新闻回顾

Athens Survived Fire, Can Its Government?

希腊大火被控制 执政党或受冲击

The efforts of thousands of Greek firefighters and soldiers combined with firefighting planes dispatched by Italy and France made progress against the worst wildfires around Athens in two years, creating optimism in Greece that the Athens suburbs are safe. But the electoral chances of Greece's conservative government, expected to face a new election next March, could suffer. In an election shortly after Greece's 2007 fires, the conservatives' majority in parliament was eroded, in part because of public anger at the handling of that crisis.

经过数千名希腊消防员和士兵的努力,加上有意法两国派出灭火飞机助阵,雅典附近两年来最严重的大火得到了控制,希腊人对雅典郊区的安全表示乐观。但希腊保守党政府获得选举胜利的机会可能因此受到影响,新的一场选举将于明年三月举行。2007年希腊也曾经发生火灾,在稍后的选举中,占多数的保守党失去了在议会中的部分席位,而原因之一就是公众对政府处理危机不力感到不满。

In the two years since, Greece has not added to its fleet of 21 fire-fighting planes. As the fires gathered steam, some mayors were reduced to calling TV stations and appealing for firefighting help, exposing a slow, poorly coordinated firefighting response from the government that echoed 2007. In August of 2007, a series of fires claimed 64 lives, burned 500,000 acres and caused about $1.6 billion in damage. Then, as now, there was speculation of dark intent and that the fires could cause the conservative government to fall. Polling at the time found that while Greeks were unhappy with the government's handling of the fires, they didn't believe the opposition would have done a better job.

希腊有21架灭火飞机,在2007年大火发生后的两年间,这一数量并没有增加。大火愈演愈烈,一些市长只能打电话给电视台,并请求支援,暴露了政府灭火行动缓慢,组织不力的问题,与2007年如出一辙。2007年8月,几场大火先后夺走64条生命,烧毁50万英亩土地,造成约16亿美元的损失。跟如今一样,当时人们怀疑有人蓄意纵火,大火还可能导致保守党政府倒台。那时的民调显示,希腊人不满政府应对火灾的措施,但也不相信反对党能做的更好。

Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras said the fires were part of an 'asymmetric threat' and that the country's intelligence and antiterrorism agencies were investigating. At least six people have been charged, and dozens more arrested, on suspicion of starting fires. Ordinary Greeks largely agree that a conspiracy is at work, but aren't sure who to blame. A poll conducted on behalf of a local television station and newspaper found that 67 percent of respondents believed the fires were part of an organized plan by arsonists. Of those, 31 percent blamed foreign forces and 26 percent thought land developers were responsible.

公共秩序部长拜伦•波利多拉斯表示,火灾属于“不对称威胁”,对此国家情报部门和反恐部门正在展开调查。由于涉嫌纵火,至少六人已被指控,数十人被捕。大多数希腊百姓都认为这是一场阴谋,但不知道应归咎于谁。一家地方电视台和报纸所做的民调显示,67%的受访者相信这是一次有组织的蓄意纵火。其中31%的人认为有国外力量作祟,26%的人认为房地产开发商有责任。

《基督教科学箴言报》

Project to Power Europe with Sahara Sun Gains Momentum

撒哈拉阳光普照欧洲?

A 400 billion plan to power Europe with sunlight from the Sahara is gaining momentum, despite warnings about starting a large corporate project using new technologies in countries of northern Africa where the rule of law is weak. Desertec, as the initiative is called, would be the world's most ambitious solar power project. Fields of mirrors in the desert would gather solar rays to boil water, turning turbines to electrify a new carbon-free network linking Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

尽管有人对用新技术在缺乏法治的北非兴建大型工程的做法提出告诫,但一项造价高达4000亿欧元的计划正蓄势待发,将用撒哈拉的阳光给欧洲带去电力。此项计划名为“沙漠科技”,将是全球最具雄心的太阳能发电站项目。沙漠中成片的太阳能面板将采集日光,然后烧水,驱动涡轮机,建立一个连通欧洲、中东和北非的无碳电网。

Its supporters - a dozen finance and industrial firms mostly from Germany - say that it would keep Europe at the forefront of the fight against climate change and help North African and European economies to grow within greenhouse gas emission limits. But critics warn of numerous pitfalls, including the politics of the Maghreb region, Saharan sandstorms and the risk to desert populations if their water is diverted to clean dust off solar mirrors. The detractors say that the concentrated solar power technology behind Desertec involves greater costs and risks than the fast-growing patchwork of smaller-scale photovoltaic cell installations that generate most of Europe's solar energy today.

