Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-03-11

 Search expands for missing Malaysian jetliner

The search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight is being expanded.

The Chinese ministry¹ of Transport is adding a number of new vessels² to the search grid³.

The US military is also sending an additional ship and a number of extra aircraft into the region to help locate the missing plane.

This comes as authorities in Vietnam expand their search for the missing plane to the east of the original search area, which is located to the south of Vietnam where the plane last had contact.

The Boeing 777 with 239-people onboard disappeared early Saturday morning about an hour into its flight here to Beijing from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Among those missing, 154 of them are Chinese nationals.

 

Chinese plane makes emergency landing over false alarm

A flight from Shanghai to Beijing was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Jinan on Monday after a fire alarm went off.

The fire alarm on the Airbus A-320 turned out to be a false alarm.

Authorities with Juneyao Airlines dispatched another plane to Jinan to pick up the passangers at allow them to finish their trip here to Beijing.

It's unclear at this point what may have triggered the alarm.

 

China expels Philippine vessels from Ren'ai Reef

Officials have confirmed the Chinese Coast Guard has driven away two Philippine ships from the Ren'ai Reef off the Nansha Islands.

The Chinese foreign ministry says the Philippine ships were loaded with construction materials. 

They were spotted⁴ near the Nansha Islands on Sunday.

The two ships turned around after receiving a warning from the coast guard.

The Chinese foreign ministry says the Philippine side was attempting to begin a construction project on the islands, adding the move infringes⁵ on China's sovereignty and violates the spirit of the Declaration of Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea.

 

Ukraine update

Ousted⁶ Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is planning to make another official statement later on today in Russia.

Yanukovych was last seen at a news conference in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don late last month.

During his last appearance, Yanukovych suggested he remains⁷ the legitimate⁸ president of Ukraine.

The scheduled statement comes days ahead of a referendum in the Crimea about whether the autonomous⁹ republic should join Russia.

Meanwhile, UN chief Ban Ki-moon is cautioning against "hasty action" and "provocative¹⁰ rhetoric¹¹", saying he is becoming "increasingly alarmed" by the developments in Ukraine.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor¹² Angela Merkel have also held another discussion over the situation in Ukraine.

The two say their priority is to de-escalate the tensions and to get Russia to engage in a contact group.

 

Israeli soldiers shoot dead Palestinian for hurling¹³ stones

Israeli soldiers have shot dead another Palestinian on Monday, the 2nd killing¹⁴ in the course of the day.

The second victim was shot by Israeli forces for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli vehicles.

Earlier in the day on Monday, a Jordanian judge, who was originally a Palestinian, was shot and killed at a border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank.

Israeli forces contend the man was shot after he tried to wrestle¹⁵ a gun away from an Israeli soldier.

However, Palestinian sources at the crossing say that victim was targeted immediately as he came off a bus at the crossing.

 

U.S. encouraging Japan to handle historical issues in helpful manner

The US government says it is encouraging Japan's leadership to handle historical issues in a way that contributes to better ties with its neighboring countries.

The State Department statement comes after Japan's chief cabinet secretary announced his country will not revise the world-recognized statements issued by previous administrations concerning wartime atrocities¹⁶ and the issue of sex-slaves.

A US State Department spokesperson is calling Suga's pledge a "positive step".

Yoshihide Suga's latest announcement runs counter to an earlier statement, where he suggested Japan's government is setting up a team to reexamine those statements.

 

China's new yuan loans down in February

New analysis shows lending through February has come in at 645-billion yuan, down from a four-year high in January.

The People's Bank of China says the latest figure is less than half of January's new lending, but is 24.5-billion yuan higher than the previous February. 

It's being suggested the fluctuation¹⁷ of the credit figures have been mainly caused by seasonal¹⁸ and holiday factors.

 

Warm, wet climate aids Mongol Empire's expansion 800 years ago: study

New research being conducted in Mongolia is shedding some potential new light on the expansion of the Mongol empire some 800-years ago.

American reseachers studying ancient trees in central Mongolia say they've determined¹⁹ the weather conditions at the time of the Mongol expansion were actually warm and more moist than usual at that period of time.

This would seem to fly in the face of common historical convention, which has generally suggested the Mongol tribes expanded off the steppe because of cold and less-than-ideal weather conditions.

The researchers from Colubmia University are suggesting the warm and wet conditions during Genghis Khan's rule between 1211 and 1225 would have allowed for greater productivity for the tribes, allowing them to fuel their conquests.

 

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 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

4 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

5 infringes   

v.违反（规章等）( infringe的第三人称单数 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等）

参考例句：

• Congressmen may be reluctant to vote for legislation that infringes the traditional prerogatives of the states. 美国国会议员可能不情愿投票拥护侵犯各州传统特权的立法。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• I can't say whether CP21 infringes it or not. 我就不能说CP21是否侵犯了SPOT的专利。 来自企业管理英语口语（第二版）(2)

6 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

9 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。

10 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

11 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

12 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

13 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 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。

15 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

16 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 fluctuation   

n.(物价的)波动，涨落；周期性变动；脉动

参考例句：

• The erratic fluctuation of market prices are in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。
• Early and adequate drainage is essential if fluctuation occurs.有波动感时，应及早地充分引流。

18 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

19 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。