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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Hello and Welcome to News and Reports on China Radio International.
In This EditionChina and Afghanistan agree to upgrade their bilateral1 relations to the level of a strategic and cooperative partnership2.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says it's time to decide if the observer mission in Syria is still useful following massive killings4 in the past weeks.
Filipino President Benigno Aquino III's visit to the United States sparks a demonstration5 in Manila.
And analysts7 are suggesting that the interest rate cut by the People's Bank of China is pointing China in the right economic direction.
Hot Issue ReportsHamid Karzai Starts China Visit after SCO SummitChinese President Hu Jintao and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, have agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to the level of a strategic and cooperative partnership.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government is also offering up a 150-million-yuan grant to the Afghan government this year.
The announcement was made following talks between the two leaders in Beijing on Friday.
President Hu Jintao.
"At present Afghanistan has entered into a critical transition period. China is a trustworthy neighbor and friend of Afghanistan. Both now and in the future China will continue to stay firmly committed to our policy of developing friendly relations with Afghanistan."Their time together has also included discussions about energy, infrastructure8, engineering and agriculture.
Karzai's time in China has also included attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, where Afghanistan was made an official observer to the grouping.
China Calls for End of Violence in SyriaThe Chinese government has issued a fresh call for both sides in Syria to halt the violence and implement9 Kofi Annan's peace plan.
The comments comes come amid reports that 78 villagers have been killed by loyalists of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad this past week.
"In the current circumstances, we believe that the importance of envoy11 Annan's mediation12 efforts has not diminished but rather increased. The support of all sides for the envoy Annan should strengthen, rather than weaken."Meanwhile, the foreign ministry has also taken time to condemn13 the killings.
"We express strong condemnation14 of the recent barbarity involving attacks on innocent civilians15, especially women and children, and we hope that the perpetrators will be punished according to the law as soon as possible."Kofi Annan Floating the Idea of Creating a New Contact GroupMeanwhile, Annan is floating the idea of creating a new contact group for Syria.
The same concept was used during the height of the civil infighing in Libya.
Annan suggested the proposal during a three-hour closed session of the UN Security Council.
"The membership of the group, the contact group that was referred to, all these issues are at very early stage and is under consultation16, but I think Iran as an important part of the region, I hope will be part of the solution."Annan says the contact group will include key regional players and the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Annan says the situation in Syria is "in sort of a civil war."Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has told the Security Council it's time for it to decide if the observer mission in Syria is still useful.
"The killing3 we have witnessed in recent weeks is indicative of crimes against humanity. The confrontations17 in certain areas of the country have taken on the character of internal conflict, subject to international humanitarian18 law and possible war crimes prosecution19. The international community must recognize these realities and must act now."On Thursday, unarmed UN monitors came under fire as they tried to reach the scene of a reported massacre20, which is now believed to have been carried out by loyalists of the Bashar al-Assad government.
The Syrian government says the killings have been carried out by groups trying to provoke international intervention21 in Syria.
Filipino Activists22 Protest President Benigno Aquino's Visit to the USFilipino President Benigno Aquino III's ongoing23 visit to the United States has sparked a demonstration in Manila.
Filipino activists are protesting in front of the U.S. Embassy, decrying24 the United States continued presence in the country.
"We view this as a very bad development, considering that 20 years after we kicked out the U.S. bases, it would appear that they are back in the Philippines, even without a formal basing agreement. The entire country is transformed into a military outpost."Aquino III is on the last day of his visit to the US.
He's scheduled for a sit-down session with US President Barack Obama later on this Friday.
It's being reported the US government will provide the Philippines with 30-million US dollars worth of military aid this year.
That's double the amount the US provided to the country last year.
Gold Plunges25 after Federal Reserve Chief Bernanke Offers No Signal of QE3Gold prices have plummeted26 in late-week trading, following suggestions by US Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke that the central bank isn't planning any stimulus27 anytime soon.
The August gold contracts have dropped by 46 U.S. dollars in trading Thursday, settling at 15-hundred-88 dollars an ounce.
That's the biggest drop in gold prices since April.
Traders have been bidding up gold since mid-May on expectations that the Fed might extend its bond-buying program or take other steps to lower interest rates.
That would have likely weakened the dollar, which tends to push up the price of gold.
Interest Rate Cut Gets Mixed Reaction in Stock MarketAnalysts are suggesting that the interest rate cut by the People's Bank of China is pointing China in the right economic direction.
Professor Zhou Qingjie is from Beijing Technology and Business University.
"The cut indicates that the measure to ease of the monetary28 policy is becoming clearer. And the cut will boost the stock market operation and liquidity29."Yi Xianrong with the China Academy of Social Sciences suggests the move by the PBOC should be just the beginning.
"Wider floating band for interest rates is conducive30 to the liberalization of interest rates. However, the adjustment is still limited, and the liberalization still needs to pick up speed. And only when that happens, can our financial sector32 provide real support to the real economy."The move by China's central bank is the latest in a series of attempts by the authorities to inject more capital and spending into the domestic market to try to counter the economic slowdown being brought on by the debt crisis in Europe.
