Well, what it does is it does away with the prohibition against rating on pre-existing conditions, meaning that if you have a pre-existing condition - and about a third of us do - that you could be charged a much higher rate for insurance. So let me give you an example. Somebody is working, they have insurance, and they have a catastrophic illness - cancer, some other calamity. They have to stop working because they need to get their condition taken care of. If they're out for 60 days, they lose their insurance. And now, they have to pay whatever the insurance company decides is the premium because they are - now have a pre-existing condition. Somebody in that situation may never be able to accumulate enough money to pay the very high premiums and get back on the cycle of having continuous insurance coverage.

Now, of course, Speaker Ryan looks forward to what are called now high-risk pools. These would be plans that are essentially devoted to try and accommodate people who have expensive and pre-existing conditions. You're not convinced that would do it.

Well, I think that the problem with those is in the fine print. First of all, very often they are not adequately funded. And many of the high-risk pools have lifetime caps, lifetime limits.

turn 1 : Don't just paraphase the words! Find the implicated meaning! We don't want answers like: to be silent means stay quiet and not making noise, bad answer!  Please read the examples above carefully!      (1)	A:	Well, what it does is it does away with the prohibition against rating on pre-existing conditions, meaning that if you have a pre-existing condition - and about a third of us do - that you could be charged a much higher rate for insurance.So let me give you an example.Somebody is working, they have insurance, and they have a catastrophic illness - cancer, some other calamity.They have to stop working because they need to get their condition taken care of.If they're out for 60 days, they lose their insurance.And now, they have to pay whatever the insurance company decides is the premium because they are - now have a pre-existing condition.Somebody in that situation may never be able to accumulate enough money to pay the very high premiums and get back on the cycle of having continuous insurance coverage. (2)	B:	Now, of course, Speaker Ryan looks forward to what are called now high-risk pools.These would be plans that are essentially devoted to try and accommodate people who have expensive and pre-existing conditions.You're not convinced that would do it. (3)	A:	Well, I think that the problem with those is in the fine print.First of all, very often they are not adequately funded.And many of the high-risk pools have lifetime caps, lifetime limits. (4)	B:	What kind of reforms would you like to make?  Please choose the turns whose actual meanings are different from their literal meanings.   (1)  (2)  (3)  (4)

How can pre-existing conditions affect insurance rates?

Answer: Higher


Well, the Princess Infanta Cristina is King Juan Carlos' youngest daughter. She's 48. She and her husband had sort of a fairytale love story. They used to be popular in the glossy magazines here. Her husband is the Duke Inaki Urdangarin. He started a nonprofit foundation organizing sports conventions and it's through that foundation that he and a colleague are accused of embezzling $8 million.

Prosecutors believe they did so by creating shell companies. Now, where the princess comes in is that for at least one of those shell companies she was a co-signer and co-owner. So any fraud committed by that company, she would be 50 percent responsible. Now, that's the money laundering charge. The tax fraud involves the couple's personal expenses, everything from renovations on their $8 million mansion in Barcelona, vacations, down to small things like Harry Potter books for their kids, which were allegedly paid for through these shell companies and on which they allegedly did not pay tax.

This hearing today is similar to what, in the U. S. , we would call a Grand Jury proceeding. So the judges are trying to determine whether to formally charge the princess. And if they do so, she'll then go on trial. The process is underway as well for her husband, the Duke, and both face up to six years in prison if charged and convicted.

Lauren, can you help us appreciate the reaction of the Spanish public at this point?

turn 1 : (2) "Now, where the princess comes in is that for at least one of those shell companies she was a co-signer and co-owner. So any fraud committed by that company, she would be 50 percent responsible."  The literal meaning of this sentence is that the princess was involved in the ownership and operation of a shell company that was used for fraudulent purposes. However, the implied meaning is that the princess was possibly complicit in the fraud, knowingly or unknowingly, and that her involvement is a significant part of the investigation.

What was the role of the Princess in the fraudulent activities?

Answer: Complicit


Sorry. Sorry. Well, one more sticky issue. You got some pushback from a song - on the song, "Wish You Were Gay. "And people were hoping it would become an anthem for the LGBTQ community. But some people are actually not pleased about it. They feel that it's - there's pushback about it. And how do you think about that?

You know what I think is that everybody has a right to feel exactly what they feel. And it's not anyone's place to tell somebody that their being offended is not correct, you know?It's, like, that's a thing that you can't control. And if somebody doesn't feel OK with something, then you have to respect that and understand that and not try to fight that.

And so I knew writing that song that - it wasn't meant as an insult. And it wasn't meant to be offensive in any way. So for me, I didn't even really think about it because it was so not at all. . .

O'CONNELL: Controversial to us.

. . . Controversial in my mind because I thought of it as almost like a positive thing.

turn 4 : Everyone should respect other people's opinions and feelings, even if they don't agree with them.

Answer: Respect


Thanks for having me, Scott.

Let me begin with what's being called the tarmac summit. Bill Clinton, Attorney General Lynch happened to be at the Phoenix airport at the same time. And Bill Clinton arranged a private meeting, lasted about half an hour, with the attorney general. Your old colleague, David Axelrod, tweeted, quote, "I take Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton at their word that their convo in Phoenix didn't touch on probe. But foolish to create such optics. "How helpful was it for Hillary Clinton, who's so widely seen as untrustworthy, to have her spouse meet with the attorney general while she's under investigation by the Justice Department?

I can't imagine there's one person in America, including in the Clinton campaign, who thinks that was helpful (laughter). But I - look, I think if Bill Clinton had to do it over again he probably wouldn't have walked over to the plane, seeing all the follow-up from the last couple days.

Does it raise a question about what you do with Bill Clinton during the campaign because he is, certainly on the one hand, often called the most talented politician of the modern era. On the other hand, you know, he's got a history of mischief.

turn 3 : Implies that Bill Clinton is both a valuable asset and a potential liability to the campaign.

How is Bill Clinton viewed in terms of his potential impact on the campaign?

Answer: Mixed


Well, can you describe to us what the situation is on the ground there in Gaza?What does it looked like?What's going on in the hospitals?

It is a very bad situation. The hospitals are ill-equipped and not ready to deal with a mass-casualty event like this one. Israel did allow humanitarian supplies to go into Gaza today. They allowed quite a few trucks to enter. Aid workers on the ground say that it's not enough, that there's still real a shortage there.

Griff Witte is the Jerusalem bureau chief for the Washington Post. Thank you very much.

Thanks, Madeleine.

turn 1 : The situation in Gaza is much worse than the humanitarian supplies suggest.

Which supplies were allowed to enter Gaza?

Answer: Trucks


Firefighting is dangerous - raging flames, choking smoke, hot, floating ash - but what about the long-term health effects that persist after the fire's been doused and firefighters have gone home?The Chicago Tribune investigated links between fighting fires and deadly cancers that can catch up to those first responders long after they leave a scene. Karen Ann Cullotta reported the story, and she told us she started looking into it after two firefighters in the Chicago area died.

I wrote obituaries for both of them, and I was kind of taken aback that they were both young, and these were what was being called line-of-duty deaths cancer deaths. So I started asking around different fire departments and saying, you know, is this something you're seeing?Is this something that's being talked about?And without exception, every department I spoke with said this is pretty much all we're talking about.

Is it the toxic smoke?What is it?

Yeah. So there's just - there's a lot of questions - unanswered questions. And while there's been research into this for years, it's still unfolding. They've always known that, of course, inhaling smoke is dangerous. But now, these studies are looking at these toxins that are in the smoke and that settle on the skin. So it's not just inhalation. It's actually getting into the skin and into the blood stream from exposed areas.

turn 0 : Raging flames implies that the flames are very strong and active

How did Karen Ann Cullotta become interested in investigating the links between firefighting and cancer?

Answer: Treasury


Yeah. Millions of dollars. And they actually - the Coogan Law at this moment though actually only protects about 15 percent of a child's earning. And so there's a whole 85 percent that goes somewhere else. And the parents can use it for various things. And the child can use it but, you know, when you're a child you're not going to make most sound financial decisions.

And you end up seeing a lot of child stars actually growing up and getting emancipated from their parents because they don't like the way that their parents have handled their money. And there are other loopholes around it too, like they can appear - they have to appear in front of a court to say that they can do this. But the ones who don't appear in front of a court, they don't have to necessarily pay attention to those rules. And there are a lot of loopholes and sadly there are lot of parents using their kids to make money.

Well, Mara Wilson, thank you very much for your time today. We appreciate your insight. I love the picture of Alfred Hitchcock, who you say once described actors as cattle. And your line, please?

That would make child actors veal.

turn 3 : She believes that child actors are like cattle to be used by others.

Which animal does the speaker compare child actors to?

Answer: Cattle


I have many objections. I do want to say, I think whistleblowing is a very important function in democracy. The problem I'm seeing increasingly is that instead of careful curated whistleblowing that takes public interest into account, what we are seeing is these mass-hacked emails just being dumped without any consideration for the privacy of the people.

And there's a lot of personal information that is being exposed. What this does - and this is what scares me - is that this method is going to be used in the future to any political organization - dissident organizations - that are trying to challenge power. And what they're going to end up seeing is that their personal information is going to be dumped for the world.

It looks like the method that started as a way to bring more challenge to secretive elites is actually now evolving into a method that is going to be very destructive to the ecology of dissent.

Professor, I'm sure write dumb emails every day. But I was told a number of years ago by a lawyer - and I'll bet Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin have been told this by high-price lawyers, too - you never write an email that you wouldn't be willing to see on the front page of The New York Times.

turn 3 : The actual meaning of this turn is to be aware of the potential consequences of what you write in emails and to be careful with what you say via email.

