NPR 2011-07-07

A first for President Obama today when he launched a town hall meeting on Twitter.

"I'm going to make history here as the first president to live tweet."

Jobs and the economy were at center stage. He also reiterated¹ the warning about raising of the debt ceiling, saying if an agreement's not reached soon, the country risks falling to a second and worst economic recession. In deficit-reduction talks, Democrats² and Republicans are deadlocked³ over tax increases which the GOP opposes.

A new study finds this is the first economic recovery in three decades in which men have fared better than women. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports that women's unemployment has actually risen since the official end of the recession. 

In part, that's because women are being hit harder amid state budget cutbacks. More men also lost jobs during the recession, so more are in the job market, but Rakesh Kochhar of the Pew Research Center says that's not the whole story.

"Men are having success finding jobs in the areas where women are not having success, and even where women are finding jobs, men are finding them at a faster rate."

The Pew study finds men gaining jobs in education, health care and retail⁴, traditional areas of strength for women. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, Washington.

Former reputed mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger has pleaded not guilty in Boston to 19 counts of murder. Prosecutors⁵ say that as head of Boston's Winter Hill Gang, Bulger ordered the deaths of rivals and potential witnesses. The 81-year-old was arrested last month in California after eluding⁶ capture for 16 years.

The perjury⁷ trial has begun for Roger Clemens, one of Major League Baseball's most decorated pitchers⁸. The 48-year-old is charged with lying to a congressional committee when he denied accusations⁹ that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career.

The weather forecast is worse for Friday's planned launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. NPR's Russell Lewis reports that NASA managers are still hoping to attempt to lift off as scheduled.

Meteorologists now say there's just a 30% chance of favorable weather for the final launch of the space shuttle program. A tropical wave is expected to bring thunderstorms and rain across Florida on Friday. Launch Integration¹⁰ Manager Mike Moses says his team doesn't want to delay.

"We're not at all in the mode that taking more time to make this launch happen is a good thing. The team's ready. They're prepared. Everything's in the right spot. This is a normal countdown for us. It's time to go."

Three quarters of a million people are expected to turn out for the liftoff. If there is a delay, the forecast for this weekend is better. Russell Lewis, NPR News at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Before the close on the Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 56 points at 12,626 in trading of three billion shares; NASDAQ was up eight at 2,834; S&P 500 up slightly at 1,339.

This is NPR News.

The army psychiatrist¹¹ accused in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood¹², Texas will be court-martialed and could face the death penalty. Major Nidal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

The US is warning airlines about renewed interests among terrorists who surgically¹³ implant¹⁴ bombs in humans to carry out attacks on planes. The Obama administration reportedly warned executives of domestic and international carriers last week. There has been no indication of a specific plot, but people traveling overseas are warned that they may encounter heavier-than-usual airport screening.

Pyeongchang, South Korea will host [the] 2018 Winter Olympics. Pyeongchang easily beat out rival bidders¹⁵ from Germany and France in the voting by International Olympic Committee members. NPR's Tom Goldman reports South Korea will be the first country in Asia since Japan to host the Winter Games.

The final tally¹⁶ was Pyeongchang 63 votes, Munich 25, Annecy seven. Pyeongchang had a strong and well-received final presentation with emotional speeches and even a little humor. The electronic Olympic newsletter, Around the Rings, reports Korean Olympic Committee President Yong-sung Park apologized to IOC member Prince Albert of Monaco, who was recently married, for having to spend his honeymoon¹⁷ listening to a Pyeongchang speech for a third time. Pyeongchang narrowly missed out getting the 2010 and 2014 Winter Games. Pyeongchang's slogan of "New Horizons" seemed to resonate. In recent years, the IOC awarded the first Winter Games to Russia in 2014 and the first Olympics to South America in 2016. Tom Goldman, NPR News.

The Dow was up 56 points or nearly 0.5% at 12,626.

1 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

2 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》

3 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

6 eluding   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的现在分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• He saw no way of eluding Featherstone's stupid demand. 费瑟斯通的愚蠢要求使他走投无路。 来自辞典例句
• The fox succeeded in eluding the hunters. 这狐狸成功地避过了猎手。 来自辞典例句

7 perjury   

n.伪证；伪证罪

参考例句：

• You'll be punished if you procure the witness to commit perjury.如果你诱使证人作伪证，你要受罚的。
• She appeared in court on a perjury charge.她因被指控做了伪证而出庭受审。

8 pitchers   

大水罐( pitcher的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Over the next five years, he became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball. 在接下来的5年时间里，他成为了最了不起的棒球投手之一。
• Why he probably won't: Pitchers on also-rans can win the award. 为什麽不是他得奖：投手在失败的球队可以赢得赛扬奖。

9 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

10 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

11 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

12 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

13 surgically   

adv. 外科手术上, 外科手术一般地

参考例句：

• Unsightly moles can be removed surgically. 不雅观的痣可以手术去除。
• To bypass this impediment an almost mature egg cell is removed surgically. 为了克服这一障碍，通过手术，取出一个差不多成熟的卵细胞。

14 implant   

vt.注入，植入，灌输

参考例句：

• A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
• The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。

15 bidders   

n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bidders should proceed only if they intend on using a PayPal account to complete payment. Bidders的唯一形式，应继续只当他们在使用贝宝帐户，以完成付款打算。 来自互联网
• The other bidders for the contract complained that it had not been a fair contest. 其他竞标人抱怨说该合同的竞标不公平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

17 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。