NPR 2009-11-22

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

Senate Democrats¹ appear to have the 60 votes they'll need tonight to send the health care overhaul² bill to the floor for debate. The final holdout, Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, says she may not support the Democratic written plan in its current form, but it deserves to be heard. "I have concluded that I believe it is more important that we begin this debate to improve our nation's health care system for all Americans rather than just simply drop the issue and walk away." The Republican minority leader Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell warns that anyone who helps move the bill along will have a lot of explaining to do. "Every senator who goes on record saying that we need to proceed to this monstrosity of a bill will in effect be voting for higher taxes, higher premiums³ and cuts in medicare." The procedural vote is scheduled for 8 pm, Eastern.

A panel of South Carolina lawmakers will meet next week to consider impeaching⁴ Governor Mark Sanford. Sanford was accused of neglecting his duties when he snuck out of the state for a South America trip to meet his mistress. NPR's Adam Hochberg reports from North Charleston.
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A judiciary subcommittee in the State House of Representatives would be the first stop for a proposed impeachment⁵ resolution. The seven-member panel was scheduled to start meeting Tuesday. And the full legislature could consider impeachment early next year. Sanford is under scrutiny⁶ both for secretly leaving the state in June and for a number of alleged⁷ violations⁸ of state travel policy. Sanford has said he'll fight to stay in office, but he has few allies even among his fellow Republicans who control the legislature. Adam Hochberg, NPR News, North Charleston, Carolina.

European scientists are celebrating today after what they say was a hugely successful restart for the Large Hadron Collider or the LHC near the Swiss-French border. Scientists think the protons circulating machine will help them better understand the origins of the universe. The BBC's Pallab Ghosh reports from Geneva.

After the euphoria of last night was the euphoria of the morning debrief⁹. Scientists here could scarcely believe their ears when they heard that the LHC had accelerated subatomic particles hundreds of thousands of times overnight and in both directions. According to one of the directors of the LHC Dr. Steve Myers, the particle accelerated has done more in a few short hours than it did in nine days last year before it broke down. "We thought we would do this work in three, four, maybe five days and we actually finished it by five hours. "
The LHC's operating team believes that they might have the first low-energy collision by next week and high-energy's early next year.
The BBC's Pallab Ghosh.

Astronauts conducted their second spacewalk of the Atlantis mission today outside the International Space Station. One more spacewalk is scheduled.

This is NPR News.

Farmers from all over Spain protested in the center of Madrid over low prices for their products. They demanded extra subsidies¹⁰ to help them cope with the economic crisis.

1 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》

2 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。

3 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 impeaching   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的现在分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

5 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。

6 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

7 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

8 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

9 debrief   

v.向…询问情况，听取汇报

参考例句：

• The men have been debriefed by British and Saudi officials.英国和沙特阿拉伯的官员听取了他们的情况汇报。
• He went to Rio after the CIA had debriefed him.他向中央情报局汇报完任务执行情况后就去了里约热内卢。

10 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》