You know, we have gone from this is a media hoax and fake news to calling it a witch hunt to saying that it was business as usual to meet with Russians about dirt on Hillary Clinton to saying that maybe we need to get out that pardoning power. The president is tweeting about this just this morning. He says he has complete and total pardon power but the only crimes that have been committed so far have been those of the leakers.

And of course, the background here is that Robert Mueller's investigating team - he's the special counsel looking into the Russia connection - may be looking to the larger reality of the Trump world's financial relationships with various Russians. And that may be what's prompting all this talk about investigating the investigators or pushing back on some of Mueller's hires or even using the pardon power.

I'll bet that the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has had better weeks.

Oh, you know, indeed. We've had an overnight report, again from The Washington Post, that is based again on leaks from the U. S.  intelligence agencies. Apparently, there are intercepts of former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak reporting back to Moscow about his conversations with Jeff Sessions. We knew they had had conversations, but he has always said that they had nothing to do with the campaign. He was, of course, important to the Trump campaign for a senator who endorsed him. And he continues to stand by that statement this morning that he and Kislyak never talked about the campaign. But the Post says these intercepts show that Kislyak says differently.

turn 1 : "investigating the investigators" and "pushing back" are also figurative language, not meant to be taken literally.

How are "investigating the investigators" and "pushing back" described?

Answer: Figurative


Well, I didn't, but a professor of mathematics at Macalester College and one of his students did that. And they use this stuff called social network analysis, which is what the NSA uses to identify key terrorists and, you know, the people that they want to send the drones after. But these guys at Macalester College took that same method and applied it to "Game Of Thrones. "

Is it as simple as they just add up all the mentions on social media platforms or what?

In a sense it is. It's a matter - it's - look at the networks, you look at the strengths of the connections between the networks and almost always you find that one or two nodes come to the top, and they're the most important nodes. And they're the ones who, in a terrorist network, if you take them out, it causes significant damage to the network. And in the case of "Game Of Thrones," if you took out Tyrion, it would make a huge difference to the rest of the story. So he's the one that is most likely to survive through the entire series.

Unless of course he gets a better offer from another series and they decide they have to write him out. But I'm interested in the fact that it can be used to penetrate what's going on in a supposedly secret terrorist network.

turn 1 : There are no turns in this conversation whose actual meanings are different from their literal meanings. All of the turns are being used in a straightforward and literal manner.

How did the professors at Macalester College apply social network analysis to "Game of Thrones"?

Answer: Tyrion


And one more email.

And one more email, yeah. And it was quite literally the last email that I opened. And the email said, basically, Dear, Mr.  Feuer. Ever since I saw your story on the other Alan Feuer one year ago, I've been meaning to get in touch with you. I didn't want to do so while Alan was alive. Now, that he has passed away, would you like to know the truth about his background?

Well, you know, she - this woman who was, in fact, Alan's step niece. So, you know, imagine a, you know, a niece coming in by second marriage essentially. She went on to kind of flash out the family relationships, and she told me that while this life of grand society that I, in fact, had witnessed myself was absolutely true, the sort of back story that Alan had held up - Austrian blue blood, you know, mother live too long - all these stuff was, in fact, not true. And she said that, you know, if I wanted to get in touch with her, she would tell me, in fact, what the truth was. So I got in touch with her.

And this is a story of a man not from Austria but, in fact, born in Brooklyn and raised in Westchester?

turn 1 : The email contains information about the background of someone named Alan Feuer which cannot be disclosed until he passed away.

How was the background of Alan Feuer revealed?

Answer: Email


It's becoming a new Thanksgiving tradition. This year, like the year before, the newest installment of "The Hunger Games" movie franchise "Mockingjay Part 1" is an adaptation of the first half of Suzanne Collins third and final book in the series. And with the backdrop of what's been happening in the world, protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and shakeup at the Capitol - Capitol Hill that is. Audiences look for comparisons between the fictitious world of Panem and the real world. We're joined now by Stephen Carter, a professor of law at Yale, a novelist and columnist for Bloomberg View, where he writes regularly on popular culture. Stephen, thanks so much for being back with us.

It's my pleasure, Scott.

I'm just guessing you don't watch "Hunger Games" the way a lot of other people do.

You're right. I'm looking for tropes and ideas that are going to leap out of the film into public life. And one that's really striking about the "Hunger Games" franchise is how more than really anything else in recent years in popular culture, so many of the symbols - the nation of Panem itself with its deep wealth inequalities, the notion of the Capitol, this barricaded wealthy city and of course, Katniss Everdeen herself, the hero. All of these things have not only leapt into the public imagination, but they are regular features of political argument.

turn 0 : "installment" - This word literally means a portion of something, but in this context, it refers to a movie or book in a series.

What does "installment" refer to in the context of the dialogue?

Answer: Movie/book


The military also can benefit tremendously from this because if trade were to open with India - the military is a major producer of cement. They own a lot of state-owned enterprises, which they run for the benefit of ex-servicemen for the veterans. And they would be a major exporter of cement to India. Moreover, if there was transit trade between India through Pakistan and Afghanistan to Central Asia, the military is the largest transporter in the country.

So there are opportunities that need to be spelled out. But more important, I think, this is an opportunity for the Pakistani prime minister to have a national debate about this issue so that he can bring everybody on board.

What has the change been in the past few weeks, even, that gives you some optimism?

Well, it's not just the past few weeks. I think this is a change that has been occurring in the last decade or so. It's not perfect, and both leaders in India, and Pakistan will face enormous opposition from entrenched interests, apart from having a sclerotic bureaucracy that won't want to give up power and controls and business interests that may have helped them win their elections that want to retain their preferred access to state resources. It's not going to be easy, but I see strong possibility and I see a convergence of the need for economic development and growth, which will benefit people in general.

turn 1 : Implied meaning: The speaker may be indirectly suggesting that they have insider knowledge or expertise on a particular topic, and that their opinion or perspective should be given special consideration.

Which speaker might be suggesting that their opinion should be given special consideration?

Answer: Speaker


President Obama says he wants to close the U. S.  detention center at Guantanamo Bay during his final year in office, just as he said he wanted to close it his first year, too. The president and his supporters say Republicans in Congress prevented him from doing that. But a new book presents original essays from 14 lawyers who represented some of the detainees, and many of those attorneys hold the Obama administration responsible, too.

They say that once in power, the administration found it convenient to have a place in which to park people it suspects of being terrorists without charge or trial. Reportedly, there are now about 80 detainees in Guantanamo. The book is "Obama's Guantanamo: Stories From An Enduring Prison. "It's edited by Jonathan Hafetz associate professor of law at Seton Hall. He joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

Great to be here.

Seems to be a lot of disappointment and even some anger in this book.

turn 3 : This implies that the book contains criticisms and negative opinions about the Obama administration's handling of Guantanamo Bay detainees.

How would you describe the tone of the book "Obama's Guantanamo: Stories From An Enduring Prison"?

Answer: Critical


Is there any recourse here whatsoever, and is there any way to see from here on out how companies are actually using this bailout money, to be very clear about where and who it's going to?

Well, if your question goes beyond executive compensation to how the money is being used, yeah, we have a special inspector general that is overseeing it. We also have the General Accounting Office doing some review. We do have a problem with the General Accounting Office; can it get bank records so we know what they're using their money for?No, we need to clarify that in the law. You know, the oversight is meant to be strong through the special inspector-general. As a practical matter, will it be?We're going to have to wait a month or two to find out.

Charles Grassley is the Republican senator from Iowa. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

turn 1 : The oversight of the bailout money may not be as strong as it is intended to be.

Which aspect of the bailout money's oversight is uncertain?

Answer: Oversight


Immigration proponents hope that if we care as much about poor people outside the United States as we do about poor people inside the United States, we'll raise the level of care for both. We've seen, instead, as we have become more cosmopolitan in our sympathies, we've ended up caring as little for fellow Americans as for people everywhere.

It is precisely because we are not honoring our commitments and our promises and our obligations to our fellow Americans that I'm urging people to have a stronger sense of social solidarity. And the way you get that stronger sense of social solidarity is by making the meaning of Americanism stronger, and that means making it more of a national community. And communities have boundaries between themselves and the rest of the world.

You ground a lot of your argument, though, in white Americans' fears, really, about a country that's getting less white. So is limiting immigration the answer?I mean, doesn't that just play into those fears and then legitimize them?

I don't ground very much of my argument on that at all. What I ground my argument upon is a tendency of the human mind, perceived by psychologists in people of all backgrounds, to be stressed by rapid change.

turn 1 : Implied meaning: The speaker is trying to indirectly communicate a message or request to the listener.

What is the reason for the speaker urging people to have a stronger sense of social solidarity?

Answer: Social


The Trump administration - or at least the president - have indicated previously they don't share this conclusion. Saudi Embassy says the claims and the purported assessment are false. Now, let's note - President Trump has often criticized the U. S.  intelligence establishment, saying they're not right on Russia. Oh, yeah. They were the ones who said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

We have to ask, is there any indication in this CIA report, which has sources inside, that this is some kind of attempt by what the president's supporters call the deep state to bring him into line?

No, I don't think so. I mean, the CIA - you know, for all of the ways that the president somehow misunderstands how they operate - is looking at this situation objectively. And, yes, to some degree, they are factoring in subjective judgments about how people behave, like the crown prince. But this is not an attempt, I think, to, you know, bring the crown prince to heel or to somehow influence policy.

