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【周末慢英时间】今天练英音(有文稿)

2018-03-24 英语环球 英语环球ChinaPlus



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【本期文稿】

This is Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.


Already a major driving force for the world economy, China is poised to make greater contributions with its reaffirmed commitment to economic rebalancing.


In a government work report earlier this month, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged to strengthen the fundamental role of consumption in driving economic growth, open China's market wider, as well as defend free and fair trade. Experts believe these efforts will inject new impetus into China's growth and further boost the global economy.


A researcher with the Chinese Academy of Governance said that with a population of 1.3 billion, China's economic modernization will have a huge spillover effect on more robust, sustainable, balanced and inclusive global economic growth.


China's economy, once heavily reliant on fixed-asset investment and exports, is increasingly fueled by services and consumption. Official data showed that consumption contributed 59 percent of GDP, and the service sector accounted for 52 percent.


The Xinhua News Agency reports that China now has the largest middle-income group in the world, with a population of around 400 million, and it is growing fast.


This is Special English.


China's AG600 amphibious aircraft will attempt its first takeoff from water in Hubei Province, in the second half of this year.


The aircraft completed its maiden flight last December, and finished two test flights in January this year.


Its developer, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, said the aircraft passed all the test subjects during the recent two flights. Its various systems functioned normally.


Designed to be the world's largest amphibious aircraft, the AG600 is powered by four domestically built turboprop engines and has a range of 12 hours.


It will mainly be used for maritime rescue, fighting forest fires and marine monitoring.


Before its first flight from water, the aircraft will undergo a series of trials to test its water tightness and hydroplaning performance at low, medium and high speeds.


The aircraft is the third member of China's "large aircraft family" following the large freighter Y-20 and large passenger aircraft C919, which made maiden flights in 2013 and 2017, respectively.


You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.


Chinese scientists say they have successfully created and tested the world's first autonomous DNA nanorobots to combat cancer tumors, paving the way for revolutionary cancer therapy.


Scientists from China's National Center for Nanoscience and Technology led the research and cooperated with scientists from Arizona State University in upgrading the design of the nanorobots. The scientific study was published in Nature Biotechnology in February.


A nanorobot refers to a designed system that can perform a specific task at nanoscale dimensions.


According to researchers, the DNA-based nanorobot has a tube-shaped structure with a diameter of around 19 nanometers and a length of 90 nanometers.


The nanorobot is exceptionally small and impossible to see with naked eyes. It is around 5,000 times smaller than the tip of a needle.


It can travel through the bloodstream searching for tumors. Once it detects a tumor, it will release its load of thrombin directly into the tumor to cut off its blood supply and "starve" the tumor to death.


As the DNA nanorobot is a natural biocompatible and biodegradable material, it is cleared out of the body after it has finished its task.


Nanotechnology has provided new opportunities for the medical industry. The research was started five years ago, when researchers first looked at cutting off the tumor blood supply by using DNA-based nanocarriers.


This is Special English.


Chinese scientists identified a gene critical for the development of the network of nerves wrapped around the hearts and its surrounding vasculature.


The discovery can potentially improve the prevention and treatment of diseases like coronary artery disease, a leading global cause of mortality.


Scientists from Shanghai Children's Medical Center pinpointed the gene as an important player in coronary plexus formation in mice.


This gene is known for its role in the formation of cell cilia, or eyelash-like structures that help control locomotion.


The coronary arteries and the nerves surrounding them are essential for providing oxygen and nutrition to the heart muscle.


Their development involves two major steps: the cells from the heart's inner lining form the primitive coronary plexus, which then begins the remodeling process by recruiting cells from outside the heart.


Researchers say the remodeling stage is essential for smooth muscle cells, the building blocks of artery walls, to surround the vessels in the primitive coronary plexus.


In the study, the researchers found that although the primitive coronary plexus formed properly and rather quickly, the remodeling stage was defective because of impaired migration of cells from the outside of the heart, ultimately stunting the formation of arterial walls.


The method may serve as a viable animal model for studying the remodeling stages of coronary artery development.


