Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-04-30

Pro-Russian activists¹ storm administration buildings in Luhansk
Hundreds of pro-Russian activists have stormed administration buildings in Luhansk, one of the largest cities in eastern Ukraine.
They are seeking a referendum on granting greater authority to Ukraine's regions.
The move further raises tensions in the eastern part of the country, where activists have seized control of government buildings in at least 10 cities and towns.
Ukraine authorities say the government has already begun the process of decentralizing state power, but pro-Russia activists have no intention of fulfilling the Geneva agreement.
Earlier this month, Ukraine and Russia agreed on tentative steps to halt violence and calm tensions in eastern Ukraine.
However, Ukrainian military are trying to encircle the city of Slovyansk as seven military observers have been held hostage by pro-Russia activists.
Ukraine and Russia have been blaming each other for the rising tensions.
The US and EU have imposed another round of sanctions against Russia.
 
Iran ready for nuclear deal: Iran President
Iran's President, Hassan Rouhani, says Iran is ready for a nuclear agreement if other parties are also ready.
The comment comes ahead of expert-level nuclear talks between Iran and major powers to be held in New York next month.
Rouhani also says repairing ties with the U.S will require more time.
Iran and six major powers, including the U.S. and China, struck an interim² deal last year, in which Tehran agreed not to expand its nuclear program for six months.
The parties have set a July deadline to clinch³ a long-term deal.
 
DPRK starts live-fire drill near inter-Korean border: YTN
A live-fire drill by North Korea along its disputed maritime⁴ border with South Korea on the west side of the Peninsula came to an abrupt⁵ end today, just minutes after it first began.
The South Korean side says the North fired off around 50 artillary shells for about 10-minutes this afternoon before abruptly⁶ brining the exercise to an end.
None of the North's shots penetrated⁷ South Korean-controlled waters.
Despite this, the exercise did put South Korea's defense⁸ ministry⁹ on alert.
The live-fire exercises come around a month after the DPRK conducted similar drills in the area, which culminated¹⁰ in the two sides trading shots at one-another.
 
Fresh wave of violence erupts in Syria ahead of election
A fresh wave of violence has hit Syria ahead of a presidential election set for June 3rd.
At least 37 people were killed in an explosion in the city of Homs on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, at least 14 students were killed when mortar¹¹ shells hit a religious school in central Damascus.
A second shelling has also been reported but the number of casualties has not been disclosed.
The violence comes after President Bashar al-Assad registered his candidacy in the upcoming election, defying calls to step down.
 
Audio of conversation between air traffic control and missing plane's crew
Malaysian officials have for the first time revealed the audio communication between the missing flight MH370's cockpit and air traffic controllers to relatives of passengers in Beijing.
The conversation in English established communication between Mh370's cockpit and the radar¹² unit in a control tower.
The hunt for MH370 has entered a new phase with eliminated surface searches, and will focus instead on an underwater sonar search for clues to the missing plane.
 
S. Korean president apologizes for ferry disaster
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has issued an official apology for the South Korean ferry disaster.
Park has also visited the joint¹³ memorial altar in Ansan to mourn the victims.
So far 193 bodies have been pulled from the sunken ferry.
109 others are still trapped below the surface.
In the wake of the ferry disaster, Park has promised to create a new "National Safety Office" tasked with dealing¹⁴ with large-scale emergencies.
South Korean prosecutors¹⁵ have charged all 15 crew members from the sunken ship with dereliction of duty for not helping¹⁶ passangers off the sinking ship.
 
Record carmakers, visitors attracted in Beijing auto¹⁷ show
The Beijing International Automotive Exhibition has come to an end.
The number of carmakers and visitors to this year's event hit record highs over the ten-day show.
The exhibition featured a lot of high-tech¹⁸ designs this year, including car networking technology based on cloud computing¹⁹ and automobile²⁰ multimedia²¹ systems.
71 concept vehicles and 79 new energy sedans were displayed at the show.
 
Beijing to raise tap water price in May
The local regulator says that the cost of household water in Beijing will rise Tomorrow according to a new multi-tier pricing plan.
According to the plan, the lowest tier water price will rise from 4 yuan to 5 yuan per cubic meter, starting on May 1st.
That's for households with annual consumption rates of less than 180 cubic meters, which covers 90 percent of households.
Those with annual water consumption between 180 and 260 cubic meters will be charged 7 yuan per cubic meter. The water price for annual consumption over 260 cubic meters will rise to 9 yuan per cubic meter.
Under the new pricing system, industrial consumption will increase 2 yuan to over eight yuan per cubic meter.
Beijing has suffered water shortages for a number of decades. The city has only 100 cubic meters of water available per person locally, or one-tenth of the United Nations "danger threshold".

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

3 clinch   

v.敲弯，钉牢；确定；扭住对方 [参]clench

参考例句：

• Clinch the boards together.用钉子把木板钉牢在一起。
• We don't accept us dollars,please Swiss francs to clinch a deal business.我方不收美元，请最好用瑞士法郎来成交生意。

4 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

5 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

6 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

7 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 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。

10 culminated   

v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• a gun battle which culminated in the death of two police officers 一场造成两名警察死亡的枪战
• The gala culminated in a firework display. 晚会以大放烟火告终。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

12 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

13 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

14 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。

15 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

18 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

19 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

20 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

21 multimedia   

adj.多种手段的，多媒体的；n.多媒体

参考例句：

• Multimedia is the combination of computer and video technology.多媒体是计算机和视频技术的结合。
• Adam raised the issue of multimedia applications and much useful discussion ensued.亚当提出了多媒体应用的问题，从而引发了许多有益的讨论。