NPR 2011-12-24

 The payroll¹ tax cut is now extended for 2 month.Congress approved it eariler today and President Obama has signed it into law.As NPR's Brain N~ reports some 160000 Americans will continue getting a break on their taxes.And unemployment benefits will continue through Feburary.The president signed the measure hours after it was approved by the house and the senate in voice votes.Republicans in the house have initially² resisted the 2 month extension  but retreated after short criticism including from other republicans.The extension is seen as a political victory for president obama who called the good news but said more needs to be done.This continues to be a maker³ break moment,for the middle class in this country.And we are gonna have to roll xxx together,the democrats⁴ and the republicans. Let's make sure the economy is growing and make sure that more jobs are creating  Before leaving for Hawaii where he will spend the christmas with his family, Mr Obama also signed the trillion dollars spending bill congress approved to fund government program until next October.Brain N~,NPR news the white house.

 

More people bought new houses last month.The commerce department said sales rose 1.6%,but sales are still well below what they need to be to sustain a  healthy housing market.

 

W F security economist⁵ Mark W says builders faces a credit squeeze.The builders just can't get a whole xxx credit right now and they faced awful competitions purport⁶ closure xxxxxxxxxxxx.But W says progress is being made in saling off the glut⁷ of the foreclosed houses.

 

The US commander in Afghanistan says he has already met his goal to send 10000 of the so-called search troops home in 2010.As NPR's Rachel  Martin reports it's part of president Obama's plan to remove all US combats troops in the country by 2014.The last of those 10000 troops left Afghanistan earlier this week.Most of them from a  marine core unit operating in the southern part of the country.This past summer president Obama announced that all of the 33000 extra search troops sent to Afghanistan will be home by September of 2012.General John Allen the commander in Afghanistan hasn until March to come up with a plan draw down those remaining 23000 search forces.President Obama has ordered all 90000 US troops still in Afghanistan to leave the country by 2014.Rachel  Martin NPR news Washington.

 

The syria government is blaming Al-Kaida for 2 massive suicide car bombings in D today.At least 40 people are dead.The first suicide bombing in the country since the anti-government uprising began in March.

 

In the lastest look at wall street,the dows in the up 87 points at 12256 the NASDAQ is up at 14 at 2613.This is NPR.

 

U leading opposition⁸ figure has lost her appeal in a 7 years jail term.The white house says the sentense politically motivated.As Peter Van Tiger reports both the US and the Eurpean Union have been pressing U to release the former prime minister.The appeals court upheld U leader  conviction for abuse of office.The court says she exceeded her authority as prime minister in signing a gas deal with Russian in 2009.She boycotted⁹ the appeal hearing and is calling the court bias¹⁰ and his file case with the Eurpean court of human rights.President V~,who narrowly beat M in a bitterly device election last year says the deal is bad for U. The country struggles to pay for the gas from Russia and V is getting a discount in keypart of his foreign politics.The T case has damaged U relations with theEuropean Union,which this  week put off signing bilateral¹¹ agreement that would take trade and political ties to a new level.For NPR news,I'm Peter Van Die in Moscow.

 

In the Czech republic,a day of rememberance and mourning.Czech citizens as well as international leaders past and present gathered in p~ for the funeral of former Czech president Vaclav Havel.A dissident playwright¹² who led the pieceful revolution that brought an end to communist rule in the country.Among the mourners,British prime minister David Cameron who said Eurpe owes Havel a profound debt.

 

The S~ spacecraft is now adopted international space station after 2 days travel.Its 3 member crew,a Russian and an American and a Dutchman will join the 3 astronauts abroad the space station until March.

I'm Barbara Klein.NPR News in Washington.

1 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

2 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 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》

5 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。

6 purport   

n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是...

参考例句：

• Many theories purport to explain growth in terms of a single cause.许多理论都标榜以单一的原因解释生长。
• Her letter may purport her forthcoming arrival.她的来信可能意味着她快要到了。

7 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

10 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

11 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

12 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。