NPR 2008-03-07

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder.

NATO foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels, preparing for next month's head of state's summit in Bucharest, Romania. The shortage of international troops in Afghanistan remains¹ a key concern, with Canada threatening to pull out without reinforcements. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she's hopeful those needs will be met. Teri Schultz reports from Brussels.

Flying in from the Middle East, Rice said progress has been made on getting further allied² commitments for troops in Afghanistan, where the US and Britain currently provide the vast majority of soldiers and don't limit their areas of operation. It's been a bitter dispute in the alliance with some members taking offense³ to US demands for more help. But today, NATO will also focus on its peacekeeping mission in the newly-independent Kosovo, where Secretary General Jaap de Hoop⁴ Scheffer says that while the situation there is still volatile⁵, he's encouraged by what hasn't happened. "We have seen no inter-ethnic violence, no mass flows of refugees, no organized attacks on patrimonial⁶ sites. This is positive." Also on the agenda: the question of membership for NATO hopefuls-Albania, Croatia and Montenegro, another divisive issue. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

New York City police blocked off a portion of Times Square following a small explosion this morning that damaged a US military recruiting center. Witnesses staying at a hotel in the area say they heard a big bang and could feel the building shake. They say a large plume⁷ of smoke was visible after the explosion. At one point, subway trains passed through Times Square without stopping but normal service with delays has since resumed.

Oil prices are back in record territory above 105 dollars a barrel in overseas trading today after settling at another all-time high yesterday. Steve Beckner of Market News International reports.

Oil has left the once-unimaginable 100-dollar level in the dust amid supply concerns, strong world demand and the weakness of the US dollar. The latest upsurge came after OPEC oil ministers decided⁸ not to increase output and the US Energy Information Administration reported an unexpected drop in oil inventories⁹. OPEC member Venezuela's sabre-rattling against neighbouring Colombia further fuelled speculation¹⁰ in oil futures¹¹. Adding to market jitters¹², the dollar ,in which oil is priced, remained under downward pressure against other currencies. US light sweet crude jumped five dollars to close at a record $104.52 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded even higher. Rising crude costs are pushing up gasoline prices, creating another drag on the sluggish¹³ US economy. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner.

The Pakistan's commercial capital suffered a major power outage today. Officials in Karachi say it affected¹⁴ the entire city of more than 15 million people. The outage involves Karachi's distribution network for the government-run water and power development authority. The Reuters News Agency reports that power has started to come back on.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

The Senate Budget Committee plans a vote today on a three-trillion-dollar budget plan for fiscal¹⁵ 2009. The House Budget Committee passed a similar plan early this morning. NPR's Paul Brown has more.

The Democratic proposal passed the House committee on a party-line vote. The plan would allow President Bush's tax cuts to expire as scheduled and would thus return the nation to budget surpluses by 2012. The House plan would also increase funding for domestic programs in excess of inflation adjustments, providing additional real support for those programs. But President Bush quickly responded that he will veto any spending increases that would appear in government agency budgets. The president was largely victorious¹⁷ over the Democratic-led Congress in budget battles last year, and Democrats¹⁸ have indicated they won't send him more spending bills than they must this year, hoping they can deal with his successor, and hoping that successor will be a Democrat¹⁶. Paul Brown, NPR News, Washington.

The Army is about to release a report, saying that while US troop morale¹⁹ improved in Iraq last year, soldiers in Afghanistan suffered more depression as violence there worsened. The Associated Press says the report is drawn²⁰ from the work of a team of mental health experts who traveled to the war zones last fall.

A new effort is being made to guard against unsafe products coming in to the United States. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission says inspectors²¹ will be deployed²² full-time²³ at US ports to screen toys and other imports for potential safety hazards. The move comes in the wake of a series of recalls involving a variety of imported goods last year.

In Japan stocks, the benchmark Nikkei average rose 1.9 percent today, ending at 13,215.

I'm Giles Snyder. NPR News from Washington.

 

1 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。

2 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

3 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

4 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

5 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

6 patrimonial   

adj.祖传的

参考例句：

7 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

8 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。

9 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。

10 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

11 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

12 jitters   

n.pl.紧张(通常前面要有the)

参考例句：

• I always get the jitters before exams. 我考试前总是很紧张。
• The whole city had the jitters from the bombing. 全城居民都为轰炸而心神不宁。

13 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

15 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

16 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。

17 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

18 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》

19 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

20 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

21 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

23 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。