NPR 2012-05-17

 The White House is awarding the Medal of Honor this hour to an American solider from Elwood City, Pennsylvania, who is killed in Cambodia(柬埔寨) in 1970. The army says paper work for the award was lost for three decades until a Vietnam War veteran uncovered it at the National Archives. NPR’s Joe Schneider reports that after more than forty years, the late Leslie Sabo Junior will finally be recognized for his heroic action.

Specialist Leslie Sabo Junior is receiving the Medal of Honor posthumously(在死后) for actions he took when his platoon(排) was ambushed¹ by North Vietnamese forces, near a village in eastern Cambodia in 1970. The White House says Sabo saved the lives of several these fellow soldiers, at one point using his body to shield a wounded comrade from a grenade blast. The White House says after suffering wounds in the explosion and from automatic weapons fire, Sabo crawled toward an enemy emplacement(炮座) and used another grenade to silence his foes(敌人), it was that blast that killed him. Sabo’s widow and his brother are expected to attend the White House ceremony with the President and the First Lady. Joe Schneider, NPR news, Washington.

 

 

JP Morgan Chase’s $2 billion gap is subject of Congressional scrutiny² today. House Republican said the bank’s trading losses raise critical questions about how firms control their risks. But they were rejecting Democrat³ calls for stricter regulation.

 

 

The defense⁴ in John Edwards’ corruption⁵ trial rests without calling the former democratic presidential candidate or his ex-mistress to the stand. Edwards faces six counts of violating campaign finance law to by using donors’ money to hide his extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter when he was running for president in 2008. Edwards has pleaded not guilty.

 

 

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt⁶ Romney is on a campaign swing through Florida. This morning, he appeared before several hundred people in St. Petersburg. Steve Newborn of member station WUSF says the GOP’s presumptive nominee⁷ focused today on the national debt.

Mitt Romney went tireless and joked with the crowd of mostly retirees. Standing⁸ before a digital clock, endlessly ticking up the amount of the national debt, he went on the offensive against President Obama,

"This president is comfortable with trillion dollar deficits⁹. I’m not, I’ll stop that. This is a president who is comfortable in cutting our military. I’m not, I will stop that. This is a president who is not taking advantage of our energy resources. Instead, he is taking your dollars and investing it in some of the little businesses of his campaign contributors.”

This campaign debate will continue for just over 100 days. The nation’s largest swing state will then be the home for the GOP national convention. For NPR news, I’m Steve Newborn, in Tampa.

 

 

Dow is up 19 points at 12,651; Nasdaq is off 11 points.

 

 

This is NPR news.

 

 

Greece plans to hold a new election on June 17th. The court official will be appointed to lead an interim¹⁰ government until the national vote. Also, no international binding¹¹ agreements will be made during that time. None of the political parties was able to win enough parliamentary seats to govern alone in the earlier election which triggered an attempt to form a coalition¹² government. That’s stalled over disagreement about Greece’s cost cutting measures designed to get a European-IMF bailout and avoid default. That could undermine the global recovery.

 

 

Industrial production in the United States rose 1.1% in April. NPR’s Asma Holid says that’s the biggest one month increase in more than a year.

Some economists¹⁴ are cautiously optimistic. Industrial production refers to factory, mining and utility output. And the economists say April’s big gain reflects a jump in utility output after a mild winter lowered heating demands. Cliff Waldman is the economist¹³ at the Manufacturers Alliance for Innovation and Productivity. He says the month-to-month volatility¹⁵ needs to be interpreted carefully.

"I’m very confident in saying that in spite of the April snapback(急速返回), US manufacturing is undergoing a moderation in its growth. It’s not falling apart, but it is definitely moderating.”

The data also shows factory production rose 0.6% in April. Gains in motor vehicles helped to drive the numbers up. Asma Holid NPR news.

 

 

Signaling improvement in housing, builders have broken ground on 2.6% more homes. But permits for future building are down.

1 ambushed   

v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The military vehicles were ambushed. 军车遭到伏击。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 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。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 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。

7 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。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

10 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

11 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

12 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

13 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。

14 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》

15 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。