NPR 2012-07-18

 The presidential candidates are trading bards¹ today around outsourcing and in charges of cronyism². Today President Obama's campaigning is in Texas, whose governor recently joined other republican governors in rejecting the affordable³ care acts Medicaid expansion. Addressing supporters San Antonio, the president defended the law his republican critics had dubbed⁴ Obama Care. 

 

The affordable health care act, otherwise known as Obama Care, was the right thing to do.

 

Meanwhile republican challenger Mitt⁵ Romney continues to challenge the president on his economic policies including an extension of tax cuts for low and middle income earners, but not for wealthier individuals and businesses. 

 

President justifies⁶ taking more of what people earn by saying look, this is also my system of government that makes things possible for entrepreneurs and innovators. That's true. But let’s stop and think about the system of government and what it tells us in its founding document, The Declaration of Independence. It does not say that the government gave us our right. It said that God gave us rights. They come with us, not with government.

 

Romney speaking earlier today in Irwin, Pennsylvania. 

 

Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke is painting a less optimistic picture of where the US economy is headed if congress doesn't reach a deal soon on averting⁷ a budget crisis. 

 

Given that growth is projected to be not much about (or maybe above?) the rate needed to absorb new entrance into the labor⁸ force, the reduction in the plummet⁹ rate seems likely to be frustratingly¹⁰ slow. Indeed the central tendency of participants forecast now has the unemployment rate at 7% or higher at the end of 2014. 

 

But there's been more up in use in housing.?? NPR's Paul Brown reports home builders are more optimistic than they've been in years. 

 

The national association of home builders says its housing market index produced with Wells Fargo is up 6 points for July. At the index at 35 is that the highest since March of 2007. But 50 on the 100 point scale is a balancing point between overall optimism and pessimism¹¹. And the trade group's chief economist¹² David Crowe says

 

By no means that we are out of woods here. We simply, I think, are seeing some more frequent signs of recovery than I had in the past. 

 

Crowe says among those signs, more serious buyers, but he says it's still tough for both builders and buyers to get loans. Paul Brown, NPR News, Washington.

 

Alabama police say the suspect involved in the mass shooting at Tuscaloosa bar overnight is in custody¹³. They say the man surrendered to authorities. He's accused of firing at the crowded Copper¹⁴ Top Bar near the University of Alabama campus. 17 people were sent to the hospital.

 

An official of HSBC has resigned from his current post. David Bagley who was in charge of compliance¹⁵ for the London based international firm announced he was stepping down to take on another position. This comes out an investigation¹⁶ found lax controls at the firm allowed Mexican drug cartels to laundry billions of dollars. 

 

This is NPR.

 

The Food and Drug Administration says the plastic additive¹⁷ BPA will no longer be allowed in baby bottles and sippy cups sold in the US. Details from NPR's Jon Hamilton. 

 

The FDA's ban came in response to a request from companies that make baby bottles and sippy cups. Those companies no longer put BPA in plastic products intended for young children. They saw the ban as a way to reassure¹⁸ consumers that plastic baby products are safe. Some consumer advocacy group's said called on the FDA to ban BPA from all food packaging because it connect like the hormone¹⁹ estrogen in the body. But in March the FDA rejected that request, saying scientific evidence did not justify²⁰ such a ban. Jon Hamilton, NPR News.

 

The retired²¹ Pulitzer Prize winning columnist²² William Raspberry has died of cancer at the age of 76. NPR's David Folkenflik has this appreciation²³. 

 

In 1952 Raspberry left his native Mississippi for college in Indiana where he wrote for a local black weekly. After 2 years in the army he joined the Washington Post in 1962 as a teletype operator, making his mark when he was sent to cover Watts²⁴ Riots in California. Through his career as a columnist, Raspberry cast a keynote? on pressing social issues, especially questions of race and economics, pushing for justice throughout. He was uniformly sibling²⁵ tone, but occasionally proved unpredictable, opposing mandatory²⁶ busing for desegregating schools, for example. Raspberry taught for 10 years at Duke University after retiring. His survivors²⁷ include his wife Sondra Dodson Raspberry, 3 children and his 106 mother /Willy Nate Tucker/? Raspberry. David Folkenflik, NPR News.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.

1 bards   

n.诗人( bard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were feasts and drinking and singing by the bards. 他们欢宴狂饮，还有吟游诗人的歌唱作伴助兴。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• Round many western islands have I been Which Bards in fealty to Apollo hold. 还有多少西方的海岛，歌都已使它们向阿波罗臣服。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

2 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

3 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

4 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

6 justifies   

证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• Their frequency of use both justifies and requires the memorization. 频繁的使用需要记忆，也促进了记忆。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In my judgement the present end justifies the means. 照我的意见，只要目的正当，手段是可以不计较的。

7 averting   

防止，避免( avert的现在分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• The margin of time for averting crisis was melting away. 可以用来消弥这一危机的些许时光正在逝去。
• These results underscore the value of rescue medications in averting psychotic relapse. 这些结果显示了救护性治疗对避免精神病复发的价值。

8 labor   

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

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。

10 frustratingly   

参考例句：

• Some programs set this limit too close, resulting in frustratingly temperamental scroll behavior. 一些程序将这种限制设置得太窄，导致滚屏的行为变幻无常，令人沮丧。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• But the process is frustratingly slow. 但这过程慢得让人郁闷。 来自互联网

11 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

12 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。

13 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

14 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

15 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 additive   

adj.附加的；n.添加剂

参考例句：

• Colour is often an additive in foods.颜料经常是各种食物中的添加物。
• Strict safety tests are carried out on food additives.对食品添加剂进行了严格的安全检测。

18 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

19 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

20 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

21 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

22 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

23 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

24 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

25 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

26 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

27 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者