英闻天下——436 School Bus Permits to Lapse after 3 Years

 　　China Daily

 

　　"Ride Sharing Can Ease Traffic, Environment Woes¹"

 

　　Daily free ride sharing is now urged in Beijing.

 

　　A campaign of car pooling has been initiated² by charity big names Wang Yong and Deng Fei and CCTV broadcasters Lang Yongchun and Zhao Pu before this year's Spring Festival.

 

　　The campaign helped some 10,000 people go home by pairing up with private car drivers as train tickets were hard to grab during spring festival.

 

　　Now the campaigners called on private car owners and passengers to share rides not only during festivals, but in daily commuting³ or even an occasional ride.

 

　　Beijing now has 5.2 million vehicles. Among the 5.2 million, 3.5 million are private vehicles. Wang Yong, one of the campaigner said sharing rides can help reduce at least 10% of the vehicles running on the road.

 

　　People can find their ride share partners through an app, an SMS service (send 66 to 1066958800) or an official website (www.shunfengche.org/).

 

　　All the systems present personal information if people want to pair up and get insurance coverage⁴ for free after they reach an online agreement to travel together.

 

　　Global Times

 

　　"School Bus Permits to Lapse⁵ after 3 Years"

 

　　Shanghai's education commission has required all school bus operating permits to be renewed every three years.

 

　　The requirement aims to ensure nearly 2,000 school buses in the city are fit to transport students, as it specifies⁶ how long a school bus can operate before undergoing the inspection⁷ required to renew the permit.

 

　　Education officials disclosed the new requirement on Tuesday at a working conference for the Shanghai Youth Protection Office.

 

　　The education commission implemented⁸ new regulations last August that required all school buses in the city to obtain operating permits.

 

　　Starting from September, every school bus operating in the city will also have to install special signs and lights.

 

　　Zeng Yanbo, a researcher at the Institute of Youth and Juvenile⁹ Studies of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences applauded the requirement. But he said it is more important to improve how the vehicles are managed.

 

　　Several past bus-related accidents occurred because the buses were overloaded¹⁰, not because of mechanical problems. Some schools resorted to overloading¹¹ the buses to save money.

 

　　Channel News Asia

 

　　"Study Proves Caffeine Helps Prevent Road Crash Risk"

 

　　Research among long-distance commercial drivers in Australia proves coffee, or caffeine energy drinks help prevent dangerous traffic accident.

 

　　Investigators¹² looked at crashes between 2008 and 2011 in New South Wales and Western Australia that involved vehicles of at least 12 tonnes.

 

　　They compared 530 drivers who had crashed while on a long trip with nearly 520 drivers who had not had an accident in the previous 12 months.

 

　　The researchers found drivers who consumed caffeine to help them stay awake were 63 percent less likely to crash than those who did not take a caffeinated substance.

 

　　Taking caffeine "should be considered as an effective adjunct strategy" for keeping alert while driving, but breaks, sleep and regular exercise are also essential.

 

　　The study was published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on Tuesday.

 

　　Australia Network News

 

　　"Sea Shepherd Claims 800 Whales Saved From Japanese Harpoons¹³"

 

　　The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd has come back to dock in Australia.

 

　　The group's spokesman, Bob Brown, says it saved 800 whales from Japan's fleet.

 

　　The former Australian Senator once again called on the Australian Government to have a physical presence in the Southern Ocean.

 

　　Sea Shepherd has been involved in several skirmishes with Japan's whaling fleet during the past three months.

 

　　Japan has called Sea Shepherd's actions illegal and the work of pirates.

 

　　It has also said whaling is part of its culture and vowed¹⁴ to maintain the practice.

 

　　However Sea Shepherd's activities have had an immediate¹⁵ impact.

 

　　The group claims the Japanese fleet killed no more than 75 whales this season, which is its smallest haul in the history of its Antarctic hunt.

1 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

2 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

3 commuting   

交换（的）

参考例句：

• I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
• Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说，不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。

4 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

5 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

6 specifies   

v.指定( specify的第三人称单数 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性

参考例句：

• The third clause of the contract specifies steel sashes for the windows. 合同的第三款指定使用钢窗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The contract specifies red tiles, not slates, for the roof. 合同规定屋顶用红瓦，并非石板瓦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

8 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

9 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

10 overloaded   

a.超载的，超负荷的

参考例句：

• He's overloaded with responsibilities. 他担负的责任过多。
• She has overloaded her schedule with work, study, and family responsibilities. 她的日程表上排满了工作、学习、家务等，使自己负担过重。

11 overloading   

过载，超载，过负载

参考例句：

• Enables multiple users to search the site without overloading the server. 使多个用户搜索网站，而无需超载的服务器上。
• The driver got stripped down again for overloading his trunk. 那位卡车司机因为超载又受到责备。

12 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 harpoons   

n.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的名词复数 )v.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Greenpeace hopes to position its boats between the harpoons and the whales. 绿色和平希望他们的船能开到港口与鲸鱼群之间的地方。 来自互联网
• NIV Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? 7[和合]你能用倒钩枪扎满它的皮，能用鱼叉叉满它的头吗？ 来自互联网

14 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。

15 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。