美国国家公共电台 NPR--Biden's second day in Israel; the U.S. economic outlook; what's happening in Sri Lanka

Biden's second day in Israel; the U.S. economic outlook; what's happening in Sri Lanka

Transcript¹

Biden continues a second day of meetings in Irsael. What company earnings² can tell us about the economy. And, Sri Lanka sees another day of chaos³.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It's been easy to miss this with so much going on, but Iran is in position to make a nuclear weapon quickly if it wants.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A U.S. diplomat⁴ told NPR this month the Iranians have enough uranium to make a weapon. They have slowly been going out of compliance⁵ with a nuclear agreement since the United States withdrew from it. And that is the backdrop for an announcement today in Israel. The U.S. and Israel do not agree how to approach the Iranian threat, but today, President Biden and Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a declaration agreeing that Iran must never get a bomb.

MARTIN: We find NPR's Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem, where President Biden has been visiting. Daniel, thanks for being here.

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE⁶: Sure. Good morning.

MARTIN: Explain how Iran is coming up in these meetings.

ESTRIN: Israel and the U.S. are not on the same page at all about returning to the Iran nuclear deal. Biden is emphasizing diplomacy⁷. Israel has reportedly been engaged in sabotage⁸ attacks on Iran. But today, the leaders of the U.S. and Israel will sign a declaration, and Biden will commit to using all elements of our national power to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. And yesterday in an interview, Biden said that the U.S. would attack Iran as a last resort.

Now, that is not new. That is just Biden reassuring⁹ the Israelis, and that is Biden's mission on this trip. He wants to reassure¹⁰ Israelis about their security and reassure them about him, after most Israelis embraced Trump¹¹. I mean, look at the way Biden greeted Israelis yesterday. He gave Israeli leaders fist-bumps at first, and the White House said that that was COVID protocol¹².

MARTIN: Right.

ESTRIN: And I guess it's also a convenient way for Biden to avoid a handshake tomorrow when he meets the Saudi crown prince, who the U.S. implicated¹³ in the killing¹⁴ of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But then very quickly, Biden went for close physical contact, and he even kneeled on the floor and spoke¹⁵ to two elderly Holocaust¹⁶ survivors¹⁷ and gave them kisses and clasped their hands. And that scene touched a lot of Israelis.

MARTIN: So, I mean, there's a lot on an agenda any time an American president goes to Israel. Biden will meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, tomorrow. What do we expect substantively¹⁸ to come from that meeting?

ESTRIN: Substantively is the right word because, I mean, Biden yesterday said he wants to see a Palestinian state established alongside Israel, but he said it's not going to happen in the near term. And so what the administration is doing is exerting a lot of pressure behind the scenes for smaller steps to improve unequal conditions for Palestinians. They have pushed Israel to finally agree to let Palestinians have 4G mobile internet. And, you know, Israeli-Palestinian progress, historically, doesn't happen without the U.S. pushing for it. So the Palestinians, you know, they want to see the U.S. offer a path forward for political improvement, for freedom.

MARTIN: Right.

ESTRIN: Biden is much more focused on smaller steps and on integrating Israel in the wider Arab region, and he thinks that will help lead to an eventual¹⁹ peace deal with the Palestinians.

MARTIN: Before I let you go, I want to ask about this other issue, the killing of a Palestinian American journalist who was covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank in May. Do we know anything new there?

ESTRIN: Yeah. Before Biden's visit, the U.S. announced that they thought an Israeli soldier was likely the one who shot Shireen Abu Akleh from Al Jazeera. Israel has not accepted that conclusion, and Democrats²⁰ in Congress say they want more answers. We've been in touch with the family of the journalist. They wanted to meet Biden. Instead, Secretary Blinken called them, invited them to the U.S. The White House says this will be addressed on this trip. We'll have to see.

MARTIN: NPR's Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem. Thank you, Daniel.

ESTRIN: You're welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: Prices are rising at their fastest pace in more than four decades. Just in June, they surged up 9.1% from the year before.

INSKEEP: So how long could that trend continue? It can be worth listening to the companies that spend a lot of money trying to answer questions like that.

MARTIN: NPR's David Gura joins us now to talk about all this. Hey, David.

DAVID GURA, BYLINE: Hey, Rachel.

MARTIN: Companies have started reporting earnings for the second quarter, the last three months. What are we learning from them?

GURA: When it comes to the economy, we spend a lot of time looking at information that is backwards-looking - jobs, data, consumer prices. You know, commentary from CEOs and forecasts of future earnings can shape our understanding of what the economy may look like in the future. So while earnings reports and calls executives do with analysts²¹ may seem dry, not relevant to most people, they are worth paying attention to because companies have access to tons of data about themselves, their customers - talking about customer spending patterns, how they're feeling.

You know, companies have data about their inventories²², their supply chains, how higher interest rates will affect them in the coming months, and all this informs forecasts and shapes the guidance they give on how they think their company and the economy will do. And in this moment, amid all this economic uncertainty²³, that is what's most important to investors²⁴ like Liz Ann Sonders, who's the chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab.

LIZ ANN SONDERS: It's very much the, you know, Wayne Gretzky - you got to look to where the puck is going, not where the puck is right now.

MARTIN: Oh, hockey.

GURA: A good one there from the great one, Rachel. And picking up on that metaphor²⁵, the Fed, investors, executives, the rest of us, everyone's trying to figure out where that puck is going, what inflation is doing and where the economy is headed.

MARTIN: All right. So can we get specific, though? I mean, I have to admit, it's a little harrowing to think about all the data that these companies do have on us.

GURA: (Laughter).

