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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Broadcasting Time: 07:00-08:00, GMT+08:00, 2010-05-08
Hello and Welcome to News and Reports on China Radio International.
In This Edition
Leaders of Britain's Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats1 try to reach a deal to form an effective alliance, the first coalition2 government since 1974.
African heads of state and officials from around the world gather in Dar es Salaam3, Tanzania to discuss ways to build up economic cooperation on the continent.
A high-level international forum4 in Beijing focuses on strengthening climate change talks between developing and industrialized countries, and to try to set the table for the forthcoming UN Climate Change Conference at the end of this year.
And some wildlife advocates claim that British Petroleum5 is harming fish and wildlife with its oil clean up methods in the Gulf6 of Mexico.
Hot Issue Reports
UK on Road to First Coalition Government in 36 Years
Britain is on the way to its first coalition government since 1974. Leaders of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats are working against time, trying to reach a deal to form an effective alliance.
Greek OKs Austerity measures but fears still flaring7
Greeks on the streets of Athens reacted with concern on Friday to the news that their lawmakers had approved the drastic austerity cuts which are needed to secure international rescue loans worth 110 billion euros.
The cuts will slash8 pensions and civil servants' pay and raise further consumer taxes.
"We feel very unsafe for our future. Any measures in the public sector9, as well as in the private sector, will be very hard and we feel very unsafe. That is my opinion."
The euro-zone nations are going to contribute 80 billion euros to bailout Greece over the next three years, with the rest coming from the International Monetary10 Fund.
The international rescue loans are aimed at containing the debt crisis and keeping Greece's troubles from spreading to other countries with vulnerable state finances such as Portugal and Spain.
Fears of a Greek default have undermined the euro left many wondering about the long-term future for the country, an overriding11 fear which has gripped markets around the world.
Francis Lun, is a General Manager with Fulbright Securities.
"There is no guarantee that they will collect enough taxes to even pay the interest alone. Even with the rescue, the 110 billion Euro rescue Greece is simply bankrupt unless its industry, its tourist industry, can recover. It's just that the European Central Bank is avoiding tough question that it should kick out Greece from the monetary union. It's unattainable."
The markets were also spooked by the violent demonstrations12 in Athens this week, amid fears the international bailout for Greece might not end up being enough.
New Violence Erupts in Thai Capital
New violence erupted in the Thai capital, killing13 a policeman and causing other casualties.
The violence happened late Friday night at an area close to an encampment of the protesters.
Decha Phoonpanang is a witness.
"I don't know if it was a gun shot or an explosion but it came right past me and hit the glass behind me. I saw the glass door broken so I ran to hide in a corner of the bank. The person sitting next to me got hit on his leg. Two policemen were hit, one in the stomach but the other I couldn't see where he got hit. After I saw that, I ran to hide in the corner."
The official Erawan emergency center said the incident involved multiple gunshots, and that one of the policemen had died.
Slightly more than two hours later, about three explosions could be heard in an adjacent street that fronts a park. The Erawan center said four soldiers had been wounded, though Thai media reported that the casualties were police officers.
The violence may jeopardize14 progress to resolving a two-month standoff between the government and protesters who are seeking new elections.
Earlier Friday, the protesters, known as the Red Shirts, reiterated16 their commitment to join the government's reconciliation17 process, but wanted more specific details.
Argentina Threatens to Take Falkland Islands Despute to International Court
Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana has warned Britain that the South American country would go to international court over offshore18 oil exploration in the disputed Falkland Islands, which the two countries went to war over in 1982.
"We reiterate15 to the British government that authorized19 this exploration and the company that undertook it that not only will we denounce them in all the international forums20 but we will utilize21 all the resources that international law provides to defend our rights and the property of Argentines."
British oil company Rockhopper Exploration recently announced that it believed it had made an oil discovery in the North Falkland Basin, the first oil find from the controversial exploration program in the Falkland Islands.
The islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas, have been under British control since 1833.
Around 70 percent of the island's inhabitants are of British descent, and have previously22 rejected Argentine efforts put the islands under Argentine control.
Partnership23 Key to Unlocking Africa's Growth Potential
Twelve African heads of state and more than 1,000 others from 85 countries gathered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to talk about ways to build up economic cooperation on the continent.
Light News
Climate Forum Paves way to Cancun Conference
A high-level forum was held in Beijing Friday to strengthen climate change talks between developing and industrialized countries, and to try to set the table for the forthcoming UN Climate Change Conference at the end of this year.
