(单词翻译:单击)
路透社新闻
【精彩回顾】》》》---今日心情:
--伦敦公交车秀肌肉做俯卧撑大显奥运力量
--美国警方转移并引爆枪击案犯住所内爆炸装置
--丹佛枪击案嫌犯照片曝光 系科罗拉多大学神经学博士生
1【Residents evacuated as China's Yangtze River floods】长江流域洪水犯难居民紧急撤离
播放后点击【REPLAY】重播
TEXT:Authorities evacuate residents of China's south-west city of Chongqing by boat, as the Yangtze River reached its peak, flooding into local neighbourhoods. Heavy rains sweeping across China since Friday have caused severe flooding, leaving 111 people dead and another 47 missing, according to Chinese state media. Starting Monday morning, the flood waters left hundreds of locals stranded in Chongqing's Yongchuan district. Rescue operations continued through Monday night and into Tuesday. Natural disasters caused by the storms have affected about 9.2 million people and forced almost 1.2 million residents to evacuate, state media reported. Sarah Sheffer, Reuters
参考译文:随着长江流域水位到达最高值，洪水涌入到当地居民社区，当局政府通过船只对中国西南城市重庆的居民进行疏散转移。据中国国家电视台报道，自周五以来的巨大降雨量已经引发多处洪灾，已造成111人死亡另有47人失踪。从周一早晨开始，重庆永川县的数百名当地居民就因洪水被困。营救工作一直从周一晚上持续到周二。据国家电视台报道，此次由风暴引发的自然灾害已经导致920万人受灾，120万人被迫撤离。
2【Apple disconnected by upcoming iPhone】新一代iPhone即将推出 苹果销售利润适得其反
TEXT:It's the kind of triple play Wall Street doesn't like to hear: blue chips posting a triple-digit loss for a third day in a row, as economic melancholy sets in. The Dow slumped 104 points but closed off the lows of the day. Apple adds to the downbeat tone of earnings season. It sold fewer iPhones than expected as customers prepare for iPhone 5 likely to come later this year. Since iPhones account for about half of Apple's quarterly revenues - sales and profits for the quarter missed forecasts by a wide margin. A 50 percent gain in the stock since the start of the year, makes Apple the stock of the day, but expect a pullback when the opening bell sounds on Wednesday. Netflix was also a let down. The company added only 530,000 new streaming subscribers in the second quarter, which was below high-end guidance of 800,000. That's disappointing given a Facebook posting by its CEO earlier this month that viewers watched a record 1 billion hours of streaming media. Aside from the subscriber numbers: profits were way better-than-expected and revenues were up as forecast. AT&T is cutting back on subsidies for smartphones like the iPhone. That extra cash helped the No. 2 U.S. mobile service provider beat higher profit forecasts. But customers switching from unlimited data to tiered data plans didn't boost sales as much as anticipated. United Parcel Service - delivering a lower outlook for the year. A sharp drop-off in more profitable shipments from Asia, a big problem for the world's top package shipper. And DuPont is tempering full-year expectations with strength in the Americas still managing to offset what's going on everywhere else. On the European front - Germany could lose its AAA credit rating, Moody's warned the day before, which could cause borrowing costs for Europe's biggest and most stable economy to rise, potentially throwing Europe further into chaos. Shares ended down but most of the pain was felt in Spain and Italy. Conway Gittens, Reuters.
