NPR 2011-02-08

Anyone looking for a big party? Green Bay is where it's at. Fans are heading into Lambeau Field this hour to welcome their Super Bowl champs — the Packers, who defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday. Classes were let out early. Some businesses shut down for the big celebration. It's been nonstop work for Tim Klemme though, manager of the sports bar Stadium View. But he says it's a big deal.

"Green Bay is the smallest market team, you know, town's only 102,000 people. And for them to win the Super Bowl, it's a big deal. Probably expect more than half the city to be at Lambeau Field."

NFL commissioner¹ Roger Goodell meanwhile is apologizing to the hundreds of fans who had to give up their seats at the Super Bowl because of structural² issues with temporary seating. He says the league ran out of time to make last-minute fixes. Goodell is inviting³ those fans who were forced to watch Green Bay's defeat of the Steelers on monitors or some other way a free seat to the big game next year. The NFL also says it will refund⁴ the affected⁵ fans at three times the face value of their tickets.

The Obama administration has started the process of taking Sudan off a terrorism list. As NPR's Michele Kelemen reports, this is a diplomatic reward to Khartoum for allowing southern Sudan to secede⁶.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton congratulated northern and southern Sudanese leaders for facilitating a peaceful and orderly independence vote in southern Sudan. In a written statement, she commended Khartoum for accepting the outcome. As spokesman P. J. Crowley says, the US will now keep its pledge to consider taking Sudan off a terrorism blacklist.

"We will begin the process of removing Sudan from the state sponsor of terrorism list with the obvious qualification that Sudan has to meet the criteria⁷ under law before that action could be taken."

Sudan's foreign minister came to Washington recently to encourage this move, arguing that recent US reports have shown that Sudan is cooperating with the US on counterterrorism. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

Still no ending in sight to two weeks of anti-government demonstrations⁸ in the Egyptian capital despite recent concessions⁹ President Hosni Mubarak's allies have offered. The thousands gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square say the only thing that will make them leave is if Mubarak leaves as well.

And investigation¹⁰ is underway into shootings yesterday at an Ohio fraternity house. A Youngstown State University senior was killed. Eleven other people were wounded, including a critically injured 17-year-old. Police say they have arrested two people.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 67 points at 12,159, also up more than 0.5%; NASDAQ gaining 14, it's at 2,784; S&P 500 up eight at 1,319.

This is NPR News.

The French finance minister says the euro has fallen victim to American and Chinese policies to weaken their currencies. From Paris, Eleanor Beardsley reports French President Nicolas Sarkozy has set out to reform the international monetary¹¹ system as France prepares to host the G20 this year.

Foreign Minister Christine Lagarde says the euro is too high because it is caught in the middle between two currencies that are deliberately¹² weak. China has been accused of keeping its yuan low to support its export markets. And world economists¹³ say the US, by using tactics like quantitative¹⁴ easing and printing money to buy its own debt, is also deflating the dollar to spur American exports. The international monetary system relies too heavily on the US dollar, says Sarkozy, which leads fast growing countries like China to amass¹⁵ huge dollar-denominated currency reserves that cause global volatility¹⁶. Sarkozy says he's not trying to displace the dollar but says the new global reality of emerging economies and economic powerhouses like Europe should be reflected by several reserve currencies or a basket of currencies. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.

Carnival¹⁷ in Brazil is suffering a potentially major setback¹⁸ with less than a month before that big event. Today, a large fire swept through a warehouse¹⁹ complex that housed thousands of intricately designed costumes and floats that samba groups took as long as a year to create. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation. Authorities say there were no immediate²⁰ reports of injuries. However, the loss is being described as "tremendous" for a country that typically attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists for carnival in Brazil each year.

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

3 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

4 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 secede   

v.退出，脱离

参考例句：

• They plotted to make the whole Mississippi Valley secede from the United States.他们阴谋策划使整个密西西比流域脱离美国。
• We won't allow Tibet to secede from China and become an independent nation.我们决不允许西藏脱离中国独立。

7 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

8 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。

9 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

12 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

13 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》

14 quantitative   

adj.数量的，定量的

参考例句：

• He said it was only a quantitative difference.他说这仅仅是数量上的差别。
• We need to do some quantitative analysis of the drugs.我们对药物要进行定量分析。

15 amass   

vt.积累，积聚

参考例句：

• How had he amassed his fortune?他是如何积累财富的呢？
• The capitalists amass great wealth by exploiting workers.资本家剥削工人而积累了巨额财富。

16 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

17 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

18 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

19 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

20 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。