NPR 2011-06-30

From NPR News in Washington. I'm Lakshmi Singh.

President Obama is pressing Congress to make tough choices to raise the debt ceiling before an August 2nd deadline. The president spoke¹ during a White House news conference as NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

The news conference was dominated by questions about the economy. Mr. Obama said any package to raise the debt ceiling while cutting spending would need to be balanced. He said revenue increases should be a part of the deal, including ending tax breaks for corporate² jet owners and big oil companies. He said he was hopeful an agreement will be reached.

"Hopefully, leaders at a certain point rise to the occasion and they do the right thing for the American people. And that's what I expect to happen this time. Call me naive³, but my expectation is that leaders are going to lead."

The president also defended US support for actions against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, saying no one should defend one of the world's worst tyrants⁴. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.

Protesters are gathering⁵ again in downtown Cairo. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is there and tells us the demonstrators are demanding Egypt's military rulers speed up their prosecution⁶ of security forces accused of murder during the uprising that ousted⁷ Hosni Mubarak.

The scenes were similar to those during the 18-day uprising that ousted Mubarak as protesters dragged barricades⁸ into the streets to prevent police vehicles from getting in. Protesters like Olva Tito say even if the police continue to use tear gas and batons⁹, they will not give up.

"All the time I'm talking to my friends that we should start a revolution and never end before we catch everyone who killed the young people and remove the old regime by ourselves."

Egyptian officials say more than 1000 people were injured in the recent clashes. Fearing a backlash, army tanks have sealed off access to the Interior Ministry¹⁰. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Cairo.

Police in Greece fired tear-gas grenades at crowds in one of the most violent confrontations¹¹ yet surrounding Greece's passage of the first in a pair of austerity measures. Sirens wailed¹² as security forces took on large numbers of activists¹³ in central Athens. John Psaropoulos is there where he describes why people are so angry about the austerity bills.

They are angry the political elite¹⁴ was willing to go into a parliamentary vote on an enormous austerity package and privatization package worth 111 billion dollars without putting it to a general referendum. So this is a spillover from a very large container of popular discontent that hasn't found an outlet¹⁵ in the political system.

But the austerity measures meet demands of an international bailout to avoid a Greek default, and that’s sending US stocks up. The Dow was higher 73 points at 12261.

This is NPR.

In an unprecedented¹⁶ vote by the Food and Drug Administration's advisory¹⁷ panel, cancer experts are ruling that Avastin should no longer be used in breast cancer patients. This was the second time the panel has come to this conclusion.

Two private equity¹⁸ firms are buying the nation's third largest warehouse¹⁹ club for 2.8 billion dollars. If shareholders²⁰ approved the deal, BJ's Wholesale²¹ Club would no longer be publicly traded. Curt²² Nickisch of member station WBUR in Boston has more.

If you go to Sam's Club or Coscto now, you may soon get another option. BJ's runs almost 200 stores in 15 states, mostly on the East Coast, but becoming a private company could help it expand to more parts of the country. Patty Edwards is a discount retail²³ analyst²⁴ at Trutina Financial.

"It can be a really good strategy."

BJ's new owners are private equity firms that have experience in national retail. They're also more likely to invest in expansion, knowing the payoff could take years. For NPR News, I'm Curt Nickisch in Boston.

Bank of America and its Countrywide unit will shell out 8.5 billion dollars settling claims that its lenders sold low-standard mortgage-backed securities that imploded²⁵ as the housing market collapsed²⁶. B-of-A says the settlement with nearly two dozen investors²⁷ is subject to court approval. The case forces Bank of America to post its second-quarter loss anywhere between 8.6 billion dollars and just over nine billion. But the bank shares rose 4% before the market opened today with investors' relief that a settlement's finally been reached.

Here's the latest from Wall Street: Dow was up 73 at 12261; Nasdaq up 11 points.

This is NPR.

1 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。

2 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

3 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

4 tyrants   

专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a succession of tyrants. 这个国家接连遭受暴君的统治。
• The people suffered under foreign tyrants. 人民在异族暴君的统治下受苦受难。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

7 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

8 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

9 batons   

n.（警察武器）警棍( baton的名词复数 )；（乐队指挥用的）指挥棒；接力棒

参考例句：

• There were many riot policemen with batons. 有许多带警棍的防暴警察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chinese police fight? Number one is a person with batons to fight! 满街飘的中国国旗，是一个老华侨在事发时那出来分给大家的，很感动，真的，从来一向多一事不如少一事的中国人今天团结到一起站出来反抗。 来自互联网

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

12 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

13 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

15 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

16 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。

17 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

18 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

19 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

20 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

21 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

22 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

23 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

24 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

25 imploded   

v.（使）向心聚爆( implode的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The economies of Brazil and Russia imploded in 1998. 巴西与俄罗斯的经济在1998年宣告破裂。 来自互联网
• 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

26 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

27 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