NPR 2011-05-06

From NPR News in Washington, I’m Lakshmi Singh.

Members of the group that took out Osama bin¹ Laden² is expected to be thanked personally by President Obama. The White House says the president plans to travel to Fort Campbell, Kentucky tomorrow to meet some of the Navy SEALs who were involved in the military assault over four days ago in Pakistan that led to the al-Qaeda leader’s death.

Against the backdrop of snapshots and camera flashes, President Obama placed a wreath at New York’s Ground Zero earlier this afternoon, saying little as people reflected on the thousands of lives lost in the 9/11 attacks that bin Laden ordered in 2001. NPR’s Joel Rose says the president also encountered a warm welcome of first responders and 9/11 family members.

I think that a lot of people I talked to were very glad that the president took the time to come up here and to recognize this New York City. He has a lot of supporters here, and they feel that he did the right thing by coming here to [the] World Trade Center site and, you know, to show that you’re consulted in his thoughts, and that he really is their president.

NPR’s Joel Rose.

Also a somber³ moment at the Pentagon, where Vice⁴ President Joe Biden laid a wreath near the spot where American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the building on September 11th. NPR’s Tom Bowman reports from the Pentagon.

The vice president was flanked by Defense⁵ Secretary Robert Gates. He carried a wreath, passed a group of firefighters who helped put out the blaze that day. The two men placed their hands over their hearts as "Taps" was played. The ceremony was just steps away from the Pentagon Memorial, which includes a bench for each person killed there that day. One hundred and twenty-five people were killed inside the Pentagon; another 64 died aboard the American Airlines flight. Vice President Biden met privately⁶ with family members of the victims. Tom Bowman, NPR News, Washington.

Pakistan’s army says it is limiting US military personnel in that country to minimum essential levels. They aren’t saying what prompted their decision, but there is widespread anger in Pakistan over the US raid that killed bin Laden. The al-Qaeda leader was found living in a mansion⁷ within 40 miles of Islamabad, prompting questions from the US and other anti-terrorism allies about how much Pakistan really knew of bin Laden’s whereabouts.

US oil prices dropped nearly 9% in their fourth day of declines to settle just under 100 dollars a barrel. Prices haven’t fallen this much in one day since April of 2009. Michael Lynch, head of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, says that with many more people complaining about rising fuel prices, a lot of investors⁸ are now, as he put it, running for the door. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 140 points before the close at 12,583.

This is NPR.

For the first time since the economic collapse⁹, all three of the US automakers are turning profits. General Motors announced today it made more than three billion dollars in the first quarter. NPR’s Sonari Glinton reports that’s GM’s highest quarterly profit in more than a decade.

The last time gas prices were this high, General Motors wasn’t really competing in the small car market. The last time the company was as profitable, it was making its money from trucks and SUVs. Now, GM’s compact car, the Chevy Cruze, is the company’s bestseller. The Cruze helped make GM three times as much money as it did the same time last year. That good news comes with a twist. GM is recalling more than 150,000 Chevy Cruzes. GM will check to make sure the car’s steering¹⁰ shafts¹¹ are properly installed, though no accidents have been reported. Sonari Glinton, NPR News.

In the latest tally¹² of new unemployment claims, the number of filers has risen again. The Labor¹³ Department reports dated last week saw an increase of 43,000 people who filed for jobless insurance for the first time. Overall, applications rose to 474,000, the highest level in eight months.

At least 17 lives were lost today in a suicide car bombing in central Iraq. It was the second major attack in that country since al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s death four days ago. Iraq’s security forces have been on high alert for reprisal¹⁴ attacks from al-Qaeda and its affiliates¹⁵.

The latest from Wall Street: the Dow was down 140 points before the close, more than 1%, at 12,583, and the NASDAQ has fallen nearly 0.5%; it’s at 2,850.

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

3 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

7 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

8 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

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

11 shafts   

n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等）

参考例句：

• He deliberately jerked the shafts to rock him a bit. 他故意的上下颠动车把，摇这个老猴子几下。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Shafts were sunk, with tunnels dug laterally. 竖井已经打下，并且挖有横向矿道。 来自辞典例句

12 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

13 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。

14 reprisal   

n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠

参考例句：

• There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
• They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。

15 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。