And we should note, too, the president, I mean, has been briefed on the CIA's findings. And what we understand is that he keeps resisting them because he doesn't have, I guess, the smoking gun. He keeps asking, well, where's the body?Or, show me the definitive proof that Mohammed bin Salman ordered this. And, you know, it doesn't always work that way.

turn 2 : This statement implies that the CIA is conducting an objective investigation and not trying to influence policy.

Which organization is conducting an objective investigation?

Answer: CIA


. . . Had you wanted to see these images. You had to have heard about it. You're just seeing brief news reports saying that foreign powers, especially the United States, have been provoking riots and dangerous behavior in Hong Kong for their own selfish reasons - those kind of terse news bulletins. But on the social media that the Chinese exchange every day that they love on their smartphones, any hint of searching for news that Hong Kong is immediately shut down by the censors.

So the U. S.  is being blamed on mainland China. The U. S.  does have a lot of financial interests in Hong Kong. The State Department has expressed grave concern over this extradition law. It says there are more than 1,300 U. S.  firms with operations in Hong Kong, about $80 billion in U. S.  investment, 85,000 American citizens. Are U. S.  businesses operating in Hong Kong likely to be affected by all of this?

They certainly would have been if this law had gone through. I mean, in essence, what this proposal was was that for the first time ever people in Hong Kong, whether foreigners or locals, could be sent for trial by being extradited to the mainland, and the mainland's courts are explicitly under the control of the Communist Party. They are not independent courts. They're not meant to be independent courts. So that caused a gigantic backlash from even rather meek and mild business groups. . .

Hm.

turn 0 : There is censorship in China preventing access to information about Hong Kong protests

Which country is being blamed by mainland China for provoking riots in Hong Kong?

Answer: UnitedStates


The program hasn't been very popular with the farmers. They would much prefer to just have more successful markets that they can go to rather than have to kind of accept government handouts.

President Trump tweeted earlier this year that with more than a hundred billion coming into the U. S.  in tariffs, the U. S.  would buy agricultural products from farmers, ship them to poor and starving countries in the form of humanitarian assistance. Has that happened?

No. They looked into a program along those lines but realized it was pretty infeasible. You know, there's problems with kind of dumping large amounts of crops on poor countries because you can ruin their own agriculture sectors. So they decided to just do the more simple program, where you provide the direct payments to farmers. Now, the part that is right there is that the total amount being brought in by these could get to be $100 billion. I mean, at the current pace - it was 6 billion in June. That would work out to about 72 billion a year if it continues. And there's talk of adding even more tariffs on top of that. So you really could get to 100 billion being the number.

But at the end of the day, this has not turned into some kind of windfall for the U. S.

turn 1 : President Trump's tweet did not lead to buying agricultural products for humanitarian assistance.

What was the result of President Trump's tweet regarding buying agricultural products for humanitarian assistance?

Answer: Failure


Right. We can run through who is to blame for this, but I'd rather talk about what the solution is. The sticking points are on immigration. The president wants to change the system. Are you willing to scrap, for example, the visa lottery where 50,000 visas are given out to individuals from countries who aren't represented. . .

I think we have to look at it in a comprehensive way. But the point right now is just the other day, just the other night, Mitch McConnell understood that he needed 60 votes to continue the - to pass a continuing resolution. And yet he went forward knowing he did not have the 60 votes. So it is time for the Republicans - let's be clear. They control the House. They control the Senate. They control the White House. They've got to sit down and negotiate and understand they can't get everything they want. . .

Right. But what are you asking for?What are you asking for, exactly?

What we're asking for is three things. We are asking for an annual budget which will provide equally for defense and nondefense spending. We are asking that months and months after these terrible disasters impacted Texas and Florida and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands - that we deal with disaster relief. And we are asking what the American people want. Recent poll had 87 percent of the American people saying that DREAMers should receive, retain their legal status that Trump took away from them. And most of those folks think there should be a path toward citizenship.

turn 1 : Republicans need to compromise and negotiate instead of trying to get everything they want.

Which political group does the statement suggest needs to compromise?

Answer: Republicans


Are there specific goals you all are trying to achieve in terms of advancing one policy or another?

Yeah. So the overarching mission is really to support science for the public good. I think it's really important to say that when politicians attack science, it's not necessarily across the board. It's certain types of science. So if you look at climate change or public health, they're under attack from certain groups because, you know, they involve regulation or some businesses have an interest in them or there's some political thing to be gained for them. And so what we will be doing after the march is putting out a policy platform on all of these specific areas.

Is that a little like herding cats?I mean, I'm guessing the scientific community (laughter), like any other, is hardly monolithic in what it thinks is the way forward.

Well, this is what we have to do. Right?So if, at the end of the day, we get bogged down in research grants, we get bogged down in having to write the next paper - but we do science 'cause we care about improving society. And if that's what it takes for us to really, you know, bring all of these diverse voices into the room and figure out, you know, how we can be unified and how we can be a political force, that's where we're at at the moment. And we're going to push for that hard after the march.

turn 1 :  The implication of this statement is that certain groups are attacking certain types of science, like climate change and public health, because they may be interested in gaining something politically or economically.

How are climate change and public health under attack?

Answer: Regulation


Now turning to economics, the housing market is in a shambles. Oil and food prices are skyrocketing. The U. S.  dollar is slumping, and stocks are on a bumpy ride. Gloomy economic news is most of what we hear these days, but the choices that you make can transform your relationship to money, even through these tough economic times. Here with some big picture advice is author and economist Julianne Malveaux. She is also the president of Bennett College. Great to have you on again.

Good to be with you, Farai.

So before we dig into some practical methods that you can help turn around your economy, let's get a good picture of what's going on. Many experts say that we're already in a recession. Do you agree with that?

The data don't suggest that we are. But for African—Americans in particular, you know, when some people have a cold, other people have a fever. We have seen negative growth. We have seen high unemployment rates. We have seen the impact of gas prices over $100 a barrel. And so I think that whether we're in a technical recession or not, people are feeling the pinch of an economy that is not doing well.

turn 3 : "feeling the pinch" - actual meaning: experiencing the negative effects or consequences of something.

Which phrase describes the impact of the economy that African-Americans are feeling according to PersonA in turn 3?

Answer: Pinch


Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, one of the things we need to be doing is making this standardized. I've talked to many people. They say, well, he never even checked what my, you know, date of birth said. I think we need to go to more of a standardized approach in order to do that.

Is there any kind of technological solution to this - I don't know - thumbprint, iris scan or something?

So never before would I be sitting on a patient's, you know, medical record with three different electronic health record screens open, trying to work between, you know, different patients sitting in an emergency room. So with new technologies come this additional complexity that we need to sort of be thinking about.

turn 2 :  We have electronic health records, which are supposed to make this easier. But remember, anytime you introduce technology within sort of a complex health care system, you know, it can also have unintended consequences.  The actual meaning implied in this turn is that the speaker is cautioning about the potential unintended consequences of introducing technology into a complex healthcare system, despite the expectation that electronic health records would make things easier. The literal meaning is that the speaker is highlighting the potential negative effects of technology in a complex system.

How can introducing technology into a complex healthcare system have what kind of consequences?

Answer: Unintended


Now, in both the Enron case and the Madoff situation, they're very different in some ways, but they both benefited at least for a time from the fact that a lot of people don't understand finance, and it's very difficult to understand. What do you think people need to do who are not financiers to understand why is it important to even understand the issue of finance, white-collar crime, and all of this?

White-collar crime matters because it affects all of us. Even if you happen to be a blue-collar person, you undoubtedly get affected one way or another - your investments, your company, your suppliers, your neighbors. Everyone gets affected by serious white-collar crime, and the old joke is, right, you walk into a bank with a gun, steal $50,000, they send you away for 10 years. You steal $50 million in some sort of white-collar crime thing, and you get, you know, five minutes and a warning from the judge.

I mean, that's an exaggeration. But that's the kind of thing that for years has annoyed people, including me. And somehow the - because there's been now so much of the stuff has surfaced, and there's such conscientiousness about it and in the case of Madoff largely because he scammed people that members of the media know. So you get really angry when your friends go down. I mean, I don't have any friends who were in there, but a lot of people in my business. . .

Right.

turn 1 : The joke about $50K and $5 million is not literal, but it expresses the belief that white collar crimes are larger and easier to get away with.

How does the joke about $50K and $5 million reflect the perception of white-collar crime?

Answer: perception


Well, if it's $135 million cut this year, I can envision an entire university being closed.

Meaning having to shut an entire campus.

We have three universities in our system and 13 community colleges all across the state. And so 135 million would be one of our universities and all of our community campuses.

What else in the immediate term are you considering doing or are you already doing to comply with this budget cut?

turn 1 : Closing an entire campus is one possible consequence.

What is one possible consequence of the budget cut?

Answer: Consequence


Thank you.

You introduced your own proposal based on an idea that you've called unilateral disarmament. Can you explain that?And I'm assuming it doesn't have anything to do with guns.

No, absolutely not. Democrats have used the term unilateral disarmament when it comes to redistricting a number of times. It seems more often than not that it's Democrats taking the mantle of reform and Republicans not following suit. And so I have proposed a bill - and I will be proposing it again this year - for a two-state compact between us and Virginia.

Maryland does have some issues with redistricting that we do need to solve, and we do want to put it to a truly independent commission to be able to draw those lines. But Virginia has the same problems in the opposite direction. And I think if you look across the map, I think there are more states that have a Republican redistricting problem than a Democratic one. And so my bill, in addition to creating an independent commission, also requires that before we implement, Virginia does, as well.