How does the lawyer's advice relate to turn 3?

Answer: Consequences


Hmm. For - yeah, for all of us to take a look at.

Mm-hmm.

What made this an outstanding candidate?Just the story like that, for your. . .

To write about?Well, yeah. The things that I'm always looking for are things that have the quality, as you heard me say a few times, they make people laugh and then think. When you first see them, they're funny. You have almost no choice but to laugh. And then a few days later, you find it still rattling around in your head, and you just want to tell somebody about it. These are the things that really - they're funny mainly because they're so unexpected. There's something about them that you just - at first glance, it's beyond anything you ever had any reason to think about it, just - it's staggering. Maybe later on when you get used to it, it doesn't seem funny anymore, but at first glance. . .

turn 3 : Funny things that make people think and stick in their mind

What quality of things does PersonA look for?

Answer: Surprising


Now, you mentioned play acting. Is there any evidence to show that there's an interesting crime stories that can lead to some people to actually, you know, commit crimes like copycat?

Well, of course. And this is a concern. I wrote a book on violence in a workplace a number of years ago. And whenever, we see an act of violence in the workplace, there's always going to be a copycat somewhere in the country. Let me just quickly say this though. We saw in the inauguration of our new president, Obama, an amazingly hopeful thing. More than a million people, I don't remember the exact number, stood together and there wasn't one arrest.

That's right.

Now, that is an amazing thing. Nowhere in America does that take place except there. So, we have to be thinking that his words choose hope over fear demonstrated with more than a million people staying together and no crime being committed, you know, is a story for the future of hopefulness. But I think that speaks to another element of why we're fascinated with crime, Tony, and that's the sense of compassion. Either you believe people are good or believe people are bad, I believe people are good. But I think that one reason that we are interested in crime is because it allows us to feel our compassion, not only a compassion for the victim but sometimes compassions for the perpetrator.

turn 0 : Is there any evidence to show people will commit crimes similar to what they read or see. The person says that anytime there is workplace violence in one location another person will do the same thing in another location.

Which workplace issue did PersonA write a book on?

Answer: Violence.


But I'm sure that there's something else that you want to share with us. You have your poems about California, poems about the blues.

I've got one. The once called "Who I Am in Twilight. "And it's a poem that is actually emblazoned on the sidewalk. And it's set in stone, as it were, on something called "Poetry Walk" in Berkeley, California. They put down on sidewalk, Addison Street, about a hundred poets', I think, work. So it's fun to go over there and see how posterity works, because always somebody has dropped some pizza on it, mashed out a cigarette on it, or something like that.

So don't live for posterity, live for now. But here it is. "Who I am in Twilight. "

Like John Lee Hooker, like Lightnin' Hopkins, like the blues himself. The Trickster Sonnet, hoedown, the tango, the cante jondo. Like blessed spirituals and ragas, custom-made. Like sagas. Like stories. Like slick, slow, sly, soliloquies sliding into dramas. Like crime and punishment. Like death and birth. Canal Street, New Orleans. Like the easy, erasable, troubled voices a whirling ceiling fan makes in deep summer nights in hot, un-heavenly hotels. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee. Like the Mississippi River so deep and wide, you couldn't get a letter to the other side. Like Grand Canyon. Like Yosemite National Park. Like beans and cornbread. Like rest and recreation. Like love and like. I know we last. I know our bleeding stops.

turn 3 : The poet's work is inspired by various cultural influences and experiences.

Which cultural influences inspired the poet's work?

Answer: Various


It's actually rotting their bones from the inside.

It's rotting. Yeah.

I suppose worth noting - the - these were young women at the time that they were employed working in factories. Not. . .

Teenagers, many of them. Yeah.

turn 2 : The young women working in factories were suffering a lot due to the unhealthy environment.

What was the age group of the women working in factories mentioned in turn 2?

Answer: teenagers


I don't know what a - difference between an executive order and a proclamation is.

Well, proclamations seem to be more rare. They do kind of echo of something royal, but it has basically the same effect as an executive order.

And how would this change what somebody who wants to apply for asylum must do?

Well, it's trying to bar asylum for people who enter the U. S.  in between ports of entry.

turn 1 : Proclamations are rare and have a royal tone but have the same effect as an executive order

Answer: Rare


I stopped the clocks because, A - my contract was running out, and, yes, I am eligible for retirement 'cause I'm 72 now. But the hand-wound ones, they're big cast iron weights. If the weights, when they run out, fell over, it would take three men to reconnect all the wires going through the pulleys and things, so it was on a safety grounds that I stopped them.

Why did you stop both hands at 12?

Well, I stopped them at 12 o'clock because every time I get a clock on my working license, and my father-in-law before me, people seem to think, oh, that clock is at 12 o'clock. And they look at their watch or something, and they'll say, oh, it's stopped. Whereas if I left it at any time, they don't seem to pick it up quick enough.

Well, Mr.  Mitchell, may I ask, are there a lot of other people doing a job like yours or is that number dwindling these days?

turn 3 : "are there a lot of other people doing a job like yours or is that number dwindling these days?" The literal meaning of "doing a job like yours" is performing a similar occupation. However, the actual meaning is whether there are still many people employed as clock repairers or if the profession is declining.

Which profession is the subject of the question asked by PersonB in turn 3?

Answer: Clockrepair


Good morning.

Good morning.

The U. S.  has been unstoppable so far. Should the American women be worried about the Dutch?

Well, yes, the U. S.  has been amazing so far. They've only allowed three goals the entire tournament, and they've now won 11 World Cup games in a row, which is a record. But this could be a tricky match against the Netherlands. This Holland team has made it to the final by upsetting teams that were supposed to beat them. And this is, actually, only their second time playing in a World Cup. They made it to the round of 16 four years ago in Canada. But then they won the 2017 European Championships, and they've only gotten stronger since then.

All right, we'll get to Megan Rapinoe in a second. But I want to ask about the Dutch side first. Who are you watching there?

turn 3 : The teams were not upset emotionally but picked to win and lost.

How did the opposing teams feel after losing to the Dutch side?

Answer: Supposed


Oh, I come off great. I'm a great character, Dain Ironfoot. I don't have much to do. It's, like, in a cameo role. And I'm not really sure how much I'm allowed to say, but the king dies and I step into his place in a very violent way. But I'm a ruffian, you know. I ride a wild pig and I wear iron shoes and I use an ax as a weapon, and it's - I've got hair down to my waist, and my beard down to my waist and tattooed face, and it's an extraordinarily appearance. It takes two-and-a-half hours to get me ready.

Well, that can't have been fun.

I was the wheel(ph) in a Volkswagen.

I've got so much stuff on.

turn 2 : Being a wheel in a Volkswagen implies that he was carrying a lot of physical material

How does turn 2 describe the physical load that the speaker is carrying?

Answer: Material


Yeah, thank you.

So tell us what the article said.

Well, it's very interesting. It's in the Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica. It's a very historic magazine, the Jesuits, of course, being the same order that Pope Francis - an order of priest that Pope Francis is a part of. And what's very interesting is that these two authors are known to be quite close to him. One, Antonio Spadaro, was the person who interviewed him in 2013 and made a big splash. And what they're saying is that they're concerned about ties between fundamental evangelicals and, kind of, right-wing Catholics in the U. S.  that are focused only on very neuralgic issues and kind of dividing in politics.

And the article, I believe, specifically talks about xenophobic and Islamophobic views.

Yeah. What the authors say is that, you know, Pope Francis has really been trying to create a culture of dialogue encounter, really working with people across all the spectrums. And what the two authors in this article are saying is that these right-wing groups in the U. S.  have been really doing the opposite. Where Pope Francis is trying to build bridges, they're trying to build walls. And they're playing up concerns about migration, about refugees. And they're kind of operating in the exact opposite way of the pope which, for a Catholic, is obviously a very strange thing.

All right, this article also directly mentions President Donald Trump and his adviser Steve Bannon. What does it say about them?

turn 3 : "Xenophobic and Islamophobic views" - The literal meaning is a fear or dislike of foreigners or Islamic religion.

Which views does the article specifically talk about?

Answer: Xenophobic,Islamophobic


So we hear that a lot. We hear employees being congratulated for working 24/7, which now we know is the cognitive equivalent of coming to work drunk. But it's changing. We are now in this amazing transition period where more and more companies are beginning to realize that living like that and working like that has actually terrible consequences, not just on the health and productivity of their employees but also on their bottom line.

You talk about sleep as a basic human right that we have not ranked alongside, you know, the right not to go hungry, the right to freedom of expression, that sort of thing.

Yes, and what is interesting is that it's a right that has been violated both in workplaces where employees have been expected to be perpetually on, especially since the advent of the smartphone, but also which is constantly violated by us because we have so minimized the importance of sleep. So that basic human right that you mention is often violated by us.

We can't do an interview with Arianna Huffington at this point and not ask about the 2016 presidential campaign. And I will point out Donald Trump says he just gets by on about four hours of sleep a night. Any reaction to that?

turn 2 : (3) Implies that people have become so used to not prioritizing sleep that they are violating their own basic human right.

How is the basic human right of sleep being violated?

Answer: Sleep


Claire Messud's "The Burning Girl" is a novel about two girls, Cassie and Julia, who make each other who they are. Cassie's the bold one who looks for rules to break. Julia is the voice of caution and conscience who'd like a little of Cassie's daring. We had one mind, as Julia recall, and could roam its limits together. They grow apart in middle school. Cassie hangs out with the more conspicuously popular crowd. Julia's hurt but becomes aware that Cassie is on the verge of disaster. Julia may be the one person to help pull her back.

