美国国家电台 NPR 2012-09-28

 The hearts and minds of voters were in contention¹ in the swing state of Virginia today, where NPR's Mara Liasson tells us President Obama and GOP hopeful Mitt² Romney made appearances. 

 

Both candidates were in Virginia today. Mitt Romney campaigned in a relatively³ blue part of the state in the Washington suburbs. President Obama, who has a small but steady lead in the state, campaigned in the more conservative South. Mr. Obama attacked Romney for supporting lower tax rates for capital investment. 

 

"My opponent thinks it's fair that somebody who makes 20 million dollars a year, like him, pays a lower rate than a cop or a teacher who makes 50,000. Don't boo. Vote!"But the president also supports a differential for capital gains where investors⁴ would pay a lower tax rate on their profits than someone who makes their money by getting a paycheck. Mara Liasson, NPR News, Virginia Beach.

 

Mitt Romney was preaching to the choir⁵ a few miles away from the Pentagon. What he told a Virginia crowd that he would not make deep defense⁶ cuts.

 

"The idea of cutting our military commitment by a trillion dollars over this decade is unthinkable and devastating⁷. And when I become president of the United States, we will stop it. I will not cut our commitment to our military."

 

Very deep cuts could emerge if Congress cannot agree to budget savings⁸ before the year is out.

 

At the UN today, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that by next summer Iran could have weapons-grade nuclear materials. The Israeli leader condemned⁹ radical¹⁰ Islam and pledged that the Jewish state would not be shaken.

 

"We ingathered the exiles, restored our independence and rebuilt our national life. The Jewish people have come home. We will never be uprooted¹¹ again."

 

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu addressing the General Assembly.

 

There was good news about employment last week. As NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, jobless claims fell by 26,000.

 

The report suggests layoff¹² activity has slowed. No major factors like weather or aberrations¹³ in an industry skew last week's numbers. And the sharp decline pushed the four-week moving average for claims down as well. But it's also difficult to gauge¹⁴ whether this is a sign the jobless rate could be headed downward. The number of unemployment claims has remained fairly stable through the summer. And yet last month the labor¹⁵ force shrank as more people stopped looking for work. The jobless rate last month fell to 8.1% and the report for September is due out next week. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

 

On Wall Street, approaching the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 68 points at 13,482; the NASDAQ up 41.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Mexican officials say they have arrested one of the country's most wanted drug traffickers, Ivan Velazquez Caballero known as EI Taliban. They say he is a member of the Zetas cartel.

 

The Justice Department is warning that tax return fraud is on the rise. Prosecutors¹⁶ say they see too many cases were criminals steal social security numbers to get tax refunds¹⁸. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports the scams can target vulnerable people.

 

Patients in hospitals and nursing homes are the most common victims of the stolen identity schemes. Criminals in places such as Alabama, New York and Florida have swept social security numbers and raced to file electronic tax returns, cash in refund¹⁷ checks before authorities can catch up with them. Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally says preventing those crimes is a top priority. Keneally pointed¹⁹ out a postal²⁰ worker in Miami was murdered by a crook²¹ who wanted keys to get to mailboxes to carry out the ID theft. She said she's working with the Internal Revenue Service and US attorneys all over the country to identify hotspots. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

 

R&B singer Elle Varner debuted²² at No.4 on Billboards²³ 200 with her "Perfectly²⁴ Imperfect" album. But one of the most exciting things that's happened to her has been the first lady's announcement that she's fan. While at the Democratic National Convention, First Lady Michelle Obama commented that she had taken a shine to Varner's music after hearing her eldest²⁵ daughter Malia played it at the White House. Varner's been nominated for Best New Artist at the Soul Train Awards.

1 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

2 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。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

6 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。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

9 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

10 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

11 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 layoff   

n.临时解雇，操作停止，活动停止期间，失业期

参考例句：

• Finally, prepare an explanation about what led to your layoff.最后，要准备好一套说辞来解释你被解雇的原因。
• Workers were re-employed after the layoff.在暂时解雇不久后工人们又被再度雇用了。

13 aberrations   

n.偏差( aberration的名词复数 )；差错；脱离常规；心理失常

参考例句：

• These events were aberrations from the norm. 这些事件不合常规。 来自辞典例句
• These chromosome aberrations are all stable, compatible with cell viability. 这些染色体畸变都是稳定的，不影响细胞生活力的。 来自辞典例句

14 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

15 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。

16 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

17 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

18 refunds   

n.归还，偿还额，退款( refund的名词复数 )v.归还，退还( refund的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Tomorrow he would return them to the store and claim refunds. 明天他要把它们退还给商店并要求退款。 来自辞典例句
• The new method means that taxpayers get refunds much faster. 这种新办法意味着纳税人可以较快地领到退还款。 来自辞典例句

19 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

20 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。

21 crook   

v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处)

参考例句：

• He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子，他要我向他认错。
• She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。

22 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

23 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

24 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

25 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。