So basically, everyone has to drop their arms at the same time. I want to get to the crux of the matter, though. Let's talk about Maryland. Democrats have a huge advantage in the state, and they hold seven of the state's eight seats in Congress. Is that good for the people of your state?Can it really show their will?

turn 2 : Democrats are usually in favor of reform while Republicans are not.

How do Democrats typically view reform compared to Republicans?

Answer: Reform


Am I wrong to see in this novel a theme that the relics we worship are often no more than making a choice among frauds?

You know, Frederick - he had 19,000 of these things.

Yeah.

You know, everything. Frederick was called Frederick the Wise. This was a very learned man. And you think, well, wait, you know, how could he have really thought this was, you know, the - a strand of Jesus's hair or a piece of straw?And the answer is, I suspect he didn't in his heart of hearts, but his - the overriding theology, if you will, was I think he thought that if relics make people more pious, where's the harm?I'm attracted to that notion. If it - if belief in a, you know, a bone leads you to praying to be a better person - how quickly I descend into truism - where's the harm?

turn 2 : Frederick the Wise was so learned and yet he still believed in the power of relics, suggesting that people can be misguided even when they are very knowledgeable.

Which characteristic of Frederick's beliefs is highlighted in the dialogue?

Answer: Beliefs


According with my investigation, the first responsible of this crime was the 27th Battalion in Iguala, in particular, the colonel that received the phone call from the drug lord ordering him. You have to rescue my drugs. I pay you for this. You have - I don't know what you have to do. I want my drugs back.

Have they faced any consequences?What have they said to your findings?

Even now, the Mexican government is nagging (ph) in all the ways possible that the army - they were present. The real persons that were involved on that crime are not in jail. And I think if we are able to understand, if we are able to send to these people to jail, maybe we will be able to stop all these abuses of power and human rights violations.

You have been an investigative journalist for many years. It is an incredibly dangerous profession. We've seen so many journalists in Mexico killed. You are now living in Italy for your own safety. You have received threats. Are you worried about what this will mean for you and your family?

turn 2 : The Mexican government is constantly communicating things about the army in all ways that they can.

What is the government doing about the army?

Answer: Nothing


Well, I think there is a feeling of shock, number one. And number two, there's a great deal of fear that this will spiral Sri Lanka down into interreligious violence that will be much more intense than what we've seen in the recent years.

Is Christianity something that Sri Lankans sort of wear in a visible fashion?I mean, would people know whether their co-workers or their neighbors are Christian?Or is this something that people sort of carry under the surface that you might not be aware of?

Well, I think people are very free, usually, in talking about their religious identity. And Catholics would wear particular items like scapulars or miraculous medals that would indicate their affiliation. When it comes to worship, however, women do veil. And if you go into churches like St.  Sebastian's or St.  Anthony's, there will be signs admonishing people to veil - women to veil. So there is a sense of distinctiveness, but it's not the sense that Catholics are identifiable by particular clothing or forms of speech.

Having spent time among Sri Lankan Christians, were you surprised to see this group targeted in such a vicious way?

turn 1 : "Carry under the surface" means the Catholics would not publicly display anything that reveals that they are Catholic.

What is the meaning of "carry under the surface"?

Answer: Catholic


Well, this case is about responsibility. And one of the examples that's been seen a lot lately was one of the ones that shook me to the core when I first saw it. It was an advertisement. And the tagline on the advertisement was, consider your man card reissued. What kind of society allows manhood to be defined in this way?

I'm struck by something that the family's lawyer told the court. He said Remington may never have known the shooter. But they had been courting him for years.

I think that's accurate. If you are selling a product and promising dominance, masculine success and a sense of outmatching your opponents in a very physical and, in fact, lethal way - I mean, who do you think that kind of advertising is going to connect with the most?

As you know, gun-makers do have broad immunity - broad protection under federal law that was passed in 2005. It's protected them from lawsuits before. Are you worried that this decision in Connecticut could be overturned by the U. S.  Supreme Court?

turn 2 : Advertising that promises dominance and masculinity appeals to certain people

How does advertising that promises what appeal to certain people?

Answer: Dominance


We know that many refugees went back to the former Yugoslavia. In the 1990s, there was a mass exodus from Yugoslavia. People have gone back there. But the overall evidence is that 80% of the world's refugees leave their country for at least five years, 20% for at least 20 years. And I think we are dealing with both the crises of diplomacy and the crises of humanitarian aid, and both need to be addressed. Our belief is that America has a proud tradition on which to stand in doing both those tasks.

David Miliband is president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you so much, Rachel.

turn 0 : 80% of refugees leave their country for at least five years and 20% leave for at least 20 years.

How long do 20% of refugees leave their country for?

Answer: twenty


It's called a poor choice. On one innocent New Year's Eve in the early 1980s, I went to a party with all my friends. And justification, rationalization - everybody's doing it. I'm the only kid who's - just has a couple beers and is not doing coke. So you know what?I try it. And you know what happened?I'm not like everybody else. I liked it too damn much. And what it did was take away the split-second timing of being able to hit a major league fastball and to do the geometry that you need to do to run down ground balls and throw accurately. It just took a split second off me. And I had a 10-year career. But I would have been, in my opinion, an all-star-type player a couple years. And the morals - incredibly, the morals and values that my dad instilled in me made me a good cocaine user, so to speak.

I don't understand that at all. The morals your father instilled in you made you a good cocaine user.

Here's how. Here's how. I was never late for a game, never would think about playing a game on coke. I was raised too well to do that. I convinced myself that I was OK.

Painful as it is but also, I think, instructive to those of us who loved your father - could you tell us about the time when he called you up and said, get over here?And it was - your father and your brothers wanted to talk to you about all this.

turn 0 : not literally doing geometry math problems, but understanding how to play baseball using both brains and athleticism

Which skill did cocaine take away from the speaker?

Answer: thinking


I didn't. I've always had the theory that the shower scene works as well as it does because just beforehand, you have this quite long supper conversation between Normal Bates and Marion Crane - Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh - which is the quietest, calmest moment in the film.

And it lulls you and it prepares you for the shocking, violent moment that is to come.

And so I went for that scene because I think it's a beautiful, beautifully acted scene and really, the heart of Anthony Perkins' performance. And I think that sometimes, an actor is essential. I don't know who else could have played that part.

That's interesting. So it's not the stab in the shower or the bridge blowing up that stays with us.

turn 1 : implies that the quietness of the supper conversation before the shower scene prepares the audience to be shocked by the violent moment that follows

How does the quietness of the supper conversation function in the shower scene? (Answer: prepares)

Answer: prepares


It's a pleasure to be here. And I'm one of many people who are running the Dog Aging Project.

What do you folks hope to learn?

We're trying to create the largest long-term study of aging in dogs that anyone has ever done, with the goal of trying to understand how genes and environment determine healthy aging in dogs.

So it's not just that old rule of thumb that one year is seven years in a dog's life?

turn 1 : (2) - What do you folks hope to learn? - Implied Meaning: What is the purpose of your research?

Answer: Dog-Aging-Project


Absolutely. This is probably one of the most consequential elections in Israel in the last 10 years, since Netanyahu has been in power.

Daniel, thanks so much.

You're welcome.

That's NPR's Daniel Estrin.

turn 3 : None of the turns have implied meanings that are different from their literal meanings. They all convey their literal meanings without any hidden or implied messages.

How does turn 3 differ from the other turns in the dialogue?

Answer: Differ


The happiness course has been running for a couple of weeks. Any immediate reaction?

Teachers are telling me that they themselves are finding lot of calmness, lot of improvement in their behavior because they also sit into mindfulness with their students. So that's bringing a change in the teacher's approach also.

You've been sitting in on a lot of these classes. Are you happier?

Yeah, I'm feeling happier because if my kids are happier, my teachers are happier, then an education minister himself is happier.

turn 1 : Mindfulness practices in class help teachers improve behavior

What is bringing a change in the teacher's approach according to A?

Answer: Mindfulness


At dusk tonight - the Belmont stakes, and an engaging chestnut named California Chrome has a chance to be the first horse to win the Triple Crown - a sweep of all three of the major thoroughbred races since 1978. We're honored now to be joined by Laura Hillenbrand. She's a horse rider by trade, of course she's author of the perpetual best-selling "Seabiscuit. "Laura, thanks so much for being with us.

I'm so happy to be here Scott.

What is there about the Belmont stakes that frustrates so many great four-legged athletes who've already won two big races?

They call it the test of their champion for a reason. It is a tricky race. It's run around the biggest track in the country so strategy is different. You have to move a different place. It's a race that requires a lot of the jockey.

The thing that makes it the hardest in terms of sweeping the whole Triple Crown is the horse that gets there with a chance to win it as California Chrome has. They've already competed in the Derby and the Preakness, which are two incredibly difficult races. And now, in the span of five weeks, they have to try the third one. And it's the hardest one of all, the longest one of all. It's really asking a huge amount of them. And that's why, in my whole racing fan life, I have never seen a horse sweep the Triple Crown. I've seen 12 horses go to the Belmont with a chance to win it, and all of them have failed.

California Chrome is called the people's horse, kind of like Seabiscuit.

turn 2 : "frustrates so many great four-legged athletes" - This suggests that the horses experience challenges or difficulties in the Belmont Stakes, which goes beyond the literal meaning of being frustrated.

What emotion do horses experience during the Belmont Stakes?