"The Burning Girl" is the latest novel from Claire Messud, author of "The Emperor's Children" and other acclaimed novels. She's also taught creative writing and special programs at many colleges and joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

Thanks, Scott, for having me.

What's the special intensity of being BFFs as youngsters?

turn 0 : The strong bond between Cassie and Julia is both powerful and fragile.

How would you describe the bond between Cassie and Julia?

Answer: powerful


We submitted this proposal yesterday to President-elect Obama, his transition team, and congressional leaders. As you may know, right now, they are working on trying to develop an economic stimulus plan that they're hoping to enact early in 2009. We are suggesting that this be part of that plan.

The National Retail Federation's leadership thinks that we need a two-pronged approach for fiscal stimulus. We think that you need something to provide some long-term economic stimulus, such as investment in infrastructure, which is being suggested. But that type of stimulus has a long lead time.

We think that you also need something that's developed to provide some short-term economic stimulus. As you may know, consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of the GDP. So we think that if, through these sales tax holidays, we can do something to spur consumer spending, that that will get re-circulated through the economy and will have a positive effect in 2009.

There are some states out there, for example Oregon and Maine, which currently don't have sales taxes throughout the year. Is there anything that you can potentially learn from states that have been doing this for a while?

turn 1 : long lead time means it takes awhile for something to happen

How would you describe the impact of investment in infrastructure?

Answer: Positive


That's right. There are a few things in particular that stood out in the early excerpts. I haven't had the chance to get my hands on the book yet. But a couple of things in particular. One is that Bannon talks about that infamous Trump Tower meeting in June of 2016 that featured Donald Trump Jr. , Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and the meeting that they had with the Russian lawyer, who was offering dirt on Hillary Clinton. Bannon describes the meeting as treasonous, as unpatriotic. And he says that those three should've called the FBI immediately. A second thing is that he also says that there's no way - there's no way that Trump Jr.  didn't walk the Russians up one floor to the 26th floor of Trump Tower and introduce them to Trump himself.

We should explain that's his - he doesn't know that happened, but he just finds it inconceivable it didn't.

He doesn't offer any proof. He wasn't in the campaign at the time. But this would be important if true because Trump has denied any knowledge of the Russian overtures, any knowledge of Russian outreach. And it would - this would obviously contradict that. The last thing is that Bannon says that the investigation is going to focus on money laundering. There are indications that Mueller's team may indeed be looking at that. So a lot to digest there.

NPR's Ryan Lucas, thanks so much.

turn 0 : "Bannon describes the meeting as treasonous, as unpatriotic." - The actual meaning of this turn is figurative and implies that Bannon believes the meeting was disloyal and against the country's interests, rather than literally being an act of treason.

How does Bannon describe the Trump Tower meeting?

Answer: Treasonous


Let's start with the idea of this weight loss or calories burned. How does this compare to other athletes in other sports?

One of the basic facts was the 1984 World Chess Championship, right?So after five months and 48 games, defending champion Anatoly Karpov had lost 22 pounds. And some people said he looked, like, dead. Chess players were burning calories around the same rate as tennis players and competitive marathon runners. Like, in October 2018, Polard, this company that tracks heart rates, monitored chess players during a tournament and found out that this 21-year-old Russian grandmaster, Mikhail Antipov, had burned 560 calories in two hours, which we found out was roughly what Roger Federer would burn in one hour of singles tennis.

And I talked to Robert Sapolsky. He's been studying primates for a long time now, and he corroborated that fact and said that, you know, chess players can burn up to 6,000 calories in a day by playing a tournament, which is three times that of any human on a regular day.

Now, what did you learn about why?Is it that their brains are just using that much energy, or is there something physiological going on?

turn 1 : Some people said due to the fact that he was so thin that he looked like he was dead as dead people have no fat.

What was the appearance of Anatoly Karpov after losing weight during the 1984 World Chess Championship?

Answer: Dead.


We don't know what, if anything, he has told the investigators thus far. But we do know, as we suggested earlier, a lot of the questions. For example, where did the guns come from?Where did the explosives come from?And where did the money for those things come from?

Well, first of all, if he is coming in and out of consciousness - which is what we understand is going on right now, in the hospital room - they really can't question him. He has to be sort of sitting up and reasonably aware of what's going on. Now, this had happened in the Abdulmutallab case, in 2009. That's the young man from Nigeria who was on Flight 253, going over Detroit, and he was wearing an underwear bomb.

And for the first 50 minutes - five, zero minutes - that he was in custody, they questioned him without Mirandizing him because they wanted to know if this is part of a broader plot. But then they Mirandized him. . .

Were there other bombs on other planes?Yes.

turn 1 : The suspect's condition may affect the interrogation process.

How might the suspect's state impact the questioning?

Answer: Consciousness


Yesterday, in a letter to Congress, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that significant uncertainty now exists with regard to unresolved tax and spending policies for 2013, but we didn't really need Timothy Geithner to tell us that. Ron Elving is with us. He's NPR's senior Washington editor, and he joins me here in Studio 3A to help us make sense of what's happening in Washington as this deadline looms closer like a shadow approaching. Right, Ron?Welcome back to TALK OF THE NATION.

Good to be with you, Celeste.

Explain to me what's going on 'cause, first, we heard there may be a proposal from the president, then we heard there's no proposal from the president. Where do the negotiations stand?

The Senate is here. The president is here. They appear to be talking. The president was on the phone before he left Hawaii with the Republican and Democratic leaders of both the House and Senate. And apparently in one of the conversations that he had, either last night or after he got back here today, he intimated in some way to the Republican leader in the Senate - now, of course he's the minority leader in the Senate, as the Republicans are under 50 percent in that body - and Mitch McConnell got the message one way or another that the president was going to put something new on the table later on today. And so his people came out and told all the reporters on Capitol Hill, we're getting something from the president today, stay tuned.

turn 0 : We already knew about the uncertainty regarding tax and spending policies in 2013

Which Republican leader got the message from the president about putting something new on the table later on today?

Answer: McConnell


We also heard singer-songwriter Ben Harper on that track. He wrote most of the songs on this album. He produced it. How did you two meet?Why do you think you clicked with him?

Well, Ben had written me a song for one of my other albums - "Livin' On A High Note. "And that song was "Love And Trust"

(Singing) Do what you can. Do what you must. Everybody's trying to find some love and trust. I walk the line. I walk it for us. See me out here trying to find some love and trust.

I fell so in love with that song. And every time we'd sing it, the audience - they would just roar, you know. It turned out so well. So I - we'd been singing it for a couple of years then. I ran into Ben on the road. That's where we would always meet up - somewhere on the road. And I told him. I said, Ben, that song - you have got to write me another song. He said, well, Mavis, why don't I write you 11 songs?I said, why don't you do that?He said, let's make an album. I said, sounds good to me. You know, I said, I don't know if I could handle 11 good songs from Ben Harper. He said, oh, yeah, you can handle it, Mavis.

turn 1 : The song 'Love and Trust' was written by Ben Harper for Mavis Staples

Which song did Mavis Staples perform that made the audience roar?

Answer: LoveandTrust


Well, we had some great conversations about what it took to play the position. And you know, Bob Watson, who started out as a catcher, was one of the committee members. Phil Niekro, Bert Blyleven and Don Sutton, Pat Gillick, all pitchers, all Hall Famers, were really able to add a lot of insight to what it must have been like.

And the other - one of the main things we talked about was just how they played much shorter schedules in the 1870s. So when you look at career statistics, that's a huge distortion. Deacon White ended up with 2,000 career hits, but he was playing in a - in an average of 40, 50, 60-game schedules a year. So there was no way to generate the kind of career milestones that we look at as benchmarks today. You know, 3,000 hits would be all but impossible. And 2,000 was a terrific accomplishment.

And the number of errors he recorded even as a great defensive catcher would have been, you know, totally unacceptable by today's standards.

Oh, exactly. Yeah. And again, an issue where we had to really sort of look at what - compare him to people from his own era. And when we did that, you know, it became really obvious just how much he stood above his contemporaries.

Are the records from those days good enough that you have reliable accounts of who was good and who was great?

turn 3 : Comparing a player's skill to their peers is important when assessing their historical impact.

Which player had to be compared to his contemporaries to determine his skill level?

Answer: Deacon


There's problems, obviously, with monitoring the situation. The government won't let - of Myanmar - won't let international monitors in. And, in fact, the top U. N.  official responsible for human rights was barred from the country. Is that right?

Yanghee Lee, the U. N. 's special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, has been denied entry. A U. N.  fact-finding mission has been denied entry. If there was going to be a return - and this is premature - but if there was going to be a return, there would have to be some sort of international monitoring in place.

Myanmar sees most of the Rohingya as illegal migrants who originally came from Bangladesh generations ago. Bangladesh does not want them either. We're seeing a new generation growing up in refugee camps. In many ways, they are stateless people. Bangladesh is not giving newborns, for example, documents to show that they have any status at all in the country. So what is the way forward?

The bottom line is they - Rohingya have been in Myanmar for centuries. They have legitimate claims to citizenship there. And the notion that they're stateless or somehow they are kind of an alien people is nonsense. It is nonsense. It is a myth perpetrated by the authorities in Myanmar. So yeah, the government of Bangladesh should have policies that are tolerant and willing to take care of the Rohingya for as long as they need to be taken care of. But the culprit here is the government and the military in Myanmar.

turn 3 : The government and military of Myanmar are responsible for the mistreatment of the Rohingya.

How are the authorities in Myanmar described by A?

Answer: Culprit


Tell me about it.

