VOA慢速英语2021 印度在新冠肺炎恐慌中庆祝排灯节

Indians began celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, on Thursday. The celebration comes as the country is still dealing¹ with the coronavirus pandemic as well as rising air pollution.

印度人周四开始庆祝印度教的排灯节。这一庆祝活动来临之际，该国仍在应对新冠病毒大流行以及日益严重的空气污染。

Diwali is usually celebrated² by socializing and exchanging gifts with family and friends. Many light oil lamps or candles as a sign of the victory of light over darkness. They also set off fireworks as part of the celebrations.

排灯节通常通过与亲朋好友进行社交并交换礼物来庆祝。许多轻油灯或蜡烛被视为光明战胜黑暗的标志。作为庆祝活动的一部分，他们还会燃放烟花。

Last year, the celebrations were limited following a sharp increase of COVID-19 infections. The celebrations seem to be returning this year even though the government has asked people to avoid large gatherings³.

去年由于新冠肺炎感染人数急剧上升，庆祝活动受到了限制。尽管政府要求人们避免大型聚会，但是今年的庆祝活动似乎回归正常了。

In the northern city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state, people lit over 900,000 lamps and kept them burning for 45 minutes on Wednesday. Last year, the city lit about 600,000 lamps.

周三，在北方邦的北部城市阿约提亚，人们点燃了超过90万盏灯，并让其持续点亮了45分钟。去年该市大约点亮60万盏灯。

Along the Saryu River, thousands of visitors ignored coronavirus social distancing restrictions⁴ to watch the lights. People lit up their houses and temples as lasers and fireworks brightened the city's streets.

在萨尔尤河沿岸，数千名游客无视新冠病毒社交距离限制前来观灯。当激光和烟花照亮城市的街道，人们点亮了房屋和寺庙的灯光。

The festival is being celebrated at a time when India's pandemic crisis⁵ has largely decreased.

值此节日之际，印度的大流行危机大幅减轻。

On Thursday, the country recorded over 12,000 new coronavirus cases and 461 deaths. Earlier this year, India recorded a few hundred thousand new infections every day. The Health Ministry⁶ reported more than 35 million infections and over 459,000 deaths in the country so far.

周四，该国录得超过1.2万例新冠病毒感染病例和461例死亡病例。今年早些时候，印度每天录得数十万例新增感染病例。迄今为止，印度卫生部报告了超过3500万例感染病例和超过45.9万例死亡病例。

Last month, India injected its one billionth COVID-19 vaccine⁷, giving hope that life is returning to normal. More good news came Wednesday when the World Health Organization approved India's home-grown Covaxin vaccine for emergency use.

上个月，印度注射了第10亿剂次的新冠肺炎疫苗，这给人们恢复正常生活带来了希望。周三传来了更多好消息，世卫组织批准了印度本土的Covaxin疫苗的紧急使用。

Still, experts have warned that the festival season could bring a sharp increase in infections if COVID-19 health measures are not enforced.

然而专家警告说，如果不执行新冠肺炎卫生措施，这个节日季可能会导致感染人数急剧增长。

There are also worries over air pollution, which covers northern India under a dark smog as temperatures drop and winter settles in. On Diwali night, people also lit up the sky with fireworks adding to the pollution that could take days to clear.

人们还担心空气污染，随着气温下降和冬天来临，印度北部笼罩在黑色的烟雾当中。在排灯节之夜，人们还用烟花照亮天空，这加剧了污染，可能需要数天时间才能消除污染。

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

6 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。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。