Answer: Challenges


I think Gary offers central location. It's close to a number of freeways. There's access to Chicago. There's certainly lower cost of living for employees. Yeah, the employees will be generously compensated. But, you know, moving into a larger market - Chicago, Boston, possibly some places like Austin - you're going to have a lot of that income gobbled up immediately by real estate and housing. And I think for Gary, it's a tremendous opportunity to turn a corner.

Yeah, but what about the tax rate?

Tax rate - I mean, it's more generous than Illinois, so, certainly for businesses and corporations. So there's that appeal there. And I know there's been, you know, conversation with the governor of Indiana, Governor Holcomb, about kind of preparing this plan. I can't speak to how much of that has happened or not. But I think that's another advantage.

There's so many cities preparing a bit for Amazon's second headquarters. But will the winner have to grant so many tax breaks, it won't wind up being that much of an economic gain?

turn 1 :  The implied meaning of the second turn is asking if the tax rate in Indiana is lower than Illinois, and if it is, will the winner of Amazon's second headquarters have to grant so many tax breaks that it won't be a big economic gain in the end.

Which state's tax rate is more generous for businesses and corporations?

Answer: Indiana


They're definitely not smarter than us. Some of them are really dumb. Like, I definitely have footage of raccoons who just crawl all over it for a little while and then slink away. But some of them - it is amazing how smart they seem to be. One of the videos I captured, the raccoon just walks up to the bin, pulls it right down and it lands with a bang. And then she turns and looks directly at the camera, almost as if to say, ha, you can't stop me. You can't stop me.

(Laughter). Amy Dempsey, an investigative reporter at the Toronto Star on the raccoon beat. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

And FYI, raccoon expert Suzanne MacDonald, told the Toronto Star that her research is ongoing, but the raccoons are, quote, "not starving to death - that's for sure. "

turn 1 : The raccoons are not making a song. The woman is writing stories about them.

Which animal is the focus of the woman's stories?

Answer: raccoons


Yeah, it was. And you know, people did everything from bringing full-on sleeping bags to wearing what looked like, you know, fall clothes for a stroll in the park. People had very different strategies about what they were going to bring. They had very different understandings of what the security lines would let them bring in. There were huge piles of debris afterwards from things people couldn't bring onto the Mall. You know, it was organized chaos. I mean, it went off really smoothly considering, but there was certainly moments where people didn't completely know what to do, but there was no one who I've heard of who had a bad time. The only time that things are bad here is when you're trying to catch a taxi because there aren't any.

Well, you know, Metro police said there were no arrests, at least initially, as a result of all those people being there, which is remarkable in and of itself. You could have that large a crowd and everyone be that well behaved.

People were amazing. I saw these young brothers last night, and they were like, where's the Mall?And this is one o'clock in the morning. And I went, oh, there's not going to be any parking over there. They're like, we just drove from Chicago. Where's the Mall?I was like, that way. So, people just brought their A-game.

All right. Farai, thank you very much.

turn 0 : Despite the chaos, people had a good time at the event.

Answer: Debris


Well, I would say that he is a guy that tends to see silver linings in dark clouds. And, you know, this is a man that, in private business, had 10,000 lawsuits over his career, so I think he has a unique ability to sort of quarantine in his mind the impact some of these things have.

And what's the risk in that?

Well, I think the implications, again, is that it's not just about Zelenskiy. It's not about the Ukraine. It's not about Rudy. It's - the can has been opened. Now we have to see if there's good soup inside or worms, right?They're going to be looking for stuff - the House Democrats - that are not going to be very glowing and positive about the president. So if we think these revelations are not good - and now they might get an expedited subpoena power with the impeachment process under way. It's not good.

Does the seriousness of this cast a shadow on the White House?Are they concerned about what, for instance, is going to be coming out today?

turn 2 : Not soup, but they have to study the situation to see if it will be good or be trouble.

Answer: Evidence


Well, she's made her mission here to expand or improve transparency and ethical reform in the state government. As you likely know, Alaska has been just shaken by corruption scandals for the past couple of years. The FBI has been investigating state legislators, three of them are in jail for bribery now, more maybe coming.

So she sort of arrived on the scene in the middle of all of that, and push for new ethics rule in the legislature and her - one of her biggest goals in office is to get a big new natural gas pipeline. Something along the lines of the old Alaska oil pipeline, built so that Alaska can ship out it's natural gas.

But she wants that done in a more transparent fashion. She says she wants more outside energy companies coming and bidding on that. As oppose to sort of, deals struck among the elite, as she would say, you know, the old governor was accused by her of cutting a deal with the oil companies that just wasn't too favorable to Alaska, or so she said at the time, in terms of oil production taxes. So, she wants all of that to have a lot of more sunlight.

Well, speaking of sunlight, she's facing an ethics investigation of her own, is she not?

turn 3 : The conversation has shifted from talking about Sarah Palin to talking about her ethics investigation.

What is the topic of conversation in turn 3?

Answer: Ethics


Hello.

What happened to you this morning?What happened in Kathmandu?

Well, we were on a staff retreat with our editors and reporters up on a mountaintop overlooking Kathmandu Valley. And it felt as if I was propelled two meters up into the air. It was just such a heavy jolt. And when we looked down at the city, it looked like it had been completely destroyed because there was a ball of dust covering the entire valley in which Kathmandu is situated. And we thought the whole city had been destroyed. But as we got down back into the city through the roads, it looked like it wasn't as bad as we initially feared. Many of the residential buildings were damaged, but seem to be intact. On the other hand, the monuments of the world heritage sites in Kathmandu - Bhaktapur and Patan - many of them have been completely destroyed.

Mr.  Dixit, have you been able to get a handle on how extensive the damage is in Nepal and for that matter the region 'cause there are reports that India's also been affected.

turn 2 : A: "And when we looked down at the city, it looked like it had been completely destroyed because there was a ball of dust covering the entire valley in which Kathmandu is situated." The city was not actually completely destroyed, but the dust made it difficult to see and gave the impression that it had been destroyed.

How did the city appear when PersonA looked down at it from the mountaintop?

Answer: Destroyed


First of all, Ford says it doesn't need the money right now. It needs a line of credit in case. And they believe that they can make it, that they can make it through these hard times. So, there is one big difference. They don't have to go to the extremes that, say, GM does, who say they need money right now.

Jean, I'd like to go back to GM for a moment, and I know you mentioned Larry Burns is a friend. If you were to point out one thing that you think that they're not doing that they should be doing at General Motors, what would that be?

You know, they have been just slow, very slow. They have brought out many, many vehicles in the past - and he is absolutely correct when he says, you know, nine of the last 10 vehicles that have come out have been great vehicles. Two of the next 24 will be what Congress is asking them to do.

So, they're addressing the issues. They have the Chevy Cruise. They have the Malibu, which was an Automobile Magazine All-Star last year, its first year out. We called it better than a Camry. They have a Malibu hybrid. They have the Cadillac line, CTS, CTSV. They have Volt. They have very good vehicles coming out. They have been perhaps slow to ax the ones that are not so good.

Jean Jennings is the editor of Automobile magazine. Thanks, Jean.

turn 3 : THEIR VARITIES OF VEHICLES EXPLAINS THE CONDITION

Which aspect of GM's condition is explained by their varieties of vehicles, according to the dialogue?

Answer: Condition


Obviously there's some niche that the starfish occupy. Should we be worried if - what we might do to the ecosystem if we get rid of these starfish?

You know, I think it would only be in the dreams of a few people that they might possibly be able to get rid of all of them. What they're trying to do is cut back on the numbers. So they're going to remove as many as they can, but you're still going to have some out there.

And these sea stars are out there on a lot of reefs in the Pacific in low numbers. You can see little trails of white, dead corals that they've left behind as they've gone along feeding, and that will continue to happen. They're not going to get rid of every last one of them.

But the increase in numbers, I mean, you're talking about going onto reefs and having hundreds to thousands times as many starfish on a reef as you normally would see, and that's a big difference.

turn 3 : The significant increase in the number of starfish is a cause for concern

Answer: Increase


The charges are wire fraud, aiding and abetting and lying to the FBI. Now, the Department of Justice called this a brazen bribery scheme in a letter that came out today with the indictment. According to them, it involves a wealthy businessman, two of his associates and, as you mentioned, Robin Hayes. He's a former five-term congressman and currently still as of this moment leads the state Republican Party.

The indictment lays out in some very specific detail what amounts to an effort to gain favorable treatment from the state Department of Insurance. And allegedly the businessman, this man named Greg Lindberg, offered millions of dollars to the state insurance commissioner. His name's Mike Causey - the commissioner - who is also an elected Republican. And what they wanted - the business folks - in return were looser regulations and some control over personnel within the state Department of Insurance.

How did the alleged fraud come to light?

Well, according to federal prosecutors, it was the insurance commissioner himself, Causey, who had just been on the job for a few weeks, maybe a month or two who came to them in 2017. He had concerns about what he perceived were illegal campaign contributions, and he agreed to cooperate with them if there was an investigation. And of course there was this investigation. And it's unclear exactly what mechanism was used, but there are direct quotes throughout this indictment - phone conversations, in-person correspondence. So a lot of what is alleged to have happened in this conspiracy appears to in some form or fashion have been recorded.

turn 3 : The insurance commissioner reported concerns about illegal campaign contributions and cooperated with federal prosecutors to investigate the alleged fraud.

What did Causey report to federal prosecutors?

