NPR 2012-01-28

 US economic growth is apparently¹ picking up, although it came in at a modest pace in the final months of 2011. NPR's Dave Mattingly reports the latest numbers were not as strong as economists³ had been forecasting.

 

Economists were expecting 3% growth. What they got, says the Commerce Department, was growth at an annual rate of 2.8%, and much of the increase was businesses restocking inventories⁴. New car and truck sales were up sharply, but otherwise, says economist² Hugh Johnson, consumers slowed their spending as the year came to a close.

 

"2012 will be better than 2011, but it's not gonna be anything to write home about."

 

And that's underscored by the Federal Reserve, suggesting interest rates will stay at record lows for another two to three years. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

 

Coming off a feisty debate last night, the Republican presidential candidates are campaigning this final weekend before Florida's primary Tuesday. As of yesterday, more than 400,000 Republicans had already voted. NPR's Greg Allen reports from Miami that by Tuesday, as many as one quarter of those expected to turn out may have cast ballots⁷.

 

In most Florida counties, polls opened last weekend for early voting, and because of its liberal absentee ballot⁶ rules, anyone who chooses can mail-in their vote. Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the Florida Republican Party, says the early voting numbers surpassed those seen in the 2008 primary.

 

"What it shows is just a high level of engagement by our Republicans in Florida, and we expect that to translate into high turnout numbers."

 

A survey this week shows Mitt⁹ Romney with a seven point lead over Newt Gingrich among those in Florida who have already voted. Who wins the early vote can be critical. In the 2008 Republican governor's race, former Attorney General Bill McCollum won among votes cast on Election Day. He lost the race though because challenger Rick Scott beat McCollum in the absentee and early vote. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

 

A 31-year-old man will be executed for the 2007 murders of a Connecticut woman and her two young daughters. Joshua Komisarjevsky now joins accomplice¹⁰ Steven Hayes on death roll for a crime described as so horrific that it halted efforts to outlaw¹¹ the death penalty in Connecticut. The two paroled burglars tormented¹² Dr. William Petit's family before they killed his wife and left Petit's daughters to die in a fire. Dr. Petit was beaten and tied up, but he escaped.

 

Leading finance ministers meeting in Davos, Switzerland are trying to reassure¹³ global business leaders about Europe's ability to handle its debts. They say the financial landscape has changed in the last two months as vulnerable banks got a multi-billion-dollar boost from the European Central Bank and reforms were passed, and they also suggested Greece was close to a deal with private bondholders that would avert¹⁴ default.

 

This is NPR.

 

Syrian activists¹⁵ are now putting the death toll¹⁶ from two days of clashes with troops at at least 50. They say forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad fired on residential⁵ buildings and crowds and homes and elsewhere. Activists have been fighting to oust¹⁷ Assad for ten months. The French mission to the UN says the Security Council is holding an unscheduled meeting today to discuss the crisis. The UN estimates more than 5,400 people have died since the uprising began.

 

Holocaust¹⁸ remembrance advocates are hailing Turkish state television's decision to air [口误] a 1985 documentary on the subject. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Istanbul that it's the first public airing of the film by a Muslim country.

 

The UN-backed Aladdin Project had the nine-hour documentary subtitled in Turkish, Farsi and Arabic. Executive Director Abe Radkin says he hopes this will contribute to greater understanding between Muslims and Jews.

 

"And that's what we would like to see in this part of the world, where for the past 60 or 70 years the holocaust has been largely ignored except for quarters that denied it."

 

A US satellite channel with some Iranian viewers aired the Farsi version last year, drawing criticism from Tehran, where officials have in the past said the holocaust was exaggerated or didn't happen. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Istanbul.

 

President Obama’s back from a tour through Nevada, Colorado and Michigan, where he talked about clean energy, robust¹⁹ manufacturing and, most recently, promoting affordable²⁰ college tuition. He spoke⁸ this afternoon at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor²¹. 

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 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 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》

4 inventories   

n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制

参考例句：

• In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
• The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。

5 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

6 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

7 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 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 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。

10 accomplice   

n.从犯，帮凶，同谋

参考例句：

• She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
• He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。

11 outlaw   

n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法

参考例句：

• The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months.逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
• The outlaw has been caught.歹徒已被抓住了。

12 tormented   

饱受折磨的

参考例句：

• The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
• He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠，深受嫉妒的折磨。

13 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

14 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

15 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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。

17 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

18 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

19 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

20 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

21 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。