You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.


Child marriage is on the decline globally with several countries seeing significant reductions in recent years.


The United Nations children's fund, UNICEF, said that overall, the proportion of women who were married before the age of 18 dropped from one in four to approximately one in five in the past decade. A total of 25 million cases of child marriage have been prevented in the past 10 years.


South Asia has witnessed the largest decline in child marriage in the last 10 years, from a prevalence of 49 percent to 30 percent.


Sub-Saharan Africa now has the highest prevalence of child marriage, where 38 percent of women were married before they turned 18.


Niger has the world's highest child marriage prevalence of 76 percent, followed by the Central African Republic and Chad with 68 percent and 67 percent respectively. The South Asian country of Bangladesh has a rate of 59 percent. To end child marriage by 2030, a target set in the Sustainable Development Goals, UNICEF said that in order to meet the goal, progress must be significantly accelerated.


Now 21 percent of girls and 4 percent of boys are married before their 18th birthday. Some 12 million girls under 18 are married each year. More than 150 million girls will marry before their 18th birthday by 2030 unless there is further progress.


You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.


Using Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, scientists have found the "fingerprints" of water in the atmosphere of a hot, bloated exoplanet located almost 700 light-years from Earth.


Although the researchers predicted they would see water, they were surprised by how much they found.


In fact, the planet, designated WASP-39b, is about the same mass as Saturn, but has three times as much water.


The U.S. space agency NASA says that although no planet like this resides in the solar system, the planet, WASP-39b, can provide new insights into how and where planets form around a star.


Researchers say exoplanets are showing that planet formation is more complicated and more confusing than people thought it was.


Located in the constellation Virgo, the planet, WASP-39b, whips around a quiet, Sun-like star, called WASP-39, once every four days. The exoplanet is currently positioned more than 20 times closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun.


It is tidally locked, meaning it always shows the same face to its star.


By dissecting starlight filtering through the planet's atmosphere into its component colors, the research team found clear evidence for a large amount of water vapor.


Using Hubble and Spitzer, the team has captured the most complete spectrum of an exoplanet's atmosphere possible with present-day technology.


Next, researchers hope to use NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2019, to get an even more complete spectrum of the exoplanet.


This is Special English.


Scientists have discovered a major hotspot hosting more than 1.5 million Adelie penguins near the Antarctic Peninsula.


The calculation was based on direct ground counts and computer-automated counts of aerial images from drones. The researchers found a total of 750,000 pairs of Adelie penguins on the Danger Islands in the Weddell Sea on the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula.


The number of Adelie penguins discovered there is more than the rest of the Antarctic Peninsula region combined. Moreover, it represents the first complete census of Adelie penguins in the Danger Islands.


Until recently, the Danger Islands weren't known to be an important penguin habitat. These super colonies have gone undetected for decades, because of the remoteness of the islands themselves and the treacherous waters that surround them.


The Danger Islands appear to have avoided recent declines in penguin population documented on other parts of the Antarctic Peninsula.


Another study published earlier this month suggested that more than 70 percent of king penguins may disappear by the end of the century as a result of global warming and overfishing.


As the Danger Islands are likely to remain an important hotspot for avian abundance under projected climate change, scientists believe it deserve special consideration in the negotiation and design of Marine Protected Areas in the region.


You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. You can access the program on our Apple Podcast. Now the news continues.


Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged law enforcement officers to ensure the safety of athletes and fans in Russia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.


Putin said at the annual expanded meeting of the Interior Ministry Board that Russia should hold the upcoming World Cup at the highest level and above all, ensure full safety of football players and fans.


He said Russia's law enforcement agencies already have a great deal of positive experience and will respond correctly and in compliance with the law under any circumstances.


The president said a successful World Cup and Russia's national image directly depend on accurate and competent work by all involved.


Violent clashes between supporters after a Russia-England Euro 2016 match in France, hurt Russian football fans' global reputation. 51 33701 51 17277 0 0 1210 0 0:00:27 0:00:14 0:00:13 3413 Some Western countries have expressed their concerns over safety in the lead up to the World Cup.