Answer: Concerns


It will need to come from all of those sources, but it also has to - we have to take into account that the economic policies that are encouraged in things like bio-fuel all drive up the cost of fuel. So trading policies, agricultural policies that force people to engage in a form of agriculture that destroys the land, increase the price of food and pushes us further towards a global crisis.

Well, Bill, thanks so much.

Any time.

Bill Fletcher is a senior scholar with The Institute for Policy Studies and a former president of TransAfrica Forum.

turn 0 : Economic policies like bio-fuel increase fuel cost and food prices, leading to global crisis.

Which forum was Bill Fletcher the former president of?

Answer: TransAfrica


Right. They're kind of barracks, right?This sort of - people don't have privacy.

No privacy. In some cases, they actually look like slave cabins. I mean, they're small. They're wooden shacks. Many of them - in fact, I have not seen one. They do not have bathrooms in the living facility itself. If you don't have a bathroom in your home or in your living space, you have to walk, in some cases, quite a ways to get to the toilet, to get to a shower. And this creates another vulnerability for women and something that they always have to be careful of, especially young girls.

What needs to happen, in your view?

Oh. I sigh because it's been such a long road. I think the best way for women to protect themselves - the best way that I've seen in the many years that I've organized has actually been a union contract. And that's because a union contract has a grievance process that guarantees that there will be no retaliation, that provides a means of justice and fairness and a response that's speedy, that addresses the issue, that allows farmworkers to actually have abusive supervisors fired and go back to work and be safe. If there's no way for an abuser to be actually punished for what he's doing to the women in the workplace, then it doesn't work. It doesn't work. And women are not going to complain. They're not going to feel safe.

turn 3 : Oh. I sigh because it's been such a long road. - The literal meaning of this turn is that the speaker is exhaling loudly because of a long journey. The actual meaning is that the speaker is expressing exhaustion and frustration from the challenges of advocating for farmworkers' rights.

What is the speaker expressing in turn 3?

Answer: exhaustion


You're welcome.

Remind us, please, about some of the allegations facing Secretary Zinke because they have been building.

They have. One Washington-based ethics watchdog tallied 17 different investigations and controversies around Zinke. The one everyone will be - will remember are the really expensive doors. The Interior Department apparently spent $139,000 to replace three sets of doors. But the bigger issues were related to whether he had travel or financial dealings that were unethical or that favored industry and somehow benefited himself. Those are ongoing. And there was a concern or a thought, a very real likely concern, that congressional Democrats were going to take those ethical quandaries a lot more seriously and would be investigating when Democrats took over the House.

Yeah. So that might prompt the decision now in addition to any effect the president might want to have on the news cycle?

turn 2 : Secretary Zinke is involved in multiple investigations and controversies.

Which government department does Secretary Zinke belong to?

Answer: Interior


The writer Michael Kinsley, who's a friend of this program, wrote about the surge a few months ago. Look at the numbers before the surge. Look at the numbers after the surge. This is what the Bush administration calls a success. One hundred and thirty thousand Americans in Iraq at the beginning and at the end. This country will still have about 130,000 soldiers - American soldiers in Iraq. Michael Kinsley said, have we really succeeded anything or have we just kind of changed the metric in some way?

Oh my Lord. I mean, what we have in Iraq, and I just got back, you know, less than two weeks ago. What we have in Iraq is a government that is elected by its people. It's the only Arab-Muslim country of that type, of that form of government in that region. It will have a long- term security relationship and a strategic relationship with the United States and be aligned with the United States. That is a major positive outcome for us, particularly given the fact that in 2006 we nearly lost the country and suffered a humiliating defeat.

Things do look an awful lot different than they did two years ago. You had a significant role in that, in thinking about what should be done at a time when it was a very unpopular plan to be putting forth. No one was - there wasn't a very big cheering squad for that. I wonder if you sit back on an evening now and feel some kind of sense of satisfaction?What is that?'

Well, I think there were a lot of people that, you know, have a hand in it.

turn 0 : The success of the surge is debatable and may just be a change in metrics.

What is the Bush administration's definition of success in Iraq?

Answer: Change


Now it's, I should say this is a demonstration, it's not, you know, there is an actual kill that takes place in the video, but it's not a real kill, it's a demo kill. But what the system that they are playing or working on actually is designed to do and will do when it is deployed is to hunt, and if necessary kill, real targets. It fires missiles, it drops bombs, you can hear the guy talking about the weapons that he has available on one of his drones.

And they didn't just make it feel like a video game, they figured out that there's a sort of a feedback loop that was a problem for the operators, they couldn't kind of sense what was happening. And they hired video gamers to redesign their system for them.

Yeah, they hired real game developers. Because, you know, when you compared what people in the military were using to operate drones to what the latest Xbox or PlayStation system looked like, I mean the screens on this wrap around you so you feel as though you were there. One of the executives Raytheon describes it as projecting your mind into a place where you want it.

You write about watching this demonstration video with your seven year old kind of standing behind you watching this screen, and he gets it right away and he kind of likes it.

turn 2 : "the screens on this wrap around you so you feel as though you were there" - The literal meaning is that the screens wrap around the user to create a sense of immersion. The implied meaning is that the user can feel as though they are actually present in the location where the drone is operating.

What is the purpose of the system mentioned in turn 2?

Answer: Hunt


Thank you.

You begin by saying that you think making laws to get rid of guns just might be impossible.

Well, I think we should try but we already have 300 million guns in circulation in America. So, if tomorrow or in January Congress somehow banned the sale of all new guns, we have 100-year problem. Even if you have gun buybacks - they'll buy back five, 10, 20, 30 million guns - we have a terrible, tragic situation where the country is awash in guns. So, very little on the gun control agenda is actually going to make a dent in that, unfortunately.

Your most controversial points certainly now is that you say more people ought to be trained to fire back at an assailant and be able to carry guns for that purpose.

turn 2 : This statement implies the level of pessimism about the effectiveness of gun control measures given the large number of guns already in circulation in the country, and that most proposals for gun control won't make much of a difference..

Which point of view does the statement suggest about the effectiveness of gun control measures?

Answer: Pessimistic


They asked me to consider that, you know, almost without exception, these are young people in federal facilities who are separated from their families. They're in a strange place. They're dealing with stress and uncertainty every day. They fled poverty. They fled possibly violence in their home countries. And so they desperately need the semblance of a daily routine.

And analogously, if you look at studies done in hospital settings with chronically ill children, when they have access to play, they do better. They heal faster. They have lower levels of stress. And similarly, after natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Katrina, there started to be interest in the therapeutic benefits of play access.

A very simple thing that Dr.  Cantor told me is that when your brain is being bombarded with stress hormones every day, you actually need to move your body even more than usual so you can get oxygen to your brain. And this oxygenation - it helps buffer potentially long-term damage.

Just in our last 30 seconds, what does the law say here?Could there be legal challenges?

turn 2 : Moving your body more than usual can help buffer long-term damage caused by stress.

What can help buffer potential long-term damage caused by stress?

Answer: A


And you'll vote again, yes, today.

I will, although I'm pretty peeved at the Senate for putting in the baloney tax extension. I mean, I can't believe that the Senate did that. I mean, how disgusting. But we're over a barrel, we've got to hold our nose. You know, we can't let the state of California go belly up financially.

There is a real risk though, congresswoman, that even if the House passes this it goes through, the president signs it - that it won't help, that it won't unfreeze the credit markets.

We're still going to have a problem. I mean, there is no question that there is already layoff. There's going to be an economic decline. There's going to be a recession. The question is how deep and, you know, is this going to be a catastrophe or is just going to be bad. This is not the last thing we're going to have to do.

turn 2 : Passing this bill may not be enough to improve the credit market.

How will passing the bill potentially affect the credit market?

Answer: Potentially


Correct. We discovered to our surprise that the law was being used with fair frequency in an effort to prevent mass shootings. So we decided to focus on those cases, and we reported 21 of them. We can't prove that the recovery of firearms in most of those cases prevented mass shootings from happening, but we do know firearms were recovered or purchases blocked in most cases and the shootings didn't occur.

OK. So what we have here is not definitive proof that red flag laws do indeed work, but we have some anecdotal evidence that show they might be working. Could you give us an example of one or two of these cases you looked at?

Sure. A disgruntled former employee made credible threats to return to his workplace and kill co-workers. One of the employees of that company reported this to law enforcement, who determined that this person had just purchased a 12-gauge shotgun. And our mandatory 10-day waiting period before he could acquire the gun, there were about two days left. So during that time, law enforcement was able to go to a judge who reviewed the evidence, issued a restraining order and the purchase was blocked. So when law enforcement went to the man's house, they found 400 rounds of ammunition for that shotgun.

Wow. All right. So that's an example of maybe law enforcement intervening just in time so he couldn't get his hands on a gun that would have been used to perhaps kill his colleagues.

turn 1 : red flag usually means that something very bad is obvious

How does the dialogue suggest the effectiveness of red flag laws?

Answer: Successful


Is President Trump right to blame the Fed. . .

Perhaps. . .

. . . For increasing interest rates?

Yeah. Perhaps a little bit on the margin. He's not wrong about that. So interest rates are still fairly low. The Fed raised its rate, its benchmark rate, to 2. 25 to 2. 5 percent, which is not - it's not, you know, like a hugely high rate. But they are starting to kind of cool the economy off a little bit. And, you know, for years and years and years, that rate has functionally been very, very close to zero. And they've been raising it slowly but surely. They've forecast that they are going to continue raising interest rates unless they see something in the numbers that really upsets them. So, yeah, you know, the Fed is not providing more help to the economy. It's looking at the economy and saying, hey, GDP growth is still 2. 8 percent per year this late in the recovery. We're going to keep on raising rates. And if there's a recession. . .

turn 1 : A is not fully agreeing with B's statement

Which statement of PersonB is PersonA not fully agreeing with?

