NPR 2010-03-13

President Obama is putting off next week's trip to Indonesia, his first overseas trip of the year to stay close to the latest action on healthcare. Democratic leaders in the House are looking to pass an overhaul¹ bill this month, but President Obama is encountering division, especially over concerns about abortion² language. The president has delayed his trip to Indonesia until March 21st.

 

The Commerce Department is reporting a jump in retail³ sales of 0.3% in February to $355 billion. Danielle Karson reports the increase took analysts⁵ by surprise. They expected sales to tumble because of last month's snowstorms.

 

Nothing could be more logical. People didn't shop because two monster snowstorms paralyzed the East Coast. Instead, there were across-the-board gains in consumer spending. Scott Hoyt is a retail analyst⁴ of Moody's Economy.com.

 

"That is actually a bit of a puzzle. The segments that historically have been hurt by the type of weather that we had in February posted healthy gains. Restaurants sales were up 0.9%; building supply stores sales were up 0.5%. Those are two segments in particular where we were expecting the weather to result in significant declines."

 

Auto⁶ sales were weak, just as they were in January's report partly because of Toyota's troubles. Hoyt says consumer spending won't drive the economic recovery, so long as unemployment hovers⁷ near double digits⁸ and personal income growth remains⁹ anemic. For NPR News, I'm Danielle Karson.

 

Senate and House negotiators say they are optimistic about an agreement that includes a reform of the student loan industry in a major budget bill. Some Democratic Senators had objected to including changes to that student loan system which has already been passed by the House. We have more on this from NPR's Larry Abramson.

 

House leaders have been calling on the Senate to pass the student loan bill which would push out the private banks that now handle many loans. Instead, the Department of Education would issue all student loans. The Obama administration says that would save billions of dollars they could be plowed¹⁰ into grants for low-income students. Banks opposed to the bill had won the support of six Democratic Senators who said they would not support including the reform in a budget reconciliation¹¹ bill that will include healthcare reform. But those Democrats¹² have now dropped their objections, saying the leadership has agreed to adjust the cost estimate of the loan reform package. The loan industry continues to fight the bill, saying it will eliminate thousands of jobs in the industry. Larry Abramson, NPR News, Washington.

 

At least 43 people are dead and nearly 100 are wounded from bombings in Lahore, Pakistan today. It began with two suicide bombers¹³ who are on foot when they detonated their explosives within seconds of each other. They were near two trucks carrying soldiers. Authorities reported a series of smaller explosions within hours that injured at least three more people.

 

Last check on Wall Street, Dow was up eight points.

 

You’re listening to NPR News.

 

The latest rebuke¹⁴ against Israel's settlement expansion comes from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Today, she phoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and asked him to drop plans for new settlements in East Jerusalem. Clinton warns it’ll undermine peace talks with the Palestinians and could damage US ties. Israel announced its settlement expansion while Vice¹⁵ President Joe Biden was visiting, a move widely viewed as a slap in the face.

 

Researchers are now saying that blood pressure readings that shoot up only periodically could be as much a predictor of a stroke as consistently high readings. NPR's Brenda Wilson has more.

 

It's generally known that persistent¹⁶ high blood pressure increases a person's risk of heart disease and chances of a stroke. But London researchers in this week's journal, the Lancet Neurology, say episodic hypertension is just as risky¹⁷ and doctors shouldn't be reassured¹⁸, if a patient's blood pressure is sometimes normal. The researchers followed 8,000 patients who were being treated after a heart attack. Those whose blood pressure rates tended to spike¹⁹ occasionally were six times more likely to have a stroke. Other scientists noted²⁰ that this is an important finding but does not mean that guidelines for starting an escalating²¹ treatment for hypertension should be changed. It would be difficult, they said, to put these findings to use in everyday practice without further study. Brenda Wilson, NPR News.

 

British Airways²² passengers may find themselves caught in the middle of strikes. The union representing 12,000 cabin staff are planning two of them, one starting March 20th and another about a week later. They’re fighting over better pay and work conditions.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.
 

1 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

2 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

4 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。

5 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。

6 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

7 hovers   

鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovers in the sky. 一只老鹰在天空盘旋。
• A hen hovers her chicks. 一只母鸡在孵小鸡。

8 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 plowed   

v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• They plowed nearly 100,000 acres of virgin moorland. 他们犁了将近10万英亩未开垦的高沼地。 来自辞典例句
• He plowed the land and then sowed the seeds. 他先翻土，然后播种。 来自辞典例句

11 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

12 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》

13 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。

15 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

16 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

17 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

18 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

20 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

21 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

22 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。