美国国家电台 NPR 2012-09-14

 US stocks are up sharply on word that the Federal Reserve will roll out aggressive measures to stimulate¹ the economy. Before the close, Dow was up 207 points at 13,540. NPR's John Ydstie says the next round of bond buying will be different.

 

The Fed has decided² to embark³ on QE3. That's another round of bond buying aimed at reducing interest rates and sparking growth. This time the Fed says they are focusing on buying mortgage-backed securities at the rate of 40 billion a month. The point is to push down long-term interest rates, especially mortgage rates which the Fed hopes will boost the housing market which they also note in their statement is showing some signs of improvement.

 

NPR's John Ydstie on the statement released today by the Fed's policymaking Federal Open Market Committee. Within hours of that statement, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke warned that while some sectors⁵ are getting better, he says the job situation remains⁶ a grave concern.

 

“While the economy appears to be on a path of moderate recovery, it isn't growing fast enough to make significant progress reducing the unemployment rate.”

 

Last week new unemployment claims hit their highest level in two months in part because of disruptions by Hurricane Isaac.  

 

The economy figured prominently in Republican Mitt⁴ Romney's campaign through Virginia as NPR's Ari Shapiro explains.

 

Fairfax is a suburban⁷ community just a few minutes outside Washington DC. The Romney campaign has been reaching out to women and Asian voters here. That was clear from a lineup of four women who spoke⁸ before Romney arrived. Salon⁹ owner Sunni West is the daughter of immigrants from Laos.

 

“In addition to being a small business owner, I'm also a daughter, mother, sister, friend and also a business that employs 20 hard-working, very dedicated¹⁰ employees.”

 

Romney talked about the income gap between rich and poor, something Republicans almost never mention. He began by talking about the deaths of US diplomats¹¹ in Libya. But he did not repeat his attacks on President Obama's foreign policy. Ari Shapiro, NPR News in Fairfax, Virginia. 

 

President Obama once again defended himself against Romney's recent claims that he was weak on foreign policy, telling voters in Golden, Colorado today those responsible for this week's deadly attack on the US consulate¹² in Libya would be hunted down.

 

“No act of terror will go unpunished. It will not dim the light of the values that we proudly present to the rest of the world. No act of violence shakes the resolve of the United States of America.” 

 

Libya's deputy defense¹³ minister says four people are being questioned in connection with the Benghazi attack that killed four American diplomats including Ambassador Chris Stevens. It was part of a backlash in the Middle East against an obscure anti-Islamic film in the US. 

 

This is NPR News.

 

Astronaut Neil Armstrong has been honored at a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral. NPR's Craig Windham reports more than 2,000 people, including government officials and former astronauts, paid tribute to the first person to set foot on the moon.

 

Astronaut Gene¹⁴ Cernan, who was the last person to walk on the moon, said Armstrong was a man of humble¹⁵ grace who embodied¹⁶ all that's good and great about America. Astronaut Michael Collins, who was the command module¹⁷ pilot for the historic Apollo 11 mission, read a prayer in honor of his famous crew-mate.

 

“Especially we thank you this day for your servant, Neil Armstrong, who with courage and humility¹⁸ first set foot upon the moon.”

 

The closing procession moved past the cathedral’s stained-glass space window. In the middle, it’s a round slice of moon rock brought back to Earth by Armstrong and his fellow Apollo 11 astronauts. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.

 

Florida election supervisors¹⁹ reportedly will have to contact all that 207 of the more than 2,600 voters who would have been removed from voting roles. According to the Associated Press, Republican Governor Rick Scott had suspected they were ineligible²⁰ and now they have to be told they can vote. Groups that work with immigrants, Haitian-Americans and Puerto Ricans filed suit against the purge²¹, alleging²² it was discriminatory. 

 

AP reporting Beef Products, Inc is suing ABC News for deformation²³ over the network’s coverage²⁴ of the so-called pink slime meat products. [The] South Dakota-based company accuses ABC of misleading people into believing the product is unsafe. ABC News says there’s no merit to the suit.

 

This is NPR.

1 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

4 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。

5 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

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 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

10 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

11 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》

12 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

13 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。

14 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

15 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

16 embodied   

v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
• The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

18 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

19 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

20 ineligible   

adj.无资格的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The new rules have made thousands more people ineligible for legal aid.新规定使另外数千人不符合接受法律援助的资格。
• The country had been declared ineligible for World Bank lending.这个国家已被宣布没有资格获得世界银行的贷款。

21 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

22 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

23 deformation   

n.形状损坏；变形；畸形

参考例句：

• The deformation frequencies are not sufficiently distinctive.其变形频率不是十分明显的。
• The calculated deformation is almost equal to the real situation by measurement.经检测，计算变形量与实际情况基本一致。

24 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。