NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2014-04-10

 President Obama has signed new executive measures as part of his effort to close the persistent¹ pay gap between men and women. NPR Scott Horsley says federal contractors² will soon have to give the government more information about how much they pay their male and female employees. Obama’s executive order is part of a concerted portion this week by Democrats³ in Washington to address what they say is an unfair gap in the typical pay for men and women, even those doing the same jobs. While Obama’s order applies only to federal contractors, the senate is preparing to vote on the bill to extend similar equal pay protections throughout the economy. “Equal pay is not just an economic issue for millions of Americans and families. It’s also about whether we ** economy that works for everybody, and whether we’re gonna do our part to make sure that our daughters have the same chances to pursue their dreams as our sons.” Congressional Republicans are likely to block the bill, which they say is a desperate political maneuver⁴ to deflect⁵ attention from a slow growing economy that’s * opportunity. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

 

Federal safety regulators say they’ll be fining General Motors 7,000 dollars a day stretching back to last week for missing a deadline for fully⁶ responding to questions about defective⁷ ignition switches. But Michigan Radio’s Tracy Samilton reports the auto⁸ maker⁹ insists that it has been cooperating with investigators¹⁰. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it will fine General Motors everyday it goes past the April 3rd deadline to answer a long list of questions about the recall. NHTSA is investigating why GM took 10 years to recall 2.6 million vehicles with faulty ignition switches linked * 13 debts. The agency adds it is deeply troubling that the company is unwilling¹¹ or unable to answer how many times the switch was re-designed. GM says it’s working tirelessly to comply, submitting 21,000 documents to NHTSA. GM promises to provide all the answers as they become available. For NPR News, I’m Tracy Samilton.

 

Corporations begin releasing their latest earnings’ reports this week and Wall Street investors¹² will be watching closely. NPR’s Chris Arnold reports many analysts¹³ have somewhat muted expectations. It’s that time again when public companies have to announce to the world whether they’ve been making money or losing it and how much. The long called winter has been hurting many companies. Some firms have been warning that too bit of a stronger US dollar is making US products more expensive and therefore less competitive abroad. Going forward though many economists¹⁴ think that overall business will pick up for big public companies as the weather improves. And in a positive sign for smaller firms, a survey of small businesses showed more optimism about sales gaining some ground as well. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

 

The Labor¹⁵ Department says employers posted more than 4 million job openings in February, that’s an 8% gain over the previous month. This is NPR News.

 

Crews searching the Indian Ocean for the missing Malaysian jetliner have not picked up any more of the faint underwater * sounds that were detected over the weekend. There had been hope that those sounds may have been coming from the plane’s flight data and voice recorders.

 

If you make purchases online or use Gmail or sign into work remotely over a private network, your communications may not be as safe as you think. NPR’s Steve Henn reports a flaw in the widely used encryption program could expose many of the internet’s encrypted traffic to eavesdropping¹⁶. One of the widely used encryption tools online is called OpenSSL. In Monday, researchers at Google and a cyber security company Codenomicon revealed there’s a bug¹⁷ in the code that implements¹⁸ that program. The bug, which they named “Heartbleed”, can expose users’ secure encryption keys. Once a hacker¹⁹ or spy has that key, it’s possible to decode²⁰ and read what happened in encrypted information like credit card numbers or user passwords as they flow over a network. This encryption tool OpenSLL is incredibly popular, in part because it’s free. As news of the “Hearbleed” bug spread, sites all over the internet have been scambling to install the fix. Steve Henn, NPR News, *.

 

Archie of comic book fame, is going to be killed off this summer. Archie Comics says the redhead will sacrifice himself while saving a friend’s life in a July installment²¹ of “Life with Archie”. That’s a comic series that tells the story of Archie and his friends as adults.

 

Two undefeated teams The University of Connecticut and Notre Dame²² are battling it out for the NCAA women’s basketball championship. UConn leads Notre Dame * 63-42 with the battle of minutes left.

1 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

2 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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》

4 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

5 deflect   

v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向

参考例句：

• Never let a little problem deflect you.决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
• They decided to deflect from the original plan.他们决定改变原计划。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

8 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。

9 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

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 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。

14 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》

15 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。

16 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

17 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

18 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》

19 hacker   

n.能盗用或偷改电脑中信息的人，电脑黑客

参考例句：

• The computer hacker wrote that he was from Russia.这个计算机黑客自称他来自俄罗斯。
• This site was attacked by a hacker last week.上周这个网站被黑客攻击了。

20 decode   

vt.译（码），解（码）

参考例句：

• All he had to do was decode it and pass it over.他需要做的就是将它破译然后转给他人。
• The secret documents were intercepted and decoded.机密文件遭截获并被破译。

21 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

22 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。