I was teaching in a program called Community Studies, which was an interdisciplinary program, work-study program. You'd go to school for a while, and then you'd go out and work, and then you'd come back and write about it. And there was a woman enrolled in one of my classes who had four kids, and a husband in San Quentin. Her third husband, by whom she had no kids. This was in the 1980s, when San Quentin was experimenting with conjugal visits. She'd say, Mr.  Young, I won't be in class because it's conjugal visiting day at the 'Q'. And so I finally ask her about it. And her body language was of two kinds. She was smiling and obviously joyous when she talked about how it was to go see her husband once a month.

And then her body language changed and she got very severe, and she sat up in her seat across from my desk, and she said, and when I get back to my - to Santa Cruz, and I'm trying to do my schoolwork and take care of my kids, do my job, he can't mess with me because he's locked up in the joint. And this kind of thing. So she had obviously solved her problems. She had her man, but you know, she didn't have to put up with him all the time. But the subtext of it is about our society's policy of just warehousing people, so it's a matter of priorities.

In your work as not just a poet but as a teacher, what's your mission?

turn 1 : The woman in the program had to balance schoolwork, work, and taking care of her kids while also visiting her husband in prison

What was the program called that the woman was enrolled in?

Answer: Community-Studies


When we had a transfer of presidencies in this country, when Barack Obama came in four years ago and George W.  Bush got aboard the helicopter and left town, well, George W.  Bush has pretty vanished from the American political leadership. He wrote a book, did pretty well with that. I gather he gives some speeches, but he plays no great part in the American political system. Bill Clinton has been playing a little bit more in this election.

But in the meantime, Mr.  Hu Jintao on his way out - really, on the way out?He will be a member of the Standing Committee. He's not going to be president. He's not going to be chairman of the party anymore, but?

He still may have a pretty strong role in the military. There's also the former president of China, who I covered back in the '90s, named Jiang Zemin who's from Shanghai. He has been front and center at the Party Congress. He's been out and about. He's in his mid-80s. He's playing role in terms of lining up who's going to take over. There's a lot of horse trading, but it's very, very opaque. And the average Chinese person really doesn't have any sense of where it's heading.

So you're getting this new generation of younger leaders, but the gerontocracy, the old leaders, behind the scenes, they're still playing a role.

turn 0 : This statement implies that George W. Bush is not as relevant in American politics as he used to be.

Which former US president wrote a book and gives speeches but does not play a great part in the American political system anymore?

Answer: Bush


Media looks very bad on this. It looks credulous for Justice Department sources. Hatfill had filed suit against the government and, you know, sought to get the names of sources from journalists, taking them to court to do so, and to try to prove that the Justice Department had intentionally leaked this, as they sought to, you know, circle in on him and to capture him for these attacks.

That's right. Just a few months ago, the government essentially paid out a package - depending on how you value it - but about 5. 85 million dollars to compensate him for lost revenue over the course of his career. He lost a job at Louisiana State University, as a result of this, that he had been offered. Interestingly, the government did not exonerate him directly. Although the entire settlement tended to do that, but it not explicitly exonerate him, and nor did it apologize to him for this. CHADWICK: I don't imagine that we in the media are going to be apologizing to him either. NPR's David Folkenflik, thank you.

You bet.

turn 1 : "Now, this year, there was a settlement, a legal settlement, for Steven Hatfill from the government." - The literal meaning is that the government reached a legal agreement with Steven Hatfill to compensate him for lost revenue.

How much did the government compensate Steven Hatfill?

Answer: 5.85


In the 15 seconds we have left, if there's an agreement of some kind this weekend, does the debate just begin all over again in a couple of weeks over the debt ceiling?

Absolutely. We are sort of going through one crisis at a time right now.

Ramesh Ponnuru is senior editor for the National Review and a columnist for Bloomberg View. Thank so much for being with us, sir.

You're welcome.

turn 1 : (2).  While the literal meaning of A's response is simply agreement with B's statement, the implied meaning is that there are multiple crises happening simultaneously, and therefore the country is not able to focus on one issue before another arises. This suggests a sense of overwhelm or difficulty in managing the situation.

How does PersonA's response suggest the current state of the country's ability to manage crises?

Answer: Overwhelm


Do you ever feel that way, you're just so tired of singing, but you know you have to because that song is so closely associated with who you are?

Well "Band of Gold" would be it, but by the time I get to the end of the show, and I'm coming back for that last encore…

A lot of times, I will do "Band of Gold," and as a matter of fact, I - and I find that it's a good thing because I see people in the audience just light up, like (unintelligible)…

turn 2 : "(Singing) Now that you're gone, all that's left is a band of gold…" - The implied meaning here is that the person is singing a melancholy song about the loss of a loved one and how all that remains is a tangible reminder of their love (represented by a band of gold).

How would you describe the emotion conveyed in the song?

Answer: Sadness


They're tackling it backwards. At the end of the day, put in age verification because otherwise, every teenager would be drinking beer and going to the liquor store four, five times a day. Put in age verification. Make sure - and keep those companies - and hold them accountable. But if you put in age verification as an adult product, that is all you need to do.

So how much business do you stand to lose once this ban on thousands of flavors goes into effect?

That remains to be seen. I don't know. And I don't think it will go into effect. I think, at the end of the day, cooler heads will prevail because what's going to happen is you have to have the understanding and the knowledge and have all the information available to you prior to making such a drastic statement and doing something that will ultimately drive most people back to cigarettes.

We have literally, you know, destroyed the actual tobacco category as we know it because we gave them a vastly less harmful alternative. And that is what we are very proud of, and that is exactly what we're trying to continue.

turn 0 : Nothing is getting tackled. The people are trying to solve the problem the wrong way.

Which product does PersonA suggest adding age verification to?

Answer: Stimulus


Yeah. So they did the - this is an amazing study and a beautiful video because of their research. They have really lovely time-lapse movies of cucumbers growing. And, you know, you think of plants as planted. . .

They stay there.

. . . stationary, kind of boring.

They don't move. Right.

turn 1 : Plants are immobile, unlike humans who move around.

How would you describe plants' mobility compared to humans?

Answer: Immobile


Well, Lyrics Born, thanks so much.

Thank you. My pleasure.

Rapper and producer Lyrics Born's new album is "Everywhere At Once. "He joined us from the studios at UC Berkeley School of Journalism.

(Rapping) I came a long way From eating off-brand rice I came a long way From writing fourth grade rhymes I came a long way To get my pay grade high Baby, you ain't never heard me come the same way twice.

turn 3 : Lyrics Born has come a long way from his humble beginnings.

Answer: Progressed


As we mentioned, polls show that a strong majority of Republicans do still support the death penalty. You're one of the growing number of those, though, who have called for repealing it. And there has been a move, as we said earlier, in some red states to repeal the death penalty. What do you think accounts for that shift?Is it just about economics?

No, I don't think it's solely economics. But, again, you know, most Republicans are pro-life. And when you start looking at the abortion issue and the life issue, you start to have to ask yourself, am I being consistent when I'm looking at the death penalty?

And, you know, for the longest time, the death penalty from the criminal law standpoint was there only for society's revenge. You know, it doesn't serve the other goals of criminal law. There's no rehabilitation of anybody. There's no study that shows that it helps prevent crime. So we're really kind of in that Old Testament retribution. And I think as we move more and more away from that and then factor in the economics, there's a real reason to get rid of it.

You mentioned, though, religion in politics as well as economics. I'm curious - how do you think about the morality of this question of the death penalty?

turn 0 : red states meaning those that are primarily seen as republican dominated

Answer: Republican


People on the ground are really panicking. Women, children, families have been, on a daily basis for the last four months, been in an area where there's been bombing, airstrikes, ground offensives that has really made their life impossible. More than 400,000 had to run to safety within the governorate in an area where 3 million people are living. We've had more than a hundred incidents of health clinics, schools, water distribution points, a market that received a direct strike, which was really - has tolled, so far, more than 500 deaths and a total panic where one sees entire villages and towns deserted, people running to safety.

So our biggest concern is really the protection of civilians. The basic rule of war - that residential areas, civilians should be respected and protected - it is violated at this point in the Idlib area. And that's really something that is not acceptable.

We should remind people, in fact, a direct intentional attack on civilians is a war crime, isn't it?

It is. If it's proven that it's intentional, it is.

turn 0 : People that are in the area of the conflict while it is happening.

Which group of people in the conflict zone is the biggest concern for A?

Answer: B


And is it a big lead or barely a lead at all?The pollsters are also hard at work, as is NPR senior Washington editor Ron Elving. Ron, welcome back on this Monday. How much difference is there in the polls?

A lot, in terms of margin. You know, it's a statistical tie in some polls, it's too close to call in some polls, and then you have some other polls where it's beginning to look like a blow out, where it's a double digit lead and where it's concentrated in the battleground states in ways that really favor Barack Obama.

So, if you want to look for a poll that makes it look like a close contest, you can find one. And if you want to look at a poll that makes it look like Barack Obama is really opening something up here, you can find those too. In a way, though, you can say all the polls are agreed on one thing, there is consistency in all of them having Barack Obama ahead.

I can't find any major national poll that has John McCain ahead in this race. So, some people would say, that's really all that matters.

turn 2 : Although there are varying poll results, all of them show that Barack Obama is consistently ahead.

What is the consistency in all of the polls?

Answer: Consistency


First week of the season, a young boy - he has the ball over his head. He's ready to make the throw-in. And a spectator on the sideline puts her hands on the child's shoulders, spins him around so he'd be redirecting the ball to a different player. So I blew my whistle. And I said - is this your child?And she said, no, this is not my child. So I explained to her, I said, you can never, ever, ever, ever touch a player.

So this was a cry for civility, not I'm sick and tired and can't take it anymore?

