NPR 2011-07-13

Debt talks are under way at the White House for a third straight day with both sides still far apart on reducing deficits² and raising the debt limit. But as NPR's Scott Horsley reports, the Treasury³ secretary says he's confident there will be a deal before the government defaults on its obligations next month.

President Obama continues to press lawmakers for a supersized deal. That would cut the deficit¹ by some four trillion dollars over the next decade. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told an investors⁴ conference this morning the administration is willing to make painful cuts to popular spending programs.

"We have to find ways to demonstrate to the American people we can use their tax dollars more efficiently⁵, more carefully, get more out of the limited resources we face."

But Geithner says fairness requires the deal also include higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Republicans insist that's a deal breaker. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

The heat bearing down from the Midwest to the Atlantic is brutal⁶. Triple-digit temperatures or heat indexes certainly make(makes口误) it feel that way. While people are trying to avoid the outdoors, others like Larry Blackiston can't help it. He's a road crew supervisor⁷ in Washington, working in 93-degree heat. He's coping barely.

"Sit here to say, got plenty of rain, got a wet cold rag. You gotta do something down here because it's concrete beyond 120 probably today."

Forecasters expect little relief in sight from the heat anytime soon.

The latest recipient⁸ of the Medal of Honor is Sergeant⁹ 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry, veteran of the Afghanistan war. President Obama says the New Mexico native was shot in both legs and lost a hand while throwing an enemy grenade away from his fellow troops.

"Despite his grievous wounds, he remained calm. He actually put on his own tourniquet¹⁰, and he continued to lead, directing his team, giving orders, even telling the medics how to treat his wounds."

Petry is only the second living, active-duty service member to be given the Medal of Honor.

Well, the US says it is taking part in the Afghan investigation¹¹ into the Taliban-backed assassination¹² of Ahmed Wali Karzai, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half brother. Wali Karzai was shot dead today by a member of his security detail at his home in southern Afghanistan. Karzai's younger brother was the head of the Kandahar Provincial¹³ Council, considered the most powerful man in the region.

The White House is ratcheting up the rhetoric¹⁴ on Syria a day after pro-government crowds in Damascus attacked the US and French embassies. Press Secretary Jay Carney delivered scathing¹⁵ criticism today of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. For months, Assad has been unable to end the uprising in his country despite ongoing¹⁶ military action.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 60 points at 12,447.

This is NPR News.

The creator of "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch" has died. TV producer Sherwood Schwartz died today at the age of 94. We have this appreciation¹⁷ from NPR's Elizabeth Blair.

Not only did Sherwood Schwartz create two of the most popular TV sitcoms¹⁸ of all time, he also co-wrote their theme songs.

"Five passengers set sail that day for a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour."

"Gilligan's Island," Sherwood Schwartz once said, was about seven people locked on an island who have to learn to get along. It was a similar story with another Schwartz production "The Brady Bunch."

"What's all the yelling up there, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all."

"Aha, that's the kind of nothing that bothers me the most."

Sherwood Schwartz began his career writing for radio, and then moved to TV, writing for the Red Skelton Show. The critics were not kind to his own shows. He didn't seem to care. He once said he wasn't writing for them. Sherwood Schwartz died in Los Angeles. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

Well, the final crew of NASA's retiring shuttle program is helping¹⁹ comrades from the International Space Station who've been venturing outside the orbiting outpost today. Shuttle Atlantis's astronauts didn't have time to train for this spacewalk so two of the space station's residents were doing the honors. Their job today was to retrieve²⁰ a broken ammonia pump so NASA's engineers could examine it when Atlantis gets back home later this month. The spacewalkers were also supposed to attach a robotic demo to the outpost which could someday lead to satellite-refueling space stations run by robots.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 60 points at 12,447; NASDAQ off more than 20 at 2,782.

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 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

3 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

4 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

5 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

6 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

7 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

8 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

9 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

10 tourniquet   

n.止血器，绞压器，驱血带

参考例句：

• Twist the tourniquet tighter.把止血带扎紧点。
• The tourniquet should occlude venous and lymphatic return.止血带应阻断静脉及淋巴回流。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 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。

13 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

14 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

15 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

17 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

18 sitcoms   

n.情景喜剧( sitcom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is the stuff most stadard TV sitcoms are made of. 这是大多数标注的电视幽默剧所采用的题材。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In most countries, prime-time Monday night television is dominated by sitcoms. 在大多数国家，周一晚上的电视黄金时段都由连续剧所占据。 来自互联网

19 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

20 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。