NPR 2009-02-24

Meeting with his economic advisors¹ and others at the White House today, President Barack Obama said even with the economic challenges facing the nation, he plans to cut the nation’s budget deficit² by half by the end of his first term in office. President said that with the budget deficit forecast to soar to $1.3 trillion this year, he would reinstate a rule that the government pay as it goes rather than racking up more debt. “In recent years, we've strayed from this rule and the results speak for themselves. The pay-go approach is based on a very simple concept: You don't spend what you don’t have. So if we want to spend, we’ll need to find somewhere else to cut."  President said the country cannot continue to sustain such high budget shortfalls, pledging to get rid of programs that don’t work. He also said he’ll end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs out of the U.S.

Ford³ has reached a tentative deal with the United Auto⁴ Workers Union on how the automaker will fund a trust that pays retiree health care expenses. The agreement if ratified⁵ could set the stage for similar deals with GM and Chrysler. Those two companies must have the issue settled by the end of March as a condition of their federal loans. Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton reports.

In its last contract, the UAW agreed to accept cash payments from all three Detroit automakers to cover the cost of retiree health care, but the companies don’t have enough money to make the payments now. Ford does not face the same federally imposed deadline to reach a deal as GM and Chrysler because it didn’t accept taxpayer-funded loans. But Ford reached a tentative agreement with the union first. The automaker will pay the UAW half in cash and half in stock. The company will consider each payment when it is due and use its discretion⁶ in deciding if cash or stock makes sense at the time. It’s expected the UAW will try to use the Ford agreement as a template for similar deals with Chrysler and GM, neither of which have the same cash reserves as Ford. For NPR News, I’m Tracy Samilton in Ann Arbor⁷.

Egyptian authorities say police are questioning several people in connection with yesterday’s bomb attack at a popular Cairo market. A teenage girl was killed in the blast. 21 others were wounded. NPR’s Peter Kenyon reports.

The explosion, the first bomb attack in Cairo in four years shook the Egyptian government which relies heavily on tourist revenue for its current economic growth. The victims were mostly foreigners, many of them French teenagers nearing the end of their Egyptian vacation. Analyst⁸ Ahmad Gah says it remains⁹ to be seen if this attack was a protest against Egypt’s handling of the Gaza conflict. But no matter what the motive¹⁰, he believes the government will react harshly to this attack on a vital source of revenue. “So I think that the action of the Egyptian regime would be very tough. And they will not listen for anybody.” Popular tourist sites in Egyptian capital were flooded with an even heavier presence of security forces in the wake of the attack. Peter Kenyon. NPR News, Cairo.

On Wall Street, the lack of investor¹¹ confidence sent the Dow down 250 points, its lowest level since 1997.

This is NPR.

The U.S is reportedly to be poised¹² to offer more than $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after Israel’s recent invasion and help strengthen the West Bank Palestinian Authority. That is according to a US official who said today such an expenditure¹³ will need the approval of Congress something that could prove difficult given the sour US economy. The money will go through the UN and not to the militant¹⁴ groups Hamas which currently controls Gaza. US officials say the announcement could come from Secretary of State Clinton who’s scheduled to make an announcement next week at a donors¹⁵' conference in Egypt.

In Colombia a growing scandal is rocking President Alvaro Uribe’s administration, the secret wiretapping of government opponents, judges and journalists. NPR’s Juan Forero reports from Bogotá.

The newsmagazine Semana touched off a fire storm after reporting the Colombia’s intelligence agency had been illegally wiretapping dozens of prominent Colombians. Many are opponents of Uribe's government or judges who’ve been investigating ties between right-wing death squads¹⁶ and the administration’s closest allies. That’s brought heat down on Uribe since the DAS intelligence agency is answerable to him. DAS director Felipe Munoz has promised a housecleaning, and the agency’s deputy director of intelligence was forced to resign. Prosecutors¹⁷ meanwhile searched DAS headquarters. The agency has been mired¹⁸ in scandal. A former director Jorge Noguera remains in jail for conspiring¹⁹ with death squads to kill trade union activists²⁰. Juan Forero, NPR News, Bogotá.

A late season winter storm has dumped wet heavy snow across much of the Northeast. It’s left more than 140,000 homes and businesses without power and also forced cancellation²¹ of schools. Several towns in Maine got two feet more of snow today.

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

3 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

4 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

5 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

6 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。

7 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 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。

10 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

11 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

12 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

13 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。

14 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

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 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句

17 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。

18 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

20 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。