The World Cup will be held from June 14 to July 15 in 11 Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kazan.


This is Special English.


The decrease of water level of the Dead Sea is raising concerns.


Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection made the comment in a status report on the country's environment, with disturbing information about the situation of the Dead Sea.


The report deals with many other environmental challenges that Israel is facing. But the unique characteristics of the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, are of great concern.


The water levels of the Dead Sea are decreasing at an average rate of 1 meter every year. The sharp decrease began in recent decades and is a result of policies undertaken by both Israel and Jordan, who share a border in the salty body of water.


The two countries are facing a continuous lack of water. They need to divert water that would normally runs into the Dead Sea.


This decision was critical to the fate of this unique body of water. A researcher said that as long as water is not going to the Dead Sea, they don't see a solution.


The Dead Sea used to be one continuous body of water. But it is now dotted with small salt islands, a stark visual reminder of how quickly it is drying up. The coastline has also gone farther inwards compared to where the sea used to be.


You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.


Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed an imaging technique that uses a tiny, super sharp needle to nudge a single nanoparticle into different orientations and capture 2-D images to help reconstruct a 3-D picture.


The method can demonstrate imaging of individual nanoparticles at different orientations in a laser-induced excited state.


The study focused on a class of nanoparticles called quantum dots. The dots are tiny, near-spherical semiconductors used in technology like solar panels, live cell imaging and molecular electronics, the basis for quantum computing.


The researchers obtained the quantum dots using a single-molecule absorption scanning tunneling microscope fitted with a needle sharpened to a thickness of only one atom at its tip. The needle nudges the individual particles around on a surface and scans them to get a view of the quantum dot from different orientations to produce a 3-D image.


The researchers said there are two distinct advantages of the new method when compared with the current technology.


The study has been published in the Journal of Chemical Physics.


This is Special English.


Visitors to a travel fair in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou were amazed to see a three-meter tall Trojan Horse in the exhibition hall.


More than 170,000 people visited the Guangzhou International Travel Fair. The annual event attracted 1,000 companies from 53 countries and regions this year.


Chinese travelers made 130 million overseas trips last year, spending more than 115 billion U.S. dollars, making the country the world's largest source of outbound tourists for five years.


Tourism officials say that to attract Chinese tourists, travel agencies at home and abroad have to develop new products with distinctive features.


Popular destinations are working to adapt to cater to Chinese tourists.


This year is the Year of Tourism between China and Turkey and also Turkey's "Year of Troy".


A counselor at the Embassy of Turkey in Beijing said they hope that through their exhibition at the fair, Chinese tourists can learn more about Turkey.


A senior official with the Consulate-General of Italy in Guangzhou said Chinese tourists are now visiting small towns with history and beautiful scenery, instead of Rome and Venice or other metropolis traditionally favored by Chinese tourists. He said town tours are a new trend for Chinese tourists.


Travels focusing on pop culture and sports are also where agencies will expand. Targeting Chinese football fans, some agencies have products that include watching football and tours of football clubs in Britain and Spain.


That is the end of this edition of Special English. To freshen up your memory, I'm going to read one of the news items again at normal speed. Please listen carefully.


Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged law enforcement officers to ensure the safety of athletes and fans in Russia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.


Putin said at the annual expanded meeting of the Interior Ministry Board that Russia should hold the upcoming World Cup at the highest level and above all, ensure full safety of football players and fans.


He said Russia's law enforcement agencies already have a great deal of positive experience and will respond correctly and in compliance with the law under any circumstances.


The president said a successful World Cup and Russia's national image directly depend on accurate and competent work by all concerned.


Violent clashes between supporters after a Russia-England Euro 2016 match in France, hurt Russian football fans' global reputation. Some Western countries have expressed their concerns over safety in the lead up to the World Cup.


The World Cup will be held from June 14 to July 15 in 11 Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kazan.


That is the end of today's program. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing, and I hope you will join us every day, to learn English and learn about the world.


祝大家学习愉快,下期再见!


编辑:秦梦瑶 
审核:徐蕾莹


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