NPR 2011-04-06

The budget standoff in Washington is weighing on negotiators as a government shutdown draws near. Hours after meeting with Congress's GOP leadership, President Obama made an unexpected appearance at the White House daily briefing, apparently¹ frustrated² that no agreement's been reached.

"I shouldn't have to oversee³ a process in which Congress deals with last year's budget where we only have six months left."

From the White House, NPR's Ari Shapiro reports on a particular point of contention⁴.

One question seems to be whether there was ever an agreement over this cut of $33 billion. Now, that's the number that President Obama says the Democrats⁵ moved to in order to compromise with Republicans. Speaker Boehner now says there was never a deal about $33 billion in cuts. When he returned from the White House to the Capitol, he told reporters that Republicans are going to continue fighting for whatever cuts they can get. He says Washington doesn't have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem.

That's NPR's Ari Shapiro.

Southwest Airlines is done inspecting its fleet of 737s. NPR's Wade⁶ Goodwyn reports that out of 78 planes, six are now known to have cracks in the fuselage.

Imagine two zippers⁷ at the top of a jet that run the full length of the plane. It's where the skin of the plane is attached. They're called "lap joints⁹". And every few inches as you move down the seams of the lap joint⁸, there's something called "tear straps¹⁰". They're positioned across the lap joints, and they reinforce the whole thing. Now, the plane that ruptured¹¹ on Friday and the other Boeing jets now showing cracks have tear straps every 20 inches down those lap joints, but Boeing engineers later decided¹² that was insufficient¹³ and started putting tear straps every ten inches on later models. The FAA says the older 737s are going to have to be inspected every 500 cycles or 10-12 weeks the way Southwest flies. Wade Goodwyn, NPR News, Dallas.

The US service sector¹⁴ is still expanding, although it did so at a slower pace in March than in the previous 15 months. A private trade group, the Institute for Supply Management, put service sector activity at 57.3. That's down from more than 59 in February. It was the first decline in several months.

Huge celebrations today at the University of Connecticut as the national champions of men's college basketball, the Huskies, returned home. They arrived moments ago at Bradley International Airport, where WNPR's Harry¹⁵ Grassley was caught up in the fanfare¹⁶ of Uconn's NCAA win over Butler last night.

A lot of people here, and the UConn colors are blue and white. Huskies pride, as far as you can see. Everyone that I've talked to is very excited about the win and said they were gonna come out here today no matter what the weather was.

That's WNPR's Harry Grassley.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down six points at 12,394.

This is NPR.

The death toll¹⁷ from the latest storms to plow¹⁸ through the Southern US since last night now stands at eight. Edgar Treiguts of Georgia Public Broadcasting reports six of the victims were in Georgia.

A young father and his son were killed when high winds toppled a tree yard to their house south of Atlanta. In another part of the state, a mobile home was destroyed, killing¹⁹ its resident. Georgia was pounded with heavy rain, hail and high winds, bringing trees and power lines down. Power crews in the state continue to work to restore service to tens of thousands of homes and businesses. Lisa Janak with Georgia's Emergency Management Agency says the severe weather system played no favorites.

"The interesting thing about this storm is that it did not target one particular area of our state. It targeted the entire state. We have damage reports all the way from North Georgia to South Georgia."

The same storm system is blamed for fatalities²⁰ in Tennessee and Mississippi. For NPR News, I'm Edgar Treiguts in Atlanta.

Syrians threaten more rallies against one of the most authoritarian²¹ regimes in the Middle East. They're spreading the word through Facebook for Syrians to rise up again despite the deaths of dozens of people since anti-government protests began in the country nearly three weeks ago.

Chinese interest rates are up for the fourth time since October as the central bank tries to offset²² inflation. The Chinese central bank lifted the one-year lending rate to 6.3%. After the rate increase was reported and Moody's lowered Portugal's credit rating, Wall Street opened the day lower, and world stocks ended their five-day winning streak²³. But before the close on Wall Street, stocks were mixed. At last check, the Dow was down six points at 12,394; NASDAQ was up two at 2,791; S&P 500 down slightly.

1 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。

2 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

4 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

5 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》

6 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

7 zippers   

n.拉链( zipper的名词复数 )；用拉链的人，装拉链的包

参考例句：

• Buttons, zippers should be glitch free and sharp edge. 纽扣、拉链应无毛刺和锐利边缘。 来自互联网
• Buttons, Zippers, Trimmings and Accessories for the Garment Industry. 主营钮扣，拉链，装饰品和其他服装辅料。 来自互联网

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

10 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。

11 ruptured   

v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交

参考例句：

• They reported that the pipeline had ruptured. 他们报告说管道已经破裂了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wall through Berlin was finally ruptured, prefiguring the reunification of Germany. 柏林墙终于倒塌了，预示着德国的重新统一。 来自辞典例句

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

14 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。

15 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

16 fanfare   

n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布

参考例句：

• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

17 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

18 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

19 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

20 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

22 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

23 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？