁹ and police. At stake is the fate of the new austerity bill, which includes tax hikes and a controversial plan to privatize state-owned enterprises. Protesters are hoping their very visible resistance of the bill will kill it. But if it doesn't pass, Greece could default on its massive sovereign debt. The country runs out of cash next month. European leaders and international lenders say they won't give Greece its latest installment of bailout loans unless parliament passes the austerity package. For NPR News, I'm Joanna Kakissis in Athens.

President Obama says he wants to see a robust¹⁰ and growing manufacturing sector¹¹ in the US that he says would make the country that much more competitive. He toured in an Alcoa plant in Iowa today, saying it symbolizes¹² innovation.

"A big part of our future has to be a robust and growing manufacturing sector. We've got to make things right here in America."

Iowa has been attracting a number of politicians, attempting to draw a vote of support in the state that hosts the nation's first presidential caucuses¹³.

The latest from Wall Street: The Dow was up 145 points, 1.2% higher; it's at 12189.

This is NPR News.

Pro-Palestinian activists¹⁴ organizing a flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza say they have increased security around their vessels¹⁵ after an alleged¹⁶ act of sabotage¹⁷. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports the propeller¹⁸ of one boat has been damaged.

The organizers of the ship shared by Swedish, Norwegian and Greek activists say what they call "hostile divers¹⁹" had cut the propeller of the "Juliano." The damage will be repaired, they said, adding that it will not affect plans to sail at the end of this week. But the flotilla has already been delayed by a series of administrative²⁰ problems with Greek port authorities. Organizers say the obstacles are the result of Israeli diplomatic pressure to prevent the operation from taking place. The activists say they're only bringing humanitarian²¹ aid and messages of solidarity²² with Palestinians in Gaza. But Israeli military officials claim the flotilla is carrying sulfuric acid to be used against Israeli soldiers if they try to board the boats. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Athens.

Associated Press reporting that Afghan police are saying at least one bomber²³ has blown himself up inside a Western-style hotel in Kabul. Afghan police were reportedly battling assailants with machine gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades as tracer rounds went up over the blacked-out building.

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor²⁴ is pressing Libyan officials to arrest their leader Muammar Gaddafi — or risk charges as well. Luis Moreno-Ocampo's appeal comes a day after the court issued arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif and his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi for crimes against humanity.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

1 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 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

3 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？

4 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。

5 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

6 swarmed   

密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• When the bell rang, the children swarmed out of the school. 铃声一响，孩子们蜂拥而出离开了学校。
• When the rain started the crowd swarmed back into the hotel. 雨一开始下，人群就蜂拥回了旅社。

7 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

8 degenerated   

衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The march degenerated into a riot. 示威游行变成了暴动。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track. 铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

9 anarchists   

无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Anarchists demand the destruction of structures of oppression including the country itself. "无政府主义者要求摧毁包括国家本身在内的压迫人民的组织。
• Unsurprisingly, Ms Baburova had a soft spot for anarchists. 没什么奇怪的，巴布罗娃女士倾向于无政府主义。

10 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

11 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

12 symbolizes   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The use of light and dark symbolizes good and evil. 用光明与黑暗来象征善与恶。
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace. 她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

14 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

17 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

18 propeller   

n.螺旋桨，推进器

参考例句：

• The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
• A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。

19 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

20 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

21 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

22 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

23 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。

24 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。