美国国家电台 NPR 2012-10-06

 The presidential campaign's painting very different pictures of what the monthly jobs report means. President Obama says the fact that the rate dropped to 7.8% means the country's moving in the right direction. But his challenger Mitt¹ Romney said while campaigning in Virginia it's not enough. NPR's Ari Shapiro has more.

 

Mitt Romney has said from the start of this campaign that high unemployment is the No. 1 reason voters should fire President Obama. Now the Bureau of Labor² Statistics says unemployment dropped in September to 7.8%. Romney said such a tepid³ pace of recovery is not the sort of rebound⁴ that Americans deserve.

 

"There were fewer new jobs created this month than last month. And the unemployment rate, as you know, this year has come down very, very slowly."

 

Several voters at this rally said they believe Democrats⁵ manipulated the unemployment numbers, a provably false conspiracy⁶ theory that Romney did not touch. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Irvington, Virginia.

 

Now after delivering what many analysts⁷ are calling a lackluster performance at the debate against Romney two nights ago, President Obama unleashed⁸ a fair amount of zingers in his campaign speeches today. In Fairfax, Virginia, he seized on Romney's remark at the debate Wednesday that even though he loved Big Bird, Romney would cut subsidies⁹ to PBS.

 

"For all you moms and kids out there, don't worry -- somebody is finally getting tough on Big Bird, rounding him up. Elmo's got to watch out, too. Governor Romney plans to let Wall Street run wild again, but he's going to bring down the hammer on Sesame Street. It makes perfect sense."

 

Now Romney told debate moderator Jim Larry Wednesday night that he would cut spending on various items, including PBS to avoid borrowing more money from China.

 

German Chancellor¹⁰ Angela Merkel will make her first visit to Greece next week since the eurozone debt crisis started in 2009. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports the visit could signal that Europe's most powerful country intends to keep heavily indebted Greece inside the single currency despite its failure to meet stringent¹¹ bailout conditions.

 

The visit was announced after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said his country will run out of money by the end of November if the next EU bailout installment¹² is withheld¹³. A government spokesman said Berlin sees that reform efforts having increased under the current Greek government and wants to show support. Merkel will be met with protest demonstrations¹⁴. Her government has triggered strong anti-German feelings in Greece for having imposed devastating¹⁵ austerity measures on the debt-burdened country. The German media in turn has often depicted¹⁶ Greeks as lazy tax cheats. With German taxpayers¹⁷ increasingly opposed to bankrolling EU bailouts, the Greek crisis could pose the most serious risk to Merkel's reelection prospect¹⁸ next year. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Berlin.

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up 14 points at 13,590.

 

This is NPR.

 

Celebrations erupted among Kenyan veterans of the Mau-Mau Rebellion after the British High Court ruled that three elderly Kenyans tortured during the revolt in the 50s against British colonial rule can move ahead with their legal fight for compensation from the UK. Atsango Chesoni, director of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, was elated.

 

"And the journey is over 50 years. I can't believe this. I can't believe this. These all people gave their lives, so that we can be free. This is the first acknowledgement of what they sacrificed."

 

The case involves Kenyans who say they were sexually assaulted and beaten by pro-British officers during the rebellion groups had attacked officials and white farmers who settled in some of Kenya's most fertile areas.

 

Idaho's governor is taking federal land management rules to task. Scott Graf of Boise State Public Radio reports Republican Butch Otter¹⁹'s comments come at the end of one of the state's busiest wildfire seasons.

 

Otter makes his comments in an op-ed. He says currently in management policies are unacceptable and they've contributed to the severity of this year's fires. The governor says more than 1.7 million acres have burned in the state at a cost of nearly 190 million dollars. Otter says land managers have their hands tied by federal laws put in place to appease²⁰ single interest environmental groups and often sue to get their way. The governor wants to see more logging and grazing allowed to help cut down on available fire fuels. How the federal government manages land is important in Idaho. Nearly two-thirds of the state is federal land. Otter says 93% of the acres burned this year have been federally managed. For NPR News, I'm Scott Graf in Boise, Idaho.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 tepid   

adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的

参考例句：

• She bent her mouth to the tap and drank the tepid water.她把嘴伸到水龙头底下去喝那微温的水。
• Her feet firmly planted on the tepid rough brick of the floor.她一双脚稳固地立在微温而粗糙的砖地上。

4 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

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 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

7 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。

8 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

11 stringent   

adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的

参考例句：

• Financiers are calling for a relaxation of these stringent measures.金融家呼吁对这些严厉的措施予以放宽。
• Some of the conditions in the contract are too stringent.合同中有几项条件太苛刻。

12 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。

13 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

15 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

16 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

17 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

18 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

19 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

20 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。