NPR 2009-03-12

President Barack Obama chose to sign in private today a 410-billion-dollar omnibus spending bill that keeps the federal government in business to September. Nearly 9,000 individual projects known as earmarks were included in the measure and the president called on Congress to follow new procedures with future earmarks. More from NPR's David Welna.

 As a candidate, President Obama promised to scrutinize  earmarks line by line in spending bills. But his aides called this five-month overdue¹ omnibus spending bill last year's business. Mr. Obama ignored Republicans' calls to veto the bill. “I am signing an imperfect omnibus bill because it's necessary for the ongoing² functions of government and we have a lot more work to do.”  The president said lawmakers are within their right to seek earmarks. But he called on them to post their earmark requests on their websites to have them scrutinized³ in public hearings and to require competitive bidding on all earmarks going to for-profit contractors⁴. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

 NPR has learned the president will name Doctor Margaret Hamburg as the next commissioner⁵ of the Food and Drug Administration. Hamburg, a public health and bio-terrorism expert served as New York City health commissioner for six years. If confirmed by the Senate, Hamburg would face a number of challenges at the agency which has come under fire in recent years for lax enforcement of food and drug safety regulations. The White House has not made the nomination⁶ official yet, while not confirm or deny that Hamburg is the selection.

 The FBI, state and scores of local police departments are investigating a serious of shooting in two rural Alabama counties yesterday. 28-year-old Michael McLendon killed 10 people before killing⁷ himself. From Dothan, Alabama NPR's Kathy Lohr has more.

Alabama State Trooper Kevin Cook says McLendon was briefly⁸ employed as a police officer in Samson, Alabama, but failed to complete the required training at the police academy. And Cook says he intended to inflict⁹ a lot of damage. "McLendon was armed with two assault rifles, an SKS and a Bushmaster, using high-capacity magazines taped together; a shotgun and a 38-caliber handgun. At this time we believe that he fired in excess of 200 rounds during the assaults." A local district attorney says McLendon was keeping a list of people who had "done him wrong". Reportedly on that list were a food processing company where the gunman quitted his job last week, and Reliable Medals where McLendon had worked in 2003 and where he ultimately killed himself. Kathy Lohr, NPR News, Dothan, Alabama.

Treasury¹⁰ Secretary Timothy Geithner said today the global recession is deepening and he called for a strong action on the part of the major nations to combat the downturn. Geithner briefed President Barack Obama ahead of his trip to Britain for talks with the finance ministers of the 20 advanced and developing nations.

On Wall Street today the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up just over three points to end the session at 6, 930. The NASDAQ was up 13 points today.

This is NPR.

A court in Italy has thrown out charges against more than two dozen Americans accused of involvement in the alleged¹¹ CIA kidnapping over an Egyptian terrorist suspect in Milan in 2003. Ruling by Italy's highest court sides with the government in saying prosecutors¹² use classified information to build the case against 26 defendants¹³ and throw out some dickey evidence on which the indictment¹⁴ was based. A state lawyer said that means prosecutors while they have to seek new indictments¹⁵ base on remaining evidence or reopen their investigation¹⁶.

Pope Benedict XVI has written a highly personal letter through words of bishops¹⁸ acknowledging Vatican mishandling of the case of a Holocaust-denying bishop¹⁷ and warning against the danger of internal disputes within the church. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.

The Vatican will officially release the letter tomorrow. But portions have already been quoted by bloggers and Italian media. It is rare in church history for a pope to feel compelled to explain his actions, actions which strained the Catholic-Jewish relations and drew sharp criticism from many Catholics. The letter follows Benedict's lifting of the excommunication of four schismatic bishops including Richard Williamson whose Holocaust-denying statements have been circulated on YouTube. According to media reports, the pope says in his letter that he has learned a lesson and in the future the Vatican must pay more attention to the Internet as a source of information. The most anguished¹⁹ parts of the letter allegedly referred to the storm of vehemence²⁰ unleashed²¹ by the affair, which he said hurt him deeply particularly the criticism that came from Catholics. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

Crude oil futures²² fell $3.38 a barrel to close at $42.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

1 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 scrutinized   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The jeweler scrutinized the diamond for flaws. 宝石商人仔细察看钻石有无瑕庇 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop. 我们一起把甜食店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕细细打量了一番。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比

4 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

6 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。

7 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。

8 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

9 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。

10 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。

11 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

12 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。

13 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

14 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

15 indictments   

n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告

参考例句：

• A New York jury brought criminal indictments against the founder of the organization. 纽约的一个陪审团对这个组织的创始人提起了多项刑事诉讼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These two indictments are self-evident and require no elaboration. 这两条意义自明，无须多说。 来自互联网

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

18 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。

19 anguished   

adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式)

参考例句：

• Desmond eyed her anguished face with sympathy. 看着她痛苦的脸，德斯蒙德觉得理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The loss of her husband anguished her deeply. 她丈夫的死亡使她悲痛万分。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

20 vehemence   

n.热切；激烈；愤怒

参考例句：

• The attack increased in vehemence.进攻越来越猛烈。
• She was astonished at his vehemence.她对他的激昂感到惊讶。

21 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 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。