英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable1113 - 关于取消死刑的那些事儿

 Topic1 China Cancels Death Penalty on 9 Crimes China is soliciting¹ public opinions online on the 9th amendment² of the Criminal Law, and so far over 37,000 pieces of suggestions have been gathered, most of which concerns the changes on death penalty.

The new amendment eliminates the death penalty for nine non-violent crimes.

The nine crimes are smuggling³ of weapons and ammunition⁴, the smuggling of nuclear materials, the smuggling of counterfeit⁵ money, counterfeiting⁶, fraudulent financing, organizing prostitution, forcing people into prostitution, obstructing⁷ military duties, and fabricating rumors⁸ during wartime.

To help us better understand the issue, we now have Dr. Jiang Su, Assistant Professor of Law at Peking University Law School in the studio with us.

Topic2 Revenge Smog to come after APEC BlueRecently an article from Foreign Policy quoted a weibo post written by Beijing-based columnist⁹ Zhang Shanshan, which says "after 'APEC blue,' I predict there will be 'revenge smog'."Why does she say so? Does she have a point?

Topic3 Students in International Class Get Better TreatmentRecently, a parent in Huhan complains that while her son visits a museum and eats bread on a lawn in the school's autumn fieldtrip, some students from the international class play golf and have buffet¹⁰.

Should the parent complain?

Topic4 Happy people talk more small talk?

An article is getting popular on China's social websites that quotes psychologists as saying that those who spend more time on small talk are happier than those who don't.

According to the article, if 90% of what you say is small talk, then you are happy. People are not happy if their meaningless nonsense talk only makes less than 50% of what they say every day.

An example of such meaningless small talk? "The weather is nice".

Do you agree?

1 soliciting   

v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求

参考例句：

• A prostitute was soliciting on the street. 一名妓女正在街上拉客。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• China Daily is soliciting subscriptions. 《中国日报》正在征求订户。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 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。

3 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

4 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

5 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

6 counterfeiting   

n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was sent to prison for counterfeiting five-dollar bills. 他因伪造5美元的钞票被捕入狱。 来自辞典例句
• National bureau released securities, certificates with security anti-counterfeiting paper technical standards. 国家质量技术监督局发布了证券、证件用安全性防伪纸张技术标准。 来自互联网

7 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

8 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

10 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？