MARTIN: But what can we learn about inflation from companies' earnings?

GURA: Well, they've told us in past quarters how they've navigated²⁶ really persistent²⁷ problems with supply chains that have led to higher costs. And for a while, companies were able to pass that on to their customers. People were just simply willing to pay more. The reason being - coming out of the darkest days of the pandemic, demand was so strong.

MARTIN: Right.

GURA: Stephen Whiting says that's changing. He's the chief investment strategist at Citi Global Wealth.

STEPHEN WHITING: We're getting into an environment now where consumers, of course - the big story - are facing inflation without income supports from the government.

GURA: Of course, those stimulus²⁸ checks are long gone. Prices have continued to climb. And, you know, from these earnings reports, we should get a better understanding of whether people are still willing or able to pay a premium²⁹ for cars and travel and hotels or if demand for all that has diminished. We'll see how companies are dealing³⁰ with the Federal Reserve's response to high inflation. The era of easy money with very low interest rates is over. It's more expensive to borrow, to grow. And many companies, Rachel, are retrenching³¹ as a result.

MARTIN: So these earnings seasons - we talk about them in seasons - starts with the big banks, right? So what is Wall Street listening for specifically from financial firms?

GURA: Morgan Stanley reports today, along with JPMorgan Chase. Then we turn to Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs in the coming days. And these big banks are integral not just to the U.S. economy but the global economy, and they lend money to all kinds of companies, which gives them a really unique perspective on how the economy is functioning broadly - who's getting loans, who isn't, how tight credit is right now. And the last thing I'll say is when the CEOs of these big banks speak, people listen. Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan caused a small tempest a few weeks back when he said there's an economic hurricane on the horizon. So during earnings season, there could be more pronouncements like that from these very powerful people, Rachel.

MARTIN: NPR's David Gura. Thank you so much, David.

GURA: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: We're going to go to Sri Lanka now. There has been another day of confusion, this after days of chaos. The president fled the country on Wednesday but didn't resign, and the man he made acting³² president isn't welcome by many protesters, who've brought the country to a standstill in recent days after a monthslong economic meltdown many blame on the government. A curfew was imposed overnight in the capital, Colombo, and a state of emergency remains³³ in effect. Reporter Raksha Kumar has been following the story, and she joins us now. Thank you so much for being here.

RAKSHA KUMAR: Thanks, Rachel.

MARTIN: Just explain what the situation is right now. I mean, have things quieted down at all since yesterday?

KUMAR: So, Rachel, yeah, it looks a bit like things are slightly quiet since yesterday because the protesters have announced that they will be leaving the buildings that they have occupied since the weekend - so the presidential palace, the prime minister's official residence and certain other official buildings as well. Curfew has been lifted in the western provinces, but curfew remains in Colombo, the capital, until Friday. So the speaker of the Parliament, who belongs to Rajapaksa's party, has asked for Rajapaksa to submit his resignation, or, he said, quote, "we'll consider other options to remove him."

So there's a lot of confusion, really. Rajapaksa was supposed to return to the country and kind of turn it around economically when he was elected in 2019, but that's clearly not happened.

MARTIN: What did happen? How did things get so bad? Because the protesters, I mean, they're demanding economic reforms, right? What do they want to see happen?

KUMAR: Yes. So they obviously want some economic stability in the country. However, they are aware that political stability is the immediate³⁴ requirement. So the protesters I spoke to are saying that they want a president who will be accountable to the Parliament. So Sri Lanka now has something called an executive presidency³⁵, where the president is actually above the constitution. So they want that abolished. It's also important to note that the protesters have largely been nonviolent, except for when the administration has used tear gas and water cannons³⁶ on them.

MARTIN: So this is the political problem that's most urgent, but talk a little bit about how the economic situation deteriorated³⁷ so badly.

KUMAR: So the Sri Lankan economists³⁸ I spoke to said that there were a slew³⁹ of bad decisions that the Rajapaksa government took. So top of the list would be tax cuts for the rich and a sudden ban on chemical fertilizers for the farmers. So what this meant was that Sri Lankan farmers could not produce as much as they used to, and that also meant that the country did not have food security anymore. The situation only worsened because of COVID, especially because the country is reliant on tourism. And the Ukraine war kind of pushed the country over the edge, in many ways because supply chains for imported goods were cut.

So before the protests, Sri Lanka was negotiating with the International Monetary⁴⁰ Fund to try and find a way out of the current economic situation that it found itself in. But, of course, now with everything being so uncertain politically, it's hard to see how or when those talks will resume with the IMF.

MARTIN: Reporter Raksha Kumar in Mumbai. Thank you so much.

KUMAR: Thanks, Rachel.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

5 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。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

8 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

9 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

10 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。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

13 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

16 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

17 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

18 substantively   

adv.真实地；实质上

参考例句：

• WTO-consistency had to be secured substantively as well. 与WTO的一致性还必须获得实质性的保证。 来自互联网
• What is called quantum information science is substantively to research information science encoding with quantum states. 量子信息学是近几年迅速发展起来的一门新兴交叉学科，它是量子力学和信息科学相结合的产物。 来自互联网

19 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

20 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》

21 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

22 inventories   

n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制

参考例句：

• In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
• The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。

23 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

24 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

25 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

26 navigated   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的过去式和过去分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• He navigated the plane through the clouds. 他驾驶飞机穿越云层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ship was navigated by the North Star. 那只船靠北极星来导航。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

28 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

29 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

30 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

31 retrenching   

v.紧缩开支( retrench的现在分词 )；削减（费用）；节省

参考例句：

32 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。

33 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

34 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

35 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

36 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

37 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

38 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

39 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

40 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。