NPR 2010-04-23

President Obama is telling Wall Street that sweeping¹ change is on the way. He's pushing to overhaul² the financial regulatory system and outlined that plan in New York's Cooper Union college today. Meanwhile, bipartisan negotiations³ on an overhaul bill are underway in the Senate. As NPR's Audie Cornish tells us, Democratic Party leaders are anxious to get going on debate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry⁴ Reid says if there is some breakthrough agreement between Democrats⁵ and Republicans, he is more than willing to help get it to the Senate floor.

"But to those Republicans determined⁶ to stand in the way and do the big bankers' bidding, know this: no matter how hard you try to distort and distract this debate, Wall Street reform is coming."

A procedural vote will be held next Monday evening on whether or not to move forward with debate on the bill. Republicans involved in the negotiations say the way the bill deals with derivatives⁷ and with failing financial giants are still major sticking points. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

The Coast Guard says a burning oil rig has sunk in the Gulf⁸ of Mexico off the Louisiana coast. Eileen Fleming of member station WWNO reports some workers from the rig are still missing.

The Deepwater Horizon platform exploded Tuesday night and has been burning furiously ever since. Fireboats have been constantly dousing⁹ the rig with water, pushing it farther below the surface. Most of the 126 people on board escaped; seventeen were injured. Meantime, the Coast Guard continues searching for 11 workers still missing. Crews covered nearly 2,000 square miles around the rig. That's about 40 miles off the tip of Louisiana. Meantime, rig owner Transocean of Houston and BP which contracted for the rig are being sued by the family of a missing Mississippi man alleging¹⁰ the companies were negligent¹¹. The Department of the Interior has said the rig was inspected and no violations¹² were found. For NPR News, I'm Eileen Fleming in New Orleans.

Protests in the Thai capital are growing more deadly. A string of small explosions went off near the scene of a standoff between anti-government activists¹³ and security forces. Reports out of Bangkok say three people are dead, scores more injured. The BBC's Rachel Harvey is on the scene.

There have been five confirmed explosions. The police are saying that they believe at least three of those, possibly all, but at least three, were caused by grenades, M79 grenades. The area where these explosions appear to have been concentrated is in and around an intersection¹⁴ where several hundred soldiers have been deployed¹⁵ and are facing the barricades¹⁶ that had been set up by those anti-government protesters. So it has been a very tense area in recent days.

That's the BBC's Rachel Harvey reporting from Bangkok.

After a day of solid declines, the Dow's recovering. At last check, the Dow was up ten points at 11,135. NASDAQ's up 14.

This is NPR News.

The CEO of Massey Energy is defending the company against claims it has a poor safety record at its mines including the West Virginia site where 29 people were killed in an explosion earlier this month. Despite mounting demands from shareholders¹⁷ for Don Blankenship to resign, the board has decided¹⁸ to support him.

Phone company CenturyLink is buying Qwest in a stock swap¹⁹ worth more than ten billion dollars. NPR's Jeff Brady reports the combined company will be based in Louisiana.

Qwest currently has headquarters in Denver and operates in 14 mostly western states. It's likely the Qwest name will be replaced by CenturyLink for many customers, though a final decision hasn't been made. Both companies have been steadily²⁰ losing landline customers to cable and wireless²¹ providers. Speaking during a conference call with analysts²², CenturyLink CEO Glen Post says he has no specific plans to enter the wireless business, though he did comment on an arrangement Qwest has to provide Verizon's wireless service to its customers.

"Whether it's like the partnership²³ or we say honest that Qwest ties with Verizon that will work from there and make new decisions in the months and years ahead."

Shareholders and regulators still must approve the deal before it closes next year. Jeff Brady, NPR News, Denver.

Tens of thousands of airline passengers stranded²⁴ for more than a week in Europe are finally taking off. Most scheduled flights are back on line after being disrupted by volcanic²⁵ ash that spread from Iceland and across much of Europe. Some airlines are running special flights or expanding capacity to help clear the backlog²⁶, but the problem is far from over. Shifting winds are sending ash plume²⁷ over Scandinavia, prompting new limits on parts of Scotland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
 

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 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。

3 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。

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 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》

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 derivatives   

n.衍生性金融商品；派生物，引出物( derivative的名词复数 )；导数

参考例句：

• Many English words are derivatives of Latin words. 许多英语词来自拉丁语。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These compounds are nitrosohydroxylamine derivatives. 这类合成物是亚硝基羟胺衍生物。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 dousing   

v.浇水在…上( douse的现在分词 )；熄灯[火]

参考例句：

• The other spider took a second dousing before it emerged, still alive. 另外一个蜘蛛在冲刷第二遍时才被发现，是个活蜘蛛。 来自互联网
• At this point, the specimen can be shattered by dousing it with sterilized warm saline. 此时，可以用浸入温暖的消毒盐水的方法粉碎标本。 来自互联网

10 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

11 negligent   

adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的

参考例句：

• The committee heard that he had been negligent in his duty.委员会听说他玩忽职守。
• If the government is proved negligent,compensation will be payable.如果证明是政府的疏忽，就应支付赔偿。

12 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

13 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

15 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

16 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

17 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

19 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

20 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

21 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

22 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。

23 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

24 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

25 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

26 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

27 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。