NPR 2009-05-02

With the announced retirement¹ of Supreme² Court Justice David Souter, President Baraka Obama will become the first elected Democrat³ to fill a vacancy⁴ on the high court in 15 years. Speaking at the White House today following Souter's announcement that he's stepping down at the end of court's current session in June, president said he would choose an individual dedicated⁵ to the rule of law to replace the outgoing 69-year-old Supreme Court justice.

"As I make this decision, I intend to consult with members of both parties across the political spectrum⁶. And it is my hope that we can swear in our new Supreme Court justice in time for him or her to be seated by the first Monday in October, when the court's new term begins."

Justice Souter was named to the bench by the first President Bush in 1990. He has been a consistent vote among the liberal wing of the court on a number of key social issues including abortion⁷, the death penalty and race.

An official at the World Health Organization says efforts to produce a vaccine⁸ against the swine flu virus need to proceed immediately. NPR's Joanne Silberner has more.

Scientists are still collecting information about illnesses in Mexico, the US and the nine other countries that have reported cases. So far outside of Mexico, most cases appeared to be mild. But Marie-Paul Kieny, director of Vaccine Research at the World Health Organization, says that could change. So it's time now to start the month-long process of producing a vaccine.

"This is too much of a gamble over public health to say 'Well, let's see if it really becomes severe. '"

Kieny says the WHO is certain the cost of a new flu vaccine will not be as high as with some recent new vaccines⁹. And she says the organization is already in discussions with some of the big vaccine donor¹⁰ groups about how to make any products available to people in developing countries. Joanne Silberner, NPR News.

Results of stress test on the country's biggest banks will be revealed next Thursday. The results had been expected to be released on Monday. NPR's John Ydstie reports.

A government official says the snapshot of the health of the 19 big banks will now be available next Thursday afternoon. The official gave no reason for the delay, but a number of reports suggest it's because regulators and bankers continue to debate the results of the tests. According to the source, the information released will include estimates of the losses that individual banks could suffer if the economy deteriorates¹¹ even further. It'll also detail how much additional capital the banks might need to cover those losses. Reports suggest that up to half a dozen banks may need added capital. Banks that do will have six months to raise it in private markets. If they're unsuccessful, they'll be required to take capital from the government. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 44 points to end the week at 8, 212. The NASDAQ was up a point today. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 4 points.

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Attorneys for Chrysler are asking a bankruptcy¹² court judge to let the ailing¹³ automaker begin tapping 4.5 billion in new federal loan money. Chrysler has also said it will file a motion by tomorrow morning, selling substantially all of its assets to Italian automaker Fiat¹⁴. The moves along with typical first motions were approved at a short hearing as the number three domestic automaker embarks¹⁵ on what it hopes will be a quick and surgical¹⁶ bankruptcy. Another hearing to further discuss government financing is set for Monday.

Chicago public school system has hired a cousin of First Lady Michelle Obama to be the head of security for the schools there. NPR's David Schaper reports.

Chicago schools CEO Ron Huberman named Michael Shields, Michelle Obama's cousin and a former high-ranking Chicago police official, to be the director of security in the nation's third largest school system. Shields had been a top police official since long before his cousin's husband even ran for US Senate Illinois, serving as a district commander and then deputy chief of detectives. A little over a year ago he was promoted to deputy superintendant but then abruptly¹⁷ demoted in December. The police department won't say why. Schools CEO Huberman says Shields brings critical law enforcement experience and expertise¹⁸ to the job of protecting Chicago's 400, 000 students in 600 schools. Part of his job will involve reducing the murder rate among Chicago public school students. A record number, 38 students have died violently in Chicago this school year, though none in schools or on school grounds. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

Cooling economy and people working to pay down debt apparently¹⁹ did not help earnings²⁰ at credit card giant MasterCard in the first three months of this year. The credit card and global payments processing firm said today its first quarter profits fell by 18% compared with a year ago.

I'm Jack²¹ Speer, NPR News in Washington.

1 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 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。

4 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

5 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

6 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

7 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

8 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

9 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

10 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

11 deteriorates   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• After a few years' planting, the quality of the potato crop deteriorates. 土豆种了几年之后就会退化。
• Virus activity deteriorates in plasma stored at room temperature. 在室温下储藏的血浆中病毒活动逐渐衰退。

12 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

13 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

14 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

15 embarks   

乘船( embark的第三人称单数 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• Patricia is a free-spirited girl who embarks on an erotic odyssey. 翠茜亚是个任性少女、毅然踏上一次性爱之旅。
• Passenger train driver: Punctually embarks. 客车司机：准时出发。

16 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

17 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

18 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

19 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。

20 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

21 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。