NPR 2009-12-15

Senate Democrats² are preparing to drop a plan to allow the near elderly to buy coverage³ in the Medicare program as part of their health bill. NPR's Julie Rovner has more.

The so-called Medicare Buy-in would have allowed those age 55 to 64 to buy coverage in Medicare. Regular Medicare eligibility⁴ begins at age 65. The plan was part of an agreement tentatively reached last week between moderate and conservative Democrat¹. The deal was to drop a government-run public option in exchange for the expanded Medicare coverage. But on Sunday, Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman said he wouldn't vote for the bill if it included either a public option or the Medicare proposal. Democrats need Lieberman's vote to defeat unified⁵ Republican opposition⁶ to the bill. Senators emerging from a closed-door meeting said no final decision has been made, but that it appears the Medicare Buy-in will be dropped from the proposal along with the public option. Lieberman said he was ‘’encouraged'’. Julie Rovner, NPR News, the Capitol.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo said today it plans to repay the entire 25 billion dollars it received under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program. Wells Fargo, the country's fourth biggest bank, says it will sell 10.4 billion dollars of its common shares. Wells Fargo is the latest of the nation's banks to announce plans for repaying the government and the taxpayers⁷. Earlier today, Citigroup said it's raising 20 billion of capital to repay the government. Citi received 45 billion dollars in government loans.

The Obama administration has reached an agreement with two watchdog groups to recover an estimated 22 million emails from the George Bush administration. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

These missing emails could cover some of the most controversial episode of the Bush administration, to name a few, the turn of fortune turn in the Iraq War, President Bush's re-election and the push to oust⁸ several federal prosecutors⁹. The emails should have been clearly archived, but the system at that time couldn't do that. And for months, the Bush administration said no emails were missing. In 2007, two groups filed suit, the National Security Archive and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics¹⁰ in Washington, or CREW. Some details of the arrangement are unclear. At least 33 days of the emails will be produced. CREW says 94 days will ultimately become available. It says the dates were chosen based on email volume and news events. But there's not enough money to restore all 22 million or so. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

Poor countries attending the climate change summit in Copenhagen have apparently¹¹ found a solution due to speak with rich nations, announcing today they will stop their boycott¹² of negotiations¹³ at the summit. Developing countries had brought negotiations to a standstill that demanded rich countries offer much deeper cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions¹⁴. According to the environment spokesman for the European Union, the formal discussions resolved the impasse¹⁵.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 29 points today.

This is NPR.

A military helicopter is now joining the search effort for a couple of missing hikers on Mount Hood¹⁶. Rescuers say despite the fact one member of the party was found dead on a glacier¹⁷ Saturday, rescuers are still holding out hope of finding the other two alive. Aircraft and ground crew searching for the missing hikers have been unable to reach the upper elevations¹⁸ of what is Oregon’s tallest peak due to bad weather. However, with a break in the weather, the National Guard Black Hawk¹⁹ helicopter was able to lift off today to resume the search.

NASA has launched a new space telescope that's designed to make an infrared²⁰ map of the entire sky. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports.

A huge rocket took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

'Five, four, three, two, one. We have ignition and lift-off.'

Inside was a NASA telescope called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. About an hour later, it had separated from its rocket and was orbiting Earth. After a few weeks of checkouts²¹, WISE will begin to scan the sky at infrared wavelength²². If all goes well, it will create a panoramic²³ map, showing hundreds of millions of space objects. WISE should be able to see dim, dark objects, like failed stars called brown dwarfs²⁴. WISE should also allow researchers to detect hundreds of thousands of asteroids²⁵, including ones nearby that could potentially pose a threat to Earth. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

Britain's Cadbury is continuing to push back against a hostile takeover bid from Kraft Foods, rejecting a 10-billion-dollar offer. Cadbury's also hinting it may be ready to contemplate²⁶ other offers, though Cadbury's chairman said they have not yet been received from rivals Hershey and Ferrero.

I'm Jack²⁷ Speer, NPR News in Washington.

1 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。

2 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》

3 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

4 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

5 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

8 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

9 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

10 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

11 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

12 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

14 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

15 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

16 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

17 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

18 elevations   

（水平或数量）提高( elevation的名词复数 )； 高地； 海拔； 提升

参考例句：

• Weight of the crust changes as elevations are eroded and materials are deposited elsewhere. 当高地受到侵蚀，物质沉积到别的地方时，地壳的重量就改变。
• All deck elevations are on the top of structural beams. 所有甲板标高线均指结构梁顶线。

19 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

20 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

21 checkouts   

n.检验，校验( checkout的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The hypermarket stations had a wide selection of branded foods, clean toilets, friendly service and fast checkouts. 这家超大型连锁加油站有各种名牌食品、洁净的卫生间、友好的服务并且结帐迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Make sure all checkouts paid by credit card have been posted accordingly. 确保所有的信用卡结帐都已及时过账。 来自互联网

22 wavelength   

n.波长

参考例句：

• The authorities were unable to jam this wavelength.当局无法干扰这一波长。
• Radio One has broadcast on this wavelength for years.广播1台已经用这个波长广播多年了。

23 panoramic   

adj. 全景的

参考例句：

• Most rooms enjoy panoramic views of the sea. 大多数房间都能看到海的全景。
• In a panoramic survey of nature, speed is interesting because it has a ceiling. 概观自然全景，速率是有趣的，因为它有一个上限。

24 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

25 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

26 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

27 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。