女总理继续执掌澳府 Australian Election Decided
语音:英美发音 适合泛听
语速:150词/分钟
关键词:Australia, Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Independent MP
Australia’s 1)agonizing wait for a new government is finally over. Independent Members of Parliament have announced their support for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who will hold the post for the 2)next four years.
等待多时的澳大利亚新政府终于产生了。独立议员们已宣布他们对总理朱莉娅·吉拉德的支持。吉拉德将在未来四年出任澳大利亚总理。
Julia Gillard (Australian Prime Minister): Labor is prepared to deliver stable, effective and secure government for the next three years. Ours will be a government with just one purpose and that’s to serve the Australian people.
朱莉娅·吉拉德(澳大利亚总理):工党已经作好准备,在未来三年建立稳定、高效和可靠的政府。工党政府的目标只有一个,那就是为澳大利亚人民服务。
In a news conference Tuesday, the undecided independents, Tony Windsor and Robert Oakeshott, threw their support behind Labor.
在周二的一场新闻发布会上,之前未表态的独立议员托尼·温莎和罗伯特·奥克肖特宣布他们支持工党。
Both were 3)cautious and conditional in explaining their decisions.
在解释他们的决定时,两位议员均表现得谨慎,且表明是有条件的。
Robert Oakeshott (Independent MP): Today I’ll do what I have always done, ironically, and give confidence and supply to government, and in effect that means confidence and supply in Julia Gillard, unless, and I 4)emphasize unless, exceptional circumstances determine otherwise.
罗伯特·奥克肖特(独立议员):今天,我要作出的决定不违反我一向的原则,虽然说这个决定稍具讽刺意味,那就是支持工党,更确切地说是支持朱莉娅·吉拉德。不过,我强调,除非有特殊情况出现,否则这个决定不会改变。
Tony Windsor (Independent MP): This is about using the political system to advantage the people we represent and those people in regional Australia. I’ll just repeat again, and I do conclude, my vote will be going to the Gillard government.
托尼·温莎(独立议员):这是用政治体系为我们所代表的人民造福,为澳大利亚边远地区的人们造福。我重申一遍,我决定支持吉拉德政府。
The August 21st election had been undecided as neither Labor’s Gillard, nor the opposition’s Tony Abbott, had enough votes to hold a majority.
早在8月21日举行的大选,其结果一直悬而未决,原因是工党领袖吉拉德和反对派联盟领导人托尼·阿博特都没有获得足够选票赢得半数。
The MPs’ decisions gave Gillard one more vote than Abbott, bringing the total to 75 for Labor and 74 for the 5)Coalition.
独立议员的决定使吉拉德获得比阿博特多一票的支持,工党以75票击败得74票的反对党联盟。
Earlier in the day, Independent MP Bob Katter said he would support Abbott, although that wasn’t enough to tip the balance to the Coalition.
当天稍早前,独立议员博比·凯特宣布支持阿博特,但他的一票未能使反对党联盟最终获胜。
新闻链接:澳大利亚首位女总理朱莉娅·吉拉德
朱莉娅·艾琳·吉拉德(Julia Eileen Gillard)出生于英国威尔士小镇巴瑞,四岁随父母移民至澳大利亚。吉拉德毕业于墨尔本大学,获得法律和文学双学士学位,从政之前曾是一名律师。吉拉德进入政府部门后,先后负责移民、卫生以及劳工关系等事务。2006年,陆克文出任工党领袖,吉拉德担任副手。2007年,当选为总理的陆克文任命吉拉德为副总理。2010年6月24日,工党举行党内选举,因政治决策失误导致名声下滑的陆克文放弃票选,当时的副总理吉拉德成功当选澳大利亚首位女总理。2010年8月21日,澳大利亚众议院选举举行。9月7日,吉拉德在大选投票后的协商组阁中胜出,继续担任新一届澳大利亚联邦总理。
苹果DNA揭秘 Apple DNA unlocks Secrets
语音:英式发音 适合精听
语速:175词/分钟
关键词:apple, DNA, secrets, cultivars
New Zealand researchers working with a team from four other countries have mapped the apple’s DNA and unlocked surprising secrets from 60 million years ago.
新西兰研究人员与一支由其他四国人员组成的研究小组联手破译出苹果的DNA序列,这一成果揭示了六千万年前的惊天秘密。
They say the same event that killed the 1)dinosaurs transformed the apple into the tasty fruit we know today.
研究人员称,导致恐龙灭绝的同一事件却把苹果变成了今天我们所熟悉的美味之果。
Andy Allen (Associate Professor of Plant Cell Biology): There’s twice as many 2)genes in there that we thought. Twice as many as the human has actually.