计划的支持者是数十个金融与实业公司,大多来自德国。他们表示,此项计划将使欧洲站在应对气候变化斗争的最前线,同时帮助北非和欧洲在温室气体排放限制之下实现发展。但批评者警告说这个计划会遭遇诸多陷阱,如马格里布地区的政治、撒哈拉的沙尘暴,还有如果沙漠地区居民的用水被用来清洗太阳能板,他们就会构成威胁。还有人贬低说,“沙漠科技”所使用的集成太阳能技术比迅速发展的小型光伏电池成本更高,风险更大,而如今欧洲所使用的太阳能电大多为后者所发。

Desertec's founders are lured by the fact that more energy falls on the world's deserts in six hours than the world consumes in a year. 'The Sahara offers every advantage you want: proximity to Europe, virtually no population and more intense sunlight,' said George Joffe, a research fellow at Cambridge University. Desertec says the Sahara could one day deliver 15 percent of the electricity used by Europe, but company officials expect the plan to advance in small stages with completion around 2050. Still, supporters of more established solar energy technology, like photovoltaic cells, argue that decentralized generation will prove more popular. Falling prices for those cells would make the heavy infrastructure needed for Desertec's concentrated solar power unviable.

全世界的沙漠在六小时之内所吸收的能量比全世界一年所消耗的还多,“沙漠科技”的创始人就是为此所吸引。“撒哈拉的优势不胜枚举:靠近欧洲、人烟稀少、日照充足,”剑桥大学研究员乔治•乔弗说。根据此项计划,有朝一日,撒哈拉能提供欧洲15%的用电。但负责该计划的公司表示,他们将稳扎稳打,预计在2050年左右完工。尽管如此,支持光伏发电池等现成技术的人坚称,分散发电将更加受欢迎。随着光伏电池逐渐降价,“沙漠科技”所需要的大型集成发电设施将无用武之地。

路透社

Shanghai to Purge Itself of 'Chinglish'

上海同“中式英语”开战

Shanghai wants to wipe out mistranslations and mistakes in English, so-called 'Chinglish', before millions of visitors arrive for the World Expo next year. Teams of student volunteers have been assembled to scour the city for Chinglish and a website will shortly be launched to collect complaints, according to the city's Language Work Committee.

明年,将有数百万人参加上海世博会,在此之前上海想要消除错误的英语翻译和用法错误,也就说所谓的“中式英语”。上海语言文字工作委员会表示,已组织大量学生志愿者在城市到处寻找中式英语,不久后还将开通一家网站,搜集谏言。

At the Pearl Tower, one of Shanghai's most famous attractions, a sign forbids 'ragamuffin, drunken people and psychotic' from entering. Further instructions include: 'Prohibit carrying animals and the articles which disturb common sanitation' and a ban on 'dangerous germs, pests and other baleful biology'. Meanwhile, on the city's subway system, signs such as: 'If you take the phone on your waistband, as if to send money to the thief' or 'If you are stolen, call the police at once' are likely to vanish forever. Although public signs can be easily altered, there remains some doubt over whether officials can contain the spread of Chinglish among private businesses. Some stores boast that they are 'Cellular telephone is monopolied' while a problem using a computer translation tool led one restaurant to proclaim its name as 'Translate server error'.

在上海最著名的景点——东方明珠塔上,一个标识禁止“衣衫褴褛者、醉酒者和精神病人”入内。还有“禁止携带动物和影响公共卫生的物品”,禁止“危险细菌、害虫和其它有害生物”这样的标志。 “如果你在腰间携带手机,就好像扔钱给小偷”、“如果你被偷了,请立刻报警” 等上海地铁上的标志可能永远消失。虽然公共标识很容易就可以更改,但中式英语在私营单位内的传播是否能够得到控制却令人质疑。有些商店自我吹嘘是“手机垄断店”,而由于机器翻译工具出现故障,一家餐馆将其名字翻译成“翻译服务器错误”。

Zhang Ripei, an official on the Language Work Committee, said Chinglish signs were 'degrading' to the image of businesses in the city. However, he said the new rules would not be mandatory and there would be no punishment for firms that refused to correct their signage. One of the organisers of a student team, who named himself as Mr Yang, said: 'I think it's necessary to follow the standard norms, especially on public signs so that there is no confusion for first time visitors. The Chinglish signs are sometimes quite endearing to Shanghai people, but for visitors, especially foreign guests, they can be quite misleading.'