参考译文:华尔街似乎不喜欢这种三杀模式：随着经济日渐不景气，蓝筹股市公布连续三天损失达三位数。道琼斯指数暴跌104点，当天以最低点收盘。苹果公司本季度虽有盈利但仍感悲观。因消费者顾盼今年年底可能推出的iPhone5其销售量比预期要少，且由于iPhones的销售几乎占到了苹果公司季度盈利的一半，因此本季度苹果公司销售和利润与预期相差很大。自从今年年初苹果公司股票增长达50%，使苹果公司首屈一指，但周三的开盘预期其股票将有所回落。Netflix同样不景气，第二季度只增加了530,000新流动用户，这远低于高端指导的800,000。若鉴于Facebook首席执行官本月前期公布其流式媒体观看量达创纪录的10亿小时，Netflix的数据足以令人失望。暂且抛开用户数量：利润还是远远大于预期的且其收益也比预期要高。AT&T正着手削减对使用iPhone类智能手机用户的补贴。这项额外的补贴帮助美国这第二大移动服务提供商比预期获得更高的利润。尽管用户消费模式已由非限制性模式向套餐式转变，但这并没有比预期带来更大的销量。美国联合快递服务公司也下调了对全年的预期。来自亚洲地区较高利润的货物急剧减少，对于这个世界上最大的快递服务商这是一个很大的症结。此外凭借在美国消费者中的优势回缓了全年的预期，但仍需设法抵消在其他地方的损失。对于欧洲形势，德国可能会丢失其AAA信誉评级，穆迪在之前一天发出过警告，这有可能是这个欧洲最大最稳定的经济体借贷成本增加，潜在的将欧洲经济陷入进一步混乱。欧洲股市收盘下跌，但最痛苦的莫过于西班牙和意大利了。
3【Tension at Cuban dissident's funeral】古巴不同政见者的葬礼上弥漫着紧张气氛
TEXT:An undercurrent of tension as Cubans gathered for funeral services for dissident Oswaldo Paya in Havana. Paya's family say they're suspicious about the circumstances of the car crash that led to Paya's death. Rosa Maria Paya, Oswaldo Paya's daughter saying: "We still can't believe my dad is dead. We don't understand the circumstances and we have serious doubts that it was an accident." An investigation into the crash is underway. In a statement, the Cuban government called the crash "lamentable," saying the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree. As hundreds of activists, diplomats and friends prepared to accompany Paya's family to the cemetery, dozens of dissidents were herded onto a bus by police and driven away. It isn't immediately clear what happened to the detainees, though usually they are quickly released without charges. Paya led a 2002 petition drive which gathered 25,000 signatures for a referendum on one-party rule. While it was rejected, Paya emerged as a leading advocate peaceful democratic change in Cuba. Deborah Gembara, Reuters
参考译文:在古巴首都哈瓦那人们集聚在不同政见者Oswaldo Paya的葬礼上，现场弥漫着紧张的气氛。Paya的家人称他们对是车祸导致Paya死亡的说法表示怀疑。Oswaldo Paya的女儿Rosa Maria Paya说：“我们仍然不相信父亲的死亡。我们不了解当时的情况，并且对这是一场意外我们很是怀疑。”目前这起撞车事故仍在调查中。在一项声明中，古巴政府称这起事故是“另人悲痛的”，司机因失去对车的控制撞在了一颗树上。数百名活动分子，外交官以及朋友准备陪同Paya的家人到墓地上，其中数十名不同政见者被警方押集在一辆巴士上带走。尽管通常这些居留者会无罪释放，但目前还不清楚他们的情况。Paya在2012年召集25,000人联合签署请愿书要求一党制。尽管这项请愿遭到拒绝，但Paya已成为倡导古巴和平民主变革的领袖。
4【Syrians pour into Lebanon】叙利亚难民涌入黎巴嫩
TEXT:Syrian refugees arriving in Lebanon by the car load. They're fleeing what they say is an ever worsening situation back home. UNINDETIFIED SYRIAN REFUGEE, SAYING: "The situation after the incident where the officers were killed was such that there was no more bread, no more water or electricity, even in the heart of Damascus. People started seeing shelling which they didn't believes was happening before in other provinces, so they were seeing helicopters in Damascus and listening to their sounds at night. Violence in the Syrian capital signaled that no part of the country would remain untouched by the fighting. It prompted many to jump in their cars and make the two hour trip from Damascus to the border. The UN estimates that as many as 30,000 refugees have crossed into Lebanon in the last week alone. Deborah Gembara, Reuters.
参考译文:叙利亚难民搭载汽车进入黎巴嫩。他们称其正在逃离一个不断恶化的国内境况。一名未透露姓名的叙利亚难民说：“自官员被杀后情况是这样的，那里没有多余的面包，没有多余的水电，即使是在大马士革的中心城区。人们开始亲眼目睹炮击事件，之前他们不相信在其它省发生过，他们能看见直升机在大马士革上空，晚上也能听见直升机飞过的声音。叙利亚首都的暴力事件传达这样的信号—目前在叙利亚已没有不受战乱之地了。这种形势促使许多人驾车从大马士革历经两小时到达黎巴嫩边境。联合国估计仅在上周就有30,000多人越境进入黎巴嫩。
注：本节目每天选取各大外文网站最新热门视频，原滋原味。因视频来源于外文网，所以链接或缓冲时间有时可能会偏长，请耐心等待。如果对选材难易程度或安排方面有任何意见，欢迎留言讨论。
VOA常速新闻
【Political Bickering Threatens US Economy, Again】
视频下载（点击右键另存为）
TEXT:WASHINGTON — A year ago, many Americans were appalled when partisan bickering between opposition Republicans and President Barack Obama’s Democratic Party pushed the nation to the brink of default on its massive debts. The political gridlock prompted a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating.
