NPR 2010-10-22

Protests across France are continuing. The southeastern city of Lyon again is rioting. In Marseilles, the garbage is piling up because trash collectors are on strike and gas supplies are still running short. All the result of outrage¹ over France's plans to raise the pension age from 60 to 62. The BBC's Christian² Fraser says haggling³ over legislation is giving time to unions to essentially⁴ dig in.

The pension reform bill has been in the Senate for well over a week now, but they are still debating it. It's quite a torturous⁵ process. They've been talking their way through thousands of amendments⁶ that have been put forward by opposition⁷ senators, perhaps a strategy that could be likened to filibuster⁸ and they're trying to spell it out as long as they can. It was supposed to be a final vote in the Senate this evening, but it looks like it's gonna go on until Friday, perhaps even until Saturday morning.

The BBC's Christian Fraser reporting.

Today, President Obama spoke⁹ with an audience of mostly women at a backyard meeting in Seattle. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports from the president's West Coast campaign swing.

The goal of this trip is to mobilize the Democratic base and that group includes women such as Jody Hall, who owns the local bakery, Cupcake Royale. She told the president about receiving a small business loan that let her expand.

"(And) that, plus adding the Salted Caramel the day you were inaugurated has really helped our business to thrive. So, I hear you're a big fan of Salted Caramel."

"Absolutely."

"And that's what I brought you so."

"Wonderful."

After the town hall, President Obama went to a huge rally at the University of Washington for Senator Patty Murray, who is fighting for re-election against Republican challenger Dino Rossi. Ari Shapiro NPR News Seattle.

Toyota is recalling more than 1.5 million cars mostly in the US and Japan. As NPR's Rob Gifford reports, it's the latest in a string of quality problems for the world's No.1 automaker.

Toyota said it will call back for repairs about 740,000 cars in the United States and nearly 600,000 in Japan. More than 100,000 will be recalled in Europe and elsewhere. A spokesman in Tokyo said the majority of the vehicles have a problem with the brake master cylinder¹⁰, which could lead to weaker braking power. Over the past year, Toyota's recalled more than ten million cars and trucks worldwide for a variety of problems. Analysts¹¹ say the recall has been prompt this time after harsh criticism that the company did not act fast enough on the previous safety complaints. The models affected¹² by the latest recall in the United States include the Avalon, the Highlander¹³ and the Lexus. Rob Gifford NPR News, Shanghai. 

On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average up 39 points at 11,147; NASDAQ is up two at 2,460; S&P 500 up two at 1,180.

This is NPR.

Brake fluid leaks are spurring recalls at Honda. It affects Acura RL sedans and Odyssey¹⁴ minivans from model years 2005 to 2007. However, the company is not saying how many vehicles are covered by this recall.

A typhoon is bringing floods to Taiwan and other parts of Asia. The storm that forecasters name Megi wreaked¹⁵ havoc¹⁶ in the Philippines, forcing thousands to evacuate¹⁷ their homes and causing tens of millions of dollars in damage. In China, officials say the typhoon might be the strongest to hit the South China Sea this year.

Random¹⁸ House today announced that it will publish the memoirs¹⁹ of the writer, Salman Rushdie. The publishing house says it is one of the most far-reaching multi-language and multinational²⁰ deals ever for one book. We have more on this from NPR's Lynn Neary.

Random House says the publication of Rushdie's memoirs simultaneously²¹ in three languages and in more than a dozen countries is unprecedented²². The story of Rushdie's life will include the years that he lived in hiding under the threat of death because of a fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini. His 1988 novel "the Satanic Verses" angered Muslims, who considered the work blasphemous²³ because of the way it portrayed²⁴ the Prophet Muhammad. Rushdie is still working on the book. It's scheduled for publication in 2012. Lynn Neary, NPR News, Washington.

A day after Britain unveiled a plan for the deepest spending cuts since World War II, the government is publishing details of a proposed permanent tax on British and foreign banks operating in the UK. Supporters say it will hold institutions more accountable and responsible for a potential risk they pose to the financial system.
 

1 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 haggling   

v.讨价还价( haggle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I left him in the market haggling over the price of a shirt. 我扔下他自己在市场上就一件衬衫讨价还价。
• Some were haggling loudly with traders as they hawked their wares. 有些人正在大声同兜售货物的商贩讲价钱。 来自辞典例句

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 torturous   

adj. 痛苦的

参考例句：

• His breathing was torturous.他的呼吸充满痛苦。
• This is a torturous agonizing way to kill someone.这是一种让人受尽折磨、痛苦难忍的杀人方法。

6 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

7 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。

8 filibuster   

n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠

参考例句：

• A senator dragged the subject in as a filibuster.一个参议员硬把这个题目拉扯进来，作为一种阻碍议事的手法。
• The democrats organized a filibuster in the senate.民主党党员在参议院上组织了阻挠议事。

9 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。

10 cylinder   

n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸

参考例句：

• What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？
• The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。

11 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。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 highlander   

n.高地的人，苏格兰高地地区的人

参考例句：

• They call him the highlander, he is Rory McLeod! 他们叫他寻事者，他是罗瑞·麦克劳德！ 来自互联网

14 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

15 wreaked   

诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city. 地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• They have wreaked dreadful havoc among the wildlife by shooting and trapping. 他们射杀和诱捕野生动物，造成了严重的破坏。

16 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

17 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

18 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

19 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

21 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

22 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

23 blasphemous   

adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的

参考例句：

• The book was declared blasphemous and all copies ordered to be burnt.这本书被断定为亵渎神明之作，命令全数焚毀。
• The people in the room were shocked by his blasphemous language.满屋的人都对他那侮慢的语言感到愤慨。

24 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》