2015年CRI Year-ender: Top Events of Year 2015 in China

 

The beginning of year 2015 was marred¹ by tragedy in Shanghai.

The New Year's Eve celebration turned into a stampede that saw 36 people killed and 47 others injured.

Most of the deceased were young people.

Lack of adequate preparations and controls were cited as contributing to the tragedy, according to Xiong Xinguang, director of the city's Emergency Response Office.

Investigations² found that several local officials were taking part in an opulent banquet at the time the deadly incident took place.

A fatal lesson has been learned that effective contingency³ plans must be in place for any public events with massive turnout, particularly in mega cities.

2015 also witnessed a remarkable⁴ event in relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Top leaders met for the first time in 66 years after China's Civil War.

The historic handshake between Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou renewed optimism on cross-straits relations, and on the future of the Chinese nation.

Xi Jinping says the nation should prove with concrete moves to the world that the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits have the wisdom and the capability⁵ to solve their own problems. He further stressed the need to adhere to the 1992 Consensus⁶ on cross-straits relations, stick to the path of peaceful development, and keep the momentum⁷ of such development.

Ma Ying-jeou echoed Xi Jinping's viewpoints, and suggested that the two sides continue to seek win-win cooperation by reducing hostility⁸ and resolving disputes with peaceful means.

In the field of medicinal research, this past year witnessed an exceptional first for China: Tu Youyou became a Nobel laureate for the discovery of artemisinin by her research team.

Artemisinin is an anti-malaria⁹ drug extracted from a herb commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine.

"Through the research of the anti-malaria drug, Qing Hao Su, I feel that Chinese and Western medicine both have their own advantages, and they are complementary. Combination of the two will boost greater prospects¹⁰ and potential for development."

At the award ceremony in Stockholm, Professor Hans Forssberg with the Nobel Prize Committee lauded¹¹ the achievement by the 85 year-old Chinese researcher, saying it provided revolutionary therapies for patients suffering from devastating¹² parasitic¹³ diseases.

"The discovery of Artemisinin has led to development of a new drug that has saved the lives of millions of people, halving¹⁴ the mortality rate of malaria during the past 15 years.

Environmental stories earned new prominence¹⁵ in China this past year, with Capital Beijing and other cities declaring their first-ever red alerts because of air pollution.

Beijing twice issued red alerts - the highest warning level - and both were declared in December.

As part of the protocols¹⁶ to fight the smog, almost half of the city's vehicles were banned from the road, industrial production was curtailed¹⁷, and schools were closed with working parents being forced to find alternate arrangements for their children.

Air pollution in Beijing is nothing new but the issuing of two red-alerts in a lapse¹⁸ of less than two weeks raised questions about the effectiveness of the government's efforts to reduce air-quality concerns.

Chinese lawmakers adopted a much-anticipated amendment¹⁹ to the one-child policy in 2015, an historic move allowing all couples to have two children.

The new policy, taking effect on Jan. 1., officially puts the country's decades-long one-child policy to an end.

The move came amid increasing concerns over China's rapidly aging population and shrinking work force in recent years.

China launched the One-Child Policy in the 1970's to curb²⁰ its surging population.

However, there are concerns that many couples of child-bearing age will not take advantage of the policy change, as families face growing economic pressure or lack the time for a second child.

Also in 2015, a China-initiated international financial institution was born. The Asian Infrastructure²¹ Investment Bank was formally launched in Beijing to aid infrastructure development across the Asia-Pacific region.

Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said the establishment of the AIIB is a milestone²² in reforming the world's financial mechanism²³.

So far, 17 countries have approved the bank's mini-constitution.

China, India and Russia are the three largest shareholders²⁴, with stakes of 30 percent, 8.5 percent, 6.7 percent respectively.

With authorized²⁵ capital of 100 billion dollars, the AIIB will initially²⁶ prioritize investment in energy, power generation, transportation, rural infrastructure, environmental protection and logistics.

1 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

2 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

3 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

6 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

9 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

10 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

11 lauded   

v.称赞，赞美( laud的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They lauded the former president as a hero. 他们颂扬前总统为英雄。 来自辞典例句
• The nervy feats of the mountaineers were lauded. 登山者有勇气的壮举受到赞美。 来自辞典例句

12 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

13 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

14 halving   

n.对分，二等分，减半[航空、航海]等分v.把…分成两半( halve的现在分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• You searched those halving your salary cut your enthusiasm. 你呈现，薪水减半降低了你的任务热情。 来自互联网
• Halving the repeater spacing made it possible to quadruple the bandwidth. 把增音机间隔缩小一半，就能使带宽增加三倍。 来自互联网

15 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

16 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

17 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

19 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

20 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

21 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

22 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

23 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

24 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

25 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

26 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。