The country now faces even greater financial problems in the midst of a hyper-partisan atmosphere as November's presidential election approaches.
During the debt ceiling debate, a popular newspaper portrayed leading politicians from the two parties as whining brats in diapers.
Washington was nearly paralyzed by bickering as it tried to make tough political and financial decisions.
Related Video Report - Click to View
The squabbling prompted Standard & Poor's to make an unprecedented cut in the U.S. credit rating.
“There had been significant deterioration recently on both the political and fiscal front -- on the fiscal front, in terms of the government indebtedness as a share of the economy, and on the political side in terms of the willingness to arrest that deterioration,” said Nikola Swann, a key S&P analyst.
Economists say the polarization inherent to this year’s election campaigns could make Washington’s dysfunctional politics even worse.
Last year’s congressional debate focused on efforts to raise the legal limit on what the U.S. government can borrow to fund its deficits and debt.
The squabbling worried some investors even when It ended with a deal that put off some tough political and financial decisions.
So Congress has to deal with the debt ceiling again and also agree on what to do about tax cuts set to expire at the end of this year.
Without a deal, the government faces drastic spending cuts that will hit both the military and popular social programs.
U.S. central bank Chairman Ben Bernanke says that could push the nation back into recession.
“If the full range of tax increases and spending cuts were allowed to take effect, a scenario widely referred to as the fiscal cliff, a shallow recession would occur early next year and about 1-1/4 million fewer jobs would be created in 2013,” Bernanke said.
Brookings Institution economic scholar Phillip Wallach says he expects that Democrats and Republicans in Congress will work something out, eventually.
“The Republican leadership compromised just enough to make sure they got a deal done at the last minute, and if you were [willing to make a wager] you would probably say that’s what will happen again the next time around because they don’t want to be responsible for plunging the economy into chaos,” Wallach said.
So Congress and the President have just a few months to finish the difficult task of reaching agreement on spending and taxes in ways that do not damage the economy.
VOA慢速新闻
【Microsoft Competes Against Apple With New Tablet】
TEXT：This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
Microsoft has announced its first tablet computer. It is called the Surface, and it is designed to compete directly with the popular Apple iPad.
微软已经发布了其首款被称为Surface的平板电脑，其目的旨在与苹果iPad直接竞争。
The computer software maker announced its new tablet last Monday at a media event in Los Angeles. Microsoft will offer two versions of the Surface. Each has a different processor. The Surface for Windows RT runs on an ARM processor. It is less powerful than the Surface for Windows 8 Pro, which uses an Intel processor.
上周一，该计算机软件制造商在洛杉矶的媒体发布会上发布了其新平板电脑。微软为Surface提供了两个版本，每个版本有不同的处理器。其中Windows RT版本采用ARM处理器，该处理器没有Windows 8 Pro版本使用的Inter处理器强大。
The RT is also thinner and weighs less than the Pro. Either tablet weighs no more than nine hundred three grams. Both have screens that are about twenty-seven centimeters in size. That is a little bigger than the iPad’s screen.
RT版本还比Pro版本更薄更轻。任一款款平板电脑的重量都不超过930克，也都拥有27厘米大小的屏幕。这比iPad的屏幕大一点。
Microsoft has not said exactly when the new Surface will appear in stores. But, it is expected to be sometime in September or October. This is about the same time that the company plans to release its new Windows 8 computer operating system.
微软并没有说新Surface什么时候开始销售。但是，预计会在9月或10月的某一时点，和该公司计划发布新的Windows 8 计算机操作系统大约在相同的时间。
Brenda Estrella owns a laptop computer. She has been considering switching to a tablet.
Brenda Estrella有一台笔记本电脑。她一直在考虑改用平板电脑。
BRENDA ESTRELLA: "iPad for me is more of an entertainment device, like I see a lot of people carrying it around or taking pictures on it. For me, it's not that practical, so if Microsoft is coming out with a tablet that actually you can like type, and actually do different things other than just swipe, then that would be better for me."