Answer: Blame


And as we look ahead, these issues are going to be more and more significant, at least that's what the climate scientists tell us. How did it change to get it - make it more of a priority in people's opinions and in politics?

You know, there are various models of social change. One is the - what I call the Pearl Harbor model, where you have an event that changes everything. Sometimes its pressure is gradually building, an awareness building. I call that the Berlin Wall model where things keep building until - in the case of the Berlin Wall, it went down. And sometimes it's difficult to see those tipping points before you reach them. Almost by definition, tipping points are difficult to project and identify.

But my own sense says that we are moving toward a tipping point on the climate issue, and it's going to take a few more droughts like the one in the summer of 2012, an intense heat that greatly reduced the U. S.  grain harvest. I think it reduced the corn harvest by close to 30 percent. Or storms unlike anything we've seen before. And then we'll begin to, at some point, realize that climate change is for real. That it's dangerous and it's costly and we need to be doing something about it.

Yet, you'd like to think that we could arrive at these kinds of decisions on a rational basis. Don't need a tremendous crisis to focus our attention.

turn 2 : Climate change is real, dangerous, and costly. We need to take action.

What is the issue that the tipping point is moving toward?

Answer: Climate-change


How quickly would we see a border closing impact the U. S.  auto industry?

Well, really, we would start to see manufacturing facilities impacted almost immediately. Most of the industry follows a just-in-time inventory strategy, which means that the parts that are needed for the vehicle are shipped to the plant as they are needed and on a continual basis. They don't maintain inventory levels at the assembly plant. So we would see a number of factories start to shut down almost immediately because they wouldn't have inventory available to keep going.

Is it possible for you to paint a picture of this for us using a specific car part, for example?

You know, there's a couple interesting ones. One, wire harnesses - these are the wires that are - that go into a vehicle. There's probably miles of these copper wires in a vehicle, very labor-intensive to put these wire harnesses together. The vast majority are made in Mexico that are used in U. S.  manufacturing. And so that's something that would be very important for a vehicle because it goes on early in the process.

turn 3 : The majority of wire harnesses used in U.S. manufacturing are made in Mexico and would be impacted if the border is closed.

How would the U.S. auto industry be impacted if the border is closed? (Answer: "Wire harnesses")

Answer: Wire-harnesses


These processes are difficult, and the negotiations are hard. But the president, to his credit, has decided that this is something he's going to do. He's taken on probably the toughest foreign policy challenge he could find in the world and has decided to make it his own. Now he has to find a way to ensure that the North Koreans and our negotiators return to the table and can pick up the pieces here and try to find a way forward.

Do you think he's leaving mano-a-mano sensitive diplomacy to the past, and he's willing to let lower levels and - or even the secretary of state - ensure that there is some deal?

Well, you have to remember the Singapore summit in June is nearly seven months behind us right now. And I think that Secretary Pompeo and his special envoy have put in a lot of time and a lot of effort. These negotiations, as I noted, are tough. But they're not only tough because of the issues between North Korea and the United States.

They're also tough because of real differences here in the United States about what we can do and what we can accomplish and how it ties to our larger strategy of nonproliferation, nuclear nonproliferation, in the world - but also how it links to our alliance relationships with South Korea and Japan and emerging relationships with China, not to mention Russia, which is one of North Korea's neighbors.

turn 0 : They are not going to a table and picking up pieces but are actually just resuming conversations and trying to fix problems between them.

Which negotiations are the toughest foreign policy challenge the president has decided to take on?

Answer: NorthKorea


Germany - you want to look out for Germany. They've won two World Cups, too. But the Germans are having some issues. The reigning FIFA world player of the year, Nadine Kessler, she's out after knee surgery. One of their star midfielders broke her leg. Of course, we can't forget about Japan. Japan are ranked fourth, but they're the reigning World Cup champions. A talented young player to keep an eye on is 20-year-old Asisat Oshoala from Nigeria. She just won the BBC's female footballer of the year award. Not so young as the Brazilian team, but the team. . .

But Marta - they've got Marta.

Exactly, they got Marta. She's the best player in the world - FIFA's footballer of the year five times. She's so good she doesn't need a last name, Scott. She's just Marta.

She could balance of Volkswagen on her foot. She's that good.

turn 2 : "she doesn't need a last name" - This turn is a metaphorical expression that implies that Marta's reputation and talent are so significant that she is recognizable by just her first name. This statement is not meant to be taken literally.

Which turn is a metaphorical expression in the dialogue?

Answer: Turn2


Chop, chop into smallish pieces.

OK.

Then you soften eight ounces of cream cheese, and you blend that with two-thirds of a cup of sour cream, get it all nice and smooth and then you spread that over the minced onion.

And you have the ambulance on speed dial, but yeah. . .

turn 0 : The implied meaning is to cut the onion into very small pieces.

Which ingredient does PersonA tell PersonB to spread over the minced onion?

Answer: cream-cheese


And it's interesting, your book had pictures of the hands of some of the great catchers of those days, gnarled and twisted. Anybody who played catcher could expect to be crippled - their hands - for the rest of their lives.

Exactly. And people would say, you know, I don't know what this guy looks like but just look for a catcher's hands. And as soon as you'll see - you see those hands, you recognize, oh, that's - that must be who it was.

Are there stories about Deacon White?You mentioned he traveled from team to team. I guess he had one fantastic year in Boston. But what kind of a man was he?Do we know?

He was a really high-character man. In a time when baseball had a lot of guys who spent their evenings drinking and carousing, Deacon - he was known as Deacon because he went to church and he was a Sunday school teacher. And family came absolutely first for him.

turn 3 : Deacon White was a man of high moral character who prioritized his family.

Answer: Church


Hurricane Dorian is pounding the Carolinas. Parts of downtown Charleston are already flooded. It has weakened since it hit the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm. At least 20 people are confirmed dead there, and that number is expected to rise as recovery efforts are just beginning. Parts of the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas are destroyed.

Alex Cepero stayed in the Abacos town of Marsh Harbour, thinking he could ride out the storm with his two dogs, but Hurricane Dorian destroyed his home while he was still inside of it. And I want to warn listeners that this is a wrenching story. Alex, thank you for talking with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.

You're welcome.

First of all, are you OK?Were you injured or hurt during the storm?

turn 0 : Hurricane Dorian caused extensive damage and loss of life.

Which storm caused damage and loss of life?

Answer: HurricaneDorian.


So, you know, so I think that all those things have - there's just been a confluence of just, you know, just a cynicism, I think.

So, will Michael Phelps be the person who emerges as the American with the greatest number of gold medals and, you know, sort of the Mark Spitz of the new millennium?

Well, you know, they were kind of hyping that last time, too. And don't be surprised. You might think that, from our standpoint - our meaning the United States and marketing - people would love to say, well, who's the American who's going to kind of put us on the marketing tip?And I think that that's part of the problem, too, Tony, is that we're focus - we want Michael Phelps to win because there's marketing, where - you've got a lot of Chinese swimmers, man, who are just waiting to ambush Phelps. So, on paper, it looks kind of good, but who knows?Allyson Felix may be the American who emerges as sort of the star and the salvation of our hopes over there.

Well, the race with Tyson Gay and - God, I'm kind of blocking on the name of the other runner who's the fastest man in the world at the moment - that ought to be pretty interesting.

turn 2 : A suggests that Michael Phelps winning is not guaranteed and marketing is not the only factor in determining the star athlete.

How does PersonA describe the Chinese swimmers' potential impact on Michael Phelps' performance?

Answer: Ambush


Hudson is confident that Broadway Federal Bank won't be harmed by the recent spate of bankruptcies and bailouts. Though the bank specializes in real estate and caters to minority investors, it never got caught up in the subprime mortgage game that has become the downfall of other banks.

In order to play in that game, you had to have large volumes and small margins, which has made mortgages like commodities. So the Countrywides, the WAMUs, the big mortgage companies, you would lose your shirt trying to compete with it. So, really, the small banks had to stand on the sidelines while a lot of money was being made by churning these loans and fees, and people were making huge amounts of money, banks were very profitable, and we weren't able to participate. But now, you know, the kind of like slow and steady feels very good right now.

Now, Hudson says he's starting to get a lot more calls from people who want to put their money in Broadway Federal.

Here's what used to happen in the old days. People would only put 100,000 dollars in Broadway because they knew that was the maximum FDIC insurance. They put a million dollars in Bank of America. They figured, well, I only - because Bank of America only has the same insurance as we do, only a 100,000. So they left 900,000 dollars uninsured because they said, well, that's Bank of America. I'm only worried about Broadway. I'm not worried about Bank of America.

turn 3 : People tend to trust larger banks more than smaller banks and leave more money uninsured in larger banks.

Which banks do people tend to leave more money uninsured in?

Answer: Larger


Billions of dollars have been spent on trying to create this technology, and only now are we just starting to see batteries alongside solar and wind farms. Do you think this problem can be cracked?And if so, how soon?

Well, in some parts of the U. S. , for example, where solar electricity is already very predictable - in the Southwest, for example - the cost of lithium-ion batteries is already at a point where the combination of solar - generation solar panels and lithium-ion batteries can produce reliable electricity at a cost below that of our conventional fossil-fuel-generated electricity.

