NPR 2008-09-29

President Bush is praising the bipartisan financial rescue plan worked out in negotiations¹ with the administration. He said he knows the vote on the measure will be difficult for lawmakers, but he's confident it will be approved. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the bill includes a number of provisions to keep Wall Street firms and their executives from profiting from the bailout. "We sent a message to Wall Street. The party is over. The era of golden parachutes for high-flying Wall Street operators is over." The New York Times reports one of the last changes included in the bill would allow the government to recoup any losses incurred² from the bailout after five years from the financial community.

GOP presidential nominee³ John McCain says he will swallow hard and support the financial rescue bill. NPR's Scott Coarsely reports.

John McCain says despite its high price tag, the financial rescue plan worked out over the weekend meets his conditions for oversight⁴ and taxpayer⁵ protection. McCain told ABC it's important to get the plan off the negotiating table and passed quickly. "The real effectiveness is gonna restore some confidence and get some credit out there and get the economic system moving again which is basically in gridlock today." McCain dramatically left the campaign trail last week to join the negotiations in Washington, a move House Republicans applauded and some Democrats⁶ called counter-productive. McCain spent much of Saturday phoning Republicans urging them to support the rescue. Scott Coarsely, NPR News, Washington.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is also expressing support for the rescue plan. At a rally in Detroit today, Obama called the financial mess an outrage⁷ coming as many Americans are facing tough times. "Nowhere had there been more difficult than in Michigan, nowhere had there been more difficult than in Detroit. The auto-industry knows something about our hard times. So I know it's been hard." Obama told the crowd that if he wins Michigan, he's convinced he'll win the election.

Hurricane Kyle is plowing⁸ northward⁹ in the Atlantic and is expected to make landfall in eastern Canada sometime tonight or early tomorrow. The storm will not directly hit Maine but tropical storm warnings are posted there. From Maine Public Radio, Tom Porter has more.

The approach of Hurricane Kyle has led to emergency preparations on the stretch of coast known as Down East running from Penobscot Bay which is about halfway¹⁰ of the state to the Canadian border. In this rugged¹¹ sparsely¹² populated stretch of New England, lobstermen are moving their boats into sheltered coast out of harm's way wherever possible. Winds are expected to reach 60 miles per hour. The last time a hurricane watch was posted in Maine was when Hurricane Bob paid a visit in 1991. For NPR News, this is Tom Porter in Brunswick Maine.

Flood watches are in effect from New Hampshire to Maine as the hurricane brushes up the eastern seaboard.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Gasoline prices are down nearly four cents a gallon over the past two weeks. Self-service regular now averages $3.66 a gallon nationwide. Industry analyst¹³, Truby Lundberg. "Most cities saw lower prices in the past two weeks. The biggest drop we found in our sample with Little Rock, Arkansas down 31 cents." Lundberg expects prices at the pump to decline further over the next few weeks.

Gas stations in parts of the southeast are still short on fuel as worried drivers keep topping off their tanks. One of the cities most affected¹⁴ is Atlanta. From Georgia Public Broadcasting, Susanna Capelouto reports.

Driving around Atlanta, you see gas station after gas station with blank signs and when there is gas, long lines will tell. Eric Rockliff tried to beat the system to fill up his Ford¹⁵ Expedition. "I set my alarm for 2:45 am, and jumped into my car looking for gas." Through networking and texting with friends, he knew that QT stations were likely to have gas. "The one closest to my house, even at 3 am, had cars lined up in the street in both directions." Rockliff knew of another QT down the street and got lucky no lines. This hit-and-miss situation officials say is caused by a shortage of supply from Gulf¹⁶ refineries¹⁷ still reeling from hurricane shutdowns. For NPR News, I am Susanna Capelouto in Atlanta.

Voters in Ecuador have approved by a two to one margin¹⁸ a new constitution for the country, a constitution that will significantly expand the powers of the country's leftist President Raphael Correa. He'll also be allowed to run for two more consecutive¹⁹ terms in office. Correa called the vote a historic victory. Critics say the new constitution gives the president too much authority.

1 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。

2 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。

3 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。

4 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

5 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

6 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》

7 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

8 plowing   

v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• "There are things more important now than plowing, Sugar. "如今有比耕种更重要的事情要做呀，宝贝儿。 来自飘（部分）
• Since his wife's death, he has been plowing a lonely furrow. 从他妻子死后，他一直过着孤独的生活。 来自辞典例句

9 northward   

adv.向北；n.北方的地区

参考例句：

• He pointed his boat northward.他将船驶向北方。
• I would have a chance to head northward quickly.我就很快有机会去北方了。

10 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

11 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

12 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

15 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。

16 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。

17 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

18 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

19 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。