Visitors term the Taiwan Pavilion " one of the most photographed"
Visitors say the Taiwan Pavilion, a modern structure in the shape of a traditional Chinese lantern, is among the most photographed pavilions at the World Expo in Shanghai.
The pavilion is made of steel and glass, with its facade24 decorated with the ridge25 lines of Taiwan's mountains.
Walter Yeh is the curator of the Taiwan Pavilion
"The role of the Taiwan Pavilion is to help people who haven't been to Taiwan to get a glimpe of its landscape and residents' lifestyle."
Alexander Piroth, a German who has lived in Taiwan for three years, says the spherical27 cinema is his favorite part of the pavilion, and that the displays there are an honest presentation of the real Taiwan.
"I think it is quite good. It gives a look at, a glance at the culture and the places we can go like Yu Shan, Kaohsiung and Taipei. Quite good."
There is also a dome28 theater in the pavilion showcasing the island's technological29 advancements30, urban expansion and the unique culture of the indigenuous people.
Chinese Public Expects Better Education
As Chinese parents wait and see how a newly-approved national education plan will play out over the next decade, a number of researchers are now pushing the idea of spending more money and getting better-trained teachers in the education system.
Environmentalists Say BP Clean Up Effort Harmful; Workers Lower Containment31 Vessel32
Some wildlife advocates claim that British Petrolium is harming fish and wildlife with its oil clean up methods in the Gulf of Mexico.
Larry Schweiger, head of the National Wildlife Federation33, says the current method of oil dispersion is not good for the environment.
"These dispersants are designed to spread as much concentrated oil through as much water as possible. The result is a brown, toxic34 mix that looks more like sewage than oil. Oil dispersants do not reduce the amount of oil in the water. They simply cause it to be dispersed35 into different places within the water system, within the water column. The BP oil disaster has left wildlife with no good options at this point."
Meanwhile, workers have now eased a giant concrete-and-steel box into the Gulf of Mexico, starting the long process of lowering the contraption over the blown-out oil well at the bottom of the sea.
The 100-tonne containment vessel is designed to collect as much as 85 percent of the oil spewing into the Gulf and funnel36 it up to a tanker37.
11 people were killed when a drilling rig exploded and caused the massive crude oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, which is now threatening several gulf coast shorelines.
World Cup trophy38 begins tour of host nation
The World Cup trophy goes on display in Cape26 Town Friday, ahead of its countrywide tour of South Africa.
The solid gold trophy has unveiled in the Khayelitsha township, on the Cape Flats outside Cape Town, following an unexpected visit a day earlier by South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela.
Hundreds of football fans has turned out to get a glimpse of the trophy, many waving South African flags and wearing brightly coloured costumes.
"I'm excited, I'm excited because I'm a South African, so I'm excited to come just because I want to see. I'm excited because my country is going to host the World Cup!"
"Because it's a history - to be the first here in Africa, but here in South Africa."
"I just heard that the World Cup is around Cape Town. So that's why I'm here now. I feel it, it is here! (laughs)"
Organisers says over 400-thousand people will get to see the trophy as it visits a total of 38 cities and townships before the 2010 tournament kicks off on the 11th of June.
Football's biggest prize has made a 130-thousand-kilometre journey across the world, where it visited 86 nations, before arriving in the 2010 host country earlier this week.
Media Digest
Newspaper Picks
From the San Francisco Chronicle: Only 10 years after scientists triumphantly39 decoded40 the human genome, an international research team has mapped the genes41 of the long-extinct Neanderthal people and report there's a little bit of Neanderthal in all of us.
The remarkable42 finding could answer a question that has been hotly debated among anthropologists for decades: whether our human ancestors and the Neanderthals interbred some time after both species left Africa many thousands of years ago.
The project's scientists used tiny specks43 of powdered bone retrieved44 from three Neanderthal females who died in a Croatian cave more than 40,000 years ago to complete the draft of the Neanderthal genome. They then compared the genes to those of modern humans living today in five different regions of the world, including China.
The scientists now believe that humans living today carry between 1 and 4 percent of Neanderthal genes that carry the code for proteins in our bodies.
From the Shanghai Daily: Using chopsticks should no longer be difficult for Westerners, now that a 14-year-old girl has invented a simple tool to help beginners conquer the pair of sticks.
Chu Mingming from Liaoning is offering her invention as a gift to foreign visitors to the World Expo in Shanghai.
She hopes the invention will get more expats interested in the splendor45 of Chinese cuisine46.
