PBS高端访谈:底特律宣布破产

 　　KWAME HOLMAN: Detroit declared bankruptcy¹ today, the largest American city ever to do so. The city's state-appointed emergency manager made the filing with a federal judge. It would let him liquidate² assets in a bid to pay off creditors³ and city pensioners⁴.

　　Those parties have rejected a fiscal⁵ restructuring plan that would have paid them pennies on the dollar.

　　A new bipartisan has deal has been struck that surfaced in the Senate on student loans. It's the latest attempt to rescind⁶ a doubling of interest rates on federally subsidized Stafford loans. The compromise would tie rates to financial markets, as Republicans wanted.

　　For now, the rates for undergraduate loans would fall back below 4 percent.

　　Maine independent Angus King praised the agreement today.

　　SEN. ANGUS KING, I-Maine: People signing up for loans in the next month for college this year are going to pay about half of what they would have paid if the law had stayed as it was. We were able to come together, talk to each other, listen to each other, and find not only a compromise solution, but a good compromise solution.

　　KWAME HOLMAN: The rates could rise over time. Undergraduate rates would be capped at 8.25 percent, something Democrats⁷ demanded. The bipartisan deal is expected to reach the Senate floor in the coming days. The House already has passed student loan legislation that also ties loan rates to the markets.

　　The Senate confirmed two more members of President Obama's second-term Cabinet today. A party-line vote cleared Thomas Perez to be the new secretary of labor⁸. He's currently head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

　　Later, Gina McCarthy won confirmation⁹ as administrator¹⁰ of the Environmental Protection Agency. The votes followed this week's agreement between Democrats and Republicans to end delays on nominees¹¹ for top administration posts.

　　In Jordan, Secretary of State John Kerry heard the sharp criticism of angry Syrian refugees who demanded stronger action against the Syrian regime. Kerry sat down with six refugees living in the Zaatari camp, where 115,000 Syrians have taken shelter. They insisted the U.S. and the international community establish a no-fly zone and safe havens¹² inside Syria. The meeting lasted 40 minutes, and Kerry said he promised to relay the complaints to Washington.

　　SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY: I think they are frustrated¹³ and angry at the world for not stepping in and helping¹⁴. I think there are -- and I explained to them I don't think it's as cut-and-dry and as simple as some of them look at it. But if I were in their shoes, I would be looking for help from wherever I could find it.

　　KWAME HOLMAN: In Washington today, the chairman of the Joint¹⁵ Chiefs of Staff, Army General Martin Dempsey, said he's laid out options for President Obama on using U.S. military power in Syria. Republican Senator John McCain pressed Dempsey to say what he would do, but the general declined.

　　GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman: The decision to use force is the decision of our elected officials.

　　SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-Ariz.: You know, I just ask the -- Chairman, just ask you if you would give your personal opinion to the committee if asked. You said yes. I'm asking for your opinion.

　　GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY: About the use of kinetic¹⁶ strikes? That issue is under deliberation inside of the -- our agencies in government, and it would be inappropriate for me to try to influence the decision, with me rendering¹⁷ an opinion in public about what kind of force we should use.

　　KWAME HOLMAN: Afterward¹⁸, McCain said Dempsey must share his recommendations with the committee and he will block Dempsey's nomination¹⁹ for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs until he gets an answer.

　　A military judge refused today to dismiss a charge of aiding the enemy against Army Private 1st Class Bradley Manning. It's the most serious of 21 charges in Manning's court-martial for leaking of reams of classified documents to WikiLeaks.

　　If he's found guilty on that count, Manning could serve life in prison without parole.

　　A Southern California wildfire still is growing, after forcing 6,000 people from their homes. The fire has burned across 35 square miles southeast of Los Angeles. Residents from the town of Idyllwild packed up yesterday, as the blaze threatened more than 4,100 homes, cabins and hotels. By today, it was only 15 percent contained.

　　The U.S. credit rating got a boost today. Moody's investors²⁰ service upgraded the outlook for federal debt from negative to stable. It cited data showing the government is on track to record its lowest deficit²¹ in five years. On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 78 points to close at 15,548. The Nasdaq rose one point to close at 3,611.

　　Those are some of the day's major stories.

1 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

2 liquidate   

v.偿付，清算，扫除；整理，破产

参考例句：

• A unanimous vote was taken to liquidate the company.全体投票一致通过停业清理公司。
• They have not hesitated in the past to liquidate their rivals.过去他们曾毫不犹豫地铲除对手。

3 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

6 rescind   

v.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan.他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。
• Trade Union leaders have demanded the government rescind the price rise.工会领导已经要求政府阻止价格上涨。

7 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》

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 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

10 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。

11 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

12 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

13 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 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。

16 kinetic   

adj.运动的；动力学的

参考例句：

• There exist many sources of energy both potential and kinetic.存在着许多势能和动能的能源。
• The kinetic theory of gases is the best known example.气体动力学理论就是最有名的例子。

17 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

18 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

19 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

20 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

21 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。