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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Broadcasting Time: 07:00-08:00, GMT+08:00, 2010-01-04
Hello and Welcome to News and Reports on China Radio International.
In This Edition
Heavy snow hits Beijing, causing the Capital International Airport to cancel 80% of its flights.
Afghan president Hamid Karzai's spokesman says the rejection1 of the president's Cabinet nominees2 is "not a pleasant situation for the government".
And with only four months left before the start of the 2010 Shanghai Expo, the construction of the event venues3 is in its final stages.
Hot Issue Reports
Heavy Snow Hits Beijing, Disrupting Traffic
Heavy snow hit Beijing on Sunday, closing expressways, delaying flights and disrupting bus services.
More than 80 percent of flights at Beijing's Capital International Airport, the country's busiest, were cancelled or delayed.
Huang Weihua is an official from the airport's operation center.
"The air traffic controllers are arranging new departure time slots for delayed flights. We will provide blankets and sufficient water to passengers. They will be informed with the flight information in time."
Airports in the nearby cities of Tianjin, Hohhot and Shijiazhuang have been closed completely.
Expressways linking Beijing to neighboring Hebei Province and Tianjin were closed because of snow and ice on the roads.
The Beijing Traffic Bureau says 60 bus routes have been affected5 by the snow, with service suspensions on 47 routes to rural areas.
Wang Zhongyi from the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission says it has motivated extra workers to clear the main roads in the capital.
"We have motivated about 1,500 people to cope with this heavy snow, and dispatched about 400 snow vehicles and equipment. We have also prepared about 2,700 tons of de-icing salt and 1,000 cubic meters of anti-slip material."
Beijing's temperature is forecast to plummet6 to minus 16 degree Celsius7 over the next three days, which would be the lowest in 40 years.
The city's meteorological bureau raised its snowstorm alert to yellow, the second highest on Sunday morning.
The bad weather is also affecting large parts of the rest of northern and northeastern China, with snow and plunging8 temperatures expected to continue into the first full week of the new year.
Flight Operation Come to Standstill Due to Thick Fog in New Delhi
Meanwhile, some other parts of the world are also being affected by bad weathers.
In India, flight operations at the airport in the Indian capital New Delhi have almost come to a standstill due to thick fog.
The airport remained shut for almost nine hours on Sunday morning following dense9 fog. No flight could take off or land after visibility dropped to less than 50 metres.
Passengers had to face one of the worst fog led flight disruption in many years as more than 200 flights got delayed.
"I had a flight at 8:20 in the evening yesterday. It got cancelled so I bought an Air India ticket of 4 a.m. The flight got delayed too and now there is no information about the flight as yet. No flights are available. We are worried a lot, as we haven't slept all night."
Meanwhile, traffic moved at a slow speed in the capital due to poor visibility. Most of the vehicles inched ahead with the headlights on to avoid mishaps10.
The fog has also upset the Northern Power Grid11, causing power cuts and stalling of train services on electrified12 routes.
Floods Affect Parts of Northern New South Wales
In Australia, rising floodwaters have forced hundreds of people to evacuate13 their homes in the Australian state of New South Wales.
Around 400 people were told to leave their properties near Coonamble in the north of the state as the Castlereagh River continued to spill out across fields around the town.
Local news agencies reported that people were unable to leave the town because it is cut off by floodwaters.
The water levels were expected to peak at 5.5 metres in the early hours of Monday morning.
Although the region is prone14 to flooding, one resident said he had never seen such severe conditions.
"I've lived here sixty years and this is as high as I've seen it. I've seen it within a foot of where it is now but it's as high as I've ever seen it here."
Flooding was also expected around the town of Gilgandra.
The area has experienced a week of rain, some of it left over from Cyclone15 Laurence which battered16 Australia's west coast in December.
Afghan President's Spokesman Reacts to Rejection of Cabinet Nominees
Afghan president Hamid Karzai's spokesman says the rejection of the president's Cabinet nominees is "not a very pleasant situation for the government," but shows Afghanistan has a pluralistic political system.
Waheed Omar, the president's spokesman, says Karzai was surprised by the rejections17, but adds that the vote is a sign of democracy in Afghanistan.
"The president is thinking about some kind of restructuring within the government, based on whatever views were expressed in this period, and he will definitely introduce new members to the cabinet at a proper time."
Afghanistan's parliament on Saturday rejected 70 percent of Karzai's nominees for a new cabinet.
The parliament has entrusted18 the acting19 ministers of defense20, interior and finance through the secret balloting21, but the justice, commerce, energy, economy, public health and communications portfolios22 were among the posts left vacant.
Iraqi Government to Pursue Blackwater Case
The Iraqi government has pledged to seek justice for 17 people shot dead in Baghdad in 2007, after an American judge's decision to throw out a case against a Blackwater security team accused in the killings23.
Ali al-Dabbagh, an Iraqi government spokesman, says Iraqi authorities will pursue the case.
"The government will prosecute25 the Blackwater security firm and chase this company to protect the rights of its citizens and the rights of the innocent victims. For the sake of justice, the Iraqi government will demand that the American judicial26 authorities and the U.S. Department of Justice reconsider the sentence and adopt all necessary measures to bring them to justice."
U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed the charges against the five on Thursday.
Blackwater is a private security contractor27 hired to protect U.S. State Department personnel in Iraq.
On September 16th, 2007, the Blackwater guards opened fire with automatic weapons and grenade launchers on unarmed Iraqi civilians28 in Baghdad after a car bomb exploded, killing24 17 and injuring 20 others.
British-flagged Ship Hijacked29 by Somali Pirates
Somali pirates hijacked a British-flagged vehicle carrier off the Somali coast late on Friday.
