NPR 2008-06-10

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama today took aim at his expected Republican opponent in the fall, John McCain. Campaigning in North Carolina, Obama said McCain will only continue President Bush's failed policies. "We were promised a fiscal¹ conservative. Instead, we got the most fiscally² irresponsible administration in history. And now, John McCain wants to give us another.” Obama pledged to raise taxes on high-earning Americans and also grant a thousand-dollar tax break to many working families. McCain, for his part, responded by saying the tax hikes would only worsen the already struggling U. S. economy.

Flooding and wild weather in the Midwest are now being blamed for at least ten deaths in Michigan and Indiana. While in Wisconsin, four homes were washed away by high waters. Wisconsin Public Radio’s Steve Roisum has more.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has declared a state of emergency in 29 Wisconsin counties. Rainfall over the weekend in many parts of southern Wisconsin has ranged from an inch to nearly ten inches. Vernon County suffered millions of dollars of damage last year due to heavy flooding and got sloshed with nearly ten inches of rain over the weekend. Vernon County Emergency Management Director Jerry Crotsenberg says last year's flood has affected³ this weekend's flooding. “The saturation⁴ that we had in the ground,er, last,you know, fall, compared to what we have now, it’s, it’s much greater now. So even if, er, there was a little bit less rain (and) water retreated after that, we had a great deal more run-off. " Crotsenberg says the Vernon County communities of LaFarge and Viola are now islands. For NPR News, I'm Steve Roisum, in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Supreme⁵ Court has ruled the government workers have no constitutional right to sue over workplace treatment that may be individually discriminatory but is not based on race, gender⁶ or religion. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

Anup Engquist claimed that she was harassed⁷ and demoted because of conflicts with a fellow employee at the Oregon Department of Agriculture. She claimed that when her supervisor⁸ sided with her, both had their positions eliminated. She sued as a so-called “class of one”, claiming vindictive⁹ treatment. A jury ruled in her favor. But today, the U. S. Supreme Court, by a 6-3 vote, ruled that unless there is illegal race, gender or religious discrimination involved, the constitution's guaranteed equal protection of law does not extend to individual complaints of unfair treatment in public employment. Writing for the court majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that class of one suits have a practical problem: to allow them, he said, would subject thousands of government employment decisions to lawsuits¹⁰ and would substitute judicial¹¹ discretion¹² for managerial supervision¹³. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 70 points today to close at 12, 280. The NASDAQ lost 15 points. The S&P was up a point.

This is NPR.

A recall of certain types of tomatoes due to a salmonella outbreak has now expanded nationwide, with a number of big restaurants and grocery store chains pulling tomatoes from their menus and store shelves. McDonald's announced today it will temporarily stop serving sliced tomatoes as a precaution. The grocer Winn-Dixie was also pulling tomatoes from its shelves. That's after the Food and Drug Administration announced over the weekend that certain raw red plum, red Roma and red round tomatoes have been linked to the salmonella outbreak. As of the weekend, the FDA reported 145 confirmed cases of salmonella linked to tomatoes.

 Shares of investment bank Lehman Brothers are down sharply today. That's after the bank said it would post an unexpectedly large loss this quarter due to mortgage-related problems. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

 For months, Lehman Brothers has been plagued by rumors¹⁴ that it was in a weakened financial condition. Now it's acknowledging that it will lose nearly three billion dollars in the second quarter. It will be its first loss ever. The loss stems from a combination of bad trades and miscalculations in its risk strategies and is much bigger than most analysts¹⁵ had expected. The bank said it had sold off 130 billion dollars in assets to shore up its balance sheet. It also said it would raise six billion dollars in capital from unnamed investors¹⁶. Lehman Brothers chief executive told investors he believed these steps would be enough to keep the bank whole despite the continued turmoil¹⁷ in the credit markets. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

 Crude oil futures¹⁸ ended the session lower today. The near-month contract for benchmark grade crude fell $4. 19 a barrel to close at $134. 35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

1 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。

2 fiscally   

在国库方面，财政上，在国库岁入方面

参考例句：

• Nor will fiscally stretched governments pump more money into the political equivalent of a leper colony. 财政吃紧的政府也不愿将更多的钱投入这个避之唯恐不及的政治瘟疫区。
• We are more fiscally constrained, which forces us to work smarter and more efficiently. 与F-15相比我们资金上的限制更大了，美女类小游戏，这迫使我们更为精心和有效地工作。

3 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。

4 saturation   

n.饱和(状态)；浸透

参考例句：

• The company's sales are now close to saturation in many western countries.这家公司的产品销售量在许多西方国家已接近饱和。
• Road traffic has reached saturation point.公路交通已达到饱和点。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

7 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

8 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

9 vindictive   

adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的

参考例句：

• I have no vindictive feelings about it.我对此没有恶意。
• The vindictive little girl tore up her sister's papers.那个充满报复心的小女孩撕破了她姐姐的作业。

10 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

11 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。

12 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

13 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

14 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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。

16 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

17 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

18 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。