-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
President Obama is holding separate meetings today with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders, as NPR's Mara Liasson reports, to see if there can be a solution to the impasse1 over the debt ceiling.
The two meetings at the White House will discuss two different vehicles for resolving the standoff over the debt ceiling and the deficit2. A fallback measure that would give the president authority to raise the debt ceiling without a majority vote in Congress and a bigger deficit-reduction plan unveiled yesterday by a bipartisan group in the Senate. The president has embraced the broad outlines of that plan from the so-called Gang of Six because it includes tax hikes and cuts in domestic spending and entitlements. Many in Congress are enthusiastic about the approach, but conservatives don't want to agree the tax hikes, and liberals don't want to cut entitlements. Mara Liasson, NPR News, the White House.
The Associated Press is reporting a Republican-backed bill to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running through at least mid3-September has the backing of the GOP-majority House. It'll eliminate subsidies4 for airline service to 13 world communities. But in the Senate, Democrats5 say they won't allow the bill to pass with the subsidies provision. The FAA's operating authority expires midnight Friday. If there's no deal, the FAA could be forced to shut down. But its more than 15,000 air traffic controllers would be required to keep working.
Taxi drivers in Greece scuffle with police as they protest planned licensing6 reform. It's the latest challenge to a government that's implementing7 unpopular cutbacks in response to its debt crisis. European Union leaders will hold an emergency summit in Brussels tomorrow to contain the fallout from Greece's growing financial troubles. As John Psaropoulos reports from Athens, markets are already lending to Spain and Italy at rising rates.
Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou tells Bloomberg that this summit will be a "make or break" moment for Greece. European leaders will discuss a second bailout package worth 170 billion dollars that Greece solely8 needs to stay solvent9 through 2014, but "serious disagreements" remain. Germany wants investors10 to participate by keeping their money in Greek bonds for several more years rather than cashing out now on taxpayers11' bags. Others suggest that taxpayers buy up the bonds at the 50% discount they now trade for. And Greece wants the European Central Bank to issue a bond for the whole eurozone like the Federal Reserve. From NPR News, I'm John Psaropoulos in Athens.
The army psychiatrist12 accused in the 2009 Fort Hood13 shootings in Texas has been arraigned14. Major Nidal Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. The Associated Press reports that just before the lead attorney on Hasan's defense15 team is taking [a] leave of absence, he didn't say why.
This is NPR News.
The high heat and humidity in the Midwest is heading to southern New England. Bradley Campbell with member station WRNI in Providence16 reports the region's residents are bracing17 for their first major heat wave of the summer.
New Englanders are busting18 out their Bermuda shorts and Topsiders in preparation for the heat. Temperatures are expected in the mid 90s tomorrow Friday, but forecasters predict the heat index could make it feel more like 105 degrees. Meteorologist Alan Dunham from the National Weather Service says this would make life uncomfortable for most every New Englander.
"This is it. This will be the hottest that's been in the summer. But with those heat indexes getting up over 100, so, yea, this will be the worst we've had this summer."
Dunham says a frontal system will drop down over the weekend. And while it won't reduce the heat, it will lower the dew point level, making it easier to breathe. For NPR News, I'm Bradley Campbell in Providence.
Ford19 Motor Company is recalling more than 20,000 pickup20 trucks and SUVs because of its defective21 switch that can cause brake lights, taillights and a turn signal to fail. The automaker's also recalling more than 6,000 of the switches that were shipped to dealers22 as replacement23 parts.
This year's on pace to becoming the worst for home sales since the housing meltdown in the US. The National Association of Realtors says sales fell last month 0.8% to an annual rate of 4.77 million homes. That is still far below the six million homes that need to be sold in order to sustain a healthy housing market in this country.
Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 15 points at 12,572; NASDAQ off 12 points at 2,814.
I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.
![收听单词发音](/images/play.gif)
1
impasse
![]() |
|
n.僵局;死路 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2
deficit
![]() |
|
n.亏空,亏损;赤字,逆差 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3
mid
![]() |
|
adj.中央的,中间的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4
subsidies
![]() |
|
n.补贴,津贴,补助金( subsidy的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5
democrats
![]() |
|
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6
licensing
![]() |
|
v.批准,许可,颁发执照( license的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7
implementing
![]() |
|
v.实现( implement的现在分词 );执行;贯彻;使生效 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8
solely
![]() |
|
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9
solvent
![]() |
|
n.溶剂;adj.有偿付能力的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10
investors
![]() |
|
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11
taxpayers
![]() |
|
纳税人,纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12
psychiatrist
![]() |
|
n.精神病专家;精神病医师 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13
hood
![]() |
|
n.头巾,兜帽,覆盖;v.罩上,以头巾覆盖 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14
arraigned
![]() |
|
v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 );控告;传讯;指责 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15
defense
![]() |
|
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16
providence
![]() |
|
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17
bracing
![]() |
|
adj.令人振奋的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18
busting
![]() |
|
打破,打碎( bust的现在分词 ); 突击搜查(或搜捕); (使)降级,降低军阶 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19
Ford
![]() |
|
n.浅滩,水浅可涉处;v.涉水,涉过 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20
pickup
![]() |
|
n.拾起,获得 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21
defective
![]() |
|
adj.有毛病的,有问题的,有瑕疵的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22
dealers
![]() |
|
n.商人( dealer的名词复数 );贩毒者;毒品贩子;发牌者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23
replacement
![]() |
|
n.取代,替换,交换;替代品,代用品 | |
参考例句: |
|
|