NPR 2008-11-20

NPR has confirmed that President-elect Obama has selected former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota to head the Department of Health and Human Services. NPR's Julie Rovner has more.

 Daschle has been one of Obama's closest confidants since his name cropped up early to head up the effort to overhaul³ the nation's health care system, a top priority for the new administration. Since losing his Senate seat in 2004, Daschle has made health care a particular focus of his work, even writing a book on the subject. Former Senate colleagues including Utah Republican Orrin Hatch welcome the news. Tom is a person we all respect. He understands both sides of the Hill. He’ll come in here with a lot of respect. A formal announcement is expected soon. Julie Rovner NPR News, Washington.

 The heads of the big three domestic car companies were on Capitol Hill for a second day today pleading their cases, though lawmakers for the most part appeared unmoved. Top Senate Democrats⁴ said the appeal to build the rescue to Detroit automakers is stalled and they urged the Bush administration to move to help prop⁶ up the industry if  congressional efforts failed. Senate Majority Leader Harry⁷ Reid said while he hopes the deal can be reached on an additional 25 billion in aid for the automakers, he said that may not happen. GM CEO Rick Wagoner repeated his claims that collapse⁸ of the US auto⁵ industry could lead to the loss of three million jobs.

 US Senate Budget Committee today discussed what another stimulus⁹ package might look like. NPR's Jeff Brady has that story.

 Democrats and most of the panel of economists¹¹ invited to speak seem in favor of a new package, perhaps in the 400-billion-dollar range. Committee Chair Kent Conrad from North Dakota said part of the money should go to local infrastructure¹² projects. Just in his state he says there are 300 million dollars of such projects ready to go. “Engineering is completed, design is completed, the land is acquired, they are ready to let contracts if they have the money.” The one conservative economist¹⁰ invited to speak said Congress should focus on rebates¹³ and spending cuts instead. Jeff Brady NPR News, Washington.

 Federal Reserve officials have predicted the US economy will slow next year at a much faster rate than previously¹⁴ thought. They also said the unemployment rate will climb. NPR's Jim Zarroli has more.

 The Fed released the minutes of its last meeting on Oct. 29th. At that meeting policymakers decided¹⁵ to cut interest rates to levels seen only once since 1958. The minutes provided an indication of what Fed officials were thinking at the meeting. They spoke¹⁶ of significant weakness in the economy. They said growth will be no higher than 0.3% this quarter. And the economy could shrink next year. Officials suggested at the meeting that additional policy action may be needed, which means the already low interest rates could come down even more. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

 Another difficult day on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 427 points. This is NPR.

 Al-Qaeda has released an eleven-minute tape where its second-ranking leader attacks President-elect Barack Obama, referring to him as the direct opposite of honorable black American such as Malcolm X. Ayman al Zawahiri also used the derogatory term “house Negros” to refer to President-elect along with  former and current Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. The al-Qaeda leader said Mr. Obama's election would not change US policies of repressing Muslims and others. And he said plans by the President-elect to shift troops to Afghanistan are “doomed to fail”.

 Plans to open a gay-friendly public high school in Chicago have been dropped at least for now. The Chicago school board was scheduled to vote on that plan today. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

 The proposal for a gay-friendly high school is on hold, but organizers like Bill Greeves, the city's liaison¹⁷ to the gay community says it's needed since statistics showed that many gay, lesbian and bisexual students are often at risk. “For many different things, for violent suicide, dropping out and we decided that there should be another option.” But critics including ministers, the mayor and even some gay activists¹⁸ voiced concern about segregating¹⁹ gay student. So the designed team changed the name of the school, dropped language in the plan specifically focusing on gay student and reiterated²⁰ that any student who have been bullied²¹ or harassed²² could attend. Now the organizers say they will wait a year before presenting the proposal to the school board. Some felt it happened to water down. Cheryl Corley NPR News, Chicago.

 Alaska Senator Ted¹ Stevens has conceded defeat in his reelection bid against Democrat² Mark Begich. Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history said in a statement today there are not enough still uncounted ballots²³ for him to catch up with his rival.

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 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。

3 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

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 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

6 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

7 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

8 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

9 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。

10 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。

11 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》

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 rebates   

n.退还款( rebate的名词复数 )；回扣；返还（退还的部份货价）；折扣

参考例句：

• The VAT system offers advantages, such as rebates on exports. 增值税有其优点，如对出口商品实行回扣。 来自辞典例句
• In more recent years rate rebates have been introduced for households. 近年地方税的减免已适用于家庭。 来自辞典例句

14 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 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。

17 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

18 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 segregating   

（使）分开( segregate的现在分词 )； 分离； 隔离； 隔离并区别对待（不同种族、宗教或性别的人）

参考例句：

• The government has just repealed the law segregating the public facilities. 这个政府已经撤销了分离公共设施的法律。
• Siblings and dizygotic twins share only 50% of their segregating genes. 同卵双生双胞胎和双卵双生双胞胎分享仅50%的基因。

20 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

21 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

23 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》