NPR 2012-01-10

 Republican presidential hopefuls in New Hampshire are spending the last day before that state’s primary sparring with each other.  Newt Gingrich says he has to take back a pledge to run a positive campaign to protect himself from rivals’ attacks. Mitt¹ Romney’s backers spend millions of dollars on negative ads in the Iowa caucuses² last week. Gingrich now has another target. The former House speaker is stepping up his criticism of former Senator Rich Santorum. NPR’s Mara Liasson says this signals a shift in tactics for Gingrich. 

 

He has seen Santorum’s surge in Iowa not translate to New Hampshire. I think Gingrich has made the calculation that he is the better candidate to become the conservative alternative to Romney, that he can do better in southern states like South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and he has no intention of running a kind of Kamikaze mission to just bring Mitt Romney down at the expense of Gingrich’s own campaign.  

 

NPR’s Mara Liasson reporting from Manchester, New Hampshire.

 

The leaders of the eurozone’s two largest economies called boosting economic growth across Europe a top priority. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley reports that the heads of France and Germany are meeting in Berlin today to finalize³ details of a new treaty that will enforce tough new fiscal⁴ rules. 

 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor⁵ Angela Merkel said they would also consider speeding up payments into the eurozone’s permanent rescue fund in an effort to bolster⁶ market confidence. The two leaders also urged Greece to come to an agreement with its creditors⁷ in order to receive a second tranche of bailout money and they spoke⁸ of the morality of a tax on financial transactions. "We are where we are today because of the scandalous and inadmissible actions of the financial world," said Sarkozy. "And it’s only normal that they contribute to putting things right again." Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.

 

The White House is denying accusations⁹ by Iranians that an American man sentenced to death is a spy. State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says Amir Hekmati is innocent. She says the US is working with Swiss diplomats¹⁰ in Tehran to help.

 

“If it is true, that he has been so sentenced, we would condemn¹¹ this verdict in the strongest terms and we are working with all of our partners to convey that condemnation¹² to the Iranian government.”

 

His family says he was visiting relatives in Iran for the first time. Hekmati is a former marine¹³, but Nuland says he never worked for the CIA. 

 

Federal officials have arrested a 25-year-old man in Florida after allegedly plotting an attack on businesses and offices in the Tampa area. Police say Sami Osmakac was arrested after trying to buy weapons and firearms from undercover officers. He’s a nationalized US citizen born in Yugoslavia. 

 

On Wall Street at this hour, the Dow is up 31 points at 12, 392; the Nasdaq is up five points at 2,679; the S&P500 is up three. 

 

This is NPR News. 

 

The Supreme¹⁴ Court has upheld a ban on foreign contributions to American political campaigns—a ban bars contributions from all foreigners except immigrants who live in the United States permanently¹⁵. A lawyer in D.C. wanted the justices to allow greater political participation¹⁶ by corporations and labor¹⁷ unions.  

 

Nigeria, Africa’s top crude oil exporter, is in the grip of a nationwide strike sparked by a massive increase in the price of gasoline. NPR’s Ofeibea Quist-Arcton says the president is now under pressure to reverse his decision to end fuel subsidies¹⁸. 

 

Nigeria’s capital Abuja and the commercial capital Lagos come to a virtual standstill with similar reports of thousands of people joining the demonstrations¹⁹ in other parts of the country. “Enough is enough”, read several banners. Another says “soon the only thing left for poor people to eat will be rich people”. And Occupy Nigeria movement has emerged as Labor leaders warn “no retreat, no surrender”. Pressure is mounting on President Goodluck Jonathan to back down on scrapping²⁰ fuel subsidies, but the government appears to be unwavering. Supporters say the subsidies make no financial sense for Nigeria. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Ankara. 

 

Two people are dead, several others were wounded when a roadside bomb went off south of Baghdad today. Police say the targets were Shia pilgrims walking to the holy city of Karbala. Sunni insurgents²¹ are believed to be behind these attacks. 

 

Basketball players are back in the White House today. This time it’s the Dallas Mavericks—2011 NBA World champs. They staged a season-ending charge to beat Lebron James at Miami Heat and claimed their first title. 

 

I’m Jeanine Herbst, NPR News in Washington.

1 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。

2 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

3 finalize   

v.落实，定下来

参考例句：

• Let us finalize tonight.让我们今天晚上干完
• 。At the same time,industrial designers work with engineers to finalize components and assembly.同时，工业设计师和工程师一道来完成部件和组装部分的工作。

4 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

5 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

6 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

7 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

10 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

12 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

13 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

16 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

17 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。

18 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 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。

20 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

21 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网