NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2015-05-08

 The mayor of Baltimore is asking the Justice Department to look into whether there are patterns of discrimination and excessive force in the city’s police department. NPR’s Hazel Ova reports U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is considering the request. Meanwhile, CVS Health says it will rebuild its store locations that were badly damaged by the fire last week during protests in Baltimore. CVS Health President and CEO Larry Merlo said that he cannot say exactly when damaged stores will reopen, but CVS is working to reopen them as soon as possible. The company says two store locations will be rebuilt. CVS has nearly 30 stores and more than 500 employees in Baltimore. The Rhode Island-based chains says it paid employees at the two stores for their regularly scheduled hours the week of the protest. 

 

A bipartisan push to establish a humanitarian¹ safe zone in war-torn Syria encountered some opposition² today from top U.S. defense³ officials. As NPR’s David Welna reports, such a move has been resisted for months by the Obama administration. 

Illinois Democrat⁴ Dick Durbin used the defense spending hearing to tell Pentagon leaders that he and several other Senators from both parties want a safe zone for refugees from the killing⁵ in Syria.

“Though this may not be a genocide by classic legal definition, it is the humanitarian crisis for our time.”

But Defense Secretary Ash Carter says creating a safe zone is difficult to contemplate⁶. 

“That’s a combat mission and a major combat mission.”

Joint⁷ Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey had similar misgivings⁸. 

“It’s practical militarily, but it would be a significant policy decision to do so.”

So far that decision has not been made. David Welna, NPR News, Washington.

 

U.S. payroll⁹ processor ADP is reporting that hiring slowed in April to its weakest pace in more a year with businesses adding just 169,000 jobs, lower than the 175,000 added in the previous month. Still Moody’s Analytics chief economist¹⁰ Mark Zandi says he expects the jobless rate to continue to improve. 

“All we need is create 125,000 jobs per month to maintain a stable rate of unemployment, given the growth in labor¹¹ force. So even at 175, we created 50 say plus more jobs than we need. That means unemployment will continue to decline.”

The Labor Department is out with April’s unemployment report on Friday. 

 

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen rattled¹² markets earlier today when she suggested that stocks generally are overvalued. She spoke¹³ at a conference at the International Monetary¹⁴ Fund in Washington. She was answering a question about potential risks to financial stability. 

 

Wall Street: the Dow was down 86; the Nasdaq down 19. 

 

This is NPR.

 

The Treasury¹⁵ Department has announced it will aim to run an operating balance between $200bn and $225bn. That’s better than double the existing amount of roughly $80bn. The increase is designed to let the government pay its bills for about a week in the case of a disruption such as a cyber-attack. 

 

The lead singer of British punk group Hot Chocolate has died. As NPR’s Neda Ulaby reports, Errol Brown died this morning of liver cancer. He was 71 years old. 

Hot Chocolate’s biggest hit from 1975 found an appreciative¹⁶ new audience a generation later in the 1997 movie The Full Monty. 

“Where you from/ You sexy thing”

Hot Chocolate generated about 30 British hits, many more serious in theme. Errol Brown wrote or co-wrote a number of them, including “Brother Louie” about an interracial romance. 

“Louie Louie Louie Louie”

A rewritten version will sound very familiar to fans of the FX show Louie. Brown’s success let him more or less retire from music and lead what seemed to be a quiet happy life. Brown died in the Bahamas with wife of more than 40 years by his side. Neda Ulaby, NPR News. 

 

Former Speaker of the House James Wright, a Texas Democrat, known for his oratorical¹⁷ flourishes, has died in Fort Worth at age of 92. Wright was first elected to the U.S. House in 1954 and rose to serve as majority leader, later succeeding Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil. Two years later, facing ethics¹⁸ challenges, Wright surrendered the Speaker seat. 

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 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。

3 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。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

7 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。

8 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

10 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。

11 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。

12 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

13 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。

14 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

15 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

16 appreciative   

adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的

参考例句：

• She was deeply appreciative of your help.她对你的帮助深表感激。
• We are very appreciative of their support in this respect.我们十分感谢他们在这方面的支持。

17 oratorical   

adj.演说的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The award for the oratorical contest was made by a jury of nine professors. 演讲比赛的裁决由九位教授组成的评判委员会作出。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His oratorical efforts evoked no response in his audience. 他的雄辩在听众中不起反响。 来自辞典例句

18 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。