BRENDA ESTRELLA：“对我来说，iPad更多是一种娱乐设备，像我看到很多人随身拿着iPad，或使用它拍照。对于我来说，这不够实用。所以如果微软将推出一款大家喜欢类型的平板电脑，可以做很多不同的事情，而不仅仅是滑屏，那就会更加适合我。”
Fox Van Allen is a technology expert. He agrees the Surface seems to have more to offer than the iPad.
Fox Van Allen是一名技术专家。他认同Surface似乎比iPad提供了更多功能。
FOX VAN ALLEN: "It's a very interesting new device. I think the key point here is that it's not just another iPad. It's a device that almost serves as a replacement for a PC."
FOX VAN ALLEN：“这是一个非常有趣的新设。我认为这里的关键点是，它不是另一个iPad，而是一种几乎能够取代个人电脑的设备。”
Many technology lovers, including Catherine Clinch, are excited about the new tablet.
许多科技爱好者，包括Catherine Clinch都对这款新平板电脑感到兴奋。
CATHERINE CLINCH: "The applause moments were on things that I think were predictable -- wow it stands by itself, you don't have buy a stand. It’s all together, the keyboard folds over, it’s a cover -- all those wonderful things. But when I look at this what I think of is the potential to get rid of the netbook, to get rid of the laptop, to maybe even down the line get rid of the full computer."
CATHERINE CLINCH：“掌声来自于那些我认为可以预见的事情上，哇，例如它自身就可以立起来，你无需购买底座。它是一体的，键盘折叠上就是屏幕保护套，还有其它精彩的部分。但当我看到这些，我想到的是它能够摆脱上网本，摆脱笔记本电脑，摆脱完整计算机的那种潜力。”
The Surface is meant to compete with the iPad. But not everyone is sure it is a better product. This includes iPad user John Ayala.
Surface是为了与iPad竞争。但并非所有人都相信它是一个更好的产品。其中就包括iPad用户John Ayala。
JOHN AYALA: “Would I buy one over an iPad? No. I like Apple products right now. I am glad there is a competitor and I am glad there is an alternative, but I am sticking with Apple.”
JOHN AYALA：“我会不会越过iPad买一台Surface？不，我现在喜欢苹果的产品。我很高兴有了一个竞争对手，有了另一种选择，但我坚决使用苹果。”
For years, Microsoft made software, not computers. A few earlier attempts by the company to make and sell hardware products failed. That included the Zune music player. It could not compete against Apple’s iPod.
多年来，微软生产的是软件而不是电脑。该公司较早前尝试制造和销售硬件均告失败。这包括Zune音乐播放器，它无法抗衡苹果的iPod。
Estimates place the value of the tablet computer market at about seventy-nine billion dollars this year. Microsoft hopes to capture a share of that market with its latest device.
估计今年平板电脑市场价值大约790亿美元。微软希望通过最新的Surface产品抢占部分市场份额。
词汇解析
1.melancholy
n.忧郁, 悲哀
All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.
他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
adj.忧郁的, 悲伤的
He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.
这次考试没通过, 他感到很郁闷。
2.downbeat
adj.消沉的; 悲观的; 抑制的
3.pullback
n.撤退,拉回,障碍物
A pullback for heavy draperies.
拉重幔帐的挂钩
Such a pullback may already be taking shape.
消费者购买力受损的情况或已初见端倪。
Problems of "pushdown" and "pullback" on a commutative ring
交换环上的“下降”问题和“上升”问题
4.temper
n.脾气, 性情, 心境
She has a naturally sweet temper.
她生性和蔼可亲。
〈非正〉恶劣的心情, 烦躁；韧度
The temper of the steel is right.
这钢的韧度正合适。
5.undercurrent
n.潜流;暗流；潜在的感情、影响或倾向(尤指与表面相反的)
an undercurrent of hostility
心怀敌意
6.petition
n.(许多人签名的向当权者提出某种要求的)请愿书
Everyone signed the petition to the County Council for a new school in our village.
大家在致县委会的请愿书上签了名, 要求在我们村里办一所新学校。
7.referendum
n.(就某政治问题的)公民投票
Is it more truly democratic to hold a referendum?
举行公民投票是否真的更民主呢？
