Hourly News 每日新闻 10:00 2011/09/27

 China calls for restraint in Syria

China called on all parties concerned in Syria to exercise restraint in order to avoid violence or more bloodshed and conflict in the Middle East country.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi made the call in his speech at the general debate of the 66th UN General Assembly session.

Yang urged the international community to "respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial¹ integrity of Syria". A recent UN statement put the number of civilians² killed in the anti-government protests during the past six months in Syria at 2,600.

 

 

Typhoon hits northern Philippines, 100,000 flee

A powerful typhoon slammed ashore³ in the eastern Philippines where authorities ordered more than 100,000 people to seek shelter from heavy rains and wind gusts⁴ of up to 170 kilometers per hour.

With its immense 650-kilometer cloud band, the typhoon threatened to foul⁵ weather across the entire main Luzon Island as it moves across the Philippines toward the South China Sea later this week and then heads toward southern China.

Nesat is the 16th cyclone⁶ to lash⁷ the Philippines this year.

 

 

Pakistan bus crash kills 26 children, 2 teachers

Police say at least 26 school children and two teachers have been killed in a bus accident in Pakistan.

The bus was returning from a school trip to a salt mine popular with tourists when it plunged⁸ into a ditch. Police officials say 40 other people on the bus were injured.

The accident happened in Kalar Kahar, around 160 kilometers east of the capital Islamabad.

 

 

Six students killed in auto⁹ collision in N China

Six junior high students were killed and another six were injured after their vehicle was rear-ended by a truck in north China's Shanxi Province.

The van, which is allowed to carry a maximum of seven passengers, had 12 people on board when it was hit by a heavy truck from behind. The van was taking students from Lengquan Village to a middle school in town a dozen kilometers away.

Police but are still looking for the driver of the truck as he fled the scene of the accident.

 

 

China issues forest fire alert in five regions

Chinese authorities issued its second highest alert for forest fire outbreaks in five regions in the country's south and southwest.

The State Forestry¹⁰ Administration said there will be high risks for forest fires in the provinces of Hunan, Guangdong and Guizhou, Chongqing Municipality and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous¹¹ Region in the next three days, due to the risks caused by high temperatures and scarce rains.

The agency said drought has lingered in most of those areas, with precipitation levels at about half the historic averages.

 

 

Israel releases Palestinian reporter for Al Jazeera

Israel freed a Palestinian correspondent for Al Jazeera from custody¹², saying he had confessed to links with Hamas and had received a suspended prison sentence.

Samer Allawi, a West Bank native and head of the Arabic satellite station's Kabul bureau, said after his release that his contacts with Palestinian Islamists were part of his work as a journalist.

The Qatar-based station's Jerusalem bureau has occasionally sparred with Israeli officials who accused it of bias¹³.

 

 

Shutdown averted¹⁴; disaster aid dispute surmounted¹⁵

Ending weeks of political brinkmanship, the US Congress finessed¹⁶ a dispute over disaster aid and advanced legislation to avoid a partial government shutdown only days away.

The agreement ensured there would be no interruption in assistance to areas battered¹⁷ by disasters such as Hurricane Irene, and also that the government would be able to run normally when the new budget year begins this weekend.

The Senate approved the resolution after a day of behind-the-scenes talks and occasionally biting debate, spelling an end to the latest in a string of standoffs between Democrats¹⁸ and Republicans over deficits¹⁹, spending and taxes.

 

 

US home-buying season the worst in at least 50 years

The US home-buying season was a bust²⁰.

March through August are typically the peak buying months in the US. But this time, Americans bought fewer new homes in that stretch than in any other six-month period since record-keeping began a half-century ago, with roughly 168,000 new homes sold.

And sales of previously²¹ occupied homes did not fare much better.

Combined, total sales this spring and summer were the weakest on records dating to 1963. The figures underscore how badly the US housing market is faring and suggest that a recovery is years away.

 

 

Chinese Forbidden City exhibits open at Louvre

About 130 artifacts from the Forbidden City, China's ancient imperial palace museum greeted the French public in the Louvre Museum in an exhibition that will run until early next year.

The exhibits including arms, clothing, bronzes, pieces of jade²², lacquerware, enamels²³, seals, ceramics²⁴ and personal effects of the Ming and Qing emperors, some of which were on their first overseas visit.

The Louvre, which has no Chinese art department, modified parts of the museum to accommodate the collection.

1 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

4 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

5 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

6 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

7 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

8 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

9 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

10 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

11 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

12 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

13 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

14 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

15 surmounted   

战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上

参考例句：

• She was well aware of the difficulties that had to be surmounted. 她很清楚必须克服哪些困难。
• I think most of these obstacles can be surmounted. 我认为这些障碍大多数都是可以克服的。

16 finessed   

v.手腕，手段，技巧( finesse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He finessed his way through the exam. 他用巧计通过考试。 来自辞典例句

17 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

18 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

20 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

21 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

22 jade   

n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠

参考例句：

• The statue was carved out of jade.这座塑像是玉雕的。
• He presented us with a couple of jade lions.他送给我们一对玉狮子。

23 enamels   

搪瓷( enamel的名词复数 )； 珐琅； 釉药； 瓷漆

参考例句：

• I'm glad you've kept your enamels! 我很高兴，你保留了那些珐琅物品！
• A trademark used for a transparent thermoplastic acrylic resin enamels, and primers. （商标名称）一种透明的热塑性丙烯酸树脂。

24 ceramics   

n.制陶业；陶器

参考例句：

• an exhibition of ceramics by Picasso 毕加索陶瓷作品展
• The ceramics bore the imprint of Luca della Robbia. 陶器上印有卢卡·德拉·罗比亚的字样。