China to Extend Retirement33 AgeThe central authorities are now openly talking about extending the retirement age here in China to try to offset34 an expected shortfall in pension revenues.
CRI's Wang Wei has more.
As the topic has again provoked hot debate among the public, experts say it is time to put it on the government's working schedule.
Professor Zheng Bingwen is director of the Social Security Study Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
"The extension will have a significant effect on our pension system. As the average life expectancy35 of Chinese citizens has increased, the aging population has been exerting pressure on pension funds. If the retirement age remains36 unchanged, the current pension system will be unsustainable in the future. The problem is universal as it can be found in many countries in America and Europe."Zheng says the current retirement policy was introduced in the 1970s when the average life expectancy was 70. The retirement age was set at 60 for male employees, 55 for women officials and 50 for female workers. But during the past 30 years, the life span of Chinese citizens has increased to 75 years.
Zheng Bingwen points out another serious issue:
"Early retirement is a serious problem. Each year, 10 to 20 percent of the country's retirees haven't reached the retirement age. But if one retires too early and his non-working life is longer than his working life, it just won't make any sense."The annual pension report for 2011 indicates that the revenue in the public and individual pension accounts in 14 provinces and municipalities fell short when it came to paying the pensions and the deficit37 was almost 70 billion yuan. It is unrealistic for the central coffers to always subsidize the pension funds in the long run. Thus, extending the retirement age seems to be the best solution for filling the void. The extension would add 4 billion yuan to China's pension fund annually38 and cut expenditures39 by 16 billion yuan.
But some worry that extending the retirement age will reduce the opportunities for young job seekers. The number of university graduates will be around 6.8 million this summer. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimates that more than 800,000 will remain unemployed40 upon graduation, not including unemployed graduates from previous years. The extension of the retirement age will make it even more difficult for them to land a job.
But Zheng Bingwen believes the extension won't have much effect on the unemployment rate.
"In the U.S., the retirement age can be postponed41 to as late as 70. But their unemployment rate is not higher than ours is. I see a similar situation in northern Europe. And it is often the case that many people in China seek other jobs after their retirements42, taking up large number of job openings."Zheng says making the adjustment will take years, and a quick jump in the retirement age from 60 years old to 65 is unlikely to occur. He advises the government to lay out a plan as soon as possible as we have already started late.
For CRI, I'm Wang Wei.
British MonarchyThe Queen's diamond jubilee44 this past weekend has focused a lot of the world's attention on the royal family in the UK.
So why does the UK love the monarchy so much?
For a country which has at various points in history become cynical45 about other big institutions such as Parliament, the press, the police. Why is it that people remain so loyal to the Royal family?
According to official statistics, support for a republic has lingered at around 18 to 19-percent since 1969, with polls being conducted most recently last year.
The other 80-percent of the population are firmly in favour of keeping the British Monarchy.
So what is it that keeps a system which favours inherited privilege and power so popular, even during time of social change and austerity.
British Primary school teacher Caroline Roberts favours the monarchy, she says it provides stability and tradition:
"I think its because whatever the occasion the Queen is always there to support the country. Throughout history England has always had a monarchy and I think it gives our country an individual identity. I think its such a massive part of our culture, England wouldn't be the same really."Arthur Hagopian is from Canada – one of the Queens Commonwealth46 countries.
He says the monarchy is also significant for them:
"The monarchy for the UK is something that is very special and it is uniquely English and I think that sets them apart of course from other countries around the world and the special relationship that they have with Canada as a member of the commonwealth is also very significant because even though we share a border with the United States, I believe personally that we share more with our friends in the UK and culturally."But its not only British people who are fascinated with the Royals, hundreds of thousands of tourists flock to London each year to visit sites such as Buckingham Palace.
Hagopian reckons many tourists are fascinated with the Monarchy because of its historical significance:
"I think it has to do again with this idea of nostalgia47, with this idea of authenticity48, and that's why people flock to see it. Aside from all the difficulties the royal family might have in the tabloids49. I think the monarchy represents something that is pure and the representation of everything that is good and the best of the UK."For the most part it seems the Royal Family are loved not only as an institution which helps identify British culture, but as something unique which has a long reigning50 history of culture and tradition in Britain.
For CRI, I'm Rebecca Hume.
China DailyA college graduate in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province, has employed a novel way to sell vegetables: through vending51 machines.
Since childhood, Wang Honggang had helped his father grow vegetables on their farm on the outskirts52 of Xi'an.
However, their farmland had to make way for high-rise offices and residential53 buildings as the city expands.
Wang and his friends came up with the idea after they bought beverages54 from a vending machine in downtown.
Wang, who majored in machinery55 automation, redesigned the machines to sell vegetables. The team also designed a reusable plastic package to hold the vegetables.
They rent farmland in the city's remote eastern suburb where they have 10 greenhouses to grow vegetables.
They started with eight vending machines, each based in a different residential community.
Wang and his partners chose residential communities with relatively56 better-off and busier white-collar employees.
The idea has proved a success. In March, they installed another two vending machines in two new communities.
Wang says the vending machines provide people who are busy at work with reasonably priced, fresh vegetables anytime within walking distance.