But the issue is that not all of the U. S. , and certainly not all of the world, has that level of predictability. That's where the problem becomes much harder.

I know the cost has been prohibitive for a long time, and it's been coming down recently. When do you think this technology will actually be reasonably affordable in a lot of places?

turn 0 : can be cracked meaning the problem can be looked into and a solution found for it

What has been the cost of lithium-ion batteries in some parts of the U.S.?

Answer: Prohibitive


And tell us a bit about the ocean bed.

It's a bit rockier than the Rockies. It's that sort of terrain. The location they're looking at is at the foot of a huge mountain. That mountain rises about three and a half kilometers. That's about two miles up from the sea floor. So it's on a really quite steep terrain. We don't know whether the seabed there is muddy, silty - in which case things can sink into the seabed - or whether it's rocky. We've got better maps of the moon's surface for this area than we do of the seabed itself. So, you know, if someone said to you, this is on the moon, we could tell you what the terrain was like. We don't really know what it's like here. We don't have detailed maps.

I have a lot of respect for the Royal Australian Navy, but has anybody ever been able to pick up something this deep in the ocean before?

The technology is there, but it's rare. And there isn't - there aren't that many vehicles that can operate at these sorts of depths.

turn 3 : In turn (4), the speaker is not simply talking about the rarity of technology or vehicles that can operate at great depths in the ocean. The implied meaning is that it would be difficult for anyone to locate something as deep as the object they are discussing. This is because the technology is rare and not readily available.In turn (4), the speaker is not simply talking about the rarity of technology or vehicles that can operate at great depths in the ocean. The implied meaning is that it would be difficult for anyone to locate something as deep as the object they are discussing. This is because the technology is rare and not readily available.

How does the speaker imply the difficulty of locating something as deep as the object they are discussing?

Answer: Difficulty


Yes, I do think they are well-matched traveling companions. In that both of them bend but nobody really breaks. And so, even though Jack is certainly the student, and she is the mentor, there are times when Jack has the upper hand and he has the better humor. And that, almost off-camera, he can make an aside to the reader. You know, like, she's getting a little bit ditzy right now, so hang on to your hat.

We're - to use one of your phrases, were you a fringy kid?

Yes, I was definitely a fringy kid. I moved a lot as a kid, I went to 10 schools in 12 grades. And so, I was one of those kids that was a permanent wallflower, you know, I'd go I'd hang back and I would observe, and I would sort of be on the fringe. But then I realized that I liked the fringe because the fringe gave me the flexibility to appear or disappear, which I found to be very helpful.

turn 3 : (4) B: "And painful or, at least, vexing as it can be to be a fringy kid. With the advantage of hindsight, is it part of what made you a writer?"  The literal meaning of this turn would suggest that being a "fringy kid" caused physical pain or discomfort. However, the implied meaning is that feeling like an outsider or a misfit can be emotionally difficult, and that this experience may have contributed to the speaker's development as a writer.

Which word in PersonB's turn 3 suggests that feeling like an outsider or a misfit can be emotionally difficult?

Answer: Vexing


O. J. Simpson denied bail and a judge sentencing him to 15 years in prison for his armed robbery, kidnapping, and assault convictions. Is it just our imagination or are we seeing more black faces in the fashion magazines these days?Could we call it the Michelle Obama effect?And the Grammy nominations went primetime this year. Could the star-studded event lure viewers back to watch the awards?Here to get us up to speed on all of that and more is Allison Samuels, a national correspondent for Newsweek magazine. Allison, always a pleasure.

Thank you.

So, O. J. , O. J. , O. J. - 15 years. What do you say?

I say that I think this is a moment for history, because so many people felt that he got off the last time that I think a lot of people feel like this is just sort of the circle, you know, just sort of a coming back around.

You know- well. It's hard to come up with the right words isn't it.

Yeah, it is. And to see him earlier this morning crying, you know, pleading, sort of apologizing for everything that happened, it just really did take you back to, you know, 10 or 15 years ago or 13 years, I think, when he was actually acquitted. And you know, he seemed certainly sorrowful, but I just think, you know, America has just been listening and living with this guy for so long that they're sort of tired of him. I don't think he has that same type of sympathy that he got the last time, particularly from the African-American community.

turn 5 : "Living with this guy" is not literal. The meaning is that he has been in the news - as an athlete, then a defendant - for a really long time.

How has O.J. Simpson been experienced by America?

Answer: GOOD


Back-and-forth, funny lines, that sort of thing. So it was quite clear what that was. And also accompanying that were three videotapes, one of which was of Governor Bush doing a Tim Russert-style interview in his shorts. I watched that for a few seconds, and I realized I shouldn't be having these materials. And so right after that, I called up our campaign manager, and I said, we've got some problems here. I've gotten stolen materials. And my lawyer came not long after that, and we decided that we needed to turn those materials over to the FBI.

Not just the FBI, also the press, right?You guys sought sort of transparency in this.

Yeah, well, we issued a very noble-sounding press release recusing myself from that. But we didn't disclose any of the materials. That actually - they left my office at about 1 o'clock. The FBI came over to interview me, oddly, that day, and I had found myself in an odd position of explaining to the agents why this was a crime. They were unfamiliar with it. And they didn't realize that these debate materials were probably some of the most valuable things in the United States at the time. And eventually Louis Freeh became the agent of record. He was the FBI director.

I want to follow up on that point because while you acted out of an abundance of caution, President Trump was considerably more nonchalant, let's say, about the idea of receiving dirt on an opponent. Were you surprised when you heard his comments?

turn 2 : The FBI agents were unaware that the debate materials were valuable

Which materials were considered some of the most valuable things in the United States at the time?

Answer: Debate


The auto industry is perhaps the most prevalent of family businesses in Michigan. It's not uncommon for several generations of a family to work with the same carmaker. Alex Marinica is a junior at Wayne State University in Detroit. His father spent 20 years working for Chrysler. Alex, your dad recently took a buyout from Chrysler. What was behind his decision?

Well, I mean, obviously, it was a very hard decision to make. He'd been at the company for many, many years, and he really, really love working there. He thought maybe it was time to move on to some other things.

If you don't mind my asking about your career aspirations. . .

Sure.

turn 0 : The auto industry is dominated by family businesses in Michigan, and it's common for multiple generations of the same family to work for the same carmaker. (Literal meaning: The auto industry is just one of many types of family businesses in Michigan.)

How prevalent are family businesses in the auto industry in Michigan?

Answer: Prevalent


DR.  MEENAKSHI WADHWA: Thanks, Ira.

Let's talk about your collection. How did you get a collection?

So, this is actually part of a great story too. There's a really famous collector, an Arizonan, Harvey Nininger, who had this wonderful collection. He is probably the person who I would say was responsible for bringing up the science of meteorites to the United States. And he had this great passion for meteorites. Actually, in the natural world in general but a great passion for collecting these space rocks. And he did this in the 1930s and '40s, and he had this wonderful collection, probably the best in the world.

And towards the late 1950s, he actually sold - he was basically deciding what to do with it and wanted it to have a life beyond his at some point and he sold half of it to the British Museum.

Wow.

turn 3 : life beyond his means that something lasts beyond his lifespan

What was Nininger's reason for selling half of his collection?

Answer: viewable


Basically, they give you a lot of freedom. They don't get in your way. The editors encourage in-depth investigative work. They like to hold public officials accountable. They're also willing to go to bat if you need legal help, if you're trying to get records or things like that.

So would you advise young reporters to do what you have done and stick with a local news organization for a decent amount of time?

Yeah. I think at least a year. Sometimes two years is a good point to kind of reconsider your options. We thought that we were just going to be here for a year, but this paper has a history of crusading investigative reporting, strong local journalism. Our late publisher Ned Chilton coined this phrase called sustained outrage, and that's sort of hammering away at an injustice until it's righted.

People who can manage to stay mad for a long time.

turn 2 : Ned Chilton coined this phrase called 'sustained outrage', which means to keep pushing for justice until it is achieved.

How did Ned Chilton describe the newspaper's approach to investigative reporting?

Answer: outrage


Yeah.

And, you know, that's OK.  We don't have to approve of every facet of an artist's life to find their work interesting or significant, but the context does change.

What does that mean for us as viewers?Does it mean that we should stop watching these movies?

Everybody has to make their own choice in that regard. But for me, I look at these things in a purely selfish way, like as a viewer, which is how much extra dramatic information is getting in the way of my enjoying this work. And am I really thinking about the work when I watch it?Or am I thinking about the person who made it and disliking them or just being upset about them in some way?And if the answer's the latter, I probably don't want to watch that anymore.

I want to look at Louis C. K. , in particular. You know, his comedy, actually, was often celebrated because it seemed to address men and their foibles. What did you think of his comedy?And what do you think now?

turn 1 :  "the context does change" - The literal meaning of this turn is the statement itself, indicating that the context of an artist's life affects how their work is perceived. The actual meaning is that the context of an artist's life should be taken into account when evaluating their work, even if it does not necessarily diminish its value.

What aspect of an artist's life should be considered when evaluating their work, according to the statement?

Answer: Context


Thanks. Good to be with you.

So you start your book by talking about a conversation you had with your young son. Tell us about what prompted that.

