NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-09-22

 President Obama is blasting House Republicans for the spending bill they passed today that keeps the government running but only if Obamacare is stripped of funding, and he challenged Congress to raise the debt limit so the government can pay its bills. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the president said America is not a debt-beat nation. 

Speaking at a Ford¹ assembly plant near Kansas City, Obama said failing to raise the debt limit would be like not making the payments on a truck you've already driven. 

揟here are consequences to that. The bill collector starts calling you, right? Your credit goes south, and you've got all kinds of problems. Same is true for a country.?

Obama accused Republicans of holding the debt limit hostage in their effort to undo² his signature health care law. The president says he won't negotiate with the full faith and credit of the federal government. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House. 

In Colorado, cleanup from days of flooding is being hampered³ by more oil spills. Floodwaters have swamped and overturned several oil storage tanks. Meanwhile, Nick Christensen of the Larimer County Sheriff's Office says authorities are assessing who抯 still missing since the floods hit last week. 

揂t this point, we were down to 82 unaccounted and continue to tabulate⁴ cross-reference data to get that number lower and lower. We're still holding at three parties missing and presumed dead.?

Authorities say they those who are not accounted for could be living alone in the upper reaches of canyons⁵. 

Vice⁶ President Joe Biden says there is no relationship the US values more than the one with Mexico. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports Biden is in Mexico for a first-ever round of cabinet-level economic talks between the two countries. 

Biden says he brought as many US cabinet members as he could fit in Air Force Two for the first annual meetings. With nearly a billion dollars of trade each day between the two countries, Biden says it's time to put economics front and center instead of just talk about security in immigration. 

揟here is no reason why North America could not be the most prosperous and the most economically viable⁷ place in the world in the 21st century.?

For his part, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto welcomed what he called a wide and diverse relationship with the US. Vice President Biden called Pena Nieto's recent push to reform Mexico's education system impressive and offered US assistance for victims of Hurricane Manuel and Ingrid. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Mexico City. 

Pakistan says it's going to free its highest-ranking Afghan Taliban prisoner tomorrow. Pakistani officials say they are making the move to jump-start the reconciliation⁸ process with Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban's former deputy leader was arrested in a joint⁹ raid with the CIA in 2010. 

On Wall Street today, the Dow fell 185 points; the S&P lost 12. This is NPR. 

In a Brazilian courtroom today, a rancher was found guilty of ordering the murder of an American nun¹⁰, who was killed in Brazil in 2005. From Sao Paulo, NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports the rancher is sentenced to 30 years in prison. 

This is the latest trial for Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura. He's been in court three times before for allegedly ordering the death of Dorothy Stang. But his convictions have been overturned. Prosecutors¹¹ say de Moura and another rancher hired a gunman to kill Stang. Justice has been slow and coming for the Ohio nun, who defended Brazil's rain forests. She was killed at close range with six gunshots. Earlier this year, Stang's confessed killer¹² was released from a jail after serving less than nine of the 27 years he was sentenced to. De Moura days he plans to appeal his latest conviction. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro NPR News, Sao Paulo. 

The Obama administration is proposing a regulation to limit greenhouse gas emissions¹³ from new fossil fuel plants, and it'll have the biggest impact on new coal-fired power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency has to wait a year for public comment on the proposal. But administrator¹⁴ Gina McCarthy is indicating she doesn抰 anticipate making any major changes. Power companies say the proposal would drive up the cost of building new coal plants. 

The Republican-controlled House passed a bill today to allow for more logging in national forests. The measure passed largely along party lines. The GOP says the bill will create jobs and help reduce wildfires. Opponents are calling it a giveaway to the timber industry that will hurt water quality and the environment. 

I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

3 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

4 tabulate   

v.列表，排成表格式

参考例句：

• It took me ten hours to tabulate the results.我花了十个小时把结果制成表格。
• Let me tabulate the results as follows.让我将结果列表如下。

5 canyons   

n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This mountain range has many high peaks and deep canyons. 这条山脉有许多高峰和深谷。 来自辞典例句
• Do you use canyons or do we preserve them all? 是使用峡谷呢还是全封闭保存？ 来自互联网

6 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。

7 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。

8 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

11 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。

12 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

13 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

14 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。