That's correct. This is a cry for civility. This is a plea for everyone to join me and everyone else who believes that we can have a fun, fair and safe experience in which sanity is expressed on the sideline.

turn 3 : Well, it sounds that you're complaining less that your feelings were hurt than the youngsters might be getting a very bad example of what it is to be an adult.  In these turns, the speakers are using figurative language or implied meanings rather than stating things directly.

What was the implied meaning behind the phrase "cry for civility"?

Answer: Request


It'll rip the shirt right off of your back one day and the next day it's so beautiful you can hardly stand it.

Gary England, master meteorologist of Oklahoma City. Thanks so much for being with us.

It was my pleasure.

You're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News.

turn 0 : right off bck demage our shirt for beautiful at the same time is really implied meaning

Which meteorologist was being interviewed in the dialogue?

Answer: Gary


What about William Thompson, Jr. ?Originally of Brooklyn, now of Manhattan. He actually won the Democratic nomination four years ago and ran an unexpectedly close race.

Oh, absolutely. And interestingly enough, he's been part of the New York political establishment for a very long time. You hear people refer to him as Billy, because he's William Thompson, Jr.  His father was prominent in politics, generally well-liked in very much a known quantity.

Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn, the public advocate.

An interesting man - I guess you could still call him a young man. I was about to call him a young man. I've known him since we were both running around in sneakers. But he was an aide to David Dinkins. He was the campaign manager for Hillary Clinton when she ran for Senate here in New York and served a couple of terms in the New York City Council. So, he's been in and around this stuff for decades and now he thinks it's his time to go for the big chair.

turn 3 : Turn not provided. Please provide a turn for me to analyze.

Which position did Bill de Blasio previously hold before running for the big chair?

Answer: Campaign


No. We banned those in 2001 after the disastrous 2000 presidential recount. And fortunately for the state is - part of the reform packages passed after 2000 were a number of standards, methods and clear ways in which to perform recounts. And, lucky us, we now probably have three statewide recounts in Florida, as well as three state legislative seats - a record six in the state in one election.

Oh, my word. Well, how close is the governor's race, Marc?

The governor's race - I would like to use one of those old phrases, you know, the old cliche. It's about as tight as a tick in a rug or something. But it's not as tight as the Senate race. The governor's race is about 36,000 ballots almost on-the-nose apart - the margin. The - in the end, the margin is 0. 44 percent. And it takes 0. 5 percent - that is half a percent - to go to recount. So the governor's race in Florida's probably going to recount.

And what about the Senate race?

turn 3 : Senate race implies the quest to become a senator and not a running competition between senators

How does turn 3 clarify the term "Senate race"?

Answer: Quest


It sounds like from what you're saying the city leadership including the mayor is very much in support of there being this massive celebration.

I think that's fair to say. It's kind of been interesting to watch this unfold over the last couple of weeks, because the venues that would have been available, Soldier Field, the football stadium just a little ways away from here wasn't available apparently, or couldn't accommodate the Obama Campaign. The indoor arena, the United Center, some thought may be too small, seating 18,000, 20,000. But there's a concert there tonight anyway, so that was ruled out.

And it seemed to surprise city officials to some degree a month or so ago when the Obama campaign said they'd like to do it in the park. But the city has been very accommodating. They have pulled back - and initially Mayor Daley said everybody should come down, even if they don't have a ticket and just be a part of the celebration in the streets and around the park. The police department and the fire department and the emergency management folks for the city kind of pulled back on that and said, we only want people in the are who are supposed to be in the area, let's try to set up an alternative venue. And so that's what they've gone ahead and done in setting up in another section of Grant Park the big Jumbotrons.

Now, I understand that you have already gone and voted today.

turn 1 : to watch something unfold means to watch an event happen

How would you describe the venues that were considered for the Obama Campaign?

Answer: unavailable


That's a great question. Things are definitely improving in the eurozone. It is unfortunately too early to say that they're out of the woods or even completely out of their recession.

I gather that most of the growth appears to be centered in Germany and to a lesser degree France. And is this then just a case of work with the best economies to begin with getting a little bit better?

Well, Germany has been the better of the European economies, since they're getting a little bit better. France has struggled. Portugal had some good numbers last quarter. That's encouraging. But you're right, we are still deeply worried about other places, such as Italy, Spain and, of course, Greece.

Well, that brings up the question because unemployment still continues to be perniciously high in Spain and Greece. Does this improvement somehow filter through to them?

Well, it certainly will - should if it continues, but you need faster growth rates than this. The hope is that this is the beginning of a faster recovery. But the way the European economy is, roughly speaking, you need more than 1 percent per year annualized growth rate in order to reduce unemployment. Unemployment's very high. We want to be seeing on an annualized basis 2 percent, perhaps even 3 percent in this recovery phase in order to feel that they've really turned the corner.

You need greater growth to be able to spur greater hiring and to lower the unemployment.

turn 3 : The current improvement in the eurozone is not enough to solve its problems, and more growth is needed to reduce unemployment.

Which problem requires greater growth in the eurozone?

Answer: Unemployment


Media looks very bad on this. It looks credulous for Justice Department sources. Hatfill had filed suit against the government and, you know, sought to get the names of sources from journalists, taking them to court to do so, and to try to prove that the Justice Department had intentionally leaked this, as they sought to, you know, circle in on him and to capture him for these attacks.

Now, this year, there was a settlement, a legal settlement, for Steven Hatfill from the government.

That's right. Just a few months ago, the government essentially paid out a package - depending on how you value it - but about 5. 85 million dollars to compensate him for lost revenue over the course of his career. He lost a job at Louisiana State University, as a result of this, that he had been offered. Interestingly, the government did not exonerate him directly. Although the entire settlement tended to do that, but it not explicitly exonerate him, and nor did it apologize to him for this. CHADWICK: I don't imagine that we in the media are going to be apologizing to him either. NPR's David Folkenflik, thank you.

You bet.

What did the government do this year for Steven Hatfill?

Answer: Settlement


Well, a number of the Iraqis have wished us a happy new year. They know that New Year's is a pretty big deal for us. But right now, our new year is coinciding with the Ashura pilgrimage, which is a Shia holiday. And so, a number of the Iraqis are making their way down to the holy cities in Najaf and Karbala.

And the loudspeakers on a lot of the mosques are broadcasting prayers pretty much all day and all night. So that makes it a little bit interesting when we try to sleep, but we know that that's a real large holiday for them, as well.

Right. So I don't know if you can characterize it, but what's the general mood there among the soldiers as the year turns?

Well, a lot of the soldiers are really looking back on this year as one where we've made tremendous progress. My unit in particular, when we left at the end of 2006, things were really rough, and there was a lot of sectarian violence. And we really didn't know which way this thing was going to turn.

turn 1 : The loudspeakers broadcasting prayers all day and all night is causing disturbance for the soldiers trying to sleep.

Answer: B


That leaves a very unnerving feeling because, if they're on the loose, and they're on a suicide mission, and they're not - you know, they could strike at any point of time. So, it does definitely leave an unnerving feeling. As long as you're home, you're secure. But one doesn't know what to expect tomorrow.

Mr. Doctor, I understand that you are a Muslim. Is that correct?

That is correct, yeah.

So far, there has not been official confirmation of who's responsible for these attacks, but they have been attributed, at least in part, to Islamic militants. How do you think the situation there might affect Hindu-Muslim relations in Mumbai?

turn 0 : to strike implies to hit or blow and not to cross out or delete

Answer: Hit


I've been gone for four years, but the organization is carrying on very strong. It's 18 years old now, and this is an organization where almost an entire generation of youth have been raised with a complete consciousness of their history, both black and brown, and the unity in that history. And those are stories that I believe are not told enough. We always focus on the conflict, we know where we don't get along, but we need to promote the examples of where we're working together successfully much more.

You suffered a tragic loss when your daughter was killed in a car accident. How did you pick yourself up and keep doing your work after that?

Well, it was 2006, and you know, you just do. Some people have said to me, how was I able to get over it and continue on?I haven't gotten over anything. It is with me every single day, it is what I think about every morning I wake up, it is what I think about every day before I go to bed. Her presence is very much in my life, and it wasn't just my daughter, it was also my son-in-law as well. And I lost them at the peak of their life. And so I, like millions of other parents, manage. You don't get over it, you just manage.

If you could take your magic wand, and wave it over California, and see what happened in 10 years, what would you be most proud of?

turn 2 : There is no way to get over losing loved ones, but we can learn to manage our grief.

Which peak of life did PersonA's daughter and son-in-law lose?

Answer: Peak


There was no regulation at the time. I mean, the calves that they experimented on in the '60s came from Cooley's ranch. And when I was researching this, I heard this really bizarre story. And I asked - I had one source that I trusted implicitly. And I called her, and I said, I heard that Dr.  Cooley put a pig's heart in somebody. And she didn't bat an eye, and she said no, no, no, it was a sheep. Those were the days (laughter). You know, today, we have the FDA. We have hospital review boards. We have all kinds of things.

When you say artificial heart, you know, the first name that might come up is Robert Jarvik. I mean, some listeners might recall his name. He created a heart that kept Barney Clark, a dentist from Seattle - kept him alive for 112 days back in 1982. That was a huge story, huge story at the time. And that was a long time ago (laughter). Where are we today?Are people still getting artificial hearts implanted today?

It's interesting. Jarvik kept going. And there is a form of an artificial heart that Jarvik designed that's probably the best. But there is no total replacement. You know, a battery-operated - something that - they can cut you open, put this piece of titanium in, sew you back up, and you're good to go.

So from all your reporting, did you, you know, finish this up thinking, we're going to see an artificial heart in our lifetime?

turn 0 : Dr. Cooley experimented on animals and put animal hearts in humans

Answer: Animal


Thanks. Glad to be with you.