The Modern ExpressThe city of Changsha in central China's Hunan Province plans to finish building the tallest tower in the world in seven months.
The 838-meter skyscraper57 will replace the 828-meter Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as the world's tallest tower.
The building, dubbed58 Sky-high City, will have 220 floors and provide housing, dining, shopping and medical services as well as work opportunities.
But people are questioning the reliability59 of the skyscraper. Many in Changsha believe that seven months will be too short a time to build Sky-high City as the Burj Khalifa Tower took six years to build.
The construction company said the new tower is being built with prefab steel structures and that the process is as simple as building blocks.
But experts in construction have warned about the company's lack of experience in building high towers and the possible risks involved.
The construction company expects to complete the building by the end of 2012.
BBCScientists now say a parasitic60 mite31 has helped a virus wipe out billions of honeybees throughout the globe.
A team studying honeybees in Hawaii found that the Varroa mite helped spread a particularly nasty strain of a disease called deformed61 wing virus.
The mites62 act as tiny incubators of one deadly form of the disease, and inject it directly into the bees' blood.
This has led to "one of the most widely-distributed and contagious63 insect viruses on the planet".
The findings are reported in the journal Science.
The team, led by Dr Stephen Martin from the University of Sheffield, studied the honeybees in Hawaii, where Varroa was accidentally brought from California just five years ago.
Crucially some Hawaiian islands have honeybee colonies that are still Varroa-free.
This provided the team with a unique natural laboratory; they could compare recently-infected colonies with those free from the parasite64, and paint a biological picture of exactly how Varroa affected65 the bees.
AFPA NASA mission to study the tiny algae66 vital to the ocean's food chain has turned up a massive amount of phytoplankton under the Arctic ice.
Using satellites and on-site measurements, a team from NASA sampled the ice pack off the Chukchi Sea along Alaska's coast in the last two summers.
Beneath the sea ice as thick as a five-year-old child is tall, researchers found the height of phytoplankton biomass was about fourfold greater than in open water.
Mission leader Kevin Arrigo says the under-ice bloom" appears to extend about 100 kilometers into the ice shelf, until "the waters literally67 looked like pea soup."Arrigo says the finding is completely unexpected as all phytoplankton require light and nutrients68 to grow.
More research is needed to determine how these under-ice phytoplankton affect local ecosystems69.
The microscopic70 organisms are the base of the food chain and drive the food and reproductive cycles of fish, seabirds and polar bears. How larger animals may react to phytoplankton changes remains unknown.
Phytoplankton are also important because through the process of photosynthesis71 they remove about half of the harmful carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels worldwide.
Market UpdateU.S. stocks ended the best week of this year on Friday, although concerns over the European debt crisis and global economic slowdown continued to weigh on the market.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained three quarters of a percent to 12,554. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 0.8 percent to 1,326. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1 percent to 2,858.
The European markets ended lower. London's FTSE 100 lost 0.2 percent to 5,435. Frankfurt's DAX slipped 0.2 percent to 6,131. CAC 40 in Paris dropped 0.6 percent to 3,052.
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1
bilateral
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| adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的 | |
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partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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killings
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| 谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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analyst
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| n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家 | |
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analysts
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| 分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 ) | |
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infrastructure
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| n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施 | |
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implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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envoy
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| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
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mediation
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| n.调解 | |
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condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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civilians
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| 平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓 | |
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consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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confrontations
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| n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 ) | |
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humanitarian
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| n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者 | |
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prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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activists
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| n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 ) | |
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ongoing
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| adj.进行中的，前进的 | |
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decrying
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| v.公开反对，谴责( decry的现在分词 ) | |
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plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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plummeted
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| v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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monetary
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| adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的 | |
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liquidity
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| n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产 | |
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conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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sector
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| n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形 | |
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retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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offset
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| n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿 | |
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expectancy
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| n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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deficit
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| n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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expenditures
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| n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费 | |
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unemployed
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| adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的 | |
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postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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retirements
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| 退休( retirement的名词复数 )； 退职； 退役； 退休的实例 | |
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monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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jubilee
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| n.周年纪念；欢乐 | |
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cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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nostalgia
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| n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧 | |
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authenticity
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| n.真实性 | |
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tabloids
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| n.小报，通俗小报（版面通常比大报小一半，文章短，图片多，经常报道名人佚事）( tabloid的名词复数 )；药片 | |
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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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vending
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| v.出售（尤指土地等财产）( vend的现在分词 )；（尤指在公共场所）贩卖；发表（意见，言论）；声明 | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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residential
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| adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的 | |
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beverages
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| n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 ) | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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skyscraper
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| n.摩天大楼 | |
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dubbed
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| v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制 | |
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reliability
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| n.可靠性，确实性 | |
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parasitic
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| adj.寄生的 | |
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deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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mites
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| n.（尤指令人怜悯的）小孩( mite的名词复数 )；一点点；一文钱；螨 | |
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contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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parasite
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| n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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algae
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| n.水藻，海藻 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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nutrients
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| n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 ) | |
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ecosystems
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| n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 ) | |
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microscopic
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| adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的 | |
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photosynthesis
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| n.光合作用 | |
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