花式英语

Apple, Google to Launch Contact Tracing Technology for Phones

苹果、谷歌启动手机联系人追踪

Apple and Google have teamed up to launch a mobile phone tool to follow the contacts of people infected with coronavirus.

The technology is a form of “contact tracing”, a method used to identify people who may have had contact with infected individuals in an attempt to prevent additional spread of disease.

Health officials say the method is an effective way to help slow the spread of highly contagious viruses.

The current coronavirus, which is affecting much of the world, causes the disease COVID-19. Many carriers of the virus do not know they have it because they have no immediate signs of illness. They could be spreading the virus unknowingly. Contact tracing is a way to identify others who may have been infected.

来源：VOA

Astronomers Identify ‘Missing Link’ Mid-Sized Black Hole

宇航员发现中等规模黑洞

Scientists have identified a mid-sized black hole that could be the "missing link" to help us better understand these mysterious space objects.

Researchers used data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and two X-ray observatories to find the black hole, which was in the process of destroying a nearby star.

Black holes are extremely dense objects possessing gravitational pulls so powerful that not even light can escape.

The newly identified black hole is more than 50,000 times the mass of our sun. It sits about 740 million light years from Earth in a galaxy containing far fewer stars than our Milky Way. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion kilometers.

新闻来源：路透社

Famous Chefs Help Feed Hungry, Support Closed Restaurants

纽约主厨为人们提供餐食

When Jose Andres first came to New York City, he was a young soldier in the Spanish navy. Many years later, he is an award-winning chef.

Andres now owns a large food business on the same New York street where he landed as a sailor. The famous chef recently announced plans to serve 40,000 meals to New Yorkers across the city, which is now the center of America's COVID-19 epidemic.

Andres has several restaurants, including one with two Michelin awards, Somni. In 2010, he opened his not-for-profit World Central Kitchen to serve food to victims of disasters.

新闻来源：AP

Sanders Ends Campaign, Biden Likely to Face Trump

桑德斯退出，拜登可能直面特朗普

United States Senator Bernie Sanders ended his presidential campaign on Wednesday. The move leaves former Vice President Joe Biden as the likely Democratic Party nominee to face President Donald Trump in November. Trump belongs to the Republican Party.

The Vermont senator told supporters, "I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful. And so today, I am announcing the suspension of my campaign." Sanders praised Biden as "a very decent man." The senator said he would work with the likely nominee "to move our progressive ideas forward."

Biden thanked Sanders on Twitter for putting "the interest of the nation – and the need to defeat Donald Trump – above all else."

In an appeal to Sander's supporters, Biden wrote "I know that I need to earn your votes. And I know that might take time. But I want you to know that I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of this moment. I hope you'll join us. You're more than welcome: You're needed."

新闻来源：VOA

New Discovery Suggests Antarctica Once Had Warm Rainforest
新发现表明南极洲曾经是热带雨林


Today we know Antarctica as an extreme environment containing ice and snow. But new research provides evidence that the area was very different in the past.


The evidence was found inside a piece of Earth sediment collected by researchers from under the seafloor off the coast of Antarctica. In the sediment, they found forest soil estimated to be about 90 million years old. This would have been in the Cretaceous Period, when dinosaurs were the main land animals.


新闻来源：VOA

Baking Is Good for Mental Health

烘焙面包利于精神健康

limit限制

panic恐慌

basic needs基本需求

disappear消失

survival生存

mental精神的

The world is experiencing a major health crisis.

As the new coronavirus spreads, many countries are limiting their citizens' activities. Travel has been restricted. Many schools are closed. In major cities around the world, restaurants and other businesses are shut down.

Public emergencies bring out a certain type of person – the panic shopper. Some people fear not being able to find basic needs for survival. So, they buy everything off supermarket shelves in preparation for the days to come.

Bread is often among the first products to disappear in emergency situations.

So, if you have never made bread, now may be good time to learn. Bread making is a survival skill. With very few simple things -- such as flour, salt and yeast -- you can bake a fresh loaf of bread for your family, neighbors or coworkers.

Baking is not just a useful survival skill. It can make you feel better at stressful times. In fact, baking and cooking have been used to treat people with mental health issues.

新闻来源：VOA

Extroverts, Introverts Face Difficulties During Social Distancing
隔离中的内外向人格

spin晕
extrovert外向型人格
introverts内向型人格
laugh at嘲笑，自嘲
personalities个性

It took Viktery Zimmerman only two days to find ways to connect with friends and family. She and her husband are stuck inside their home in Chicago, Illinois, as ordered by the state's stay-at-home measure.

There are the FaceTime video calls. There is the movie night with friends who are also stuck at home. There are plans for a game night. Viktery will do whatever is necessary to keep her from, as she puts it, "spinning in circles."

She describes herself as an extrovert -- someone who likes being with and talking to other people. Her husband, Justin Zimmerman, is an introvert. In other words, he is quieter and needs more alone time than his wife.

He laughs at their differences in personalities. "Now it's become a thing where people are FaceTiming us all day, every day to say ‘Hi,'" he said. "I'm like, ‘You really don't have to.'"

新闻来源：VOA

Houseplants: Care and Tips
植物病了会告诉你

struggle 努力，挣扎
droop低垂
root根部
insect昆虫
soil土壤
moisture潮湿


Many people enjoy having plants inside their homes, especially when it is cold outside.

But sometimes houseplants need a little help. If they are struggling, houseplants will let you know. They show discolored leaves, and their stems droop – or no longer stand strong or tall. And there will be little or no growth.

"Plants send signals simply by the way they look," said Dawn Pettinelli, an Extension educator at the University of Connecticut. "If they are not getting enough light, the leaves will yellow or turn brown and they will be slow to develop."

Leaves with the wrong colors can also mean other problems. These include root problems, insects hurting the plant, the wrong soil moisture, or bad light conditions or temperatures.

新闻来源：VOA

Moroccan Women Enter the Male World of Professional Fishing

摩洛哥女人的职业打渔之旅

sink沉入，陷入

realize意识到

Mediterranean地中海

It is time to do...该做...

recognize认识到

barrier壁垒

dominate主导

Fatima Mekhnas' feet sink into the golden sand as she looks at the last beach in Morocco's north. One can almost see a sense of hopefulness in her eyes.

Mekhnas has finally realized her dream of working on a fishing boat in the Mediterranean. Behind her, the members of Morocco's first female fishing cooperative push a small boat toward the water.

It is time to go fishing.

The women jump in the boat and start on the first government-recognized female fishing trip. After two years of training, they have broken through the barriers of a male-dominated field.

"We live in the sea and if we separate from it, we will die like fish," Mekhnas told The Associated Press. "The sea is my entire life and that of my children and the people of the village."

新闻来源：AP

Robots Replace Human Workers in Eastern Europe

plastic 塑料的

disappear消失

remain保持

wage工资

Istman Simon's factory in western Hungary produces more than one million plastic parts every day. But on a busy morning in one of its large production areas, there is only the sound of machines.

Workers have all but disappeared.

Similar changes are taking place on production lines across Eastern Europe. Rising wages for workers are in conflict with the area's image as a low-cost production base. So factory owners from Hungary to the Czech Republic and Poland find themselves with little choice but to invest in machinery if they want to remain competitive.

Manufacturing in the area has increased since the European Union expanded eastwards in the 2000s. Since then, companies such as carmakers Audi and Daimler have opened local production lines and the number of parts suppliers has grown. But more recently strong economic growth has led to rising wages and a shortage of workers.

新闻来源：路透社