NPR NEWS 2008-02-16

Support for NPR Podcasts comes from Northwestern Mutual¹, the quiet company, committed to building lifelong relationships in communities and protecting financial futures³.

 From NPR News in Washington, I'm Paul Brown.

 Police and Northern Illinois University officials in DeKalb, Illinois will talk to the public later today after yesterday's shootings in an NIU classroom. Seven people including the gunman died and at least sixteen were injured. Twenty-one-year-old NIU senior Desiree Smith was in the lecture hall when the gunman opened fire. She described bedlam⁴ in an interview with Chicago Spotnews. "Everyone dropped down to the ground. It's like a movie theater style seating. Uh, I could see people through the seats, I kinda like locked eyes with this girl for two seconds and then, we realized everyone was crawling out so I started to army-crawl out of there." The university president says the shooter was a former graduate student at northern Illinois who stepped from behind a screen in the classroom and started firing. Classes have been cancelled today. This is the fourth shooting at a school in the U.S. within a week.

 President Bush says he will put off a long planned trip to Africa if necessary to push Congress to approve his warrantless domestic eavesdropping⁵ program. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

 The Senate and House have approved two different measures that would continue the program. The difference is the Senate has included immunity⁶ for phone companies that face lawsuits⁷ charging they illegally turned over records to the government after 9/11. The House does not have immunity in its bill. The president wants House lawmakers to drop their objections and go along with the Senate plan. "Republicans and Democrats⁸ in the Senate can put partisanship⁹ aside, and pass a good bill. There is no reason why the House can not do the same, and pass the Senate bill immediately." The current surveillance legislation expires on Saturday, but the president could continue the program until this summer. Brian Naylor, NPR News, the Capitol.

 Republican presidential rivals Mitt² Romney and John McCain have put aside their differences. Romney endorsed¹⁰ McCain yesterday and says he will ask his delegates to support the Arizona Senator. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

 Romney and McCain fought a sometimes bitter battle during the GOP primary, but that was mostly forgotten when the two men appeared together in Boston yesterday. Romney who dropped out of the presidential race last week said McCain is capable of leading the country in what he called "a dangerous hour". McCain said he looks forward to Romney's help as he moves forward with his own campaign. "Now we move forward together, for the good of our party and the nation, and I'm honored, I'm very honored to have Governor Romney and the members of his team at my side." McCain said Romney's intensive primary campaign helped him become a better candidate. He is far ahead of his remaining rivals Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul in the race for the GOP nomination¹¹. Scott Horsley, NPR News.

 Democrat Hillary Clinton has been named the winner of the New Mexico Democratic presidential primary nine days after "Super Tuesday". She is now 56 votes behind Barack Obama in delegates but appears to have a lead among super delegates.

 This is NPR News.

 Angry Republicans boycotted¹² a House vote yesterday, as two confidants of President Bush were held in contempt for failing to cooperate with an inquiry¹³ into the firings of federal prosecutors¹⁴. The vote was 223-32 to hold White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt. Republicans walked out to a podium waiting on the Capitol steps. Minority leader John Boehner said the House needed to be working on a foreign intelligence surveillance bill. Democrats said they were acting¹⁵ to protect the constitutional responsibilities of Congress in the system of checks and balances.

 The head of the United Auto¹⁶ Workers union says he expects at least 15,000 workers to leave General Motors in its latest round of buyouts. From Michigan Radio, Dustin Dwyer reports.

 Last year, the UAW signed a new contract with GM that allows the company to hire about 16,000 new workers at half the wage the company currently pays. But to get in the new lower paid workers, GM has to convince current workers to leave. So now it is offering incentives¹⁷ worth up to 140,000 dollars for workers to give up their jobs. UAW president Ron Gettelfinger says he expects between 15 and 20 thousand workers to accept the deals. A GM spokesman says workers will get more details on the buyouts in the coming weeks. They will then have 45 days to decide whether to accept. Similar buyout programs are already underway at Ford¹⁸ and Chrysler. For NPR News, I'm Dustin Dwyer in Ann Arbor¹⁹, Michigan.

 China is reporting a forecast-beating trade surplus for January even as economic growth slowed in other countries and credit in China became tighter. Chinese imports and exports both grew faster than economists²⁰ had expected.

 I'm Paul Brown, NPR News, Washington.

 

1 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

2 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

3 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

4 bedlam   

n.混乱，骚乱；疯人院

参考例句：

• He is causing bedlam at the hotel.他正搅得旅馆鸡犬不宁。
• When the teacher was called away the classroom was a regular bedlam.当老师被叫走的时候，教室便喧闹不堪。

5 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

6 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

7 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

8 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》

9 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

10 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》

11 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。

12 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

13 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

14 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

15 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

16 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。

17 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

18 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

19 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

20 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》