NPR美国国家公共电台 2013-03-02

　　From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

 

　　Mandatory¹ government spending cuts are taking effect by the end of the day with the White House and Congressional Republicans no closer to ending the budget impasse³. The republican leadership has said there is no way it'll back higher tax on Americans, adding that it has already made enough concessions⁴. House speaker John Boehner says congress will keep working.

 

　　'The House is going to move a continuing resolution next week, and to find the government past March 27. And I'm hopeful that we won't have to deal with the threat of government shutdown, while re-dealing with the sequester⁵ at the same time.'

 

　　President Obama says he is willing to tackle unpopular cuts in his party including entitlement programs, but he says the GOP keeps blocking a deal.

 

　　'They've allow these cuts to happen because they refused to budge² on closing a single wasteful⁶ loophole to help reduce the deficit⁷.'

 

　　Expressing some frustration⁸ with the stalemate, the president told reporters he can't do a 'jedi mind meld' with republican leaders, apparently⁹ mixing his star track and star wars metaphors¹⁰.

 

　　Sale way moving on consumer spending in the United States, rose modestly last month despite higher taxes. But NPR's Dave Mattingly reports analysts¹¹ are cautious about the increase.

 

　　The Commerce Department says consumer spending rose two tenths of a percentage in January. People spent more for gasoline, while their take home pay drop, due to higher payroll¹² taxes.  Scott Brown is the chief economist¹³ at Raymond James & Associates.

 

　　We don't expect the payroll tax increase or the sequester, anything really to push the economy into a recession, but will dampen the pace of growth.

 

　　Highlighting that points, spending fell on long lasting¹⁴ durable¹⁵ goods, such as cars and appliances. Dave Mattingly NPR News, Washington.

 

　　Secretary of state John Kerry is urging Turkey to improve ties with Israel. He's been raising concerns with Turkish officials about he put it the Turkish Prime Minister's objectionable comments this week. NPR's Michele Kelemen has details.

 

　　'At a UN forum¹⁶, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan describes zionism as a crime against humanity. Israel's Prime Minister called that a dark and mendacious¹⁷ statement, and secretary Kerry raised his concerns about this directly with Turkish officials.'

 

　　'Turkey and Israel are both vital alliances of the United States and we want to see them work together in order to be able to go beyond the rhetoric¹⁸.'

 

　　Turkey's Foreign Minister offered no apology and said that it is Israel that has been hostile to Turkey, relations have been frosty ever since a deadly 2010 Israeli raid on a Turkish vessel¹⁹, that was trying to break the blockade of Gaza. Michele Kelemen NPR News, Ankara.

 

　　Dow is up 33 points at 14,086. This is NPR.

 

　　Eight South African police officers are now charged with the murder of a Mozambique taxi driver. He was tied to the back of a police truck and dragged through a busy street outside of Johannesburg Tuesday, allegedly after resisting an arrest for a traffic violation²⁰. The incident was captured on video and has been playing repeatedly on South African TV. The country's police chief said today the man's rights were "violated" in the most extreme form. People across South Africa said they agreed however they say it is further proof of how abusive South Africa's police force has been.

 

　　THe Philippine government says at least ten Filipinos and two Malaysian officers died in clashes today in Malaysia's eastern most province. From Manila, Simone Orendain reports a group of Filipinos who claim sub-province camped out in the town there and reassert their claim.

 

　　'Close to 200 followers²¹ of the Sultan of Sulu hold themselves up for more than two weeks. Centuries ago, the Sultan of Sulu included several islands in the southwestern Philippine's and Sabah in eastern Malaysia. The Sultanate has been receiving a small rental²² fee from the Malaysian government for Sabah. Followers of Sultan  Jamalul Kiram, some of them armed, demanded talks with Malaysian government over the payment that receives. The Philippines negotiated with Malaysia to hold off on any action as the Philippines pleaded Kiram's group to leave. But they said only a deal or death would remove them. For NPR News, I'm Simone Orendain in Manila.'

 

　　Dow is up 28 points at 1,4082. NASDAQ up six and the S&P 500 gaining two. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

1 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

2 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

3 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

4 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

5 sequester   

vt.使退隐，使隔绝

参考例句：

• Everything he owned was sequestered.他的所有财产都被扣押了。
• This jury is expected to be sequestered for at least two months.预计这个陪审团将至少被隔离两个月。

6 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

7 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。

8 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

9 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。

10 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

11 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。

12 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

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 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

15 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

16 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

17 mendacious   

adj.不真的，撒谎的

参考例句：

• The mendacious beggar told a different tale of woe at every house.这个撒谎的乞丐对于每一家都编了一个不同悲哀的故事。
• She gave us a mendacious report.她给了我们一个虚假的报告。

18 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

19 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

20 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

21 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

22 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。