NPR 2009-09-23

Speaking today at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York, President Obama pledged to make the issue of climate change a key US initiative. President said the nation is determined² to act against the threat of global climate change in order to meet our responsibility to future generations.

"The security and stability of each nation and all peoples, our prosperity, our health and our safety, are in jeopardy³. And the time we have to reverse this tide is running out."

Meanwhile it’s not just the US that has outlined ambitious climate change goals. China today pledged to plant enough trees to cover an area, the size of Norway, as part of a broader effort to counter greenhouse gas emissions⁴.

 On Capitol Hill, the last of five committees with the duty of drafting a health care bill has begun debate. NPR’s Audie Cornish has more.

The draft bill taken up by the Senate Finance Committee today requires every US citizen to have coverage⁵ or face a fine. The proposal includes subsidies⁶ to help those who can’t afford insurance but Democrats⁷ on the committee are already concerned they are too low. Moreover Democrats, like Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, expresses disappointment that the draft does not include a government-backed insurance option.

"We need to make sure families have a real choice of health insurance plans, including a public health insurance option that keeps private insurance companies honest and keeps premiums⁸ affordable⁹."

Republicans on the committee say the bill will end up being too costly¹⁰ to taxpayers¹¹. The committee is set to pore through more than 564 proposed amendments¹² to the legislation. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

ACORN¹³, the community group that's come under intense fire in recent weeks has named former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger to conduct an inquiry¹⁴ into its operations. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

ACORN has been widely criticized after an undercover video showed some of its workers advising a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute on how to evade¹⁵ the law. The non-profit says it's asked Scott Harshbarger to look into how the group provides services for low and moderate income people so it can avoid similar problems in the future. Harshbarger was a Boston attorney and has been discussed as a possible appointee to fill Ted¹ Kennedy's vacant Senate seat. There'll have a lot of competition looking into ACORN's operations, the Justice Department’s inspector¹⁶ general is investigating what grants the group received from his agency, and several states have also launched their own inquiries¹⁷. Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington.

New government index out today shows more signs of stabilization¹⁸ in the housing market. The monthly index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency shows that nationwide home prices rose 0.3% in July from the previous month.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 51 points, closing at 9,829. The NASDAQ was up eight points. The S&P 500 rose seven points.

This is NPR.

The brother of one of the three hikers being held in Iran said today he hopes Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad brings the three with him when he visits the United Nations this week. Ahmadinejad, who has recently angered the West with inflammatory statements including his continued claims the Holocaust¹⁹ never happened. He is slated²⁰ to address the General Assembly tomorrow. US State Department officials said today there is no reason to think the three hikers would be accompanying the Iranian president. Three University of California Berkeley students were detained after they strayed into Iran while hiking in Iraq in July.

Former Super Bowl star Plaxico Burress has been sentenced to two years in prison. The former New York Giants receiver was charged with weapons possession after shooting himself at a nightclub. NPR’s Robert Smith has more.

Burress stood in a Manhattan courtroom. His wife and young son sat behind him. Burress spoke²¹ softly, apologizing for his mistake and then he was led out of the court room to start serving a sentence. The accident had already ended his career with the New York Giants. Burress snuck an unlicensed gun into a Manhattan nightclub. The gun went off; the bullet went through his thigh²². Originally Burress was charged with multiple gun counts but he pleaded guilty to a lesser²³ charge. With time off for good behavior, Burress will likely to serve 20 months in prison. He says he hopes to resume his NFL career when he gets out. His former teammate, Antonio Pierce, who was with Burress that night and drove him to the hospital, was not indicted²⁴. Robert Smith, NPR News, New York.

Parts of Georgia remain underwater today. Authorities say at least eight people have died as a result of flooding in the southeastern US. The victims included a Georgian toddler swept away after a stream tore the family’s trailer in two and several motorists whose car was washed off a roadway. A Tennessee man is still missing.

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

4 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。

5 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。

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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》

8 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

10 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

11 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。

12 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

13 acorn   

n.橡实，橡子

参考例句：

• The oak is implicit in the acorn.橡树孕育于橡子之中。
• The tree grew from a small acorn.橡树从一粒小橡子生长而来。

14 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

15 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

16 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

17 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

19 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

20 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

21 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

22 thigh   

n.大腿；股骨

参考例句：

• He is suffering from a strained thigh muscle.他的大腿肌肉拉伤了，疼得很。
• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。

23 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

24 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。