英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable0901 - 适宜步行的城市

 Topic1 School Bus UnusedToday the new semester begins. In rural areas, many kids need to take a bus to school. We all know the shortage of qualified¹ school buses in rural schools. However, in Zhejiang, 52 brand-new school buses have been unused for more than a year.

Do we know what happened?

Topic2 Shanghai encourages uni professors to teach undergraduatesMany Chinese university undergraduates consider it a luxury to have senior professors as their teachers, for it has always been the younger lecturers who give them lessons.

Now that's about to change in Shanghai as the local education authority tries to encourage more professors to teach undergraduates.

A pilot program is launched among eight local universities starting from September.

Is there a problem with professors not teaching undergrads?

Topic3 Opinions split on relevance² of cord bloodThere are always two opinions on storing cord blood. Some experts believe that the chance of a person to use his or her cord blood for blood diseases is too few while the cost is high. Others argue that saving one's own cord blood has its benefits as it helps in the development of regeneration medicine while also benefitting siblings³ and other family members.

Why is there the controversy⁴?

Topic4 Walkable cities in ChinaTo walk around a city is to experience its true essence—its soul, if you will. But walking to work or to have some important things done by foot in some Chinese cities is not as achievable as in others.

A survey of 35 Chinese cities has shown that the Chinese capital city Beijing isn't one of the walk-friendly cities in the country, while topping the list is the Hong Kong SAR.

The survey is conducted by New York City-based environmental group Natural Resources Defense⁵ Council.

What's a walkable city?

Topic5 Driving school feesHuanggang city in central China's Hubei Province has set a price ceiling for all the procedures needed to get a driver's license⁶.

The new rule says it shouldn't cost more than 3,830 yuan per person to get a driver's license, which involves driving school trainings and relevant tests.

The move is aimed at regulating the fraudulent charging practices by driving schools.

Is there a problem?

Topic6 People who throw rubbish on the road while driving will be finedShenzhen traffic police regulated that people who throw garbage while driving on the road will be fined 500 yuan. And as a reward, citizens who report this will also be given 500 yuan.

Do you think this will be effective in combating uncivilized behavior on the road?

What's the new regulation?

1 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

2 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

3 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 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。

6 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。