NPR 2011-09-27

 The Democratic-led Senate is set to vote within hours on legislation that would avoid a possible government shutdown later this week and restore dwindling¹ funds for disaster relief. NPR’s David Welna reports that the disaster money is only a small part of the bill, but differences over it persist with the Republican-led House as the clock ticks closer to Friday’s end of the fiscal² year.

 

The Senate has already rejected a stopgap funding measure passed by the House. That’s because the House bill cuts money for electric car development to partially³ offset⁴ the $3.65 billion it adds for domestic disaster relief. Typically such money is provided without making cuts elsewhere. The bill Senate Democrats⁵ are proposing is identical to the House bill except it has no spending cuts. Fears have eased a bit that the Federal Emergency Management Agency might run out of funds for disasters early this week. FEMA now says those funds could last until the weekend, which is when the new fiscal year begins. That would give lawmakers until Friday to agree on legislation keeping the government from shutting down and replenishing the disaster fund. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

 

US stocks are up with investors⁶ hopeful about Europe’s ability to tackle its debt crisis. At last check, the Dow was up 272 points, about 2.5% at 11,044, and the NASDAQ was up more than 1% at 2,517.

 

Still no relief in sight for the country’s beleaguered⁷ housing market. The Commerce Department says new home sales fell in August for the fourth straight month. Analyst⁸ Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial says that even though the population is rising and the demand for housing is up, too many people are still out of work, cannot afford to buy and are faced with paying higher rent.

 

“You do have a demographic push out there, and you do also need along with it some jobs and some income to support that push to translate into more sales rather than just rent.”

 

Swonk warns the housing market is estimated to remain rocky for at least three more years.

 

The top American trainer in Afghanistan says the Afghan army is growing steadily⁹. But NPR’s Tom Bowman says Lieutenant¹⁰ General William Caldwell acknowledges that no Afghan units can operate on their own without US or coalition¹¹ help.

 

The Afghan army now has about 170,000 soldiers. That’s up some 30,000 from last year. But Cardwell told Pentagon reporters those soldiers still can’t supply themselves or care for their wounded in the field.

 

“We have not yet fully¹² developed their logistics system, their maintenance system or their medical system. You know we had a very deliberate plan as to how to get to that. This is the year where we really start taking that on.”

 

The Afghan army and police are supposed to take the lead for their country’s security by the end of 2014 under a timeline crafted by the US and other NATO countries.

 

That’s NPR’s Tom Bowman.

 

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was up 272 points at 11,044.

 

This is NPR News.

 

The UN Security Council is discussing the Palestinians' bid for full membership in a closed-door meeting today. The application was submitted last week by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas who wants UN recognition of statehood. Israel and the US object, saying peace can only be achieved in direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.

 

Hundreds of Amazon Indians in Bolivia are out of jail a day after they were detained during a march against a proposed highway that would cut through territory that’s home to 15,000 indigenous¹³ people. Today the country’s defense¹⁴ minister resigned in protest of the government-backed arrests.

 

A marine¹⁵ salvage¹⁶ company based in Florida says it has found a British World War II-era shipwreck¹⁷ containing more than 240 tons of silver. NPR’s Greg Allen reports the company Odyssey¹⁸ Marine plans to begin recovering the silver early next year.

 

In 1941, a British merchant ship, the SS Gairsoppa, was traveling from India to the British Isles¹⁹ when it was attacked and sunk by a German U-boat. Included in its cargo²⁰ was hundreds of tons of silver worth an estimated $210 million in today’s market. In an agreement with the British government, Odyssey Marine underwater exploration company based in Tampa began looking for the shipwreck and now says it’s found it 300 miles off the coast of Ireland nearly three miles down. In its contract with the British government, Odyssey Marine says it will keep 80% of the treasure it recovers using remote-controlled underwater robots. The announcement comes as the company is embroiled²¹ in a legal dispute over another valuable shipwreck. On Friday, a US appeals court told the company that half a billion dollars in treasure it recovered from a 19th-century shipwreck should be returned to Spain. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

 

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

1 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

2 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

3 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

4 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

5 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》

6 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

7 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

10 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

14 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

15 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

16 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

17 shipwreck   

n.船舶失事，海难

参考例句：

• He walked away from the shipwreck.他船难中平安地脱险了。
• The shipwreck was a harrowing experience.那次船难是一个惨痛的经历。

18 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

19 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

20 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

21 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》