英闻天下——495 Violators of Smoke-free Zones Could Face Fines

 　　Beijing plans to excavate¹ waste buried in landfills, and to sort and incinerate it starting in 2015.

 

　　The move is aimed at improving the sustainability of landfills.

 

　　Relative officials on Monday revealed this at a conference held by the Beijing Commission of City Administration and Environment on Monday.

 

　　It's said once burned, solid waste will turn into ashes, thus taking up far less space. In this way, the stocked landfills can handle more waste in the coming years.

 

　　Liu Shenbo is chief engineer at a waste incineration power plant in Gaoantun village of Beijing.

 

　　He said relative chemicals like ammonia and nitrogen in the waste long buried have disintegrated² into the land, so excavating³ the waste will not cause severe air pollution.

 

　　China Daily

 

　　Violators of Smoke-free Zones Could Face Fines

 

　　According to a newly revised regulation on smoking ban in Shenzhen, people could face up to 500 yuan in fines if they light up in smoke-free zones in the city.

 

　　The draft also stipulates⁴ that businesses that sell tobacco to minors⁶ could face fines up to 20,000 yuan.

 

　　The revision also adds more penalties concerning the smoking ban.

 

　　For example, tobacco producers and sellers will be fined 100,000 yuan for giving free gifts, samples or promotion⁷ materials.

 

　　The management or owners of venues⁸ where smoking should be restricted will be fined 30,000 yuan for failing to set up smoking rooms, refusing to ban smoking, and not correcting their wrongdoings.

 

　　A legislative⁹ hearing for the bill will be held in May.

 

　　Daily Mail

 

　　The Russian city being 'eaten alive': Cars, buses, and trucks disappear beneath the earth as they are swallowed by giant sinkholes

 

　　Citizens of Samara, in south east Russia, live in fear of the ground literally¹⁰ disappearing beneath them after huge sinkholes have started to appear all over their city.

 

　　The yawning underground caverns¹¹ are all believed to have sprung up in recent weeks swallowing cars, buses and claiming at least one life.

 

　　The sinkholes, some large enough to swallow an entire truck, are believed to have been caused by ground subsidence.

 

　　It is thought the holes have been caused as ice thaws¹² and melts into the ground, with the excess water causing soil decay underneath¹³ Samara's roads.

 

　　The massive craters¹⁴ have appeared in car parks, busy intersections¹⁵, by the sides of roads, and on major and minor⁵ thoroughfares.

 

　　The citizens of the city have now signed a petition urging authorities to find a solution.

 

　　SIFY.com (India)

 

　　Month of birth impacts baby's immune system development

 

　　A new study shows newborn babies' immune system development and levels of vitamin D have been found to vary according to the month in which they were born.

 

　　In the study, samples of cord blood were taken from 50 babies born in November and 50 born in May between 2009 and 2010 in London.

 

　　The results showed that the May babies had around 20 percent lower vitamin D than those born in November.

 

　　Babies born in May had approximately double of these T-cells, compared to the sample of November babies.

 

　　T-cells are white blood cells which play a crucial role in the body's immune response by identifying and destroying infectious agents, such as viruses.

 

　　However, some T-cells are "auto-reactive" and capable of attacking the body's own cells, triggering auto-immune diseases, and should be eliminated by the immune system during its development.

 

　　The new research is done by scientists at Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Oxford¹⁶.

 

　　It's said this study could explain why babies born in May are at a higher risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis.

1 excavate   

vt.挖掘，挖出

参考例句：

• They plan to excavate a large hole.他们计划挖个大洞。
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs.一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。

2 disintegrated   

v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The plane disintegrated as it fell into the sea. 飞机坠入大海时解体了。
• The box was so old;it just disintegrated when I picked it up. 那箱子太破旧了，我刚一提就散了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 excavating   

v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• A bulldozer was employed for excavating the foundations of the building. 推土机用来给楼房挖地基。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. 一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。 来自辞典例句

4 stipulates   

n.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的名词复数 )；规定，明确要求v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的第三人称单数 )；规定，明确要求

参考例句：

• The trade contract stipulates for the settlement of balances in RMB. 贸易合同规定余额以人民币结算。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The contract stipulates for the use of seasoned timber. 合同上订明用干透的木料。 来自辞典例句

5 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

6 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

8 venues   

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

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

9 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 caverns   

大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Within were dark caverns; what was inside them, no one could see. 里面是一个黑洞，这里面有什么东西，谁也望不见。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• UNDERGROUND Under water grottos, caverns Filled with apes That eat figs. 在水帘洞里，挤满了猿争吃无花果。

12 thaws   

n.（足以解冻的）暖和天气( thaw的名词复数 )；（敌对国家之间）关系缓和v.（气候）解冻( thaw的第三人称单数 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化

参考例句：

• The sun at noon thaws the ice on the road. 中午的阳光很快把路上的冰融化了。 来自辞典例句
• It thaws in March here. 在此地化雪的季节是三月。 来自辞典例句

13 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

14 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 intersections   

n.横断( intersection的名词复数 )；交叉；交叉点；交集

参考例句：

• Traffic lights have been placed at all major intersections. 所有重要的交叉路口都安装了交通信号灯。
• Intersections are of the greatest importance in highway design. 在道路设计中，交叉口占有最重要的地位。 来自辞典例句

16 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。