So what we've been hearing a lot about is basically just a failure of these negotiations to move forward. Before we get to the nuts and bolts of it, from an economic level, how are people in Detroit dealing with what appears to be a reluctance on the part of the federal government to really enter into a bailout?

Well, I think there are really two key emotions that are at play in Detroit right now. One is fear. People are very scared because the auto industry is so important to metro Detroit, thousands and thousands and thousands of jobs. If one or more of the automakers were to go under, the ripple effect here would be catastrophic because the plant is affected and then the suppliers are affected and the restaurants are affected and the shopping malls are affected. So there'd be such a horrible cascading effect.

So fear is number one, and I think number two is anger. People see how roughly the automakers were treated, and people feel that they were being treated as autoworkers, roughly as well, when at the same time you see, you know, on a Sunday night Citibank gets $20 billion without a second thought. So people here are very angry about the different treatments Wall Street and the automakers have received.

turn 1 : The federal government has not provided a bailout for the auto industry in Detroit and people are scared and angry about the potential consequences of this.

Which industry is causing fear and anger in Detroit?

Answer: Auto


For my country right now, I hope for the best. I really, really hope and I wish that this could have a solution that didn't include war. But honestly, after all these years, I'm really, really scared, really, really sad. But I think that it's the only way.

(Singing in foreign language).

If the military intervention happens, I hope that then - no innocents die in the process.

That was Venezuelan musician Lolita De Sola.

turn 0 : they are trying to imply they want peace not war instead

Which country does PersonA hope for the best for?

Answer: Country


Good morning.

Good morning.

So your reaction to this meeting - the president seems to rely on his own brand of personal politics to get things moving.

Absolutely. And Kim Jong Un knows this. That's why he's been trying very hard to separate President Trump from his advisers because he thinks there is a deal to be had by just directly dealing with the president. There are a couple noteworthy things that came out of this meeting. I noticed that Trump - President Trump saying that speed is not the object here because he's looking for a comprehensive deal. And then he hinted that sanctions could be lifted during the working-level negotiations.

This is a departure from the Trump administration's previous stance that sanctions would be lifted only after denuclearization. So I think the bottom line is President Trump is looking for a deal. And potentially, now that working-level negotiations are going to resume, there is a deal to be had.

turn 2 : It's not literally a "brand" the president has; here it is referring to his own style and approach.

What is the president's approach referred to as?

Answer: Personal


Is this situation just overshadowed by other refugee and humanitarian crises in the world?

I think so. I think its a challenge that, you know, Uganda is the third largest refugee-hosting country in the world now, but I think most people dont realize that. When we think about refugees, we often think about the Syria crisis, which is the world's largest. We think about people who are crossing the Mediterranean. But we're not thinking about the now almost a million people who've crossed this land border into Uganda but have also fled from South Sudan into Kenya and Ethiopia and even into Sudan.

We're also in a situation where the administration has sent very limited aid budgets to Congress. And fortunately because the commitment that Congress continues to show, they've actually rejected those steep cuts to humanitarian aid and provided strong funding - robust funding for humanitarian assistance. But we need to see that funding really get out of the bank accounts in D. C.  and get out to the ground, where it's needed.

Has Uganda been been so welcoming?The international community has thought there's relatively little reason to get involved.

turn 1 :  I think so. I think it's a challenge that, you know, Uganda is the third largest refugee-hosting country in the world now, but I think most people don't realize that. When we think about refugees, we often think about the Syria crisis, which is the world's largest. We think about people who are crossing the Mediterranean. But we're not thinking about the now almost a million people who've crossed this land border into Uganda but have also fled from South Sudan into Kenya and Ethiopia and even into Sudan.  Implicated meaning: Most people are not aware of Uganda's significant role as the third largest host country for refugees, as their attention is primarily focused on the Syrian crisis and refugees crossing the Mediterranean. The situation involving almost a million people who have crossed into Uganda from neighboring countries is often overlooked or not given enough consideration.

What is the name of the third largest refugee-hosting country in the world?

Answer: Uganda


No. But what about the misinformation campaign that we keep discovering more about, hacking, what seems to be just a lot of Russian involvement on a lot of different fronts?Why - what is the Russian interest in causing unrest or consternation in the United States or Western Europe?

Well, actually, I think that causing unrest and consternation is an end in itself. And part of it - part of the goa; is psychological. You know, all of us are interested in seeing our worldviews affirmed. And Russia's worldview - the Russian - the contemporary Russian ideology is that the whole world is rotten. Everybody is corrupt. Everything is for sale. Elections and the United States are just as rigged as they are in Russia. And so sowing the kind of disruption that Russia is sowing first and foremost pursues the goal of affirming that view.

Much of your book is devoted to the stories of four Russians who'd hoped that when the Soviet Union came undone, free speech and democracy would take hold. What happened instead?

Well, actually, those four Russians were much too young to hope for anything when the Soviet Union collapsed. They were preschoolers or kindergarteners when the Soviet Union collapsed. But what happened - and I was interested in them because they came of age - you know, they - or they became human beings in the 1990s, a period that is variously portrayed as a flowering of democracy or as a period of chaos and, you know, robber barons and that sort of thing.

turn 3 :  (4) the literal meaning of "hoped" is different from the implied meaning of "came of age" which is that they were old enough to form their own opinions.

What is the difference between the literal and implied meaning of "hoped"?

Answer: Transition


Well, Freedom Caucus has 40 votes. There are more than 200 House Republicans. Shouldn't you compromise with them?

Well, sure, and we're more than happy to. The way this will end up is that we will end up with a speaker that all of us support. It may be Paul Ryan. It may be somebody else. But keep in mind that the things that we're arguing for are things that most people in the conference want. One of the things that struck me since we started this debate I guess about two weeks ago now are the number of moderates and centrists in my party who have said to me, you know what?

We want the same thing. We're frustrated with this lack of process. We're frustrated with just being a rubberstamp for somebody else's idea. And I think that's why you're seeing such a difficult time replacing Mr.  Boehner is that this lack of satisfaction with the job, the lack of satisfaction with what it means to be a member of Congress runs much, much deeper than just the conservative wing of the party.

So the way you explain it, this isn't over conservative principles. It's over mundane House rules.

turn 2 : the speaker suggests that the difficulty in replacing Mr. Boehner is due to a deeper dissatisfaction with the job and what it means to be a member of Congress. The actual meaning is that the conservative wing of the party is pushing for a more hardline approach on conservative principles, which is making it difficult to find a consensus candidate.

How does the speaker explain the difficulty in replacing Mr. Boehner?

Answer: Conservativeprinciples


Tequila.

Hey, before we go - I go pouring it in, give it a smell, though.

OK.

It's very vegetal.

turn 3 : the literal meaning of "It's very vegetal" would suggest that the tequila has a strong vegetable-like aroma or taste. However, in this context, the actual meaning might be that the tequila has a unique or distinctive flavor profile, possibly referring to the earthy or agave-like characteristics of the tequila.

What characteristic does the tequila have?

Answer: Unique


How has technology changed the way that vaccines are made?Is it easier to sort of see responses in living things as they happen now?

Yes, the technology has improved by leaps and bounds. We have, in the case of influenza, now a variety of different ways that we can read out virus neutralization. The traditional way was done using red blood cells, and we would look at the clumping of red blood cells, which is called hemagglutination. And the antibodies to flu would prevent the agglutination of red blood cells.

That was used for decades as the best marker of an immune response. Now we can look with automated assays at neutralization of the virus.

What does that mean?

turn 1 : Improved by leaps and bounds, meaning it has improved by a large margin.

What is the meaning of "leaps and bounds"?

Answer: Significant


Good to be with you.

So we just heard about what this decision means practically speaking, but what about politically?What's the thought process here?

I think the administration does not want too much attention to be paid to the person that they're handling this portfolio to. In other words, they don't want the czar concept. That was something of a media concept. You know, we do love czars. We like our drug czars, our energy czars. So. . .

And what sounds better than car czar?

(Soundbite of laughter) It's perfect. It was irresistible. And that is exactly why they decided to resist it because they knew we couldn't resist it. They wanted this fellow, and they have a person, his name is Ron Bloom. He has been an investment banker. He has been involved in a number of manufacturing, restructuring situations. And they wanted to bring him into the Treasury Department as a senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

turn 2 : The administration doesn't want to draw attention to the position by calling it a 'czar'

How does the administration want to name the position?

Answer: Czar


So I pretty immediately - because I was done with school - packed my things up. I quit the job that I had and moved back to Philadelphia and basically spent the last six months with her. It was, you know, it's an around-the-clock job. It's very draining. And at the end of the day, the only thing I had time to write were basically one paragraph or sometimes a sentence - reflections. And I just started collecting them in this folder. And I didn't tend to do anything with them, but they all started to fit together in this large story.

I want to have you read from one of those vignettes, Page 31.

(Reading) I've often thought that being a light-skinned black woman is like being a well-dressed person who is also homeless. You may be able to pass in mainstream society, appearing acceptable to others, even desired. But in reality, you have nowhere to rest, nowhere to feel safe. Even while you're out in public feeling, fine and free, inside, you cannot shake the feeling of rootlessness. Others may even envy you, but this masks the fact that at night, there is nowhere safe for you, no place to call your own.

Tell me a little bit about what that passage means to you. What were you trying to say?

turn 2 :  (Reading) I've often thought that being a light-skinned black woman is like being a well-dressed person who is also homeless. Implied meaning: A is describing the feeling of rootlessness that comes with being a light-skinned black woman, despite appearing acceptable to others in mainstream society.

Which group can PersonA pass in, but still feel rootless inside?

