NPR 2011-08-03

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

 

All these are also in the wake of a just ended battle over hiking the debt ceiling. That latest chapter of the debt ceiling debate over with President Obama signing into law a measure today that heads off the government default by raising the debt limit. Mr. Obama says hopefully there won't be a repeat of waiting to the 11:00 to compromise, especially since the political fight over deficit¹ reductions is far from over.

 

"We've seen in the past few days that Washington has the ability to focus when there's a timer ticking down, and when there's a looming² disaster. It shouldn't take the risk of default — the risk of economic catastrophe³ — to get folks in this town to work together and do their jobs."

 

NPR's David Welna tracked the measure's tumultuous passage through Congress which culminated⁴ in a vote of 74-29 in the Senate today.

 

There's little love for the bill that congressional leaders in the White House cobbled together over the weekend. Republicans feel it does too little to change Washington's spending habits, while Democrats⁵ deplore⁶ its reliance on spending cuts alone to reduce the deficit while leaving tax policy unchanged. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was a key architect of the deal, says it shows Congress can still act when it needs to.

 

"It's a testament⁷ to the goodwill⁸ of those on both sides that we were able to reach this agreement in time. Neither side wanted to see the government default, and I'm pleased we were able to work together to avoid it."

 

The bill authorizes⁹ President Obama to request another 1.7 trillion dollars in borrowing authority, enough to keep the government solvent¹⁰ through the end of next year. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

 

Now as the Senate prepares to recess¹¹ within hours, lawmakers are grappling with yet another crisis. This one involves the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency is partially¹² shut down. Thousands of its employees are out of work. And if there's no resolution by the time the Senate leaves, these workers could remain unemployed¹³ until September when Congress reconvenes. The shutdown was triggered by a dispute over subsidy¹⁴ cuts in rural air service amounting to 16.5 million dollars. If the shutdown drags on, it could cost the government 1.2 billion in lost revenue.

 

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 266 points, more than 2%, at 11,867.

 

This is NPR.

 

Oklahoma and Texas appear to be under a bull's eye for extreme dry conditions which climatologists don't predict to end until at least the fall. From member station KOSU, Michael Cross tells us agriculture producers are going into the hottest days of the year, dealing¹⁵ with a drought which started in Oklahoma last October.

 

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture says cotton is expected to be 35% to 40% of the normal crop, and Associate Commissioner¹⁶ Blayne Arthur says cotton's not the only produce getting hit. 

 

"The majority of the corn that we have in Oklahoma has burned up by this time of the year, and we had probably more corn planted this year than we had in previous years."

 

Arthur says ranchers aren't fairing any better as there's less forage¹⁷ for cattle, and lake and river beds have started drying up. She says many of the producers are either selling their herds¹⁸ or trying to lease them to other states not under drought conditions. For NPR News, I'm Michael Cross in Oklahoma City.

 

The operator of Japan's damaged nuclear power plants says it has sealed an area with high levels of radiation. Tokyo Electric Power says radiation levels around the complex are not rising, a sign there's no duct leak at the affected¹⁹ reactor²⁰. The plant was breached²¹ in the March's earthquake and tsunami²².

 

Karachi, Pakistan is said to be under escalated²³ security after two days of clashes left 34 people dead. The Associated Press reports paramilitary forces have been patrolling the streets to contain the violence, much of which stems from political rivalry²⁴.

 

At last check on Wall Street, Dow was down 266 points, more than 2%, at 11,867.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.

分享到：