NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2014-08-01

 The House has approved a resolution letting speaker John Boehner sue President Obama over his implementation¹ of the Affordable² Care Act. There was a long party lines. NPR's S.V. Dáte reports Democrats⁴ are calling it apolitical stand, time to help Republicans for the November elections.

New York Democrat³ Louise Slaugher voiced the common theme in her party, that the lawsuit⁵ sets the table for those who want to go even further."The lawsuit is a drumbeat, pushing members of the Republican Party to impeachment⁶." But Texas Republican Pete Sessions argued the lawsuit was about preserving congress's role. "The President has selectively enforced the law in some instances, ignored the law in other instances, and in a few cases unilaterally attempted to change the law all together." The lawsuit gives Boehner the power to file suits in Federal Court but sets no timeline as to when it must happen. S.V. Dáte, NPR news, the Capital.

 

 

The White House is condemning⁷ an attack today on a United Nation school in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians had sought refuge from the more than 3-week-old conflict between Israel and Hamas. At least 17 people,including children, were killed. NPR's Michele Kelemen says while the White House is critical of the shelling, it stop *short of blaming Israel. UN officials say they were shocked and dismayed by the news that one of their schools was hit, they say, by Israeli artillery⁸. Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson was at a lost for words, saying Israel knew that more than three thousand civilians⁹ had been sheltering there.

"They were there under UN protection, under our protection."

State Department spokesperson Marie Harf says the US wants a full investigation¹⁰ into the incident. She's also raising concerns that Hamas has used UN facilities to hide weapons. She says both sides should respect the UN's neutrality. Michele Kelemen, NPR news, Washington.

 

 

The Peace Corps¹¹ now says it's pulling some 340 of its volunteers out of areas that have been haunted by the outbreak of the Ebola virus. So far the disease has been blamed for the death of 672 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea since February.

 

 

Better than expected, economic growth numbers, from the government today, the Congress Department says the Gross Domestic Product grew a 4% annual rate in the second quarter. As far was revised 2.1% drop for the first three months of the year, blamed on bad weather. Sean Snaith is at the Institute for Economic Competitiveness and says, by and large, it's a positive number.

"I think it's generally a good report, uh, I wouldn't say it's necessarily a great report, but I think it landed itself to the recovery, gaining come momentum¹²."

GDP measures the total value of goods and services generated within US border.

 

 

On Wall Street today, a mixed close. The Dow Jones industrial leverage¹³ fell 31 points, end the session at 16,880. The NASDAQ gained 20 points, closed at 4462, S&P 500 with up a fraction today. 

 

 

You are listening to NPR news, in Washington.

 

 

According to an investigated report by a non-partisan government accountability office, it was management failures on the part of the Obama Administration that set the stage for computer problems that paralyzed the healthcare.gov website last fall. The GAO, the investigate agency of Congress,plans to report tomorrow on its month-long investigation, with officials have detailed¹⁴ some of the reported finding to the Associated Press. The GAO and its support also accuse the administration of continually changing orders for contractors¹⁵ who rebuilt the website computerized sign-up system. 

 

 

A federal judge's ordering Bank of America to pay nearly 1.3 billion dollars in penalty for fraud over bad mortgages sold by its country-wide unit. Bank of America says the award bears no relation to eliminated program that lasted several months, NPR's Chris Arnold has more.

There has been some high-profile settlements between the federal government and major banks in the week of the financial crisis. This case is different because it's actually gone to trial. A federal judge in New York issued the 1.3 billion dollars civil penalty against the Bank of America's country-wide unit. That was over its sales of defective¹⁶ mortgage to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those government-sponsored companies lost money when homeowners defaulted on the country-wide loans. A former country-wide executive was also ordered to pay one million dollars. The Justice Department has reportedly been engaged in a broader settlement talks with Bank of America regarding other alleged¹⁷ wrong doing during the days of the housing bubble. Chris Arnold, NPR news.

 

 

The first water main has caused big problem in Los Angeles. Officials say the nearly-century-old pipe that erupts under Sunset Boulevard*brings an estimated eight million gallons of water onto the UCLA campus. 

 

1 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

2 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。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

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 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。

6 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

7 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 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。

11 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

12 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

13 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

14 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

15 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

17 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为