美国国家电台 NPR 2012-11-09

 The gunman in the 2011 Tucson mass shooting is getting life in prison without parole for killing¹ six people and wounding 13. That punishment was expected today at Jared Loughner’s sentencing where some survivors² and victims’ families confronted him for the first time. They included Mark Kelly, husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who is also in the courtroom. Kelly spoke³ of the enormous difficulties his wife faces each day since the attack. He then told Loughner “you may have put a bullet through her head, but you have not put a dent⁴ in her spirit.” 

 

A northeaster is hampering⁵ recovery efforts in areas still reeling from Superstorm Sandy. The latest storm unleashed⁶ strong winds, rains and snow, compounding the massive power outages from last week, with yet more outages, especially in New York and New Jersey⁷. Meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is estimating Sandy has cost the region about 50 billion dollars. NPR's Allison Keyes says Cuomo is calling for a redesign of transportation and utility systems.

 

Cuomo says the state of New York alone could face 33 billion in damage and economic loss in the wake of Sandy, which could mean an additional one-billion-dollar deficit⁸ for the state. But he also says there were lessons to be learned in an area that’s going to be victimized by storms.

 

“Our transportation system is vulnerable. We learned that the hard way. Our fuel delivery system is vulnerable.”

 

Cuomo says the utilities are a problem too.

 

“The utility system we have was designed at a different time for a different place.”

 

He says the system doesn't work for New York in an emergency crisis situation. Allison Keyes, NPR News.

 

Meanwhile, FEMA says it’s starting to deliver some manufactured housing units to areas in New Jersey and New York that were hit hardest by Superstorm Sandy.

 

The government’s reporting a nearly two-year low in the US trade deficit. NPR’s Dave Mattingly reports on the latest figures from September.

 

Exports hit a record high in September, although shipments of American-made goods to European Union countries remained flat. Overall, they jumped 3%, topping out at 187 million dollars. Stuart Hoffman is chief economist⁹ at PNC Financial.

 

“It’s great to see exports at a record. I think that does speak to the US competitiveness around the world.”

 

Exports were led by stronger sales of heavy machinery¹⁰ and commercial aircraft. Imports also rose. The trade deficit shrank to 41.5 billion dollars. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

 

At last check on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 66 points about 0.5% at 12,869, NASDAQ down 1% or 29 points at 2,908, and the S&P 500 is down 11 at 1,384. 

 

This is NPR.

 

Weekly jobless claims are down again. The Labor¹¹ Department says applications fell by 8,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 355,000. Analysts¹² caution the figures don't yet reflect the impact from Superstorm Sandy. The more closely watched four-weak average meanwhile, which moves out week-to-week fluctuations¹³, ticked up to 370,500.

 

The northeaster touched off at least 1,300 flight cancelations in and out of the New York area as new numbers emerge on the financial toll¹⁴ of that storm. United has cut its October revenue by 90 million dollars. Delta¹⁵ scaled back its revenue by about 45 million.

 

The Postal¹⁶ Service is gearing up for the holiday season. NPR’s Trina Williams reports nearly 600 million pieces of mail are expected to be processed daily between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, adding up to the delivery of more than 15 billion pieces of mail and packages.

 

The Postal Service wants you to know that it will get the job done just as it has for more than 230 years of holiday delivery. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe emphasizes the institution is changing with the times to make service more convenient.

 

“You’ll find us on tablets, smartphones, at usps.com, where we’re going to serve almost 50 million customers during the holidays.”

 

Donahoe reminds customers that December 17th will be the busiest day for mailing cards and packages, and the 22nd will be the last day for guaranteed express mail Christmas Day delivery. Trina Williams, NPR News, Washington.

 

US stocks trading lower with the Dow off 57 at 12,876. 

1 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。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 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。

4 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

5 hampering   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• So fraud on cows and development aid is seriously hampering growth. 因此在牛问题上和发展补助上的诈骗严重阻碍了发展。
• Short-termism, carbon-trading, disputing the science-are hampering the implementation of direct economically-led objectives. 短效主义，出售二氧化碳，进行科学辩论，这些都不利于实现以经济为主导的直接目标。

6 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

9 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。

10 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

11 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。

12 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

13 fluctuations   

波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table. 他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• There were so many unpredictable fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. 股票市场瞬息万变。

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 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

16 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。