美国国家电台 NPR 2012-09-29

 The presidential candidates are gearing up for their first debate in Denver next week, although the economy has topped their agendas. They have also been focusing more on foreign policy recently. President Obama spoke¹ by telephone today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And NPR's Scott Horsley reports Netanyahu also spoke with the president's Republican rival Mitt² Romney. 

 

President Obama decided³ not to meet one-on-one with Netanyahu or any other world leaders during this week's United Nations gathering⁴ in New York. But on the phone, the two men agreed on their shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu welcomed Mr. Obama's U.N. speech in which he said United States would do what's necessary to prevent that from happening. Mr. Obama in turn reaffirmed this country's unshakable commitment to Israel's security. The president and Netanyahu are often described as having a frosty relationship. Though the administration insists the two men talk regularly. An ads argued that cooperation between the U.S. and Israel has never been closer. Scott Horsley. NPR News, Washington.

 

New intel. suggest Syria has moved some chemical weapons capability⁵ to a more secure site. Defense⁶ Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters at the Pentagon today that there has been some limited movement, but he added Syria's main chemical weapon sites remain intact under government control. 

 

President Obama is preventing a Chinese company from moving ahead with four wind farm in Oregon citing national security risks. The White House did not say what risk the rolls corporation pose but the wind turbines were being built near a naval⁷  weapon system's training site.

 

Higher gas prices likely figure into the latest spike⁸ in consumer spending in the United States, the Commerce Department saying today went up by 0.5%. But NPR's Dave Mattingly tells us people save less as incomes barely rose. 

 

Americans spent more last month, but that was mainly because of higher gasoline prices, they jumped almost 50 cents a gallon in August, costing people more to fill up. And with inflation eating up the small increase and incomes. ClearView Economics President, Ken⁹ Mayland describes the numbers as awful.

 

We've taken a stepdown based on these results, we are flirting¹⁰ with zero growth or maybe even something slightly negative, the economy, pretty much contracted in August. Households saved less to pay for more expensive essentials. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

 

Bank of America is agreeing to pay more than two billion dollars to settle a class action lawsuit¹¹ over its takeover of Merrill Lynch. Investors¹² accused BOA of misleading them about both company's financial health. Bank of America denies any wrongdoing.

 

Before the close on Wall Street, Dow was off 50 points at 13,437. 

 

This is NPR News.

 

Civil rights groups in France are sounding the alarm over the latest treatment over Roma migrants that they say could set a dangerous precedent¹³ at a time of rising anti-immigrant tensions in Europe. A group of residents in a poor neighborhood in southern France evicted¹⁴ Roma squatters whom they accused in a series of robberies. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports that the citizens didn't wait for the police or courts and acted on their own.

 

The residents of a working class largely immigrant neighborhood of Marseille. They said the Roma had been stealing. Officials say the explosion was planned because the police were notified in advance. The Marseille say residents even burned the camp after the 35 Roma departed. A Roma advocate group said Roma are victims of stereotypes¹⁵ as soon as they tried to set up camps somewhere people accuse them of stealing. Officials say the confrontation¹⁶ is a worrying sign of rising tensions in an increasingly desperate economic climate. Successive French governments have been stumped¹⁷ by how to deal with a huge influx¹⁸ of Roma from eastern Europe since E.U. borders were opened seven years ago. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.

 

In California, Jury is recommending the death sentence for an arsonist¹⁹ convicted of murder for setting a wildfire nearly a decade ago that led the deaths of five men who suffered heart attacks. A judge will make the final decision and how to punish Rickie Lee Fowler.

 

Federal Health officials are rolling out a national awareness²⁰ campaign about bogus online pharmacies²¹. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner²² Doctor Margaret Hamburg says they are more prevenient than many people might think, "little bit less than 3%, I think, were in fact, legitimate²³ online pharmacies that consumers could count on." She says phony pharmacies are likely to sell counterfeit²⁴ drugs that could harm customers.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 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。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

8 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

9 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

10 flirting   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't take her too seriously; she's only flirting with you. 别把她太当真，她只不过是在和你调情罢了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• 'she's always flirting with that new fellow Tseng!" “她还同新来厂里那个姓曾的吊膀子！ 来自子夜部分

11 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

12 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

13 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

14 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

15 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

17 stumped   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• Jack huffed himself up and stumped out of the room. 杰克气喘吁吁地干完活，然后很艰难地走出房间。
• He was stumped by the questions and remained tongue-tied for a good while. 他被问得张口结舌，半天说不出话来。

18 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

19 arsonist   

n.纵火犯

参考例句：

• You're pretty sure you can identify a single arsonist?你确信你能鉴别出一个特定的纵火者？
• The arsonist confessed that he set fire to six businesses.那纵火犯承认他给6家商场纵过火。

20 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

21 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网

22 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

23 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

24 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。