NPR 2008-12-05

The CEOs of the Big Three domestic automakers were back on Capitol Hill today, pushing for a financial aid package. The Chairman of the Senate Banking² Committee indicated he is favoring a federal bailout for Detroit's Big Three. NPR's Giles Snyder reports.

Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut endorsed⁴ the government help at the beginning of a hearing that saw the return to Washington by the executives of the Big Three. Despite harsh criticism two weeks ago, Dodd said he thinks the automakers are now making a better case for assistance than the financial industry which is benefiting from a 700-billion-dollar rescue plan. "In my view, if we're going to insist on reforms by the auto¹ industry as a condition of receiving federal funding, we ought to do the same for the financial companies." Dodd pledged to put conditions on loans to financial companies in any bill to bail³ out automakers. The Big Three are seeking some 34 billion dollars under assistance from the government. Dodd says simply allowing the auto companies to go into bankruptcy⁵ would be like playing Russian roulette with the entire economy. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

Congressional officials are saying a proposal to tap fuel-efficiency loans already approved for domestic automakers will not come close to covering the billions they say they need in order to survive. Officials say they've been told privately⁶ by a budget analyst⁷ such move would only provide 10 to 15 billion dollars in short-term loans, far less than what the automakers are asking for. Some auto state lawmakers have been pushing a plan that would tap the program to pay for emergency bridge loan for domestic Big Three. The money has been earmarked to be used to help the automakers produce greener vehicles.

Iraq's Presidency⁸ Council has approved the security deal with the U. S., the last step for the agreement to replace a United Nations mandate⁹ that expires at the end of this year. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports from Baghdad.

President Jalal Talabani and his two deputies Tareq al-Hashemi and Adel Abdul-Mahdi signed the accord at their headquarters in Baghdad, providing a legal basis for American troops to remain in Iraq, though the accord will go into effect in the New Year. There will be a nationwide referendum where ordinary Iraqis will have a chance to vote for or against the pact¹⁰. There was almost a year of tough negotiations¹¹ between the U. S. and the Iraqis to hammer out this deal. And after there were weeks of wrangling¹² in Iraq's parliament, still this final version was approved today in effect to end America's military involvement in Iraq. It stipulates¹³ that U. S. forces must withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30th and the entire country by the first day of 2012. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Baghdad.

Telecommunications company AT&T is the latest big firm to wield¹⁴ the jobs cutting ax. The nation's largest phone company announced today it plans to eliminate 12, 000 jobs, around 4% of its workforce¹⁵. The New York-based company joins a host of other firms that have announced job and spending cuts in recent days as they grapple with the effects of the U. S. economy officially in recession.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged¹⁶ 215 points, to close at 8, 376. The NASDAQ was down 46 points. The S&P fell 25 points.

This is NPR.

Faced with a no-confidence vote, he appears likely to lose. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper today shut down the parliament. The move effectively keeps his government in power for the better part of the next two months. Harper says the decision is intended to stop the clock. So, in his words, "parties can focus on the economy and work together". Opposition¹⁷ leaders, however, have accused Harper of failing to insulate Canada from the current global economic crisis. Coming just two months after his election, the decision to close parliament which had to be approved by the unelected representative, the Head of State, Britain's Queen Elizabeth is unprecedented¹⁸.

NASA has decided¹⁹ to delay ambitious robotic mission to Mars. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports.

The mission is called the Mars Science Laboratory. It's a chemistry lab mounted on a large robotic car. It'll look for evidence that Mars is or ever was able to support microbial life. Most of the hardware is already built, but there are still some technical problems. NASA administrator²⁰ Michael Griffin says the agency had hopes to launch next year, but "We've determined²¹ that trying for '09 would require us to assume too much risk, more than I think is appropriate for a flagship mission like Mars Science Laboratory." He says NASA will delay until the next launch opportunity in 2011. This will add to the cost of the mission. Two years ago, NASA thought the robot could be built for 1.6 billion dollars, now managers say the total will be over two billion. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are homeowners. Mrs. Bush’s Press Secretary announced today the First Couple has bought a home in an affluent²² Dallas suburb where they will live after the president leaves office in January. The home is located in the Preston Hollow neighborhood, north of the city. Some of the most expensive homes in Texas are in that neighborhood.

1 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。

2 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

3 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

4 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

7 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。

8 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

9 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

10 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

11 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

12 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

13 stipulates   

n.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的名词复数 )；规定，明确要求v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的第三人称单数 )；规定，明确要求

参考例句：

• The trade contract stipulates for the settlement of balances in RMB. 贸易合同规定余额以人民币结算。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The contract stipulates for the use of seasoned timber. 合同上订明用干透的木料。 来自辞典例句

14 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

15 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

16 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

17 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。

18 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。

19 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

20 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。

21 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

22 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。