NPR 2012-04-24

 A bleak¹ forecast for Social Security, the government says today the trust funds that support the program will run dry in 2033. And Medicare's hospital insurance fund is forecast to run out of money even sooner in 2024.

 

 

President Obama will do tomorrow what everyone thought he'd already done—knock up the Democratic nomination³. NPR's Peter Overby says five states hold primaries and that will give him a majority of the convention delegates.

 

 

It's not that Mr. Obama was unopposed for the nomination, just unopposed by any viable⁴ candidates. Federal records list 38 other declared Democratic candidates, but only one left unmarked. Anti-abortion activist⁵ Randall Terry polled 18% in Oklahoma's primary. Even then, the state party said he wasn't a bona fide Democrat², so he didn't win any delegates. Four years ago, Mr. Obama didn't nail down the nomination till the last day of the primaries. The candidate he beat then is now his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

 

 

If Mitt⁶ Romney knows exactly who he wants on his Republican presidential ticket, he's not saying "I don't think I have any comments on qualifications for individuals to serve in various positions in government at this stage. That's something that we're going to be considering down the road as we consider various potential vice⁷ presidential nominees⁹." Well, some might say one hint of a running mate is Marco Rubio. The freshman¹⁰ Florida senator campaigned today with the presumptive GOP nominee⁸ in Aston, Pennsylvania.

 

 

Jennifer Hudson has given emotional testimony¹¹ in the trial of her estranged¹² brother-in-law, William Balfour. He's accused of killing¹³ the Oscar winner's mother, brother and nephew four years ago. Hudson was the first witness to take the stand. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports a judge earlier instructed jurors to decide the case solely¹⁴ on testimony and not sympathy for Hudson.

 

 

Prosecutors¹⁵ say it was a gift of balloons that sent Jennifer Hudson's then brother-in-law into such a jealous rage that he shot her mother, brother and seven-year-old nephew to death. William Balfour was estranged from his then wife, Julia Hudson, Jennifer Hudson's sister, and court records indicate Balfour had issued several threats against his wife and her family when he learned his wife was dating another man. The couple's divorce was finalized¹⁶ last year. Balfour claims he wasn't anywhere near the Hudson family home when the killings¹⁷ occurred in October of 2008. Jennifer Hudson has vowed¹⁸ to attend every day of the trial which is expected to last about a month. Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago.

 

 

The Sanford, Florida police chief strongly criticized for his department's handling of the Trayvon Martin case has formally resigned. Bill Lee announced his departure just hours after the teen's shooter, George Zimmerman, was released on 150,000 dollars bail¹⁹.

 

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 119 points.

 

 

This is NPR News.

 

 

A forensic²⁰ team looking for clues in a more than three-decade-old missing child's case are analyzing²¹ what they've gathered in the excavation²² site, a Manhattan building. Today they finished digging up the basement where they were searching for any signs of human remains²³ that could belong to Etan Patz. The six-year-old vanished in May 1969 on his way to school. His disappearance²⁴ captured national attention and changed parents' attitudes about letting their children out alone.

  

A spring snowstorm is moving into Buffalo²⁵, New York. From member station WBFO, Eileen Buckley reports much of the region is under a winter storm warning through early tomorrow.

 

 

Forecasters are predicting an inch of snow per hour. Less than a foot of snow could accumulate in the city of Buffalo. But well south of the city, up to 16 inches is expected. The biggest concern with the springtime storm is heavy wet snows. With some trees already in bloom, heavy snows could snap tree limbs and power lines, causing widespread power outages. The National Weather Service in Buffalo says it already received a few reports from rural areas of some downed trees and power lines. Buffalo like much of the nation experienced a mild winter with little snowfall. But if the storm packs a punch, it could make the record books for high snowfall amounts for the month of April. For NPR News, I'm Eileen Buckley in Buffalo.

 

 

Investors²⁶ renewed fears over Europe's financial situations, certainly weighing on US stocks. Today Dow's down 121 points, nearly 1%, at 12,908; NASDAQ down 1%; S&P 500 also down nearly 1%.

 

 

This is NPR.

1 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

2 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。

3 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

4 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 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。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

9 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

10 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

11 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

12 estranged   

adj.疏远的，分离的

参考例句：

• He became estranged from his family after the argument.那场争吵后他便与家人疏远了。
• The argument estranged him from his brother.争吵使他同他的兄弟之间的关系疏远了。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

15 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。

16 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

18 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

19 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

20 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

21 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

22 excavation   

n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地

参考例句：

• The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
• The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。

23 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。

24 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

25 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

26 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