英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable0122 - 果壳网之年终10大问题

 Topic1 China to better supervise minors¹' guardianshipChina plans to roll out new laws by the end of this year to increase protection of minors in the wake of a series of child abuse cases last year.

The Supreme³ People's Court, the Ministry⁴ of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security and several other related departments are working together to establish a legal mechanism⁵ that would deprive abusive or negligent⁶ parents of their custody⁷ rights in the event of such cases.

A Xinhua report says the proposed "underage intervention⁸ mechanism" aims to close existing legal loopholes in terms of protecting children and strengthening family guardianship².

Is there a crisis?

Topic2 Combining Primary and Middle School EducationThis September, nine-year primary/middle schools will be added to Dongcheng District in Beijing. The aim is to alleviate⁹ the pressure to compete for spots at top-tier primary schools as a steppingstone to prestigious¹⁰ middle schools.

The district just launched its compulsory¹¹ education comprehensive reform this week, and the nine-year school plan is part of it. Is this a necessary move?

Topic3 Prices of lucky cellphone numbers skyrocket againEnthusiasm in China for "lucky" mobile phone numbers has returned, pushing the prices of some numbers to shocking heights.

A newsstand-owner in Beijing's Dongcheng district says lucky cell numbers are priced at more than 1,000 yuan, or 165 US dollars each, and a number with the last four digits¹² 0666 costs about 12,000 yuan.

Sometimes, a good number can cost as much as an apartment within the fourth ring road in Beijing.

Does it really make sense to spend huge on a number that's supposedly to be lucky?

Topic4 Chinese immigrates¹³, taking 2.8 trillion yuan with themOver the past 23 years, 10 million Chinese people have migrated to other countries, taking more than 2.8 trillion yuan of assets with them. This is from the newest report released by Center for China and Globalization.

What can we tell from this report?

Topic5 Chinese Culture ExportWhen the word Superhero is mentioned, all people can think of are American superheroes like Superman, Ironman, Spiderman, Captain America and Green Lantern. But what about a Chinese superhero dressed in Qin Dynasty armor, the terra cotta warrior¹⁴? Like it or not, it's going to be the hero in a 2015 film, co-produced by Chinese and US studios.

Is it just another attempt to combine western interest with Chinese culture, in order to export Chinese cultural product overseas?

Topic6 Top 10 Question of 2013 on Guokr.comGuokr.com is a famous Chinese website for popular science lovers. The website's own mission statement says it provides credible¹⁵ contents which aim to make science interesting and part of people's daily life. But some netizens jokingly say that Guokr stands for the stupidity of typical geeks who dissect¹⁶ everything, refusing any aesthetics¹⁷ of life; they never understand why people use Estee Lauder when there is Vaseline.

1 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》

2 guardianship   

n. 监护, 保护, 守护

参考例句：

• They had to employ the English language in face of the jealous guardianship of Britain. 他们不得不在英国疑忌重重的监护下使用英文。
• You want Marion to set aside her legal guardianship and give you Honoria. 你要马丽恩放弃她的法定监护人资格，把霍诺丽娅交给你。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 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。

5 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

6 negligent   

adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的

参考例句：

• The committee heard that he had been negligent in his duty.委员会听说他玩忽职守。
• If the government is proved negligent,compensation will be payable.如果证明是政府的疏忽，就应支付赔偿。

7 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

8 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

9 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

10 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

11 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

12 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 immigrates   

v.移入( immigrate的第三人称单数 )；移民

参考例句：

• Ancient English comes from earlier period earlier period German person's tribe which immigrates to Albion. 古英语来源于移民到英格兰的早期早期日耳曼人部落。 来自互联网

14 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

15 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

16 dissect   

v.分割；解剖

参考例句：

• In biology class we had to dissect a frog.上生物课时我们得解剖青蛙。
• Not everyone can dissect and digest the public information they receive.不是每个人都可以解析和消化他们得到的公共信息的。

17 aesthetics   

n.(尤指艺术方面之)美学，审美学

参考例句：

• Sometimes, of course, our markings may be simply a matter of aesthetics. 当然，有时我们的标点符号也许只是个审美的问题。 来自名作英译部分
• The field of aesthetics presents an especially difficult problem to the historian. 美学领域向历史学家提出了一个格外困难的问题。