VOA常速英语2020--病毒变异后英国疫情失控

This is VOA news. Via remote, I'm Liz Parker.

这里是美国之音新闻。我是利兹·帕克，为您进行远程播报。

Trucks waiting to get into Britain are backing up for miles. People are stranded¹ at airports as countries imposed stringent² travel restrictions³ and temporary bans on travel to and from the U.K. This is all due to a mutant strain of the coronavirus that has rapidly spread through London and southern England in December. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the strain is, quote, "out of control." However, many experts have warned it's not clear if this version is more lethal⁴. They've also said the new COVID-19 vaccine⁵ should be effective against the variant⁶. From Canada to India, one nation after another has banned flights from Britain. Meanwhile, France barred the entry of trucks from Britain for 48 hours while the strain is assessed. The precautions raised fears of food shortages in Britain if the restrictions drag on. There were rising hopes Monday that France would allow traffic to flow again if truck drivers take coronavirus tests on arrival.

等待进入英国的卡车后退数英里。各国严格执行旅行限制，暂时禁止往返英国的旅行，各国民众为此滞留在机场。这都是由于新冠病毒变异菌株于十二月在伦敦和英国南部迅速传播。英国卫生大臣马特·汉考克曾说，新冠病毒疫情已经“失控”。然而，许多专家警告称，目前尚不清楚新冠病毒变异菌株是否致命性更强。他们还表示，新研发的新冠疫苗应该对新冠病毒变异菌株有效。从加拿大到印度，各国接连禁止从英国起飞的航班。与此同时，法国禁止来自英国的卡车入境48小时，同时对病毒进行评估。如果这些限制措施继续下去的话，这些预防措施会引发英国民众对食品短缺的担忧。周一，人们越来越希望，如果卡车司机在抵达法国边境时进行冠状病毒检测，法国将允许交通再次通行。

British Airways⁷ announced it will only allow travelers who test negative for the coronavirus to fly to New York City. The move was in response to calls from the state of New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio to ban air travel from Britain over the new coronavirus strain. Cuomo made the announcement and also called for Delta⁸ Airlines and Virgin⁹ Atlantic [airwi...] Airways to "voluntarily agree" to do the same. Virgin Atlantic has since announced they, too, will require the tests.

英国航空公司宣布只允许冠状病毒检测呈阴性的旅客飞往纽约市。此举是为了回应纽约州州长安德鲁·库莫和纽约市市长比尔·德布拉西奥的呼吁，即禁止英国航班入境以防范新冠病毒变异菌株。库莫宣布了这一消息，并呼吁达美航空和维珍大西洋航空公司“自愿同意”这种做法。维珍大西洋航空公司已经宣布，他们也将要求进行新冠检测。

The outgoing U.S. attorney general, William Barr, said Monday he sees "no reason" to appoint a special counsel on two key issues to President Donald Trump¹⁰ that would be potential election fraud or the tax investigation¹¹ into the son of President-elect Joe Biden.

即将卸任的美国司法部长巴尔周一表示，他认为“没有理由”就总统唐纳德·特朗普提出的两个关键问题任命一名特别顾问，这两个问题为潜在的选举舞弊或当选总统拜登的儿子的税务调查。

More on voanews.com. This is VOA news.

请访问voanews.com浏览更多新闻。这里是美国之音新闻。

1 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

2 stringent   

adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的

参考例句：

• Financiers are calling for a relaxation of these stringent measures.金融家呼吁对这些严厉的措施予以放宽。
• Some of the conditions in the contract are too stringent.合同中有几项条件太苛刻。

3 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

4 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

5 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

6 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

7 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

8 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

9 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

10 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。