China's railways carry 453.25 mln passengers in first quarter

 　　BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's railways transported some 453.25 million passengers during the first quarter of the year, up 0.7 percent from a year earlier, official data showed Sunday.

　　And the railways delivered 998.61 million metric tons of goods during the January-March period, up 3.2 percent year-on-year, according to a report posted on the railways ministry¹'s website.

　　To meet the demand of industrial production and the people's basic needs, the ministry has prioritized the delivery of major essential goods, according to the report.

　　In breakup, the country's railways transported 594.07 million tonnes of coal, 34.62 million tonnes of oil, 27.1 million tonnes of grain and 27.58 million tonnes of fertilizers and pesticides² in the first three months.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》