NPR 2012-01-05

 President Obama is sidestepping the GOP opposition¹ in Congress to appoint the head of a new consumer protection bureau.

 

 

 

"Today I'm appointing Richard as America's consumer watchdog."

 

 

 

The President speaking about Richard Cordray in Ohio, where the nominee² once served as attorney general. The president accusses congressional Republicans of holding Cordray’s nomination³ hostage. The decision touched off abiding⁴ criticism from the GOP leadership, which has warned that the recess⁵ appointment to allow Cordray to serve at least two years undermines the confirmation⁶ process and will be challenged in the courts.

 

 

 

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is out of the presidential race. She announced her decision earlier today after poor showing in Iowa caucuses⁷. Her supporters are up for grabs among the remaining GOP contenders including Rick Santorum, who, as New Hampshire Public Radio's Jon Greenberg recabs, came in a close second behind Mitt⁸ Romney in Iowa's contest and hopes to make a strong showing next week in New Hampshire.

 

 

 

Less than four weeks ago, the former Pennsylvania senator was stuck in single digits⁹ in the Iowa polls. That's about where he stands today in New Hampshire and his backers are hoping for a similar surge in next week’s primary. State campaign co-chair Bill Cahill says Santorum aims to consolidate¹⁰ the social conservative vote in the Granite¹¹ State.

 

 

 

“Our guy is gonna be campaigning full-time¹² for the next week throughout the state in Hampshire with a very ambitious schedule, a huge media contention¹³ in toll¹⁴.”

 

 

 

Wining the support of evangelical voters is key to Santorum’s strategy, but New Hampshire has relatively¹⁵ fewer such voters, compared to Iowa. For NPR News, I’m Jon Greenberg in Concord¹⁶, New Hampshire.

 

 

 

In a boost heading into New Hampshire, Mitt Romney has picked up Arizona Senator John McCain’s endorsement¹⁷.

 

 

 

“No one will ever say that Mitt Romney will lead from behind. He will lead in front the way Ronald Reagan did and not lead from behind, which is what this president is doing.”

 

 

 

McCain was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.

 

 

 

The Greek prime minister is meeting with labor¹⁸ union and trade leaders today to try to win support for painful financial reforms. Financial inspectors¹⁹ are due to arrive later this month. And as Joanna Kakissis reports from Athens, crucial bailout loans hang in the balance.

 

 

 

The government led by former central banker Lucas Papademos is trying to secure about 170 billion dollars in new bailout loans. In exchange for the aid, the government has imposed austerity measures such as wage and pension cuts and also high taxes. Unions have called numerous strikes against austerity. Papademos must convince them to back cuts of labor costs to satisfy international lenders.

 

 

 

That’s Joanna Kakissis in Athens.

 

 

 

Dow was up 13 points.

 

 

 

You’re listening to NPR News.

 

 

 

Train passengers are facing significant delays in the Easternern US. As NPR’s Tovia Smith tells us, Amtrak service between Philadelphia and New York is temporarily suspended because of downed wires.

 

 

 

Officials say crews are making the needed repairs just east of Philadelphia, but thousands of passengers will experience significant delays on Amtrak's busiest route. The wires came down before 8:00 this morning. They hung over one track, blocking trains there, and repair workers were blocking others. But spokesman Cliff Cole says two of four tracks are now clear for travel, and service should be back to normal by late afternoon.

 

 

 

“It’s rare that the wires come down. I mean the overhead wire system. You know, it’s fairly complex. Its electricity powers our trains, so that when the wires come down, it does cause a big issue for our travel.”

 

 

 

Cole says Amtrak is still investigating how the wire came down. Tovia Smith, NPR News.

 

 

 

Mexican drug cartel kingpin Benjamin Arellano Felix reportedly will plead guilty to unspecified charges. According to the Associated Press, the US attorney office in San Diego has announced that Arellano Felix is expected in federal court this afternoon. The defendant²⁰ ran a cartel that rose to power Tijuana in the late 1980s. He was extradited from Mexico last April.

 

 

 

Argentina’s president is said to be awake and recovering from a 3.5-hours surgery to remove a cancerous thyroid gland²¹. Fifty-eight year old Cristina Fernandez was diagnosed with papillary thyroid carcinoma last month shortly after she began her second term as president.

 

 

 

US stocks mixed this hour with the Dow up 13 points at 12,410; NASDAQ down slightly at 2,649.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

4 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

5 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

6 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

7 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

8 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。

9 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

11 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

12 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

13 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。

14 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。

15 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

16 concord   

n.和谐；协调

参考例句：

• These states had lived in concord for centuries.这些国家几个世纪以来一直和睦相处。
• His speech did nothing for racial concord.他的讲话对种族和谐没有作用。

17 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

18 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。

19 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

21 gland   

n.腺体，(机)密封压盖，填料盖

参考例句：

• This is a snake's poison gland.这就是蛇的毒腺。
• Her mother has an underactive adrenal gland.她的母亲肾上腺机能不全。