NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-10-27

 JP Morgan Chase has agreed to a 5.1-billion dollar settlement with the overseer Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. NPR's Dan Bobkoff reports that the news of the deal came late this afternoon. 

 

The settlement resolves claims that JP Morgan Chase duped mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, into buying bad mortgages before the economic crisis. The 5.1-billion dollar deal is with the federal housing finance agency, which is at conservator, Fannie and Freddie . The bank says its settlement resolves all its issues with the FHFA. In a statement, FHFA acting¹ director Edward J. DeMarco called the settlement quote, a significant step as the government and JP Morgan Chase move to address of standing² mortgage related issues. This settlement is one component³ of the 13-billion dollar deal with the department of justice, expected to be announced soon. Dan Bobkoff NPR News, New York. 

 

Following allegations at United States national security agency spied on its allies, German officials say they planned ahead to Washington sue. Chancellor⁴ Angela Merkel cellphone was allegedly monitored by the NSA.  DanRothkoxx with foreign policy magazine, says German officials will have lots of demands. 

 

They probably were also said look if you got make a public apology, this is infuriating the people of Germany. So far the Obama administration has been completely opposed to doing that kind of thing. 

 

Meanwhile Brazil's now working with other countries to draft UN general assembly resolution guarantee people's privacy, and electronic communications. That resolution would be non binding⁵ but would be another expression of disapproval⁶ of allegations of US spying. 

 

The new trouble shooter brought into debug the troubled healthcare.com websites says it should be working smoothly⁷ by the end of next month. As NPR's Elis Hillxx, reports he says the site is fixable, but it needs a lot of work. 

 

The administration brought in Jeffrey Zients to assess the broken site, and he says his finding showed the system is fixable. 

 

Today people are signing up at healthcare.gov, and they should continue to do so. But each way to healthcare.gov will get faster and better. 

 

A late November target date gives Americans about two weeks to get signed up in time for insurance just start January 1st, but opening enrollment⁸ runs until the end of March. To manage the overall taxes improvements, current contractor⁹ QSSI will take on the lead role. The administration says nationwide about 700,000 Americans have applied¹⁰ for health coverage¹¹ through the new exchanges, about half came through the federal application system. Elis Hillx, NPR news, Washington. 

 

Concerns over the partial government shutdown and infighting between the policital parties think consumer confidence lower this month. The university of Michigan says its survey fell a little more than four points from the month before. It's the third straight monthly drop after reaching a six-year high in July. 

 

On Wall Street, positive end to the day, the Dow up 61 points to close at 15,570; the S&P 500 up seven; the NASDAQ up 14. This is NPR. 

 

A magistrate¹² in Tennessee, who ordered a child's name changed from Messiah to Martin, has been charged with violating the state's code of judicial¹³ conduct. The jealous parents were disputing the child's surname, both want to use their own. But child's support magistrate  Lu Ann Ballew surprised that when she changed the child's first name, saying Messiah was reserved for Jesus, and would place in undo¹⁴ burden on the child. 

 

The UN's topping humanitarian¹⁵ official is urging the security council to put more pressure on the warring sides in Syria, to give aid groups access to millions of people in need. As NPR's Michele Kelemen reports the official says what the council has done so far, hasn't had any impact. 

 

UN under secretary of general Valerie Amos says disease is spreading in an alarming rate in Syria, and she says that overall humanitarian situation is getting worse, even after the security council called on Assad to let aid workers do their jobs. 

 

Words, despite their ability to shock, can not really paint a picture of the grim and grewsome reality of Syria today. I have extremely disappointed that we have not been able to make further progress. 

 

Amos says Syria is still throwing up bureaucratic¹⁶ obstacles to aid workers and she says 2.5 million people remain out of reach as winter approaches. Michele Kelemen NPR NEws Washington. 

 

Michael Jackson's estate has been sued by Quincy Jones. The music producer says he has owned millions of dollars in royalties¹⁷ and production fees on some of the super star's greatest hits. Jones's lawsuit¹⁸ is asking for at least ten million dollars from the singer's estate and Sony entertaiment, claiming both improperly¹⁹ reedited the songs to deprive him of his cut. 

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

4 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

5 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

6 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

7 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

8 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

9 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

10 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

11 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

12 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

13 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

14 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

15 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

16 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

17 royalties   

特许权使用费

参考例句：

• I lived on about £3,000 a year from the royalties on my book. 我靠着写书得来的每年约3，000英镑的版税生活。 来自辞典例句
• Payments shall generally be made in the form of royalties. 一般应采取提成方式支付。 来自经济法规部分

18 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

19 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。