daily03202026



Live from NPR in Washington, D.C., I'm Kristen Wright. Three weeks into the United States-Israeli war with Iran, more American Marines [美国海军陆战队员] are on their way to the Middle East [中东]. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports more than 2,000 Marines are being deployed [部署] now. The USS Boxer group of three ships carrying thousands of Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit [海军陆战队远征部队] has left California and will take about three weeks to reach the Gulf [海湾], according to two U.S. officials [官员] who are not authorized [未获授权] to speak publicly. That's in addition to the USS Tripoli group, with more than 2,000 Marines, expected to arrive soon from Japan. United States Central Command would not comment [拒绝评论] on the deployment or its mission [任务], but Marines are traditionally ground troops [地面部队].

Speaking to reporters outside of the White House a little while ago, President Donald Trump once again called on allies [盟友] to help reopen [重新开放] the Strait of Hormuz. The average price [平均价格] of regular gas [普通汽油] is $3.91 now. NPR's Camila Domonoske reports, Internet search data [搜索数据] show more people are considering [考虑] electric vehicles [电动车]. Since the start of this month, the war on Iran has pushed gasoline prices [汽油价格] up sharply [大幅上涨]. And on the auto site Edmunds, the share [比例] of shoppers considering electric vehicles grew about 15 percent to its highest level [最高水平] all year. Now, searching for a vehicle is not the same as buying one. There are lots of factors [因素] in a purchase [购买]. Ivan Drury is the Director [总监] of Insights [洞见] at Edmunds. The answer to, you know, $5 gallon gas is not buying a $50,000 car, but it's definitely something that you should put in your consideration set [考虑范围]. But analysts [分析师] say if prices remain high [保持高位], it can push shoppers to put a higher value [更重视] on fuel savings [燃油节省] as they choose vehicles.

The Trump administration [政府] says it's moving significant management [管理职能] of the nation's federal student loan portfolio [联邦学生贷款组合] to the United States Department of the Treasury [财政部]. NPR's Sequoia Carrillo reports President Trump is continuing his effort [努力] to eventually close [关闭] the United States Department of Education [教育部]. In the administration's latest move [最新举措] to shift responsibilities [转移职责], management of much of the country's student loan portfolio, worth nearly $1.7 trillion, will be phased [分阶段] over to Treasury. The administration says Treasury is better equipped [更有能力] to manage the program [项目]. Loans in default [违约贷款] will move over first, followed by loans that are in good standing [正常贷款]. And in the final phase [最后阶段], Treasury will take over the free application for federal student aid [（贷款）扶助], or FAFSA. More than 40 million borrowers [借款人] hold federal student loans, while about 12 million of them are either in default or on their way there.

NPR has learned CBS News is laying off [裁员] 6% of its workforce [员工]. Network officials [高管] say the cuts were painful [痛苦的] but necessary [必要的]. The cuts include the end of CBS News Radio in May, according to an internal memo [内部备忘录] obtained by NPR. CBS News Radio is heard on about 700 affiliate stations [附属电台].

A new study [研究] finds that humans [人类] and animals [动物] have shared acoustic tastes [共同的声音偏好]. NPR's Nate Rott has more. Animals make a lot of sounds [声音] to attract mates [吸引配偶], and scientists [科学家] know that some are more effective [更有效] than others. Take the Pacific field cricket [蟋蟀]. That call is less appealing [吸引力较低] to other crickets than this one. And it turns out, according to the new study published in the journal Science, it's more appealing to people, too. Scientists had more than 4,000 volunteers [志愿者] listen to pairs [成对] of calls from 16 different species [物种] and pick which ones they preferred [更喜欢]. Like, do you prefer this song, sparrow [麻雀]? Or this one? And they found that overall [总体上], humans agreed with the animal's preferences [偏好], suggesting [表明] we share a sense of beauty [审美] with the natural world [自然界].

Islam followers [信徒] around the world are celebrating Eid al-Fitr [开斋节] today, marking [标志着] the end of the holy month [神圣月份] of Ramadan [斋月]. It's a time of prayer [祈祷], celebration [庆祝], and family [家庭] to break the fast [停止（白天）进食] of Ramadan. The holiday comes as the Middle East is embroiled in [陷入] the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran.

It is the first day of spring [春天第一天]. The southwest [西南部] is in a heat wave [热浪] that's supposed to last for a while. It'll get over 100 degrees in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas today. It's early in the year [一年中较早的时候] for weather that hot, even out west. The spring equinox [春分] also falls the same week parts of the upper Midwest [上中西部] got pummeled [遭受重创] with snow. The snowfall broke records [打破纪录] in Upper Peninsula [半岛] of Michigan, where Marquette got over three feet, and they're still cleaning up [清理].