上海语言文字工作委员会官员张日培表示,中式英语“有碍”上海的商业形象。不过他表示,新规定并不具有强制性,对于拒绝改名的单位也没有惩罚。学生纠错小组中一名自称姓杨的组织者说:“我认为应该遵循标准规范,尤其是在公共标识上,以免给第一次来的游客造成困惑。有时上海人挺喜欢中式英语,但对于游客,尤其是外国游客,可能会造成误导。”

上海语言文字工作委员会官员张日培表示,中式英语“有碍”上海的商业形象。不过他表示,新规定并不具有强制性,对于拒绝改名的单位也没有惩罚。学生纠错小组中一名自称姓杨的组织者说:“我认为应该遵循标准规范,尤其是在公共标识上,以免给第一次来(上海)的游客造成困惑。有时上海人挺喜欢中式英语,但对于游客,尤其是外国游客,可能会造成误导。”

《每日电讯报》

Apple-shaped Women More Prone to Asthma Risk

苹果型身材女性更易患哮喘

Being overweight is well known to raise the risk of asthma. But the latest study suggests that the amount of weight women carry around the abdomen might be particularly important. The study, by the Northern California Cancer Centre, appears in the journal Thorax. The researchers analysed data on 88,304 female teachers and school administrators. The results showed that overweight women were 40% more likely to have asthma than women of a normal weight. But perhaps more surprisingly, the researchers also found that women of normal body weight, but with a waist circumference of more than 88cm were also at increased risk - around a third higher than those with a smaller waist.

众所周知,肥胖会增加哮喘的风险。但最新的研究表明,女性腹部重量对哮喘的影响可能更大。加州大学癌症研究中心的这项研究刊登在了英国《胸腔》杂志。研究人员分析了88,304名女性教师和学校管理人员的数据。结果显示,肥胖的女性患哮喘的可能性比体重标准的女性高40%。但可能更令人吃惊的是,研究人员还发现,腰围超过88厘米的女性,即使体重标准,患病的可能性也更高——大约比腰围小的女性高1/3。

Body mass index has been widely used as a standard measure of obesity. But some researchers argue that waist circumference may be a more useful measure because it more closely reflects levels of visceral fat deposits found around the body's organs. Visceral fat is metabolically different from other types of fat found in the body, and may have different - and more profound - effects on health. Researcher Julie said: "Visceral fat is metabolically more active - it can produce compounds that may cause inflammation. Inflammation may then be related to asthma."

人们普遍用体重指数衡量肥胖。但有些研究人员称,腰围或许能更好地衡量肥胖,因为它能更准确地反映身体器官附近所堆积的内脂肪有多少。内脂肪的新陈代谢与体内的其他脂肪不同,对健康的影响也不同,而且可能影响更大。研究员朱莉说:“内脂肪的新陈代谢更加活跃——它产生的化合物可能引发炎症。之后炎症可能会诱发哮喘。”

Leanne Metcalf, director of research at the Asthma UK, said the researchers had not taken into account other factors which might have influenced the development of asthma, such as a family history of the condition. However, she said: 'As this study involves such a large number of women, the results are likely to have some significance.' 'It is important that people with asthma eat a healthy, balanced diet, which is low in fat and sugar, and take regular exercise.' Dr Noemi Eiser, of the British Lung Foundation, agreed that the study reinforced the need for women to lead a healthy lifestyle and for them to be more aware of the health risks of having a large waist size.

英国哮喘研究协会研究主任琳妮•梅特卡夫表示,研究人员没有考虑可能影响哮喘发展的其他因素,如家庭病史。但她说:“由于此项研究涉及如此多的女性,结果可能有重要意义。”“哮喘患者的饮食要健康、均衡、低脂肪、低糖,还要经常锻炼,这些都很重要。”...英国肺脏基金会的诺诶米•伊瑟医生也认为,该研究再次强调了女性应该养成健康的生活方式,更加留意腰围粗大给健康带来的危险。

BBC