Answer: Well-dressed


Well, I have to say that the information on cannibalism and corpse medicine was probably one of my favorites because it's so particularly horrific. People would drink the blood of gladiators. Egyptian tombs were being pillaged for mummies so that they could grind them up into these cures. They were mixed with myrrh and spices and sold in England. And there was even an import tax at the time because there were so many mummies being imported.

And of course though, many of these really gruesome cures didn't work at all. But some of them can be used today to really do something, to really help medically.

Yes. Maybe not mercury, for instance, but arsenic which we think of as the poison that kings would use to kill each other - arsenic today is used as a current treatment for promyelocytic leukemia. And I think a lot of people would be pretty shocked to hear that. Opium, we know, has a long history and still exists today for good and for bad. A lot of these other things like leeches can be used by some surgeons to help - in post-surgical patients to, you know, reduce swelling so that the surgerized tissues survive. So it is shocking to find that a lot of these things still are alive and well in our pharmacopoeias and in our hospitals.

But a little more delicately used.

turn 2 : Many things that were once considered archaic, or even dangerous, are still used in medicine today

How are some archaic treatments still utilized today?

Answer: Medically.


It's lonely. That's why, in many ways, the CIA is the world's biggest dating agency, I think. I imagine it's much like two actors that get married because they understand that universe. You know, I'm pretty sure that the agency's divorce rate is rather high.

You've written a story here with shootings and chases and champagne in suites at the Four Season. But is a lot of spy craft people just scrunched over their laptops sipping coffee?

I would say more likely there's a lot of downtime. You spend a lot of time waiting. You're waiting in a bar or in a restaurant or at a corner to make your meeting. You're doing a lot of surveillance detection routes to make sure that no one is on your tail. You can't put that in a book before the reader puts it down really quickly. However, both Sarah and I felt very strongly we wanted to make it a realistic portrait, particularly of a female operations officer in the CIA. For the most part, to my mind, they come across as how they're portrayed in popular culture is paper dolls - really props more than anything else. And I wanted a strong but realistic character.

A sidebar: have any of the revelations that there have been in recent weeks about the National Security Agency surprised or outraged you?

turn 2 : Implicated meaning: The speaker is expressing a desire to create a character in their book who is strong and believable, rather than simply creating a character who is physically strong. The implied meaning is that the speaker values depth and authenticity in their character portrayal, rather than creating a one-dimensional, superficial character.

How does the speaker value their character portrayal?

Answer: Realistic


Well, and if you believe the federal government or other arms of the federal government, children are not supposed to be held accountable for their parents' debts. But the Social Security Administration and the Treasury have found a way around that thanks to a one-line change they made in the 2008 Farm Bill.

And that line is?I suspect it has nothing to do with wheat or barley, yeah?

Nothing at all. Basically, what it said is the government, which previously had not been allowed to go out and collect debts that were more than 10 years old, now can go back as far as they'd like - decades back. And in the last couple of years, they've been aggressively doing that to the tune of many hundreds of millions of dollars.

And you've talked to several people who've been hit by this, right?

turn 2 : "the government, which previously had not been allowed to go out and collect debts that were more than 10 years old, now can go back as far as they'd like - decades back." Implicated meaning: The government can now pursue and collect debts that are much older than the previous time limit of 10 years.

Which bill had a one-line change that allowed the government to collect older debts?

Answer: Farm


Mm-hmm. I'm Ira Flatow. This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR, talking with Anthony Leiserowitz of the - he's the director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication at Yale. How can you follow up with this?Can you keep coming up with new polls so we can follow this?

Oh, absolutely. We'll be doing this at least twice a year and, of course, we have lots of other colleagues around the country that are also surveying on this exact same topics.

And will we know if this does move into the - more into the political discourse as well as the public discourse?

Well, I think we'll see it. I mean, first of all, you can see it in the amount of - number of times that the president talks about this, that candidate Mitt Romney talks about this, as well as across the board. I mean, remember, it's not just the presidential election. There are some Senate races and congressional races all over this country. And what we're seeing is that a lot of people are beginning to ask the question about climate change.

turn 2 : The discussion about climate change is not only limited to public discourse, but it is also a significant topic in political discourse, including presidential, Senate, and congressional races.

Which races are being mentioned in the turn 2?

Answer: Presidential,Senate,and


So, I ended up spending the night at the Juvenile Detention Center. And then, the next day, they went to arraign me, which - you are not supposed to get arraigned in the juvenile detention, when you are on that system. It is a whole different procedure. And I was like, what is going on?And they were like, we are going to, we are going to put you over. We are going to charge you as an adult, because of the severity of the crime. And I was like, whoa, you know?So, it was definitely an eye opener.

How it was different in adult prison than juvenile detention?

Oh, it was, it was harsh. I mean, you are in there with grown men, I was only 17, maybe a 160 pounds, you know?It is just was a - it was quite the dramatic change, you know, from the Juvenile Detention Center. I mean, it was whole another world.

And then, when you got out of prison, you were the victim of violence. What happened then?

turn 1 : 160 pounds implies the body weight and not referring to money or 160 British pounds

How much did PersonA weigh when he was in adult prison?

Answer: 160


Thank you. I know that you've been recently honored with the Outstanding Contribution to Television and Film Award at this year's BAFTA Awards in Scotland. Congratulations.

Well, thank you very much. It took me by surprise.

Really?They took you by surprise and took you all the way there?

Yeah. (Unintelligible) I'm in a very strange position because I'm almost 70 and I - people are giving me sort of good attendance prizes. . .

Well, that's what I call them. Good contribution prizes or something they call them, I don't know, you know, for your outstanding achievement over the years. I think it really means you're getting old, go away.

turn 4 : The 'good contribution prizes' are actually a polite way of telling you to retire

Answer: Unknown


The European ambassador was musing about a possible project used as old British plantation - very impressive - deep in the mountains of Central Africa. You know, in Southern Sudan, you get up at these pretty big mountains, 7 - 10,000 feet and, oh, beautiful plantation of perfectly straight trees that have been growing for 60 years, untouched. So the investors say, well, we've helped them, you know, get a project going to make timber out of a few of these and open a road and then they can use the money to get more tools, and then they'll use that to get a little cottage system going for eco-tourists. And it could happen.

It could happen, but you also point out the same roads can be use by the poachers?

Yes. There is that threat. Most people in South Sudan really don't know what poaching is. This is how they've lived for centuries. It's a rural society so they rightly view it as their way of their way of survival, but does sweep the forest clean of animals. I'll say the only animals I saw in the forest were dead.

Though you did ran into a wild boar.

turn 2 : Poaching is a major problem and is wiping out the forest's animal population.

What is the main threat to the forest's animal population?

Answer: Poaching


Sometimes you're crazy, Then you wonder why. I'm such a baby, yeah, That dolphins make me cry.

But there's nothing I can do, I only wanna be with you.

Tell me about your roots in the South and how they influenced you musically?

Oh, big time. I grew up, you know, in Charleston, South Carolina, and I'm 42 years old. So for me, a lot of what I remember back in the day was AM radio. And when I was a kid you could hear Stevie Wonder and Buck Owens on the same channel. You know, that was a thing for me that just listen to AM radio, flipping through the channels and hearing these songs.

turn 2 : roots implies your family or your earlier days and not the part of trees or plants in the soil

How did growing up in Charleston influence the music of the speaker?

Answer: AM


China's been the fastest-growing major economy in the world for decades. That growth is slowing now. Last month's devaluation of China's currency shook global trading markets. And this week, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the U. S.  will hold China accountable for exchange rate fluctuations that caused the recent stock market plunge. But the numbers from China's state-controlled economy are always a little suspect. NPR's Frank Langfitt is traveling in western China to see what the real economy looks like outside of Shanghai. Frank, thanks for being with us.

Good morning, Scott.

And tell us where you are and what you're seeing, please.

Well, I'm in this place called Luliang. It's a city of three to four million, very large area, and it's coal country. There are mountains. There are factories. It's kind of a little like China's Appalachia in a way, except a big difference is until recently, the place was really booming. If you went back to 2010, GDP here was 21 percent. It was enormous. Last year, the place went into recession and was down actually 2 percent. And basically, the last couple days I've been driving all over the area, and the economy here is really a mess.

turn 3 : The literal meaning of (4) is that the speaker is physically located in Luliang, a city in China's coal country, and is observing the area's economy. However, the implied meaning is that the speaker is reporting on the current state of China's economy outside of Shanghai,

How would you describe the location where the speaker is reporting from?

Answer: Luliang


Exactly.

They look like USB drives that you could sneak into a classroom.

And put in a backpack - and, frankly, most parents aren't going to have the first clue what it is. And what the picture is underneath it, the caption says, Mom, it's a USB drive. That is expressly targeted to students. And I want to shut that practice down in my state.

Is there any difference between the suit that you put forward this week against these eight companies and the suit you filed in the spring against Juul?

turn 1 : The appearance of the devices is deceptive and can be easily hidden from parents and teachers. The devices are designed to look like USB drives and are targeted towards students for their discreet usage.

Which devices are designed to look like USPersonB drives?

Answer: devices


Yeah, I don't think there's been a response to it yet - not that I've seen. And I guess, you know, it puts a cloud on it. The special relationship was given a boost by the birth of Meghan's and Prince Harry's baby. And that was seen as sort of a good omen ahead of this visit, unfortunately, now is being, obviously, overshadowed by what Donald Trump has said. That may be a prelude to what he may say about other people here.

And I think the concern is that Donald Trump will use this and kind of abuse the invitation. He'll be given all the kind of welcome that he can expect in a royal visit. But is he going to return the favor, or is he going to bring up these tricky diplomatic issues, which are kind of flies in the ointment in the relationship as it currently stands?

