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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
President Obama made his first visit to the CIA's headquarters in Virginia today. The president's visit coming just days after the administration’s decision to release top secret memos1 detailing the agency's use of a simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding in the interrogation of terror suspects. President said in no way was the decision aimed at putting CIA employees in jeopardy2. "I have fought to protect the integrity of classified information in the past and I will do so in the future. And there's nothing more important than protecting the identities of CIA officers. So I need everybody to be clear, we will protect your identities and your security as you vigorously pursue your missions." The White House last week moved to declassify3 the memos, arguing that much of the information they contained had already been made public. Attorney General Eric Holder4 has denounced the interrogation technique which was used by the Bush administration against several 9/11 suspects as torture.
Chrysler is slated5 to resume concession6 talks with the Canadian Auto7 Workers today. The auto maker8 says its future is at stake in the negotiations9. Michigan radio's Tracy Samilton has details.
Both the US and Canadian governments won't give Chrysler more federal aid unless the auto maker partners with Fiat10. Fiat says it won't partner with Chrysler unless its unions agree the concessions11. For the Canadian Auto Workers, that would mean a large reduction in wages and benefits. Harley Shaiken is a labor13 expert at UC Berkeley. "The Canadian Auto Workers are truly between a rock and a hard place right now. They've made some significant cuts in the last year. They are being asked to take a 20% cut about $16 on top of that." The CAW has so far balked14 at Chrysler's demands. The union says if Chrysler does go bankrupt, it won't be the blame but rather the automaker's investors15 who are also refusing concessions. For NPR News, I'm Tracy Samilton in Ann Arbor16.
An economic barometer17 designed to predict the direction of the economy three to six months down the road continues to head lower. There were some signs of leveling off. Business research group - the Conference Board said today its index of leading economic indicators18 fell 0.3% in March. Ken12 Goldstein is an economist19 of the Board, he says while the latest reading shows recession is likely to continue a bit longer, there are signs of easing. "The recession continues. The only good news here is that instead of everything being uniformly bad, and very bad. At least now, the bad news isn't quite so bad, and there’s even a little bit of a mix now and then." Index uses a Market Basket of components20 to try to predict future direction of the US economy.
San Francisco-based Oracle21 Corporation has moved to buy up software maker Sun Microsystems at a 7.4-billion-dollar deal, superseding22 IBM's efforts to acquire the company. With the move, Oracle might be able to become more of a one-stop technology firm assuming ownership of JAVA, the programming language that controls more than a billion devices worldwide.
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 289 points.
This is NPR.
An inflammatory speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to a mass walkout today at the United Nations' conference on racism23 in Geneva. Dozens of diplomats24 got up and left the room as the hard-line leader accused the West of using the Holocaust25, in his words, as a pretext26 for aggression27 against the Palestinians. Speech was also protested by demonstrators. UN chief Ban Ki-moom has condemned28 the Iranian president’s remarks, Ban accusing the Iranian leader of using his speech to, "divide and even incite29 to drag opposition30 to the goals of the meeting".
Colorado law makers31 honored the tenth anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings today. From Rocky Mountain Community Radio, Bente Birkeland has details from Denver.
One law maker read a poem; another played a video taped message from Columbine Principal Frank DeAngelis. Democratic representative Christine Scanlan recalled her days as a student in Columbine in early 80s. She says she's grateful that schools across the country have learned from the tragedy. “This generation of kids thinks differently about high school. And we preach to them, if you will, take care of each other, be aware of each other. That's a generational change.” The state legislature passed a resolution designating April 20th as a day to remember the innocent victims of school shootings. The resolution also urges Coloradoans to recommit to becoming better parents, better community members and better people. For NPR News, I'm Bente Birkeland in Denver.
Las Vegas Sun has won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for exposing a high death rate among construction workers on a Las Vegas Strip. Other big winners this year include New York Times which garnered32 five Pulitzers. As well as the Detroit Free Press which won for appealing sexually explicit33 emails linked to that city's mayor.
![收听单词发音](/images/play.gif)
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memos
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n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 );(美)内部通知 | |
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jeopardy
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n.危险;危难 | |
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declassify
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v.撤销保密 | |
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holder
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n.持有者,占有者;(台,架等)支持物 | |
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slated
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用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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concession
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n.让步,妥协;特许(权) | |
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auto
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n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车 | |
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maker
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n.制造者,制造商 | |
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negotiations
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协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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10
fiat
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n.命令,法令,批准;vt.批准,颁布 | |
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11
concessions
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n.(尤指由政府或雇主给予的)特许权( concession的名词复数 );承认;减价;(在某地的)特许经营权 | |
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12
ken
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n.视野,知识领域 | |
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labor
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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 | |
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balked
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v.畏缩不前,犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 );(指马)不肯跑 | |
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investors
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n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
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arbor
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n.凉亭;树木 | |
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barometer
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n.气压表,睛雨表,反应指标 | |
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indicators
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(仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的)指针( indicator的名词复数 ); 指示物; (车辆上的)转弯指示灯; 指示信号 | |
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economist
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n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人 | |
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components
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(机器、设备等的)构成要素,零件,成分; 成分( component的名词复数 ); [物理化学]组分; [数学]分量; (混合物的)组成部分 | |
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oracle
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n.神谕,神谕处,预言 | |
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superseding
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取代,接替( supersede的现在分词 ) | |
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racism
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n.民族主义;种族歧视(意识) | |
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diplomats
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n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 );有手腕的人,善于交际的人 | |
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holocaust
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n.大破坏;大屠杀 | |
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pretext
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n.借口,托词 | |
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aggression
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n.进攻,侵略,侵犯,侵害 | |
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condemned
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adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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incite
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v.引起,激动,煽动 | |
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30
opposition
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n.反对,敌对 | |
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makers
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n.制造者,制造商(maker的复数形式) | |
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32
garnered
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v.收集并(通常)贮藏(某物),取得,获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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explicit
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adj.详述的,明确的;坦率的;显然的 | |
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