The Asian Glory was seized about 600 miles east off the Somali coast before it was due to join a convoy30 heading for the Gulf31 of Aden.
Andrew Mwangura is an official of the Kenya-based East Africa Seafarers' Association.
"A UK flag car carrier, Asian Glory, has been taken by pirates. She was taken by pirates while underway from Singapore heading to Jedda. On board are 25 crew and this crew are composed of Romanians, Bulgarians, Indians and Ukranians."
The official says it would take the ship two or three days to reach Somalia, and then negotiations32 for its release would be started.
It's the second British-flagged ship taken by the pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
The chemical tanker33 St James Park was seized on Monday. It had arrived off the pirate stronghold of Hobyo.
On Wednesday, Somali pirates hijacked a Singapore-flagged chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden.
Five Chinese sailors were among the 24 crew onboard.
Air Berlin Plane Comes off Runway, with No Injuries
An Air Berlin plane has come off the runway at Dortmund airport in western Germany but no one was injured.
The aircraft, with 165 passengers and six crew members on board, was headed for Spain's Canary Islands.
Guido Miletic is a Dortmund Airport spokesman.
"Before taking off, the pilot decided34 to abort35 the take-off. Then the aircraft rolled off the runway and now stands behind the runway. No passengers and no crew members have been injured. All could get off the plane by the stairs."
He added despite the snowy conditions the runway was fully36 operational at the time of the aborted37 takeoff.
Another airline spokeswoman said the pilot of the Boeing 737-800 had decided to abort the takeoff because of a "technical irregularity" that is still being examined.
She added that the passengers and their luggage were being taken to nearby Paderborn airport, from where another aircraft was to fly them to Las Palmas.
The airport was closed to allow for the aircraft's recovery, and other flights cancelled or diverted, according to its Web site.
Light News
Experts: 2010 is a Year of Hope for China
Chinese people have bathed in the festive38 atmosphere with the arrival of 2010. But some have begun to wonder what the new year will bring to China's vast population, and what will be achieved along the road of reform and development.
China is Ready for Shanghai 2010 Expo
With only four months left before the start of the 2010 Shanghai Expo, the construction of the event venues is in its final stages. In the meantime, the English version of Expo Shanghai Online has gone live.
China Becomes America's Largest Travel Market
The US travel market was hit hard in 2009 due to the influence of the global financial crisis, with the number of international travelers plummeting39. However, the increasing number of Chinese tourists offers a hope that a recovery could be around the corner.
Touch Screen Computers and 3-D Graphics40 to Dominate in 2010
Every year thousands of new computers hit the market, all promising41 to be better, faster and more powerful than previous generations.
2010 is already being tipped as the year for 3-D graphics, flexible computing42 and touch screens.
Tim Danton, Editor of PC Pro4 magazine, says touch screens are going to emerge alongside the traditional keyboard and mouse.
"And so one of the things we expect to see is for manufacturers to produce laptops and desktop43 monitors that support this technology. So, theoretically, you will be able to touch your PC, rather than just control it using their mouse and their keyboard."
What's more, manufacturers promise next year will see a 3-D revolution sweep the computing world.
Whether 3-D will make it in 2011 or not, it looks like this year the bar will be raised once more in computer design and technology.
Dubai to Open World's Tallest Building
Dubai is set to open the world's tallest structure on Monday, despite the city state's shaky financial footing.
But the final height of the Burj Dubai, Arabic for Dubai Tower, remained a closely guarded secret on the eve of its opening. At more than 800 metres, it long ago vanquished44 its nearest rival, the 508-meter high Taipei 101 in Taiwan.
The building boasts the most stories and highest occupied floor of any building in the world.
Dubai's ruler will open the building with a fireworks display on Monday evening.
But the Burj's opening comes at a tough time for Dubai's economy. Property prices in parts of the sheikdom have collapsed45 by nearly half over the past year.
Saud Masud is a senior analyst46 at UBS investment Bank in Dubai.
"Burj Dubai is obviously the ultimate symbol of the real estate boom that they have seen. And I don't see the economic down cycle being over in the next few quarters or in the next year or so. So I think the economic challenges or problems will persist in the face of a pretty awesome47, I would say, man made structure."
The city-state turned to its richer neighbour Abu Dhabi for a series of bailouts totalling 25 billion US dollars in 2009 to help cover debts amassed48 by a network of state-linked companies.
Burj developer Emaar is itself partly owned by the government, but is not among the companies known to have received emergency cash.
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rejection
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| n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃 | |
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nominees
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| n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 ) | |
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venues
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| n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点 | |
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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plummet
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| vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物 | |
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Celsius
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| adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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mishaps
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| n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 ) | |
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grid
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| n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅 | |
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electrified
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| v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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evacuate
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| v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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cyclone
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| n.旋风，龙卷风 | |
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battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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rejections
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| 拒绝( rejection的名词复数 )； 摒弃； 剔除物； 排斥 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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balloting
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| v.（使）投票表决( ballot的现在分词 ) | |
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portfolios
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| n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹 | |
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killings
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| 谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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contractor
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| n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌 | |
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civilians
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| 平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓 | |
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hijacked
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| 劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图） | |
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convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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tanker
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| n.油轮 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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abort
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| v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等) | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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aborted
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| adj.流产的，失败的v.（使）流产( abort的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（某事物）中止；（因故障等而）（使）（飞机、宇宙飞船、导弹等）中断飞行；（使）（飞行任务等）中途失败 | |
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festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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plummeting
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| v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 ) | |
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graphics
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| n.制图法，制图学；图形显示 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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computing
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| n.计算 | |
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desktop
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| n.桌面管理系统程序；台式 | |
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vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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analyst
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| n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家 | |
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awesome
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| adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的 | |
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amassed
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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