NPR 2009-03-24

President Barack Obama and his Treasury¹ Secretary Timothy Geithner officially unveiled the administration’s latest revamping of its financial rescue package today. Speaking to build as a three-prompt effort to draw private investors² into a partnership³ with a new federal entity⁴ that could eventually buy up to a trillion dollars worth of bad assets to weigh down banks' books, the president acknowledged while not a panacea⁵ for what ails⁶ the financial markets, he believes it is a critical step. “It’s not gonna happen overnight. There is still great fragility in the financial systems. But we think that we are moving in the right direction.” Among other things, the new public private investment program will provide financing for 500 billion dollars in purchasing power to buy up so-called “toxic assets”. That means the government and the private sector⁷ would share risk, finally competitive auctions⁸ will be used to set appropriate prices for those assets.

Wall Street liked the plan: the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 497 points today ending the session at 7,775 to gain at nearly seven percent; the S&P 500 gained 54 points.

There was good news in the beleaguered⁹ housing industry. Reports said sales of existing homes rose unexpectedly in February. NPR’s Jim Zarroli has more.

The National Association of Realtors said home sales rose 5.1% to an annual rate of about 4,700,000. Economists¹⁰ had expected sales to fall. The medium sales price was also up slightly in February compared to the month before. Still the association said that prices are down 28% from their all-time high in July 2006. The organization also said the number of unsold homes on the market rose and it said a higher number of the sales are foreclosed properties which usually sell for less. The housing market has been helped in part by falling mortgage rates. The Federal Reserve has been pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into the market by purchasing mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

A new study shows eating a lot of red meat may increase the likelihood of dying from heart disease and cancer. NPR’s Alison Aubrey reports.

The increased risk of death from heart disease and cancer associated with eating lots of red meat is modest according to researchers. And the finding’s fit with prior research: people who eat the highest level of red and processed meat are about twenty percent more likely to die of cancer compared to people who eat less than five ounces per week. With heart disease, researchers found heavy red meat consumption increased the risk of death for men by about 27% and for women about 50%. The study included some 545,000 adults who were surveyed about their eating habits. The major drawback of the study is that it relies on the people’s memories which are not always accurate. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association has questioned the findings. They say it is hard to draw conclusions based on surveys of large populations. Alison Aubrey, NPR News, Washington.

Crude oil prices rose $1.73 a barrel.

 This is NPR.

Investigators¹¹ probing a fatal plane crash in Montana yesterday that claimed lives of 14 people including a number of children, say they are trying to determine whether the plane was overloaded¹². Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board/ said the plane was likely designed to carry a total of ten people including two pilots. Of the 14 people aboard, seven were children. The turboprop left Oroville, California, was headed for Bozeman, Montana, but changed course to Butte where it went down as it was coming in for landing. Officials said the plane did not have a cockpit, voice or data recorder and was not certified¹³ to carry commercial passengers. The passengers were on a ski vacation.

A spring snowstorm that could bring up to 18 inches of snow to the eastern half of Wyoming is shutting down businesses, schools and highways. Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck has more.

Hundreds of miles of Interstate 80, 90 and 25 in eastern Wyoming are closed due to snowfall, high winds and numerous crashes. The Wyoming Department of Transportation’s Dave Kingham says winds of 40 miles an hour and gusts¹⁴ over 50 are making travel conditions hazardous¹⁵. “It’s not so much the quantity of snow has fallen so far that is causing the problem but it's the blowing and poor visibility.” Kingham says a number of other roads are closed throughout the state. Over 75 crashes have been reported. A blizzard¹⁶ warning remains¹⁷ in effect for eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota until noon, Tuesday. For NPR News, I’m Bob Beck in Wyoming.

The National Weather Service officials are keeping a close eye on the Red River near Fargo, North Dakota. Already, officials said the river is several feet above flood-stage and there is more rain in the forecast. They said the river is not expected to crest¹⁸ until Friday. It’s expected that the river could reach a record of 40 feet later this week. As a result, the dike¹⁹ protecting of the city’s been raised.

I’m Jack²⁰ Speer, NPR News in Washington.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 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

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

5 panacea   

n.万灵药；治百病的灵药

参考例句：

• Western aid may help but will not be a panacea. 西方援助可能会有所帮助，但并非灵丹妙药。
• There's no single panacea for the country's economic ills. 国家经济弊病百出,并无万灵药可以医治。

6 ails   

v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳

参考例句：

• He will not concede what anything ails his business. 他不允许任何事情来干扰他的工作。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Measles ails the little girl. 麻疹折磨着这个小女孩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

9 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 overloaded   

a.超载的，超负荷的

参考例句：

• He's overloaded with responsibilities. 他担负的责任过多。
• She has overloaded her schedule with work, study, and family responsibilities. 她的日程表上排满了工作、学习、家务等，使自己负担过重。

13 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

14 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

15 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

16 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

17 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。

18 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

19 dike   

n.堤，沟；v.开沟排水

参考例句：

• They dug a dike along walls of the school.他们沿校墙挖沟。
• Fortunately,the flood did not break the dike.还好，这场大水没有把堤坝冲坏。

20 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。