2021年经济学人 一周要闻 全球新增新冠病例持续下降

The Biden administration said that asylum-seekers could cross America’s southern border to have their applications heard. Donald Trump¹ had insisted they wait in Mexico.

拜登政府表示，寻求庇护者可以越过美国南部边境，让他们的申请得到受理。特朗普此前坚持让他们在墨西哥等待。

Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, signed four decrees to make it easier to pack heat. Ordinary Brazilians will be allowed to buy as many as six guns (up from four) and carry two at once.

巴西总统雅伊尔·博索纳罗(Jair Bolsonaro)签署了四项法令，以使携带枪支更容易。巴西民众最多可购买6支枪(从4支增加到6支)，同时可以携带2支。

America vowed² to punish the perpetrators of a rocket attack in Iraq’s Kurdistan region that killed a contractor³ with the American-led military coalition⁴ and wounded several others, including an American soldier. A pro-Iranian group claimed responsibility for the attack.

美国誓言要惩罚在伊拉克库尔德斯坦地区发动火箭袭击的凶手。那次袭击造成美国领导的军事联盟的一名承包商死亡，数人受伤，其中包括一名美国士兵。一个亲伊朗组织声称对这次袭击负责。

The UN called for an additional 3,700 peacekeepers to be sent to the Central African Republic to bolster⁵ a force that is already 15,000-strong. Rebels are advancing on the country’s main cities.

联合国呼吁向中非共和国增派3700名维和人员，以强化一支已有15000人的维和部队。叛军正在向该国主要城市行进。

Gunmen in Nigeria abducted⁶ 42 students and staff from a school, the latest such incident in a country plagued by kidnapping for ransom⁷ and political hostage-taking. In December 344 students were taken from another school, but later freed by security forces.

尼日利亚武装分子绑架了一所学校的42名学生和工作人员，这是该国最近发生的这类事件，这个国家的绑架勒索和政治人质劫持事件一直不断。去年12月，344名学生从另一所学校被带走，但后来被安全部队解救。

Guinea said that three people died after contracting Ebola, a virus that is usually fatal if not treated quickly. They are the first cases in west Africa since more than 11,000 people died in an outbreak in the region that raged from 2013 to 2016.

几内亚表示，有三人在感染埃博拉病毒后死亡，如果不迅速治疗，这种病毒通常是致命的。这是西非自2013年至2016年爆发疫情致1.1万多人死亡以来出现的首批病例。

Seif Sharif Hamad, the vice-president of Zanzibar, died after catching⁹ COVID-19. Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania. John Magufuli, Tanzania’s president, insists his country is free of the virus and that vaccinations¹⁰ against it are dangerous and do not work.

桑给巴尔副总统赛义夫·谢里夫·哈马德在感染新冠肺炎后去世。桑给巴尔是坦桑尼亚的半自治地区。坦桑尼亚总统约翰·马古富里坚称，坦桑尼亚没有这种病毒，接种疫苗是危险的，而且没有任何作用。

Coronavirus briefs

疫情一览

New recorded infections in India have tumbled from nearly 100,000 a day in September to under 10,000. In England a study found that infections have fallen by two-thirds since early January. California reported fewer than 5,000 new daily cases for the first time since November.

印度新记录的感染病例从9月份的每天近10万例下降至每天不到1万例。在英国，一项研究发现，自一月初以来，感染率已经下降了三分之二。自去年11月以来，加州报告的每日新增病例首次少于5000例。

The world’s first “human challenge” study of COVID-19 got the go-ahead in Britain. Volunteers aged⁸ 18-30 will be exposed to the coronavirus to establish how much of it is needed to cause infection.

全球首个关于新冠肺炎的“人类挑战”研究在英国获得批准。18-30岁的志愿者将接触冠状病毒，以确定引发感染所需的剂量。

The hours needed to shut and disinfect New York’s subway system at night have been reduced from four to two, a sign, said an official, that the city “is starting to return to normalcy”.

一名官员表示，纽约地铁系统的夜间关闭和消毒时间已从4个小时缩短至2个小时，这是该市“开始恢复正常”的迹象。

North Korea reportedly tried to hack¹¹ Pfizer’s computers to find details of its vaccine¹². Strange for a country that officially claims not to have had any cases of COVID-19.

据报道，朝鲜曾试图侵入辉瑞公司的电脑，以获取其疫苗的详细信息。对于一个官方宣称没有任何新冠肺炎病例的国家来说，这样的举动让人生疑。

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

3 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

6 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

7 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

8 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

9 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

10 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

12 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。