高级英语听力 lesson 10

Lesson Ten

     Section One: News in Brief

     Tapescript

     1. President Reagan said today he will veto a defense 1 spending bill if

     it is approved, as expected, by the House.  Speaking to a private

     group in Washington today, the President said he was concerned

     about provisions in the bill that would ban nuclear testing and cut

     funding for his Star Wars defense system.  The President also charged

     that the Soviet-backed ban on nuclear testing is 'a backdoor to

     nuclear freeze." And he accused the Soviets 2 of a major propagand

     campaign on the testing issue.

     2. Israeli warplanes bombed suspected Palestinian guerrilla bases in

     Southeast Beirut today.  Police said the bomb set at least four targets

     on fire.  There are reports that two people were wounded in the at-

     tacks 3.

     3. At a news conference in Pretoria today, South African Foreign

     Minister Pic Botha called international sanctions against his country

     .a mad perverse 4 action' that will put many blacks out of work. But

     Botha said the South African government 'accepts the challenge to

     overcome the effect of sanctions.'

     4. White House spokesman Larry Speakes  said today President

     Reagan will veto on Friday a sanctions bill passed by Congress, but

     he admitted it will be tough to sustain the veto.

     5. On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up

     four and a half points, closing at 1797.81. Trading was moderate,

     one hundred thirty-two million shares.

     (up four and a half) points, (cl@n )

Section Two: News in Detail

 Tapescript

     Israeli wa lanes today bombed four suspected Palestinian

                rp

 guerrilla bases in Lebanon.  Reports from Beirut say at least two

 people were wounded and a number of fires started in the four vil-

 lages.  From Jerusalem, Jerry Cheslow filed this report which was

 subject to censorship by Israeli authorities.

     According to the Israeli army spokesman, the targets were bases

 belonging to two pro-Syrian Palestinian guerrilla organizations.

 Israeli military sources say one of the targets was a staging base for

 raids against northern Israel.  Lebanese radio stations reported that

 at least two people were wounded in the attack south of Beirut and

 that Beirut International Airport was closed for half an hour.  Israeli

 military sources stress that the air raid had nothing to do with this

 week's tensions along Israel/s border with Lebanon.  They were be-

 tween the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbullah (Party of God) Militia 5 and the

 Israeli-backed South Lebanese Army Militia.  Over the past two

 weeks, large Hizbullah forces stormed dozens of South Lebanese

 Army positions.  Israeli military sources say that at least fifteen South

 Lebanese Army men and some fifty members of Hizbullah were kil-

 led.  According to the sources the attacks also badly damaged the

 -morale of the South Lebanese Army, and this led Israel to deploy 6 a

 large force along its border with Lebanon.  The force included

 troops, armor and artillery 7, and according to knowledgeable 8 observ-

 @ers it was equipped for offensive action against Hizbullah.  Senior

 @Israeli defense sources say that Hizbullah was trying to take over all

 ,of southern Lebanon.  Hizbullah has also been attacking Unifil, the

 ,@UN force in Southern Lebanon.  Over the past six weeks, four French

 Unifil troops were killed by Hizbullah, and just this morning a

 French UN base was rocketed in Southern Lebanon.  There were no

 casualty, but some of its soldiers were blown off their seats.  And the

 sources said that Hizbullah's domination of Southern Lebanon

 would be a direct threat to Israel.  Some of its men who were killed

 were wearing kerchiefs with the words 'Onward 9 to Jerusalem' print-

 ed on them.  But since the Israeli troops deployed 10 along the border

 three days ago, there have been no Hizbuilah attacks on the South

 Lebanese Army.  By nightfall here in the Middle East, the Israeli

 troops had returned to their bases.  For National Public Radio, I'm

 Jerry Cheslow in Jerusalem.

  Section Three: Special Report

  Tapescript

       This week, Californian wine workers vote on a contract propo-

  sal from winery owners.  The workers have now been on strike for six

  weeks.  The contract proposal calls for cuts in wages and cuts in ben-

  efits.  The prospects 11 for rank and file approval seem slim.  A central

  issue of the strike is the economic well-being 12 of the California Wine

  industry.  William Drummond reports.

