VOA常速英语2021--东京奥运会创意总监让女性艺人扮猪而引咎辞职

The European Commission's chief executive has criticized Anglo-Swedish vaccine-maker AstraZeneca on Wednesday, accusing the embattled pharmaceutical¹ company of delaying Europe's coronavirus vaccination² campaign and warning the EU is weighing export bans to ensure supplies. Ursula von der Leyen said that the company originally pledged to deliver 90 million doses of its shot in the first three months of the year. It later said it could only provide 40 million, then more recently only 30 million. She also said the EU exports vaccines³ to other countries but threatened to withhold⁴ the shots from other nations that do not reciprocate⁵. "We want to see reciprocity and proportionality in exports. And we are ready to use whatever tool we need to deliver on that." The escalating⁶ concern is another setback⁷ for the EU's vaccination drive, which has been plagued by shortages and other hurdles⁸ and is lagging well behind campaigns in Britain and the United States.

欧盟委员会首席执行官周三抨击了英瑞疫苗制造商阿斯利康，指责这家处境艰难的制药公司拖延了欧洲的冠状病毒疫苗接种活动，并发出警告称欧盟正在权衡出口禁令，以确保供应。乌尔苏拉·冯·德·莱恩表示，阿斯利康公司最初承诺在今年前三个月提供9000万剂疫苗。后来说只能提供4000万，最近又说只能提供3000万。她还表示，欧盟会向其他国家出口疫苗，但威胁说，欧盟不会向其他不互惠的国家提供疫苗。“我们希望看到出口的互惠性和相称性，并准备使用我们所需的任何工具来实现这一目标。”人们不断升级的担忧是欧盟疫苗接种运动面对的另一挫折。该运动一直受到剂量短缺等障碍的困扰，致使欧盟的接种速度远远落后于英国和美国的接种运动。

Tokyo Olympics creative head Hiroshi Sasaki said he has resigned after making a derogatory comment about a popular female Japanese entertainer in the latest controversy⁹ over insensitive remarks toward women to hit the Games organizers. Sasaki, who was the head creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies at this year's Games, said he had told a planning group through a group chat that comedian¹⁰ Naomi Watanabe, who is heavyset, could play a role as an "Olympig." Sasaki said in a statement to Olympic organizers that his words were "inappropriate" and apologized to Watanabe and to those offended by his remarks. Last month, Yoshiro Mori stepped down from his role as president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee after causing a furor¹¹ with sexist remarks when he said women talk too much in meetings.

东京奥运会创意负责人佐佐木宏表示，他已经辞职，原因是他最近对一位日本当红女艺人发表的贬损性评论引发了争议，其对女性的漠视言论让奥运会主办单位勃然大怒。曾担任今年奥运会开幕式和闭幕式创意总监的佐佐木宏表示，他在群聊中告知策划组，身材圆润的喜剧演员渡边直美可以扮演“奥林pig”的角色。佐佐木宏在向东奥主办单位发表的声明中说，他言论“不当”，并向渡边直美和那些对他的言论感到冒犯的人道歉。上个月，森喜朗辞去了东京2020年组委会主席的职务，因为他说女性在会议上说得太多，引起了一场性别歧视言论的骚动。

New York Metropolitan¹² Opera conductor James Levine has died of natural causes in Palm Springs, California. He was 77. AP's Margie Szaroleta has more. James Levine conducted for the Cleveland Orchestra and Chicago's Ravinia Festival but his acclaimed¹³ fame was presiding over the New York Metropolitan Opera for four decades. He conducted 2,552 performances, endorsed¹⁴ the orchestra's world-class reputation. He was forced out in 2016 due to Parkinson's disease and became music director emeritus¹⁵. He was fired in 2018 over allegations of sexual misconduct. Levine had planned to perform this past January in Italy but the concert was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. I'm Margie Szaroleta. Visit voanews.com for more. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA news.

纽约大都会歌剧院指挥詹姆斯·莱文在加州棕榈泉自然死亡。享年77岁。请听美联社记者玛姬·萨罗莱塔带来报道。詹姆斯·莱文曾为克利夫兰管弦乐团和芝加哥拉维尼亚音乐节担任指挥，但他在纽约大都会歌剧院担任音乐总监长达四十年之久，声名鹊起。他指挥了2552场演出，帮助乐团获得世界级声誉。2016年，他因帕金森病被迫离职，并成为名誉音乐总监。他在2018年因性行为不端的指控被解雇。莱文原计划今年1月在意大利演出，但音乐会由于新冠疫情而取消了。我是玛姬·萨罗莱。你可以通过voanews.com浏览更多新闻。我是大卫·伯德，为您远程报道美国之音新闻。

1 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

2 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

5 reciprocate   

v.往复运动；互换；回报，酬答

参考例句：

• Although she did not reciprocate his feelings, she did not discourage him.尽管她没有回应他的感情，她也没有使他丧失信心。
• Some day I will reciprocate your kindness to me.总有一天我会报答你对我的恩德。

6 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

7 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

8 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

9 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

10 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

11 furor   

n.狂热；大骚动

参考例句：

• His choice of words created quite a furor.他的措辞引起了相当大的轰动。
• The half hour lecture caused an enormous furor.那半小时的演讲引起了极大的轰动。

12 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

13 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

14 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。