NPR 2009-01-30

Illinois state senators have begun debating the fate of Governor Rod Blagojevich with a vote on whether to remove the governor from office expected shortly. Republican State Senator Dale Righter was among those who said Blagojevich needs to go. "This governor should be convicted of that articles impeachment¹. He should be removed from office and he should be barred from ever holding public office in the state again. "Earlier today, the Illinois governor in an impassioned address before state Senate lawmakers maintained he's done nothing wrong. The prosecutor² in the case says Blagojevich could have testified at his trial but chose not to. The governor faces charges he sought to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.

President Barack Obama is apparently³ not happy over reports of multi-billion-dollar bonus payouts by Wall Street banks last year. Speaking with his Treasury⁴ Secretary, Mr. Obama called the CEO bonuses at the time banks are asking the government for loans "the height of irresponsibility" and "shameful⁵". The Obama Administration comments come on heels of a report from the New York comptroller's office this week that Wall Street firms paid out just under $18. 5 billion in bonuses to employees last year.

The suicide rate among soldiers increased once again over the past year and is now at a three-decade high. NPR's Tom Bowman has more.

At least 128 active-duty soldiers killed themselves last year. That translates into the highest suicide rate since 1980 when record started being kept. 15 additional soldier deaths were still being investigated as possible suicides. And for the first time since the Vietnam War, the rate of soldier suicides is higher than their age group in the civilian⁶ population. The majority of soldiers who took their own lives did so after returning home from a combat deployment⁷, just like in 2007 when 115 soldiers committed suicide. The Army says most of the soldiers committed suicide because of failed relationships. They were strained by long and repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army is starting new programs for soldiers and one Army official pleaded for more counselors⁸, saying "We are hiring and we need your help. " Tom Bowman, NPR News, the Pentagon.

Sales of new homes fell last month to the slowest pace on record. Giles Snyder reports.

Home builders ended their weakest year since 1982 with a dramatic drop in new home sales in December. The Commerce Department says sales fell nearly 15% last month. Economist⁹ Adam York of Wachovia. "We saw a big decline here down to 331, 000. The market had only been looking for a small decline down to about 400, 000 in the place. You know, this is now the lowest number on record since back to the 1960s. Generally speaking, you know, a very bad report. " New home sales were the weakest in the Northeast and the West. At the current sales pace, it would take more than a year to exhaust the inventory¹⁰ of new homes on the market. The Commerce Department report also says the medium price of a new home sold in December was $206, 500, a drop of 9. 3% from a year ago. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

This is NPR.

President Barack Obama signed his first bill into law today, a measure handing a victory to labor¹¹ and women's rights advocates by reversing a 2007 Supreme¹² Court decision that made it harder to sue for pay discrimination. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passed by the Democratic-led Congress this week is named for an Alabama woman who discovered after 19 years on the job at Goodyear Tire & Rubber that she was the lowest-paid supervisor¹³ at the plant despite having more experience than a number of male co-workers. Jury found Ledbetter was a victim of discrimination but the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision had ruled discrimination claims must be filed within 180 days of the first defense¹⁴.

Cuban President Raul Castro is in Russia for the first visit by a Cuban leader since the Soviet¹⁵ collapse¹⁶ abruptly¹⁷ ended the close alliance between the countries. During the Cold War, Moscow supported Cuba with billions of dollars in trade and subsidies¹⁸. NPR's Gregory Feifer reports from Moscow.

Russian television showed Castro bundled against the wrong winter cold at the airport after landing in Moscow for an 8-day trip. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was in Cuba last November, part of a symbolic¹⁹ trip to Latin America meant to display Moscow's interest in rebuilding relations with countries in Washington's backyard. Moscow is keen to rebuild the image of a global power it held when former Cuban leader Fidel Castro was a Cold War icon²⁰. But analysts²¹ say current cooperation with Cuba is largely symbolic. Russia says it's considering a $20 million loan to Cuba, Castro is also expected to discuss air defense cooperation and possible offshore²² oil drilling by Russian companies. Gregory Feifer, NPR News, Moscow.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 226 points.

1 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 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。

4 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。

5 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

8 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

11 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。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

14 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

15 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

16 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

17 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

18 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

20 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

21 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。

22 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。