美国国家电台 NPR 2012-08-15

 In a better-than-expected sign for the US economy, retail¹ sales have risen for the first time in four months. NPR's Chris Arnold reports on the latest findings from the Commerce Department today.

 

It's just one-month data, but it's still encouraging analysts² say that retailers³ reported the strongest sales growth since February. Sales were up 0.8% last month, and economists⁵ had expected just 8.2% increase.

 

“I think we’re definitely going to get out of the woods.”

 

That's Betsey Stevenson. She is an economist⁴ with the University of Michigan. She says a range of indicators⁶ now show that the economy is at least very gradually continuing to recover from the recession.

 

“A really bad recession, and what we have is coming out of it slowly, but surely.”

 

Stevenson has said the recovery could pick up more steam next year. Especially of things in Europe improve, and she says politicians get passed the so-called fiscal⁷ cliff. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

 

More scathing⁸ rhetoric⁹ on the campaign trail today over the economy. Here's Republicans’ new vice¹⁰ presidential candidate Paul Ryan in Colorado.

 

“When you take a look back four years ago, we had a really tough economy. And without a doubt, President Obama inherited a difficult situation. Here’s the problem – he made it worse.”

 

In Virginia, Vice President Joe Biden kept up his assault on the House Republican budget plan.

 

“Well, I don't get. I mean this is silly now. I don't get what's gutsy about giving millionaires another tax break.”

 

President Obama continues his tour of Iowa, and Republican rival Mitt¹¹ Romney was in Ohio, where each attacked the other on energy.

 

In other news, Syria's former prime minister says Bashar al-Assad's regime is collapsing¹². He calls on other political and military leaders to join the rebels.  Riyad Hijab defected to Jordan recently. Dale Gavlak reports on a speech he read to journalists in the capital Amman.

 

In his first public comments since leaving office and fleeing with his family to Jordan last week, Hijab says the regime is on the verge¹³ of collapse¹⁴ morally, financially and militarily and only controls 30% of the Syrian territory. He calls the government spirits low after struggling for 17 months to crush the revolt against Assad's rule. He thanked Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey for their support and asked them to do more for the opposition¹⁵. Hijab, like most of the opposition, is Sunni Muslim. But his defection is seen as a symbolic¹⁶ blow to the mainly Alawite Assad regime's inner circle. For NPR News, I'm Dale Gavlak in Amman.

 

Before the close on Wall-Street, the Dow was up 3% at 13,172; NASDAQ off six at 3,017; S&P 500 down slightly.

 

This is NPR.

 

Hot weather and harsh winds are in store for parts of Idaho today. As Sadie Babits reports, that could make it hard for fire crews who continue to battle wildfires in that state.

 

One of those wildfires is burning in central Idaho in the Salmon¹⁷ Challis National Forest. A red flag warning today could spell trouble for firefighters there who had a good night keeping the flames away from homes. Barbara Bosler says the smoke has been thick.

 

“Smog was very thick here within the river quarter and also in the town of Salmon.”

 

Bosler, who provides public information on the fire, says some of that smoke has cleared out today. But the fire, she says, has shut down a popular road, which is used by people who want to float the famous Salmon River. There are dozens of wildfires burning in Idaho. Gusty¹⁸ winds and temperatures into the 90s today will continue to pose a challenge for firefighters. For NPR News, I'm Sadie Babits.

 

Actor Ron Palillo, who fans may know best as Arnold Horshack on the 1976 sitcom¹⁹ “Welcome Back, Kotter,” has died of an apparent heart attack, according to a family friend. Palillo played a nerdy high school student and class clown who always seemed to draw laughs during his classroom antics.

 

“Today we talk about anything you want to talk about.” 

 

“Oh, oh-oh, oh.”

 

“Arnold, you want to say something?”

 

“Last night on television, I saw “The Wizard of Odds²⁰.”

 

Ron Palillo was 63 years old.

 

Revisiting our numbers from Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up three points at 13,172; NASDAQ down six at 3,017. 

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 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。

3 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

7 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。

8 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

10 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。

11 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。

12 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

13 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

14 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

15 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

16 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

17 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

18 gusty   

adj.起大风的

参考例句：

• Weather forecasts predict more hot weather,gusty winds and lightning strikes.天气预报预测高温、大风和雷电天气将继续。
• Why was Candlestick Park so windy and gusty? 埃德尔斯蒂克公园里为什么会有那么多的强劲阵风？

19 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

20 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？