CNN 2011-08-24

 Fridays are awesome¹ on CNN Student News! So is a story we have coming up on a U.S. Army officer. Hey, everyone. I'm Carl Azuz. We're starting today in the Middle East.

 

Pressure is increasing for Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, to quit his job. We've talked this week about the violence going on in Syria and the protests there against the country's leader. Yesterday, U.S. officials explained why they believe the Syrian president's got to go.

 

The people of Syria deserve a government that respects their dignity, protects their rights, and lives up to their aspirations². Assad is standing³ in their way.

 

The United States also announced new sanctions -- new punishments --against the Syrian government. Those include limiting access to assets that Syria has in the United States. President al-Assad is also facing heat from European leaders. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union: all of them calling for him to step aside.

 

See if you can I.D. Me! I'm a stock index that was established in 1896. Most people use me to measure the overall U.S. stock market. I was founded by Charles Dow and Edward Jones. I'm the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and I'm made up of 30 high-profile stocks. 

 

The Dow is highlighting concerns about the U.S. economy. Yesterday, it dropped more than 400 points. At one point during the day, it was down nearly 530 points. That came after Morgan Stanley -- this major investment bank -- put out a prediction that was pretty negative about economic growth around the globe. 

 

So the Dow took a big drop. So what? What does that mean? Well, the Dow indicates not just how major companies are doing, but how investors⁴ feel about the economy in general. And if that is dropping, that means investors are pulling money out of the market. They're not feeling confident in it. And this doesn't just affect the U.S. There's a global economy. What happens in one country affects other countries. And that's what we're seeing. Stock markets in Europe and Asia took a hit yesterday, as well.

 

The stock market is one way people determine how the U.S. economy is doing. Another is the national unemployment rate. Right now, it's just over nine percent. Everyone wants to create new jobs. But President Obama and the Republican candidates who are hoping to be the next president don't agree on how to do that. Holly⁵ Firfer has more on that.

 

Wrapping up a three-day midwest tour in his home state of Illinois, President Obama held a town hall meeting at a production facility, where he focused on jobs while fighting to keep his. He said by starting with basic ideas, like building the nation's infrastructure⁶, the economy will move in the right direction if Congress does not get in the way.

 

These aren't radical⁷ ideas. I mean building roads, when did that become a partisan⁸ issue?

 

Many feel political bickering⁹ in Congress is taking focus away from the real needs of the country.

 

We've lost our rating as far as being able to borrow money. Stuff like that. It's pretty concerning.

 

Meanwhile in New Hampshire, Mitt¹⁰ Romney claimed the president's inexperience was responsible for the economic crisis and subsequent standstill in Washington.

 

As far as I can tell, he has not, he didn't lead a business, didn't lead a state, didn't lead a city. He didn't have leadership experience and therefore didn't know how to work with Congress.

 

Also campaigning in New Hampshire, GOP hopeful Rick Perry continued to tout¹¹ his record of job creation as governor of Texas and criticized the president for what he called his inability to manage the economy.

 

We spent about the last 2.5 years in a grand experiment with the American economy, and it has been a terrible, terrible disaster.

 

According to White House officials, President Obama will address job growth and the nation's debt with a new economic plan some time after Labor¹² Day. In Washington, I'm Holly Firfer.

1 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

2 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。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 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

5 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

8 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

9 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

11 tout   

v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱

参考例句：

• They say it will let them tout progress in the war.他们称这将有助于鼓吹他们在战争中的成果。
• If your case studies just tout results,don't bother requiring registration to view them.如果你的案例研究只是吹捧结果，就别烦扰别人来注册访问了。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。