Well, he was 7 years old. He got in the car, put his seatbelt on, and he said to me, Mom, do you know what a hooker and a stripper are?And I was a little bit floored because I had been pretty much the mother from hell in terms of making sure that I knew everything he had ever seen, and I was the one that was acculturating my children. I wasn't having the media do it, and what the story turned out to be is he'd been at the playground that day and a bunch of boys had been talking about a video game that one of them had been playing. He told me that, Mom, you know, if you kill enough people, you get to go into a room where a lady takes off her top. That's what a stripper is. And if you kill more people and you get to a higher level of the game, you get to go into a room where a lady takes off all her clothes. That's what a hooker is. Well, needless to say, I was really floored because without anything coming from me or the home, he already had in his mind a connection between violence and killing and sexuality.

So what did you do?

turn 2 : The mother was surprised that her 7-year-old son already knew about the terms 'hooker' and 'stripper' and their connection to violence and sexuality without her teaching him.

How was the mother's reaction to her son's knowledge of the terms 'hooker' and 'stripper'?

Answer: Floored


Congressman, welcome. Thank you so much for talking to us.

Thank you so much.

So the State Department put out a joint statement last night. It said in part that - I'm quoting here - "Mexico will take unprecedented steps to increase enforcement to curb irregular migration" - end quote. And those steps include deploying its National Guard to Mexico's southern border. So what other actions does the U. S.  expect Mexico to take?

Well, let's keep in mind that Mexico right now is stopping about 250,000 people a year on the southern border. That is, they hold them, and they deport them back on the southern border. So that's a quarter of a million people that would be coming to the United States.

You know, I assume they're going to hopefully stop some of those buses where they have people coming in from the southern border, and they get quickly to the United States, or if it's a caravan walking that they will start dispersing those caravans. And I've heard that in the last couple of days, that is what they're doing. They're holding people more in the southern border. And I think that's one way they're going to be helping the U. S.

turn 4 : Mexico will start dispersing caravans and holding people more at the southern border to help the US.

Which country is deploying its National Guard to its southern border to help curb irregular migration, according to the State Department's joint statement mentioned in the dialogue?

Answer: Mexico


What in this agreement makes it better in your perspective?Because you did say that there was something in it that was, so tell me one thing.

There are. The labor chapter itself is better. However, if you can't enforce the labor chapter, it is meaningless. And so we're trying to get the enforcement on three different levels that I outlined earlier.

So what's your message to Democrats here?I mean, the issue is, so far, the administration has been trying to work with the Democrats. I mean, the trade chief, for example, the U. S.  trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, has been working with Democrats to hear their concerns about it. I mean, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed nine House Democrats to committees to negotiate these sort of - these changes.

But there is this some sense that, you know, the administration - others in the administration would like to fast-track it. There is a mechanism for doing that. I mean, do you have a specific message to Democrats?Because, as you know, with such a large - particularly with such a large presidential field, you've got all kinds of different opinions about international trade in that group. Do you know what I mean?So do you have a specific message to them about how to - you would like to see them proceed?

turn 2 : What is your message to Democrats about how to proceed with negotiating the trade agreement?

Which chapter is highlighted by PersonA as the better part of the agreement?

Answer: Labor


Yeah, they weren't the sharpest.

All right, so now tell us about the most powerful horse in history. And this, as I understand it, goes all the way back to Roman times?

Right. This was, I think, the most politically influential horse. So it was proudly Incitatus, which is the horse of the Roman emperor Caligula. And according to historians of the time, his stable was made of marble, he had a collar of gemstones and his meals were oats mixed with gold flakes. And senators were forced to dine with him. And according to legend, Caligula planned to appoint him counsel before the emperor was assassinated. So it's almost as bizarre as the 2016 United States presidential election.

(Laughter) A. J. , I have to say, at least when it comes to horse racing, you got your money out of reading that Encyclopedia Britannica.

(Laughter).

turn 3 : (Laughter) A.J., I have to say, at least when it comes to horse racing, you got your money out of reading that Encyclopedia Britannica.  Implicated meaning: B is using figurative language to convey that A.J. gained a lot of valuable knowledge or useful information about horse racing by reading the Encyclopedia Britannica. It suggests that A.J.'s extensive reading paid off in terms of his understanding of the topic, rather than implying he literally received money.  (5) A: (Laughter)

How did PersonB feel about A.J.'s knowledge on horse racing?

Answer: Valuable


Well, I think everybody knew something was coming. I did not have specific knowledge of the timing or the nature of the strike. But - so there may have been notification to the speaker and the majority leader but not to Congress generally.

Do you feel that Congress should have had a chance to weigh in?

I think it's very important to distinguish what the strike was and what it wasn't. It was specifically narrowly focused on chemical weapons and chemical weapons production. That's been out of bounds in military years for over a hundred years with a few exceptions. Had it been a more general strike on the Assad regime, an attempt to change the calculus in the civil war, I believe that would have definitely required congressional approval. But I think the narrow strike to maintain the principle that countries around the world have recognized for so long that chemical weapons are out of bounds, I don't think that was a case where congressional approval was necessary in advance. But had it been a different kind of strike with broader implications, I'm one of those - along with a group of others in the Senate - who strongly believe there needs to be congressional approval.

Well, let me ask - I assume the president would have won that vote, right?

turn 2 : Out of bounds implies it's not allowed to happen

Which principle did the narrow strike aim to maintain?

Answer: Recognition


Right. We should mention that Purdue Pharma agreed back in March to pay - I think it was 270 million and settle claims and avoid having to go to a trial like the one you've been sitting in on today.

Correct.

So to focus on Johnson & Johnson's role, I wasn't even aware that they manufactured opioid painkillers. What are the products under scrutiny at this trial?

Yeah, so it's interesting. There's actually two separate businesses that they're looking at from the company. The first is that they actually owned two businesses that they sold by 2016 that processed Tasmanian poppies into narcotic raw materials. And then they also had a company that turned those into active pharmaceutical ingredients that they used, I believe, for their own drugs as well as other companies.

turn 2 : Johnson & Johnson's involvement in opioids was surprising.

How many businesses of Johnson & Johnson are under scrutiny at the trial?

Answer: two


Conceivably they can, if there is an issue or something that's hanging fire that is of tremendous interest to the voters. I don't think Troopergate up in Alaska has ever really captured the voters' imagination. There are some people who have been following it closely, there was one determination by the legislative committee that was looking at it, now we have a somewhat different one from the executive committee. I don't think the election has been about Troopergate.

As for the death of Senator Obama's grandmother, certainly that is a tragic timing of this event, if in fact Barack Obama were to be elected president tonight, for his grandmother to have died just one day shy of having witnessed this, would be sad indeed. But whether that is going to change people's votes again, I think is unlikely.

Well Ron, we look forward to talking to you as the result unfold and we continue our coverage.

Indeed we will.

turn 0 : "Hanging fire" is an expression meaning to delay. Here, the issue is whether there's some issue that hasn't had an impact on the vote, but will do so before Election Day.

What is the meaning of "hanging fire" in turn 0?

Answer: Delay


My pleasure.

Could you just tell us what the weather is like right now?

Well, currently, it's been blue day. I mean, we've had some bands of rain come through from time to time, but it's a nice day. The water is calm. It's clouding up a little bit.

Do you have any guests at the resort at the moment?

turn 1 : blue day implies a rainy and cloudy day.

Answer: Blue.


What does she say - the captain?Does she say, I was just - I needed to dock the ship?

She said, I was respecting international law. And in fact, there are many constitutional experts here in Italy - also say that the decree is in violation of Italy's constitution and its treaties on international law, the U. N.  convention on asylum and on the right of anybody to come into a country and ask for asylum.

Now, issues of immigration and migrants, how to handle them - this has been front and center in Italy for years. How are Italians reacting to this case?How do they view the captain - what she was trying to do here?

Well, the reactions are as polarized as the country is, and she's a symbol of the divisions over the government's anti-migrant policies. Many on the center-left treat her as a heroine, while Salvini has called her a pirate and an outlaw. The media's dubbed this the battle of the two captains - Captain Rackete of the Sea-Watch and Salvini, who's known to his populist followers as il capitano.

turn 2 : when something is front and center in this context it means its out in the open, or some type of problem everyone notices

How do Italians view the captain in this case?

Answer: heroine


The global economy is facing some risk right now, according to a leading woman in finance. We specify Christine Lagarde's gender because the managing director of the International Monetary Fund is among the most prominent women in a male-dominated industry. And gender is very much on her mind on this International Women's Day.

She's been suggesting the world would be a very different place if women played more leading roles in banking. Madam Lagarde has consistently said that had more women been in charge of the major banks, the financial crisis of 2008 might have been avoided. She's now studying risks to the economy, and that is where we began our conversation.

There are risks. It's coming from various corners of the world, this sort of downward trend that we're seeing. One is you have the euro area numbers, in particular, combination of the Brexit uncertainty and the trade concerns but also particular matters affecting, for instance, the automobile industry in Germany or the uncertainty over the Italian budget or the protests in the streets of my home country.

But you're also seeing some countries that have gone down for other reasons. Think of Argentina, which has faced a major crisis. Think of Iran, for instance, which have been revised downwards - big way. Think of Venezuela, which is contracting massively. So those are, you know, sort of, the particular countries that are going to contribute to that declining growth in 2019 and in 2020.

turn 1 :  (2) Madam Lagarde has consistently said that had more women been in charge of the major banks, the financial crisis of 2008 might have been avoided. - This turn implies that if more women had been in charge of the major banks, the financial crisis of 2008 might have been avoided.

What suggestion has Madam Lagarde consistently made regarding the major banks and the financial crisis of 2008?

Answer: Consistently