NPR 2008-09-21

The White House says the price tag for the administration's proposal to deal with the nation's financial crisis will range up to 700 billion dollars. That's the amount of spending authority being sought for the Treasury¹ Department to buy up troubled mortgage assets, a higher price than lawmakers were told just yesterday. President Bush says the dollar amount is high because the problem is big. "Over time we are gonna get a lot of money back. But right now the government needed to send a clear signal that we understood the instability could ripple² throughout and affect the working people and the average family. We weren't gonna let that happen. "Mr. Bush's speaking at a news conference in the White House Rose Garden after meeting with Colombia's president. Congressional staff members are working through the weekend on the proposal. And House and Senate leaders have pledged to have the measure approved by the end of next week, although they say they will make changes in the bill.

A huge truck bomb exploded in front of a hotel in Pakistan's capital today, killing³ at least 40 people and injuring more than 250 others. NPR's Philip Reeves says the blast was very powerful. "The lower floors of this hotel which I know quite well, the fronts of it are completely taken off from and the glass windows that used to be there are removed. I can see into the rooms that lie beyond those windows. And those rooms are absolutely wrecked⁴. "NPR's Philip Reeves in Islamabad says the death toll⁵ may well rise because the blast triggered a fire in the hotel and rescuers have not been able to enter the building. Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik says officials were warned that there might be an attack possibly tied to the inaugural⁶ address of the country's new president. "Two days back, we had a threat that the parliament is under threat. So we had taken all the security measures. "The explosion occurred just a few hundred yards from the Pakistani prime minister's house where all the leaders of the country's new government were having dinner.

South African President Thabo Mbeki has agreed to resign after leaders of his own governing party threatened to force him out of office. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton has more.

In the end, a bitter power struggle and divisive infighting within the president's ANC party cost Thabo Mbeki his job. His decision to resign comes just days after a judge suggested that Mbeki's government had meddled⁷ in a corruption⁸ case against his main political rival and erstwhile deputy Jacob Zuma who now heads the ANC. So South Africa needs a caretaker president to replace Mbeki until elections next year when he was due to step down after a two-term presidential limit. Mbeki's imminent⁹ departure has both national and regional implications. Only on Monday he presided over the signing of a power-sharing deal for troubled Zimbabwe. Unfinished business across South Africa's border leaves a question mark over Mbeki's mediation¹⁰ since Zimbabwe has yet to form a unity¹¹ government. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Dakar.

The presidential nominees¹² are spending some time this weekend preparing for their first debate. They will face off next Friday in Oxford¹³, Mississippi.

This is NPR News.

One week after Hurricane Ike pounded the Gulf¹⁴ Coast, more than a million people in Texas and nearly a quarter of a million in Ohio are still without electricity as a result of the storm and its remnants. And in Nashville, at least half the city's gas stations are closed because of a reduction in supply from a gas pipeline¹⁵ in the Gulf. Christine Buttorff of member station WPLN in Nashville has more.

At a gas station on Nashville's east side, the line was about 30 cars deep. Lines are like that or worse all over the city at the remaining stations which still have fuel. Many stations have taken the price numbers off signs or put yellow caution tape around pumps to warn drivers there's no gas. Jessie Boier was out filling her car while her distraught Chihuahua barked in the background. Boier says her low fuel light came on the day before. "So I've only been looking for a couple of days, but I had my mama on the computer back home. She found the website where they are keeping an update of where there was gas, so, she's been calling me and giving me updates then. " Boier was also filling a gas can for her boss who had run out of fuel. AAA expects some outages to continue through the end of next week. For NPR News, I'm Christine Buttorff in Nashville.

More than 100, 000 residents of Beaumont, Texas were permitted to return to their homes as a mandatory¹⁶ evacuation order was lifted today. And evacuees¹⁷ from Galveston will be allowed back on Wednesday. Galveston city manager Steve LeBlanc is warning people to expect challenging conditions. "You need to protect yourself from being cut or injured because again the hospital has very limited capability¹⁸ to provide care." LeBlanc says there is still no municipal water or sanitation¹⁹ service on most of the island.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

6 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

7 meddled   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Someone has meddled with the photographs I laid out so carefully. 有人把我精心布置的照片弄乱了。 来自辞典例句
• The gifts of charity meddled with a man's private affair. 慈善团体的帮助实际上是干涉私人的事务。 来自互联网

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

10 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

11 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

12 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• 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

13 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

14 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

15 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

16 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

17 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

18 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

19 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。