NPR 2011-07-27

The White House warns House Speaker John Boehner's latest budget plan will be vetoed if it reaches President Obama's desk. It's opposed to a measure requiring that a second debt-limit vote be held before the 2012 elections. Now some conservatives, meanwhile, say Boehner's plan doesn't make enough reductions. The bill which could come up for a vote tomorrow calls for federal spending cuts of 1.2 trillion dollars and would raise the debt limit by up to a trillion dollars before the August 2nd deadline. As wrangling¹ over the debt ceiling continues, NPR's Ari Shapiro reports the White House warns Tuesday remains² a hard deadline.

White House spokesman Jay Carney dismissed pundits³ who say the US could figure out a way to keep hang all of its bills after August 2nd.

"The United States hit its debt limit in May. And since May, the Treasury⁴ Secretary, using authority that he has, has exercised all the wiggle room available to him, and that runs out on August 2nd. That's not a guess. It’s not a political opinion. It is the judgment⁵ of career analysts⁶ at the Treasury Department."

He attacked Republicans' approach to this issue. Speaking about dueling⁷ remarks by the president and the House speaker Monday night, Carney said the speaker of the House never mentioned the word "compromise," yet that is the only option. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

In the event the government does not extend its debt ceiling, California state treasurer⁸ says he'll ask a group of banks, credit unions and investment funds for short-term loans amounting to about five billion dollars to avoid a potential cash shortage.

Embattled Democratic Congressman¹⁰ David Wu says he is resigning. The lawmaker from Oregon formally announces his decision as he confronts an 18-year-old woman's allegations that she was a victim of unwanted sexual advances by Wu. The lawmaker is the second House Democrat⁹ in the last two months to resign as a result of a sex-related scandal.

The United Nations says it's had to postpone¹¹ its first airlift of food aid to Somalia's capital. From Nairobi, NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports there were hopes that nutritious¹² and high-energy supplements would reach desperately¹³ malnourished children suffering from drought and famine.

New arrivals from rural areas of Somalia are flooding into the capital Mogadishu in search of food. Some are taking refuge in bombed-out buildings. The UN World Food Program is planning a series of airlifts, but says it's still fine-tuning logistics, and that security is not the main concern for its initial relief delivery. The agency is scaling up food aid to Mogadishu because of the growing number of hungry, displaced people coming into the turbulent city. With famine declared in two parts of southern Somalia, thousands of refugees are fleeing into neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia to escape drought and conflict. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Nairobi.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

Authorities in Norway are starting to release the names of the 76 people killed in last week's bombing at Oslo's government quarter and shooting rampage at youth camp. The self-confessed perpetrator, Ander Behring Breivik, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer Geir Lippestad had this assessment¹⁴ of his client.

"I can't describe him because he's, he's not like anyone of us. This whole case has indicated he's insane."

Now Breivik has said that he is pursuing a war. Earlier, the 32-year-old said he launched the attack as part of an anti-Muslim campaign.

The world's largest retailer¹⁵ has entered the video streaming business. Consumers can now stream TV shows and movies directly from Wal-Mart's website. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports Wal-Mart hopes to be major competition for Netflix, which recently raised its prices.

Wal-Mart has integrated Vudu, the video service it bought last year into Walmart.com. So consumers can now stream, rent or buy videos like 'Rango' with Johnny Depp.

"The place I come from, we kill a man before breakfast, just to work up an appetite."

Wal-Mart's move comes just two weeks after Netflix raised its prices by as much as 60% for people who want to continue both its DVD mail and streaming services. Wal-Mart has tried to get it on the digital video market before. In 2003, it launched an online DVD rental¹⁶ service, but abandoned it two years later at the time Wal-Mart encouraged consumers to switch to the Netflix. But now the world's largest retailer wants to be Netflix's biggest rival. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

Before the close on Wall Street, Dow was down 90 points at 12,501.

This is NPR News.

1 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

6 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。

7 dueling   

n. 决斗, 抗争(=duelling) 动词duel的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• More light-hearted But somewhat puzzled, Vladimir prepared to meet Eugene on the dueling ground. 弗拉基米尔心里轻松了一些，但仍感到有些困惑，在这种心情下，他准备去决斗场地迎战叶甫盖尼。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• They had been dueling for hours and finally called a draw. 他们一直决斗了数小时，最后打成平局。

8 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

9 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。

10 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

11 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

12 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

13 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

14 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

15 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

16 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。