Hourly News 每日新闻 2013-08-14

China cracks down on extravagance in official galas

The Chinese government is now cracking down on official gala's.
A new circular from the central authorities is ordering all departments bring luxurious¹ and extravagant² galas to a halt.
It says galas that are organized with public funds and are held just to show off an extravagant production have damaged the image of the government.
It is widely believed to be another step taken by the central government to cut back on extravagance and waste.

Precautions underway as Utor appraoching S China

Precautionary measures are being taken as a massive typhoon approaches southern China.
Typhoon Utor, the strongest typhoon so far this year, is forecast to make landfall in southeast Guangdong sometime Wednesday evening.
As such, shipping³ and train services on the Qiongzhou Strait, which runs between the mainland and Hainan, have been suspended.
Utor rolled through the northern Philippines over the weekend, killing⁴ at least one person and leaving some 40 others missing.

4 killed as Heilongjiang seeing worst flooding in decades

Four people have been killed in some of the worst flooding to hit Heilongjiang in decades.
The 4 were killed after the car they were travelling in was washed away in the Nen River, around 300-kilometers north of the provincial⁵ capital, Harbin.
The local meteorological bureau is forecasting the river will see its worst flooding in some two decades in the coming days.
Over 2-thousand people living along the river have been moved out of harms-way.

26 Palestinian prisoners relased from Israeli prison

Israel has released 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to resume peace talks.
The release forms part of a goodwill⁶ gesture by the Israeli government, amid the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.
The 26 men, arrested between 1985 and 2001 are among a total of 104 prisoners that Israel has agreed to free in four stages.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have approved the building of more than 1,000 homes in settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians.
The move has angered the Palestinian side.
Three years ago talks broke down when Israel pressed ahead with settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, despite Palestinian opposition⁷.

PNA to get report on Arafat's corpse⁸ test in September

Meanwhile, a Palestinian official has confirmed that the test results of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's corpse will be ready next month.
The official said they haven't received any initial reports on the conditions of Arafat's death.
But they would delcare the test results as soon as they are completed.
Arafat died at a French military hospital from an undisclosed or unknown condition in 2004.
The cause of his death was contested after lab tests found traces of radioactive polonium on Arafat's personal belongings⁹.
Arafat's body was exhumed¹⁰ from his graveyard¹¹ last year and samples of it were sent to the Swiss lab for further investigation¹².

Chinese national appointed as UN assistant secretary-general

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has appointed Xu Haoliang as an Assistant Secretary-General for the world body.
Xu has also been named as the bureau chief of the UN Development Program in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Chinese national has long served as a senior UN official in Kazakhstan.
Before joining the UN, Xu was a bridge engineer and a lecturer at China's Tongji University.

China-Russia joint¹³ drill to enter final phase

Anti-terrorism drills between China and Russia are entering the last phase of live-fire field maneuvers¹⁴.
The joint practice codenamed Peace Mission-2013 is being held in Russia's Chelyabinsk.
The simulated combat is set to last for two days.

U.S. gov't to challenge proposed merger¹⁵ of AMR, U.S. Airways¹⁶

The U.S Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit¹⁷ challenging the proposed merger between of U.S Airways Group Inc. and American Airlines' parent corporation, AMR Corp.
The 11-billion-dollar merger would create the world's largest airline.
The Justice Department says the deal would hurt consumers by leading to higher fares and fees and its lawsuit seeks to preserve competition.

Zhang Yimou makes first foray into Peking Opera

Chinese movie director Zhang Yimou will make his first Peking Opera "Allegiance Under Heaven".
The story is adapted from a Chinese statesman's filial piety¹⁸ in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Zhang has become increasingly interested in directing on-stage performances.
The upcoming "Allegiance Under Heaven" is still in preparation.
It will be staged at China's National Center for the Performing Arts from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7.

Chinese researchers breakthroughed in creating stem cells

Chinese researchers have made a breakthrough in making stem cells.
Reseachers have successfully found a method to generate cells with the ability to differentiate¹⁹ into any other type of cell in the body.
Stem cells are key in the so-called therapeutic²⁰ cloning technology used to generate tissues and organs for treatment of diseases.
Medical experts say diseases like heart failure or Parkinson's are really in need of replacing tissue function.
 

1 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

2 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

6 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

9 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

10 exhumed   

v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marie Curie's remains were exhumed and interred in the Pantheon. 玛丽·居里的遗体被移出葬在先贤祠中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His remains have been exhumed from a cemetery in Queens, New York City. 他的遗体被从纽约市皇后区的墓地里挖了出来。 来自辞典例句

11 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

12 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。

13 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

14 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

15 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

16 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。

17 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

18 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

19 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

20 therapeutic   

adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的

参考例句：

• Therapeutic measures were selected to fit the patient.选择治疗措施以适应病人的需要。
• When I was sad,music had a therapeutic effect.我悲伤的时候，音乐有治疗效力。