美国有线新闻 CNN 新西兰因疫情再现推迟议会选举 日本二季度GDP环比下降7.8%

And the two stories leading off today's show have one thing in common, coronavirus. In New Zealand, concerns about the spread of the disease¹ have led to the postponement² of a parliamentary election³. It was originally scheduled for September 19, now it's set for October 17. Prime⁴ Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement after the number of COVID-19 patients jumped last week. The country had gone more than 100 days without the disease spreading through its communities. But this month an outbreak of dozens of cases took place in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city.

今天前两则消息都与冠状病毒有关。在新西兰，对该疾病扩散的担忧导致议会选举推迟。新西兰原定于9月19日举行议会选举，现在选举日期已推迟至10月17日。在新冠肺炎病例数上周出现激增后，新西兰总理杰辛达·阿德恩宣布了这一消息。此前，新西兰已连续100余天未出现社区传播病例。但本月，新西兰最大城市奥克兰出现了数十例病例。

So a strict lockdown was put in place there on August 12 and the election was delayed. It's not the first time New Zealand has seen a lockdown like this. It went under one of the strictest in the world starting on March 25 and that lasted five weeks. But life had been getting back to normal before the most recent outbreak.

因此，新西兰于8月12日开始实施严格的封锁措施，并将选举推后。这并不是新西兰第一次实施这种封锁措施。该国曾于3月25日开始采取全球最严格的封锁措施之一，当时封锁持续了5周。但在这次疫情爆发之前，新西兰的生活已经恢复正常。

Moving from the South Pacific to the North Pacific, Japan just reported the economic hit it took because of coronavirus. The Asian country has the world's third largest economy behind the United States and China and Japan says its gross⁵ domestic⁶ product dropped by 7.8 percent from the first quarter of this year to the second one.

现在从南太平洋前往北太平洋，日本刚刚报告称，其经济因冠状病毒遭受打击。这个亚洲国家是全球第三大经济体，仅次于美国和中国，日本表示，其二季度国内生产总值（简称GDP）环比萎缩7.8%。

That's not the worst in the world. America's drop in GDP between April and June was 9.5 percent. Germany's was more than 10 percent. Britain's was more than 20 percent. Reasons for the decrease in Japan's GDP included falling exports and less consumer spending because of coronavirus-related restrictions⁷. But economic activity did pick up again in June and July.

放眼全球，这并不是最糟的数据。美国第二季度GDP下滑9.5%。德国二季度GDP下降幅度超过10%。英国二季度GDP暴跌超过20%。日本GDP下滑的原因包括出口下降以及因冠状病毒相关的限制措施而导致的消费支出减少。但日本的经济活动在6月和7月再次回升。

1 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

2 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

3 election   

n.选举，选择权；当选

参考例句：

• There is no doubt but that he will win the election.毫无疑问，他将在竞选中获胜。
• The government will probably fall at the coming election.在即将到来的大选中，该政府很可能要垮台。

4 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

5 gross   

adj.全部的，粗俗的，肥胖的；vt.获得...总收入

参考例句：

• The gross weight of the box of chocolates is 500 grams.那盒巧克力的全部重量是500克。
• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。

6 domestic   

adj.家里的，国内的，本国的；n.家仆，佣人

参考例句：

• This is domestic news.这是国内新闻。
• She does the domestic affairs every day.她每天都忙家务。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制