NPR 2010-09-22
时间：2018-12-02 作者：英语课 分类：2010年NPR美国国家公共电台9月
In a major setback 1 for gay rights advocates, Senate Democrats 2 were unable today to get the 60 votes they needed to move forward a measure to repeal 3 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, the policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. NPR’s Audie Cornish says it was part of a broader defense 4 spending bill.
In addition to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” provision, Senate Democrats wanted to add an amendment 5 called the “DREAM Act”, providing a path to citizenship 6 for undocumented young people brought to the US as children if they serve in the military or go to college, but Senate Republicans were unified 7 in their opposition 8 to the add-ons. Ohio Senator George Voinovich says Senate Majority Leader Harry 9 Reid is taking the wrong approach.
“To me, this is a cynical 10 ‘no’. Take care of the “DREAM Act”; take care of, you know, some of the other issues. Handling these issues the way he’s doing it is frankly 11 gonna do more harm than good to the issues that you care about.”
The defense bill includes some $725 billion for military and national security spending. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.
There is better-than-expected data out today on the housing market. The Commerce Department says the number of homes builders broke ground on rose ten percent last month. More on this from NPR’s Chris Arnold.
The latest numbers on housing starts are somewhat encouraging. Analysts 12 are looking for any signs of life in the market. That’s because after the expiration 13 of a federal home buyer tax credit, sales fell sharply. But even with the ten percent jump in construction, “this is nothing to write home about”. Karl Case is a housing economist 14 at Wesley College. He says at the start of the year, more than 600,000 homes were getting built every month. That number then dropped off close to 500,000 and now it’s edged up a bit to 598,000. But “traditionally at this stage in a recovery, we’re pushing up against to a million five, a million six, a million seven on the way to more than two million. That’s not happening. This time it’s not going to happen.” Case says home construction still remains 15 at around a 50-year low. Chris Arnold, NPR News, Boston.
A major political shakeup in the Los Angel suburb of Bell today, eight people including the mayor, the former city manager and city council members are under arrest for corruption 16. District Attorney Steve Cooley says the defendants 17 misused 18 public funds and defrauded 19 voters.
“This was calculated greed and theft, accomplished 20 by deceit and secrecy 21.”
The case came to light after residents of the small, working-class city found out officials were paying themselves salaries as high as $800,000.
The Federal Reserve won’t be taking any drastic steps to revitalize the economy. After all, policymakers decided 22 today to take a wait-and-see approach on how the economy manages on its own. On news of this, Dow’s up eight points at 10,761 at last check.
This is NPR.
NATO is investigating the deadliest helicopter crash involving coalition 23 troops in Afghanistan in several years. Nine service members died in the southern province of Zabul. It’s unclear if Americans were among the dead. The Taliban says it shot the chopper down, but NATO says there is no evidence of that.
Italian magistrates 24 have frozen $30 million of a Vatican bank and put its director under investigation 25 for alleged 26 money laundering 27. NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome that the Vatican said it is perplexed 28 and surprised.
Vatican bank director Ettore Gotti Tedeschi is a devout 29 Catholic who has taught financial ethics 30 at Milan’s Catholic University. He’s under investigation for alleged violations 31 of European Union money laundering regulations. Italian financial police made the seizure 32 following two recent suspicious transfers. Officially known as the Institute for Religious Works, the bank manages funds for the Vatican and religious institutions around the world. It was involved in a major scandal in 1982 when it got involved in a fraudulent bankruptcy 33 of Banco Ambrosiano, whose president Roberto Calvi was found hanged under a London birdge. Today, a Holy See statement said the Vatican has been working for some time to make its finances more transparent 34 and it expressed full trust in director Gotti Tedeschi. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.
Thousands of Greek truckers marched to parliament today in Athens, railing against politicians who want to see more competition in the trucking industry. Lawmakers are expected to vote tomorrow on a measure that would make it cheaper for people to own and operate their trucks.
I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.
- Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
- She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。
- The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
- The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
- He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。
- 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。
- The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
- The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。
- He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
- Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。
- The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
- The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。
- The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
- The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
- Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
- Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
- The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
- He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。
- To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
- Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。
- 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。
- Can I have your credit card number followed by the expiration date?能告诉我你的信用卡号码和它的到期日吗?
- This contract shall be terminated on the expiration date.劳动合同期满，即行终止。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
- As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
- He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He had grossly misused his power. 他严重滥用职权。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He defrauded his employers of thousands of dollars. 他诈取了他的雇主一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He defrauded them of their money. 他骗走了他们的钱。 来自辞典例句
- Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
- Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。
- All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
- Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。
- 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。
- 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。
- to come up before the magistrates 在地方法院出庭
- He was summoned to appear before the magistrates. 他被传唤在地方法院出庭。
- In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
- He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
- It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
- alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为
- Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
- The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。
- His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
- The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。
- The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
- Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。
- This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
- These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。
- The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
- The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。
- You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
- His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。
- The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
- The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。