Users place their fingers inside a scissors-like pair of plastic clips that connect the sticks, making the two sticks feel more like an extension of two fingers.
Market Update
World Stocks had another volatile47 day, swinging widely before closing sharply lower.
The Dow closed down 1.3 percent to 10,380. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.5 percent to 1,111, while the Nasdaq composite fell 2.3 percent to 2,266.
Friday's trading left the Dow down 5.7 percent for the week and erased48 its gains for the
year. The S&P fell about 6.4 percent, while the Nasdaq was off 7.9 percent for the week. The
S&P and Nasdaq also went into the red for 2010.
European markets were broadly lower. The declines were deepest in France, where the CAC-40
index tumbled 4.1 percent to 3411. Germany's DAX fell 3.3 percent to 5715 and Britain's FTSE 100 fell 2.5 percent to 5131.
0508 Weather for 07am
Before we go, a quick look at the weather,
Beijing is Sunny day with a high of 28, shower tonight and low of 15
Shanghai is cloudy and high of 24, falling to 16
Elsewhere around the world
Bangkok Sunny of 34
Tokyo Sunny 22
Vientiane Sunny 34
New York cloudy 20
Toronto light rain at 13
Sydney Sunny at 23
Wellington cloudy at 16
Perth Sunny 26
Cairo Sunny at 37
Morovia Sunny at 31
And finally Nairobi will be Sunny at high of 21 degrees
1 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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2 coalition | |
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合 | |
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3 salaam | |
n.额手之礼,问安,敬礼;v.行额手礼 | |
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4 forum | |
n.论坛,讨论会 | |
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5 petroleum | |
n.原油,石油 | |
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6 gulf | |
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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7 flaring | |
a.火焰摇曳的,过份艳丽的 | |
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8 slash | |
vi.大幅度削减;vt.猛砍,尖锐抨击,大幅减少;n.猛砍,斜线,长切口,衣衩 | |
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9 sector | |
n.部门,部分;防御地段,防区;扇形 | |
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10 monetary | |
adj.货币的,钱的;通货的;金融的;财政的 | |
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11 overriding | |
a.最主要的 | |
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12 demonstrations | |
证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威 | |
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13 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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14 jeopardize | |
vt.危及,损害 | |
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15 reiterate | |
v.重申,反复地说 | |
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16 reiterated | |
反复地说,重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 reconciliation | |
n.和解,和谐,一致 | |
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18 offshore | |
adj.海面的,吹向海面的;adv.向海面 | |
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19 authorized | |
a.委任的,许可的 | |
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20 forums | |
讨论会; 座谈会; 广播专题讲话节目; 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 ); 论坛,讨论会,专题讨论节目; 法庭 | |
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21 utilize | |
vt.使用,利用 | |
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22 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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23 partnership | |
n.合作关系,伙伴关系 | |
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24 facade | |
n.(建筑物的)正面,临街正面;外表 | |
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25 ridge | |
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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26 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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27 spherical | |
adj.球形的;球面的 | |
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28 dome | |
n.圆屋顶,拱顶 | |
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29 technological | |
adj.技术的;工艺的 | |
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30 advancements | |
n.(级别的)晋升( advancement的名词复数 );前进;进展;促进 | |
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31 containment | |
n.阻止,遏制;容量 | |
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32 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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33 federation | |
n.同盟,联邦,联合,联盟,联合会 | |
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34 toxic | |
adj.有毒的,因中毒引起的 | |
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35 dispersed | |
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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36 funnel | |
n.漏斗;烟囱;v.汇集 | |
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37 tanker | |
n.油轮 | |
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38 trophy | |
n.优胜旗,奖品,奖杯,战胜品,纪念品 | |
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39 triumphantly | |
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地 | |
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40 decoded | |
v.译(码),解(码)( decode的过去式和过去分词 );分析及译解电子信号 | |
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41 genes | |
n.基因( gene的名词复数 ) | |
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42 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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43 specks | |
n.眼镜;斑点,微粒,污点( speck的名词复数 ) | |
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44 retrieved | |
v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 );恢复;寻回;检索(储存的信息) | |
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45 splendor | |
n.光彩;壮丽,华丽;显赫,辉煌 | |
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46 cuisine | |
n.烹调,烹饪法 | |
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47 volatile | |
adj.反复无常的,挥发性的,稍纵即逝的,脾气火爆的;n.挥发性物质 | |
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48 erased | |
v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 );抹去;清除 | |
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