NPR 2012-06-20

 J.P. Morgan Chase maintains the bank was upfront with investors¹ about its two billion dollar plus trading loss, though it’s under investigation² by federal regulators. For the second time in less than a week, CEO Jamie Dimon has testified before a congressional panel. Today he told the House Banking³ Committee that the bank trusted its risk assessment⁵ models, which provided the best information at the time.

 

“We have hundreds, maybe thousands of models. They’re periodically changed, updated. We intend to usually make them better. They’re costly⁶, being tried to be improved.”

 

Earlier, lawmakers heard from SEC Chairman Mary Shapiro, who said the agency was looking at whether J.P. Morgan Chase misled investors in its April earnings⁷ statements.

 

President Obama’s trying to get assurances from his European counterparts, said they will not allow the eurozone’s debt contagion⁸ to spread overseas to other fragile economies in recovery. On the final day of the G20 summit in Mexico, the president and others repeated their pledge to exhaust all means to keep the global economy growing, but Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti also echoed some frustration⁹, saying the eurozone is “certainly not the only imbalance in the world’s economy.” He said the US’s own problems were mentioned in G20 talks, which can wrap up today.

 

No new Greek government is yet formed, and some top politicians are demanding a renegotiation of European Union bailout terms as a condition for joining a coalition¹⁰. Teri Schultz reports from Brussels, where officials continue to say the deal remains¹¹ in force.

 

Though the leader of the party that won Sunday’s elections, Antonio Gramsci, has not gone as far as his chief rival to say that tough bailout conditions must be rejected, he does say they must be relaxed. Some EU leaders are urging flexibility¹² for Athens. Others insist on the original terms and timetable. EU spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio says it’s too early to talk about changes.

 

“We’re talking about ensuring that Greece gets a government and this government takes full ownership of the program and implements¹³ it to put the country back on track.”

 

Time is tight for Samos under current rules governing the rescue funds. Almost 15 billion euros in budget cuts must be identified by the end of this month to receive the next payment. For NPR News, I’m Teri Schultz in Brussels.

 

One of the country’s most politically prominent labor¹⁴ unions is expected to focus on about half the number of states targeted for campaigning in 2008 in the US. The Service Employees International Union says it wants to concentrate on a few key states this year to help reelect President Obama, also plans to recruit twice as many of its members to volunteer for campaigns this election year.

 

Mitt⁴ Romney’s rallying voters’ support in Michigan, where his father once served as governor. At a rally today, the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee¹⁵ took more swipes at the president’s policies and their impact on energy and the economy, but he made no mention of the controversial federal bailouts that rescued General Motors and Chrysler.

 

Dow was up 115. 

 

This is NPR.

 

US builders appear to be a little more confident about the housing sector’s prospects¹⁶, so much so that in May they requested more permits to build than any other time in the last 3.5 years. The Commerce Department also reports a more than 3% increase in the construction of single-family homes in May. It was the third straight monthly increase. But overall, the housing market’s recovery is still dragging.

 

Despite a busy start to the western wildfire season, the US Forest Service says it’s confident it has enough air tankers¹⁸ to effectively fight fires. But as Scott Graf of Boise State Public Radio reports, there’s been a significant decline in the number of planes available to help fire fighters.

 

Twelve years ago, the Forest Service had 43 large air tankers under exclusive contract[s] with private vendors²⁰. Now that number is nine. Accidents, structural²¹ issues and the firing of the vendor¹⁹ have led to the decline. Jennifer Jones is a spokesperson with the Forest Service.

 

“This is something that we are working very hard to rectify²². We’re deeply committed to modernizing²³ and improving our large air tanker¹⁷ fleet, and we've been taking a number of steps toward that goal.”

 

The government awarded contracts to four vendors last week to help bring newer air tankers online. Meanwhile, Alaska and California, as well as the Canadian government, have agreed to share their planes. Military planes could also be used if necessary. For NPR News, I’m Scott Graf in Boise, Idaho.

 

Firefighters are making some headway against the northern Colorado blaze that has caused an unprecedented²⁴ level of destruction in that state. At least 189 homes have been damaged or destroyed.

 

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.

1 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

2 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。

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

4 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。

5 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？

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

8 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

9 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

10 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。

11 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。

12 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

13 implements   

n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• Primitive man hunted wild animals with crude stone implements. 原始社会的人用粗糙的石器猎取野兽。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They ordered quantities of farm implements. 他们订购了大量农具。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 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。

15 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。

16 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

17 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

18 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

19 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

20 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

21 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

22 rectify   

v.订正，矫正，改正

参考例句：

• The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
• You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。

23 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

24 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。