NPR 2009-12-24

President Obama says he hopes a final health care bill will reach his desk with some combination of funding mechanisms¹ from both the House and Senate versions. That would include a tax on so-called Cadillac insurance plans. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

Once the Senate approves its health care bill in a vote expected tomorrow, its plan will have to be reconciled with the House version. One key difference to be ironed out is how to pay for expanding health care coverage². The Senate wants to impose a tax on high-end health insurance plans while the House wants to tax rich people. In an interview with NPR, President Obama said both ideas will likely be included.

Taxing Cadillac plans that don't make people healthier, but just take more money out of their pockets because they’re paying more for insurance than they need to, that's actually a good idea and that helps bend the cost curve.

The president also defended the health care overhaul³ as an important step forward even though it doesn't go as far as some on the left have hoped. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

Iranian opposition⁴ websites are reporting more clashes today between Iranian security forces and supporters of a late dissident cleric. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

Iranian officials deny reports that security forces have been using batons⁵ and tear gas to break up demonstrators in Isfahan and elsewhere. Still State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said it's clear that Iran is using various security elements to, as he put it, stamp out the aspirations⁶ of the Iranian people.

We've seen this dynamic tragically⁷ for the people of Iran over several months. Iran is increasingly showing itself to be a police state.

The Obama administration has stepped up its rhetoric⁸ on Iran as it tries to convince other countries to agree to tougher sanctions to pressure the Iranian government to curtail⁹ its nuclear ambitions. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.

Officials in Jamaica say more than 40 people were injured yesterday following an airline accident in Kingston, two people were seriously hurt. An American airline's jet overshot the runway in heavy rain and skidded¹⁰ to a stop just short of the Caribbean Sea. The cause of the accident is not known. Passengers reported turbulence¹¹ several times during the flight from Miami. Rescuers found the plane with a cracked fuselage.

The government says sales of new homes dropped in November. The Commerce Department says they were down more than 11%, the lowest monthly report since April. The drop came as a tax credit for first-time home buyers were supposed to run out. Would-be home buyers apparently¹² stopped looking for houses. The tax credit is worth up to $8,000 and was supposed to expire before Congress extended the deadline.  

On Wall Street before the close, the Dow Jones industrials were up two points at 10,463. The NASDAQ was up 16 points that was at 2,268.

This is NPR.

Some of the Salvation¹³ Army's famous bell ringers could be out past Christmas this year around the country because of bad weather and lower-than-expected donations. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

The Salvation Army says that donations to its Red Kettle campaign are 9% below what they were a year ago, and that a big storm this past weekend on the east coast made matters worse. Major George Hood¹⁴, the group’s chief communications officer, says the bad economy has really hit home.

As compared to a year ago when we ran the frontage, people hadn’t really experienced it yet, so they gave and they gave very generously, but this year, we are finding that many middle-class donors¹⁵ have now become our clients.

Other social service providers reported similar squeeze with more demands for services and fewer donations. Salvation Army bell ringers generally stop asking for money on Christmas Eve but Hood says that some stores are allowing the campaign to continue for a few days after  Christmas to help make up the losses. Pam Fessler, NPR News.

The training service linking Britain with France is slowly returning to normal. Eurostar says service will remain limited through tomorrow. Trains were halted over the weekend after very bad weather stopped rail traffic through the channel, the rail tunnel underneath¹⁶ English Channel. Some people were trapped underground for hours without food, water or information.

Major League Baseball and its umpires have reached a tentative five-year contract. Negotiators for the World Umpires’ Association and baseball owners talk through the day yesterday before hammering out the agreement. Thirty baseball clubs will now have to approve this, the umps will have to ratify¹⁷ it as well. Both sides are meeting separately in January.

1 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

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 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。

5 batons   

n.（警察武器）警棍( baton的名词复数 )；（乐队指挥用的）指挥棒；接力棒

参考例句：

• There were many riot policemen with batons. 有许多带警棍的防暴警察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chinese police fight? Number one is a person with batons to fight! 满街飘的中国国旗，是一个老华侨在事发时那出来分给大家的，很感动，真的，从来一向多一事不如少一事的中国人今天团结到一起站出来反抗。 来自互联网

6 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

7 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

8 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

9 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

10 skidded   

v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的过去式和过去分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区

参考例句：

• The car skidded and hit a lamp post. 那辆汽车打滑撞上了路灯杆。
• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。

11 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

12 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。

13 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

14 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。

15 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

17 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。