NPR 2008-12-22

Fierce winter storms have been pounding the northern half of the nation today, dumping more snow and ice on states still struggling to restore power knocked out by ice storms last weekend. Unusually frigid¹ temperatures are gripping much of the Midwest, causing travel problems as Tony Arnold of Chicago Public Radio reports.

Strong winds and arctic chill are making travel more difficult. In Chicago, motorists are battling drifting snow and very cold high winds. Gino Izzi is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. He says the region got about nine inches of snow in the past week, making this one of the snowiest starts to the season ever. "The condition is bad there with the blowing and drifting snow, and blizzard³ conditions are even worse when you consider the Arctic air masses moved into place with that strong winds. We've seen wind chills dip to almost 40 degree below zero in spots. " The bitter cold is also being blamed for some 150 cancelled flights at Ohio Airport. Power companies throughout northern Illinois are also blaming the cold for some power outages, affecting some 36, 000 customers. For NPR News, I'm Tony Arnold in Chicago.

Gas prices have dropped another nine cents a gallon over the past two weeks, down to a national average of $1. 66 for a gallon of self-service regular. Prices at the pump have not been that low in nearly five years.

Vice² President Dick Cheney acknowledges that the Bush administration is leaving the auto⁴ industry crisis to the Obama administration to resolve, but he says President Bush has done his best to manage the problem for now. NPR's Carol Van Dam has more.

The vice-president says it's not easy figuring out what to do with the potential bankruptcy⁵ of Detroit's Big Three. Speaking on FOX NEWS Sunday, Cheney defended President Bush's move on Friday, offering the carmakers 17 billion dollars in emergency loans. "The president's package basically extends a line of credit to the companies for a specified⁶ period of time and also, at the same time, tries to encourage the kind of changes and restructuring that we think is going to be essential if the companies are ever going to become viable⁷. " The aid would be doled⁸ out only if the carmakers and the unions make big concessions⁹. Cheney says with a month to go before the Bush administration leaves office, it will be President-elect Barack Obama's problem after January 20th. Carol Van Dam, NPR News, Washington.

The top U. S. envoy¹⁰ in Africa says Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is completely out of touch with reality. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer says the U.S. will no longer support any power-sharing deal that allows Mugabe to remain president "He is discredited¹¹, completely discredited with the neighboring countries. Their only question is now what should they do. " Frazer speaking to reporters in Pretoria. The new U.S. stance is expected to put pressure on South Africa and the other neighboring countries to abandon Mugabe. In recent weeks, Zimbabwe's economy has deteriorated¹² further and a cholera¹³ outbreak in the country is worsening.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Russian police have broken up a protest in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok where residents tried to stage a demonstration¹⁴ against new taxes on imported cars. From Moscow, Gregory Feiffer reports.

The port city of Vladivostok is the gateway¹⁵ for tens of thousands of second-hand¹⁶ Japanese cars imported into Russia every year. Many residents' livelihoods¹⁷ are connected to the sale of cars Russians find highly dependable in extreme weather conditions in the Far East and Siberia. But as the global financial crisis shrinks car sales, the government has raised import duties on foreign cars to protect the obsolete¹⁸ Soviet-era domestic car industry. Demonstrators in Vladivostok first came onto the streets last weekend. When they tried to gather in the city's main square today for an unsanctioned rally, riot police beat people with truncheons and dragged off dozens to waiting vans. Political observers say the authoritarian¹⁹ Kremlin is seriously worried about social discontent as thousands face layoffs²⁰ and rising prices. Gregory Feiffer, NPR News, Moscow.

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders have been recovered from the Continental²¹ Airlines jet that veered²² off a runway during takeoff at Denver International Airport yesterday. The plane burst into flames and 38 people were injured. National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt: "There is extensive fire damage to the right side of the aircraft and the interior is quite burned. " Sumwalt says it's too soon to know what caused the accident. He says the on-site inspection²³ of the plane will begin in earnest tomorrow. Denver's fire chief says it's a miracle everyone aboard the plane survived.

1 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

4 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。

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 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

7 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

8 doled   

救济物( dole的过去式和过去分词 )； 失业救济金

参考例句：

• The food was doled out to the poor. 食品分发给了穷人。
• Sisco briskly doled out the United States positions on the key issues. 西斯科轻快地把美国在重大问题上的立场放了出去。

9 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

10 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

11 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

12 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

13 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

14 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

15 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

16 second-hand   

adj.用过的，旧的，二手的

参考例句：

• I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
• They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。

17 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

18 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

19 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

20 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

21 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

22 veered   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The bus veered onto the wrong side of the road. 公共汽车突然驶入了逆行道。
• The truck veered off the road and crashed into a tree. 卡车突然驶离公路撞上了一棵树。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。