NPR 2011-11-18

 Contagion¹ from the European debt crisis is far from contained as US banks are warned they are at serious risk, and bond yields rise everywhere in the eurozone except Germany. Teri Schultz also reports from Brussels that financial authorities are now formally reviewing the new government of Greece, whose burgeoning² debt threatens to bring down other EU economies.

 

European stocks opened lower after Fitch ratings agency warned the US banking³ market is very vulnerable to further contagion from the eurozone crisis. France and Spain are holding bond auctions⁴ as yields rise for both countries. Spain faces its highest yields since it adopted the common currency. In Greece, the newly confirmed government is promising⁵ to speed up reforms in order to receive the next installment⁶ of bailout money from Brussels. Horst Reichenbach, head of an EU task force assigned to help Athens do that, warns the deck has stacked against the Greeks.

 

"Reform's just always easier in times of growth. Here, Greece has to succeed in very difficult times."

 

The EU is waiting on written commitments from Greek political leaders before it sends the money. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

 

US stocks trading lower, at last check, the Dow was down 174 at 11,732; NASDAQ off more than 2% at 2,586.

 

An annual march in Athens commemorating⁷ a student uprising in the 1970s has evolved into public anger over the financial state of Greece. Police clashed with rioters and detained dozens of people, and in Italy confrontations⁸ between protesters and police as well in Turin over the financial crisis in that country. The new prime minister warns Italians will have to sacrifice through the country's new austerity measures.

 

Occupy Wall Street activists⁹ are staging demonstrations¹⁰ in cities across the US, marking the start of the movement two months ago in New York. In that city, NPR's Eyder Peralta after a number of arrests earlier in the day, the situation's calmer for now.

 

Earlier in the morning, you heard people saying, you know, "Let's take the barricades¹¹, there is enough of us here. We can take it and they are not going to arrest us all.” And then as the day went on, the protesters got dispersed¹². So now I think police have a pretty good handle on the different intersections¹⁴. And in fact I was just at the intersection¹³ of Wall Street and Pearl. And there was a group of drummers, and one of the cops came up to one of the protesters and told them, “Hey, we like that beat.” So it seems the interaction with police hasn't been as tense as predicted. 

 

NPR's Eyder Peralta in New York.

 

Homebuilders are coming off a month of a slight decline in construction. The number of homes on which they broke ground fell 0.3% in October. But the prospect¹⁵ of new apartments could infuse some energy into the beleaguered¹⁶ housing sector¹⁷.

 

This is NPR News.

 

The country's energy secretary is facing tough questions about the administration's decision to give a a half-billion-dollar loan to the solar company Solyndra, which later went bankrupt and laid off all of its workers. Steven Chu told a House panel today as far as he could tell, there were no red flags about Solyndra's fate.

 

"The loan guaranteed to Solyndra was subject to proper, rigorous scrutiny¹⁸ and healthy debate during every phase of the process."

 

He says he was not aware of his staff’s outlook in 2009 that Solyndra was likely to face severe cash problems. He says he does not believe taxpayers¹⁹ will recover much of the 528-million-dollar loan Solyndra received.

 

The Justice Department says homicide rates are at their lowest level in four decades. Researchers say the biggest declines came in cities where more than one million people live. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports on the new analysis of murders across the United States.

 

The Bureau of Justice Statistics studied homicide data between 1980 and 2010. Their report says men are responsible for the vast majority of murders, and gun violence by teens continues to be a problem, even though the overall homicide rate has dropped. Researchers also found most white victims were killed by white offenders²⁰, and even more African-American victims were killed by people from their own ethnic²¹ background. African-Americans remain six times more likely than white people to be victims of homicide. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

 

President Obama’s in Indonesia. He’s shoring up military and economic ties with East Asia.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

1 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

2 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

4 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

5 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

6 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

7 commemorating   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements. 他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The post office issued a series commemorating famous American entertainers. 邮局发行了一个纪念美国著名演艺人员的系列邮票。 来自互联网

8 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

9 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》

10 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

11 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

12 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

13 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

14 intersections   

n.横断( intersection的名词复数 )；交叉；交叉点；交集

参考例句：

• Traffic lights have been placed at all major intersections. 所有重要的交叉路口都安装了交通信号灯。
• Intersections are of the greatest importance in highway design. 在道路设计中，交叉口占有最重要的地位。 来自辞典例句

15 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

16 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》

17 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。

18 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

19 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。

20 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

21 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。