英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable0409 - 北京火车站取消站台票

 Topic 1: Beijing on Olympic footing for APECThe 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting will be held in the second half of the year in Huairou district of Beijing. To control the air quality and traffic as a welcome to the APEC leaders, the capital is considering using measures last seen in 2008 for the Summer Olypmics. Some people are calling the "Olympic Mode." What does that mean? What do you think we can expect?

Topic 2: Construction site cameras to monitor pollutionConstruction sites in Beijing will come under closer scrutiny¹ as the municipal government seeks to determine how much they contribute to rampant² smog.

According to state news agency Xinhua, cameras will be installed to monitor the sites by the end of June and all construction firms must use "fully³ enclosed" vehicles to carry gravel⁴, sand or soil starting on July 1.

Why these new rules? Do we need them?

Topic 3: Discriminative⁵ family planning on second marriage coupleOn Tuesday, a petition signed by almost 4000 families was sent to the central government calling for greater protection of their reproductive rights.

The families, from all over the country, claim that their local governments have not given them approval to have a child because one spouse⁶ already has a child from a previous marriage.

What exactly is the problem? Why have these families decided⁷ to petition the central government?

Topic 4: E-merchants move into telecommunicationsWithin a couple of days, if you get a call from a number that starts with 170, don't hang up; it's not a prank⁸ call.

19 different companies have been granted licenses⁹ to be virtual network operators and will begin to provide mobile phone and wireless¹⁰ data services soon.

First, let's take a look at what is happening. What kind of services will these companies be providing? How will they make money?

Topic 5: 1st 24 hour bookstore in BeijingBeijing bookworms now a have reason to celebrate. While many bookstores around the country are closing, Beijing is set to have its very first 24-hour bookstore. On Tuesday, the Sanlian Taofen Bookstore started a ten day trial. If all goes well, they keep doors open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Do you think it's important for Beijing to have a bookstore that never closes?

Topic 6: Beijing Train Stations Cancel Platform TicketTwo out of the four train stations in Beijing have stopped selling platform tickets, with Beijing North the only remaining station in the capital to allow non-passengers onto train platforms.

Before we start saying how stupid this, what exactly is a platform ticket?

1 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

2 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

5 discriminative   

有判别力

参考例句：

• The measures are non-discriminative and not targeted at Mexican citizens. 有关措施并非针对墨西哥公民，没有歧视性。
• The Discriminative Common Vector (DCV) successfully overcomes this problem for FLDA. 近年来针对此问题提出了不同的解决方法，其中基于共同鉴别矢量(DCV)的方法成功克服了已有各种方法存在的缺点，有较好的数值稳定性和较低的计算复杂度。

6 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

9 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

10 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。