安迪·艾伦(植物细胞生物学副教授):苹果的基因数量是我们之前认为的数目的两倍。苹果的基因数量是人类基因数量的两倍。
What they’ve found is that the apple is a survivor.
他们的研究发现,苹果曾经逃过了一场灭顶之灾。
Roger Hellens (Plant & Food Geneticist): It seems to be linked to about the time the 3)meteor hit the earth, about the Cretaceous-Tertiary 4)boundary, when all the dinosaur 5)died out.
罗杰·海伦斯(植物和食物基因学家):那场灾难似乎与流星袭击地球——也就是白垩纪—第三纪交界恐龙灭绝的时间相近。
While dinosaurs and other species were being 6)wiped out, the apple rallied in western Asia. It needed to make itself more attractive to animals like bears to 7)disperse its seeds. So it doubled its genes which, in turn, made it much fleshier.
当恐龙和其他物种灭绝之时,苹果主要集中出现在今天的西亚地区。苹果需要吸引像大熊这样的动物,把其种子散播开来。因此,它们的基因数量翻倍,从而使其有更多肉质。
Now, 60 million years later, the evolutionary cycle of the apple is being guided by scientists—with tasty results.
六千万年后的今天,苹果的进化之路由于受到科学家的指引,苹果将变得更加鲜美。
Knowing the apple’s complete DNA 8)sequence does have a practical application, scientists can identify the genes for taste, 9)texture, colour and crispness.
译解苹果完整的基因序列确实有现实作用,科学家可以鉴别影响苹果味道、肉质、颜色以及爽脆程度的基因。
They can then screen thousands of apple seedlings and pick a variety that consumers like best—all without waiting 10 years for each tree to reach 10)maturity.
他们可以筛选大量苹果苗,挑选出消费者最喜爱的品种——整套流程不用等上苹果树成熟所需要的10年时间。
Allen: Having the knowledge of all the genes that are in apple is going to make breeding new varieties, understanding the varieties we have now and how to manage them. So it’s all about new 11)cultivars, innovation.
艾伦:了解了苹果的全部基因是为了培育新的品种,并且可以知道现时品种的特点以及懂得如何控制它们。所以,这一切都是为了栽培新品种,为了创新。
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女生越来越早熟？ Girls Starting 1)Puberty Earlier
语音:美式发音 适合讨论
语速:160词/分钟
关键词:girls, puberty, seven, BMI
Parents are often concerned that their daughters may be starting puberty too soon, and a new study actually confirms that fact. Girls are starting puberty as young as seven years of age.
父母常担心他们的女儿发育过早,而最新的研究结果显示如今的女孩子确实发育提前。现在有的女孩子早在七岁就已经开始发育。
It’s not exactly clear why girls are starting puberty earlier. Certainly there are a lot of genetic factors involved, but also there are some environmental considerations: maybe too many 2)hormones or chemicals that act like hormones inside the body. There’s also a chemical called BPA, or Bisphenol A, that may be found in some plastic products. It’s thought that this chemical can 3)leach out of the plastic and go into girls’ bodies and 4)mimic the effects of hormones and cause puberty to start early.
造成女孩发育过早的具体原因仍不明确。当然,这与众多基因因素有关,但也不可忽略环境因素:女孩体内积聚了过多的荷尔蒙,或具备荷尔蒙功效的化学物质。有一种叫BPA(即双酚A)的化学成分可以在一些塑料产品中找到。有观点认为塑料产品释放出的BPA一旦进入女孩体内,就会扮演荷尔蒙的角色,从而导致女孩提早发育。
Race may also play an important factor. Whereas about 10% of white girls may start puberty around seven years of age, the number is higher in 5)Hispanics at 15% and even higher in African-American girls at about 23%. But now the study shows that white girls are starting to reach puberty earlier as well.
不同人种也许也会有发育迟早方面的差异。大约10%的白种女孩七岁左右开始发育,西班牙裔人中七岁发育的比例为15%,而非裔美国人则高达23%。然而研究数据发现,白种女孩现在也开始提早发育了。
One way to avoid early puberty may be to make sure that your daughter’s 6)BMI is within a normal range. And you can do that by encouraging her to exercise on a regular basis and eat a very healthy diet.
预防女孩子过早发育的方法之一也许就是将她们的体重指数控制在正常范围之内,可以鼓励她们经常锻炼,健康膳食。
Comments 观点参考
★ Girls who begin puberty sooner than normal experience an early growth spurt and are taller than their peers at first. But because their bones stop growing after puberty, they never reach their full height potential.
★ Girls who develop earlier tend to become sexually active earlier and become at higher risk for things like teen-age pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
★ There is also an increased risk of breast cancer with early puberty, because estrogen[雌激素] production starts sooner and breast tissue is exposed to the hormone for a longer period of time.