美国国家电台 NPR 2012-09-04

 On the eve of the Democratic national convention, the Obama campaign has tried to make the case that the country's economy is better off today than it was nearly four years ago. In his speech to the United auto¹ Workers Union in Toledo, Ohio earlier today, the president touted² the success of the auto industry bailout that most Republicans opposed. And now he says the American Auto industry has come roaring back.  

 

This notion that we should have let the auto industry die and that we should pursue anti-worker policies. In the hopes that unions like yours will unravel³. It's part of the same old 'you're on your own', 'top-down' philosophy that says we should just leave everybody to fend⁴ for themselves. On Thursday night, I'm going to offer you what I believe is a better path forward. 

 

But critics say, the president's message is a tough sell with millions of people still out of work.

 

Carter Wrenn, a Republican strategist says it's baffling of the Democrats⁵ chose to hold their national convention in Charlotte, where the unemployment rate is higher than the national average. 

 

I had no idea why they picked Charlotte, and I really don't think it matters. I think they, you know, are not going to get any more votes in North Carolina, from having the convention in Charlotte than if that they had it in Nashville. 

 

Republican presidential nominee⁶ Mitt⁷ Romney released a statement in which he said Labor⁸ Day  marks another day of worrying for many Americans concerned about their jobs. He has said that the president may not have caused a financial crisis in recent years, but he should bear the blame for failing to turn the economy around. 

 

In Louisiana more than 100,000 customers are reported to still be without electricity after Hurricane Isaac. The Associated Press reporting  that people in nine hard-hit parishes in Louisiana can apply for grants to get temporary housing and repair their homes. The grants are applied⁹ through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The power outage as it says are spread across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas with Louisiana bearing the brunt. And flooding remains¹⁰ a serious problem throughout South Louisiana.

 

Three large fires continued to burn in Idaho. But Scott Graf of Boise State Public Radio reports residents of one evacuated¹¹ town have been allowed to return to their homes.

 

Once residents left and the conditions were just right. Fire crews then conducted controlled burns to cut down on available fuel between the fire and the town. The operation worked and smoke from the fire has since subsided¹². So over the weekend, police told residents they could go home. That fire is one of three long burning fires in Idaho right now.Evacuation orders are still in place for some areas near the Idaho-Montana border. The Mustang complex fire there have burned 215,000 acres since it started nearly five weeks ago. For NPR News, I'm Scott Graf in Boise, Idaho.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Israel's government says it is satisfied with a largely peaceful evacuation of the Migron outpost. Details from Sheera Frenkel.

 

Israel's government praised settlers in Migron for evacuating¹³ their settlement peacefully and without major incidents. More than 50 Israeli families quietly left the Migron outpost Sunday after Israel's Supreme¹⁴ Court ruled that their homes had been illegally built on Palestinian land. A compromise reached between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and settler leaders, will see  most of the families move to a nearby settlement, where the Israeli government has built them temporary residences. For NPR News, I'm Sheera Frenkel.

 

Public school teachers in Kenya are staying home today to protest low wages. NPR's John Burnett reports from Nairobi they are defying a court order that says a strike is unconstitutional. 

 

Kenyan Public School students lolled on campus in the sun and others stayed home when their teachers didn't show up today. Union organisers say some 280,000 teachers stayed away from classrooms. They are calling attention to a pay hike, they say is 15 years overdue¹⁵. The Kenya National Union of Teachers is asking for a 300% salary increase. In Kenya, primary school education is officially free, and secondary school is supposed to be subsidized. In practise though, teachers are so poorly paid that parents have to kick in some or all of their salaries. A union official told the Daily Nation newspaper, we can't teach on an empty stomach. John Burnett, NPR News, Nairobi. 

 

Nato is reporting that one of its service members has been killed in a bomb attack in southern Afghanistan. But the nationality of that service member is unknown.

 

This is NPR News.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

3 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

4 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

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 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

10 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。

11 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

12 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。