So, Dominic, what I'm hearing from you is that there's a great deal of apprehension from the actual government that invited him. So is anything likely to come out of this trip that might be beneficial to the United Kingdom?

Well, if you talk to diplomats that - and their answer is that these state visits are hugely important. But in the background, there's a lot of sort of diplomatic nitty-gritty going on. There's a lot of business deals being made. And the hope is that this continues to cement that relationship, which we're told is greater than the sort of personal relationship currently in the heart of it.

turn 0 : "Puts a cloud on it" is not literal. There's no cloud involved. It just means something negative happened wthat overshadows an otherwise positive situation.

Answer: Negative


And how did this start?

Well, about 20 years ago, we were thinking about doing a literary magazine because at the time there weren't too many journals out there for new writers. There weren't many literary journals at all during that time. And so we stumbled upon an idea that we had started with one of our friends from college where he had given me a first line to start a story. And then I would write the story. And then I would send it to him. And I'd give him a first line. And he would start a story. And he would send that back to me. And we did that. And so we decided that we'd open that up to the rest of the world.

How many stories do you typically get?

turn 3 : "We run between 300 and 450 submissions in issue." - This turn has a different meaning than its literal meaning. It means that the magazine receives between 300 and 450 story submissions for each issue. The word "run" is used here to mean "receive" or "accept". This is an example of using idiomatic language, where a word or phrase is used in a way that is different from its literal meaning.

How many submissions does the magazine receive per issue?

Answer: 300


Yes, and that's a very different situation because the ice sitting on the ocean, when it melts, it doesn't change sea level. If you think of a glass of ice tea and you put your ice cubes in the ice tea, when the ice melts, your ice tea, obviously, doesn't overflow. The ice just - it. . .

There's quite a difference in volume, but not big enough.

Yeah. It basically doesn't - but the melting ice that's floating doesn't matter, but what - but a lot of the ice sitting on Greenland and on Antarctic, the continent of Antarctica, when that ice melts, that does, in fact, add water to the sea. And those are in the long term, likely to drive the sea level rise and could drive the sea level rise by a great deal in the coming decades and centuries.

So is anomalous - I mean, is this - as you said, it's definitely part of a trend. There's no way to argue with it anymore, about the warming and that it's having real effects. How is it going faster than people feared?

turn 0 : Melting ice on Greenland and Antarctica adds water to the sea level.

Which locations are mentioned in the statement that contribute to the rise in sea level?

Answer: Antartica.


. . . You are from this area - born in D. C. , raised in Maryland and Virginia - the DMV, as we like to say. So what's it like to be back home now that you're blowing up like this?Can you go to, like, the CVS if you want to without being recognized?

Yeah. I definitely can go to the CVS. You know, sometimes people recognize me, sometimes they don't. But it's a beautiful feeling, and I just can't wait to move back eventually.

How did you start singing or how did you realize you could sing?

I don't know. I just was always singing. I didn't know if it was good or not, but my grandma, she told me that I sounded like an angel. And that maybe - perhaps that kept me going. I mean, I always wanted a solo at the church, and they didn't ever give it to me. But eventually they did, and I froze. But then I killed it. And I just feel like that kind of just followed me all throughout my life.

turn 2 : the phrase "sounded like an angel" does not literally mean that the speaker's voice sounded like a divine being, but rather that their grandmother thought they had a beautiful singing voice

Which phrase did the grandmother use to describe the PersonA's singing voice?

Answer: Beautiful


Well, not really. I think the crowd that came here early in the day were peaceful. But this march was illegal from the beginning. The police never gave their authorization. So they had essentially warned everyone that anyone coming would be sort of in violation of the law. And so from early on, things were kind of chaotic. I think protesters have sort of dug in for what they had assumed would be a pretty violent night.

I've been seeing people basically pulling up bricks from the sidewalk and putting them in carts. I've seen people arm themselves with various iron rods and also umbrellas and create sort of shields out of wood that they found everywhere. I think what you're starting to see - you know, digging in on both sides here, between the police and also the protesters.

Are the protesters a cross section of Hong Kong, or are they one demographic, if you please?

Well, I think, today, I've actually seen quite a mixed crowd, which was sort of unexpected because, obviously, this march is - this protest was illegal. So we didn't really expect sort of to see kids or elderly people. But I have seen them.

turn 0 : The protest turned violent, despite initially being peaceful.

Answer: Peaceful


Given that judges do have discretion in a lot of cases about, for example, whether or not someone can get a misdemeanor as opposed to a felony, do you think this really is effecting who's in prison right now?

Well, first, you have to realize, the first person who deals with whether there's a felony or a misdemeanor is the prosecutor. And it's prosecutorial discretion as to what they get charged with. A judge has no control over that. Now, they can work out a deal, or, in a preliminary hearing, reduce a charge or whatever. But the prosecutorial discretion is what most people don't see that tends to be skewed a great deal. So, by the time it gets to a judge, a big chasm may have already arisen about the level of charge that's been leveled on a particular individual.

Judge Toler, who's going to fix this?

We all have to fix it. And we have to fix it by being conscious of what's going on before it goes on. When I went to classes after I was elected a judge, I said, if you remember nothing else I tell you today, when you're 18, you vote. And you register to vote because it does make a difference, six votes in my race. We have to be conscious of the judges, one, and number two, I think we have to change judicial education.

turn 1 : Prosecutors have more power than judges in determining charges

How does prosecutorial discretion affect charges?

Answer: Skew


The war in Afghanistan - nearly 18 years, more than 2,400 American lives - not to mention the Afghans and NATO forces who have died in that war - and $132 billion in U. S.  aid for reconstruction. Where has all that money gone?John Sopko has been the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction since 2012. He delivered his latest report yesterday, ahead of a potential peace agreement in Afghanistan with the Taliban. And I asked Sopko, what has all that money bought?

That money has succeeded in helping in building schools and roads, helping on rule of law, providing the salaries to many police and military and school teachers. But unfortunately, a lot has been wasted.

Let's talk about what those reconstruction projects mean in the context of a potential peace deal with the Taliban because that is what is in the offing right now. Do you think a peace with the Taliban - bringing them in from the cold - is that a good thing or a bad thing for all of those investments?

Well, we support the peace process. A fair and sustainable peace is what's needed. The Afghans want that. We want that - the coalition. I think the neighbors want it. But are there some risks from that peace?And there are. And that's what our report talks about. It raises some of the risks from that. And again, this doesn't mean don't pursue peace. Again, we are strong supporters of a fair and sustainable peace. And those are the two key words. It's got to be sustainable.

turn 2 : Bringing one in from the cold doesn't refer to temperature or housing in this statement, the implied meaning is that they're being welcomed again. To diplomatic meetings in this case.

How does the statement explain the meaning of "bringing one in from the cold"?

Answer: Welcomed


My grandparents were raised during the Great Depression and spent the rest of their lives hoarding rubber bands, bacon grease, and batteries. It used to fill me with embarrassment that they would actually rinse out Zip-Loc bags and reuse them. Poor people, I thought. Don't they know there's always more?I was raised in the disposable generation of styrofoam boxes and plastic water bottles. If something ran out, you simply got a new one.

But this year, we are re-evaluating not just how we spend our money, but also the lessons we pass on to a new generation. The other day, I made Emmeline a skirt out of a men's sport coat once sold exclusively at the Watergate Hotel. You can't buy that kind of fashion statement at Target.

On our most recent trip, Emmeline's glowery mood changed when she happened upon a shirt decorated with farm animals and said, ooh, now doesn't this look nice?I examined it and agreed, asking, what do you want to do with it?Emmeline twirled her toe on the speckled Formica floor and thought it over for a moment. A smile widened on her face, oh, I think that will make just the prettiest dress. Her latest outfit cost a dollar 50.

Mike Adamick is a stay-at-home dad living in San Francisco.

turn 0 : "I was raised in the disposable generation of styrofoam boxes and plastic water bottles. If something ran out, you simply got a new one."  This turn has a figurative meaning. The speaker is not literally saying that they were raised in a generation of styrofoam boxes and plastic water bottles, but rather that they grew up in a time when people were accustomed to using disposable items and not reusing things like their grandparents did.

What did the speaker consider the previous generation's behavior as?

Answer: Poor


This was James Maynard at the University of Montreal.

Yeah, James Maynard, he got the current world record, which is 600. And that was very recently. That was November the 19th he announced it. It was all done on the Internet, and at one stage the record was tumbling at about every half-hour. So, mathematics, which usually takes place over months and years, for a period of a few months was going gangbusters fast. And this record was tumbling down. It seems to have settled at 600. It might creep down. I don't think the methods that we've got now will bring us down to 2. But 2 is within grasp. And because this ancient problem about 2 is within grasp, I would say 2 is absolutely the number of the year in mathematics. It's the number mathematicians have been talking about.

Keith, are there implications for this finding for those of us who think it's got nothing to do with us whatsoever should know nevertheless?

turn 3 : 4) A: "You can bet that whenever there's an advance to do with prime numbers, the intelligence community is absolutely on top of it. Because in our knowledge of the prime numbers lies pretty well all of the secret codes that we use for communications around the world. It's all to do with the difficulty of computing some of the things we know theoretically happen in mathematics."

How does the intelligence community use knowledge of prime numbers?

Answer: Encryption


You know, this is a very opaque system in Iran. And it's tough to sometimes know to what extent an action was sanctioned from the very top. And in some ways, President Trump gave Iran an out by saying that this was just a big mistake. This was a misunderstanding.

Could have been a junior officer somewhere or something like that.

Exactly.

Could it have been a junior officer somewhere?

turn 1 : The speaker suggests that a junior officer may have been responsible for the action, not a higher-ranking official.

Answer: Junior