       A gondola 13 containing tons of freshly picked Chardenay grapes

  is dumped into a hopper as the process begins for bottling the 1986

  vintage.  The harvest has continued despite the fact that more than

  two thousand winery workers have struck twelve of the biggest

  wineries in Northern and Central California.  Reiving on automated 14

  plants and non-union labor 15, members of the Winery Owners' Asso-

 ciation have succeeded in carrying on what looks like business is

 usual.  But out on the picket 16 line, union worker Pat Scoley is any-

 thing but pleased.

      "I guess they're doing all right.  If they aren't, they want us to

 think they are.  I hope to hell they aren't, between you and me.'

      The union contract expired at the end of July, which is the be-

 ginning of the harvest, the time when wine makers 17 usually need all

 the help they can get.  But many plants are like the Charles Kruge

 Winery, which has been completely automated.  Owner Peter

 Mondaby says the strike has no effect on producing the product.

      'We feel that we can go on indefinitely, because there's a lot of

 people who want to work.  And it's only a question of training these

 people and, of course, with the system that we have, very well

 computerized, that they can fit in with a reasonable amount of train-

 ing, that they can fit in.  So, I mean, we're not concerned about it.'

      Actually, the heavy rainfall several days ago in the Napa Valley

 seemed to disturb the owners more than the strike.  Mondaby pro-

 duces around a million @cases a year, super premium 18 brands under

 the Charles Kruge label, mid-range premium wines and jug 19 wines.

 Mondaby says the industry took a beating during the last several

 years because of cheap wine imports from Europe.  Even though

 Americans today are drinking more wine chiefly in the form of wine

 coolers, wine makers say there's not that much profit in the coolers,

 and they're still in a financial pinch.

      'I feel that the industry has hit its low point and now is on the

 uptrend.  Of course, it's not an uptrend that you will see overnight,

 but it is a healthy uptrend in a gradual growth manner now.  But I

 wouldn't necessarily say a greater profitability because the profit is

 very, very marginal.  The.volume is there, it's true, but the profit is

 very, very marginal."

      Mondaby's marginal profit argument does not win much sup-

 port among striking workers, like Hannah Stockton, who works in

 the bottling plant at Christian 21 Brothers.

       'I don't believe it, because I read the paper every day, and I lis-

  ten to the news.  I mean, there has been increase in sale.  I mean, ... I

  believe three or four years back, we had a slump 22 in the industry.  But

  wine is coming back.  Now they are coming out with wine coolers;

  they are making money.  We don't want a raise; we just want to keep

  what we've got.'

       Wages for workers in the winery industry range from around

  eight dollars to fifteen dollars an hour.  The union was willing to give

  up a slight reduction in wages, but refused to accept cuts in the pen-

  sion and health benefits.  The employers reportedly want a twenty

  percent reduction in the wages and benefits package.  Winery owners

  say the union has to recognize that overall costs have increased.

       "Not only is your gross down; the competition has forced us to,

  increase marketing 23 and,advertising, which is further eroding 24 whatev-

  er margin 20 was there.'

       David Spaulding is general manager of a winery in Calistoga.

  Spaulding Vineyards is tiny compared to Charles Kruge and Gallo,

  and Spaulding Vineyards is not on strike, but David Spaulding says

  he faces the same market forces as the big guys.

       'I think the big problem is the same problem that faces agricul-

  ture all over this country; and that is surplus.  You know we are pro-

  ducing more and producing it more efficiently 25, and we have a pro-

  duction that exceeds the demand in the market.'

       Spaulding says wine coolers have taken up some of the

  over-production, but not all of it.  As for the union leaders, they

  don't think it's a good idea to give back wages and benefits when the

  demand for the product is on the increase.  Winery workers are vot-

  ing all this week on the wages and benefits cuts proposed by man-

  agement.  Jerry Davis is an official of the union.

       ' From the people I talked to to  'day and what the negotiating

  committee is stating, we ask a NO vote on this proposal.'

       The results are expected to be known by Thursday.  For Nation-

  al Public Radio, I'm William Drummond reporting.