NPR 2008-04-16

A series of bombings across Iraq has left dozens of people dead and well over 100 injured. NPR's JJ Sutherland reports from Baghdad.

 A huge blast ripped through the capital of Diyala province. A car bomber¹ hit a market in the city of Baqubah. At least 40 people died there, buses and cars were destroyed, at least 10 shops were caught up in the explosion. In Ramadi, a suicide bomber walked into a restaurant popular with police shouted "God is great" and then his vest failed to detonate. He was arrested, but a second bomber came in 30 minutes later and his explosives worked, 13 people were killed. In Mosul, two car bombs left an unknown number of people dead. On Monday almost 20 people died in the northern city, the result of 7 separate explosions. In the capital a bomb killed 1 person. The spate² of bombings across the country is a departure from recent months which has shown a fairly steady downward trended violence across the country. JJ Sutherland, NPR News, Baghdad.

 Witnesses are reporting dozens of fatalities³ at the scene of a crash involving a Congolese jetliner. The plane which apparently⁴ never was able to take off careened off the runway into a bustling⁵ market area where then burst into flames. Anna Ridot(人名) is with the aid group World Vision, she says basically the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 was in pieces. "The nose of the plane was one side at the shop, and the tail was sticking up. The other side, the middle was just completely burnt out. " It's not clear how many people aboard the plane were killed, at least one of the plane's pilots was said to have survived the crash.

 Presumptive Republican presidential nominee⁶ John McCain gave his most wide-ranging speech on the economy today in Pennsylvania including a call for a gas tax holiday. Mark Nootbaar of member station WDUQ in Pittsburgh has more.

 Senator McCain says the federal gas tax of nearly 18.5 cents should be eliminated from Memorial Day to Labor⁷ Day. "The effect will be an immediate⁸ economic stimulus⁹ taking a few dollars off the price of a tank of gas, every time a family, a farmer, or trucker stops to fill up. Over the same period our government should suspend the purchase of oil for the Strategic Petroleum¹⁰ Reserve, which has also contributed to the rising price of oil. " That stimulus would come before McCain could take control of the White House. He has other ideas to implement¹¹ if elected. He would work for a new unemployment system focus on retraining workers, offer taxpayers¹² an alternative simpler income tax system, provide home loans for those facing foreclosures and make the Bush tax cuts permanent. For NPR News, I'm Mark Nootbaar, Pittsburgh.

 Pope Benedict XVI is in the US. Benedict, on his first official papal visit to the country, arrived today to a chorus of cheers from a group of Catholic students. He was greeted by President Bush along with his wife Laura Bush and daughter Jenna. The Pope will go to the White House tomorrow.

 On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 60 points today to close at 12,362.

This is NPR.

Following Delta¹³'s announcement last night that it is requiring Northwest Airlines for 3 billion dollars, Rival Continental¹⁴ said today it is now reviewing its strategic alternatives. The combination of Atlanta-based Delta and Minnesota-based Northwest is expected to create the world's largest airline with upwards¹⁵ of 75,000 employees and nearly 800 airplanes. Among the possible partners for Continental, according to analysts¹⁶, it could be United Airlines. Still any Airline mergers¹⁷ would need the approval of the federal regulators and also have to be approved by the Airline's work forces.

 A federal jury has convicted a woman on charges her upscale escort service in Washington D. C. was actually a prostitution business. NPR's Libby Lewis reports.

 Deborah Jean Palfrey got a lot of people's attention here when she threatened to sell her high-end clientele list to help pay her legal bills. She became known locally as the D. C. Madam. The D. C. escort service she ran out of her California home charged 250 dollars an hour. Palfrey's lawyer listed as potential witnesses: Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, his name was linked to Palfrey's business by way of phone records; and Randall Tobias, he resigned as the Deputy Secretary of State after he acknowledged to use Palfrev's business for massages¹⁸. Neither of them was called to testify. The jury convicted Palfrev on charges of money laundering¹⁹, racketeering and using the mail for illegal purposes. Libby Lewis, NPR News, Washington.

Labor Department reported today its Producer Price Index, a key wholesale²⁰ inflation gauge²¹, shot up by bigger than expected 1.1% in March. That was almost twice the gain most analysts had expected.

1 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

2 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

3 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

6 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

10 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

11 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

12 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

13 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

14 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。

15 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

16 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。

17 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

18 massages   

按摩，推拿( massage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At present the doctor is giving him daily massages to help restore the function of his limbs. 目前医生每天在给他按摩，帮助他恢复腿臂的功能。
• His father massages his nose and chin. 他爸爸揉了揉鼻子和下巴。

19 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 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。

21 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。