The first subway station in New York City was designed to be a masterpiece and was considered a “jewel in the crown” when it opened. The trains in New York City’s public transportation system, its subway, mostly run underground. Today, the main concern of subway designers is that their systems work correctly. New York’s subway opened in 1904. City Hall Station was one of New York City’s first underground subway stations. Now called Old City Hall Station, it was built during a time when many public buildings and spaces were designed to appear majestic. The goal was to demonstrate that New York could compete culturally with great European cities, sometimes called metropolises.

纽约市的第一个地铁站被设计成一件杰作，在开业时被认为是“皇冠上的宝石”。纽约市公共交通系统（地铁）的火车大部分在地下运行。如今，地铁设计者主要关心的是他们的系统能否正常工作。纽约地铁于 1904 年开通。市政厅站是纽约市最早的地下地铁站之一。现在称为旧市政厅站，它是在许多公共建筑和空间被设计得显得雄伟的时代建造的。其目标是证明纽约可以在文化上与欧洲大城市（有时称为大都市）竞争。

“It was a statement that New York City had arrived at the level of the great European metropolises like London and Paris, Rome, Madrid…that New York City was taking its place as a world city,” said Clifton Hood. Hood is a history professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.Inside Old City Hall Station, the top is not flat in shape but curved instead. The walls rise up to create a high, round shape known as a vault. Square pieces of glass, called tiles, shine. Some of the lights in the station are called chandeliers. These are beautiful hanging lights that hold many individual light bulbs and look like huge pieces of jewelry. Polly Desjarlais is with the New York Transit Museum. She said she was “blown away” when she first saw the old station. She used words like “lovely, elegant and really unique space” to describe the station.

“这表明纽约市已经达到了伦敦、巴黎、罗马、马德里等欧洲大都市的水平……纽约市正在取代世界城市的地位，”克利夫顿·胡德说。胡德是纽约州日内瓦霍巴特学院和威廉史密斯学院的历史学教授。在旧市政厅车站内，顶部不是平坦的，而是弯曲的。墙壁升起，形成一个高而圆形的形状，称为拱顶。方形玻璃片（称为瓷砖）闪闪发光。车站内的一些灯被称为枝形吊灯。这些是美丽的吊灯，上面装有许多单独的灯泡，看起来像巨大的珠宝。Polly Desjarlais 在纽约交通博物馆工作。她说，当她第一次看到这个旧车站时，她“震惊了”。她用“可爱、优雅、非常独特的空间”这样的词来形容这个车站。

“I've heard [the station] be described as a celebration of curves, because there are a lot of curves. Everything is sort-of rounded,” Desjarlais said. But those beautiful curves are why the station is no longer part of the normal subway system. Its rounded platform cannot fit long trains.“The platform at City Hall is really curved. It's a very, very tight curve, and the platform itself is just over 200 feet long. So, it's short,” Desjarlais said. “As the subway got busier…trains got longer, and we added cars…We were growing those platforms and making them longer...”

“我听说[车站]被描述为曲线的庆典，因为有很多曲线。一切都是圆润的，”Desjarlais 说。但这些美丽的曲线就是该车站不再属于正常地铁系统的原因。它的圆形月台无法容纳长火车。“市政厅的月台真的是弯曲的。这是一条非常非常紧的曲线，平台本身只有 200 多英尺长。所以，它很短，”Desjarlais 说。“随着地铁变得更加繁忙……火车变得更长，我们增加了车厢……我们正在扩大这些站台并使它们更长……”

Although it is no longer part of the subway system, Old City Hall Station is still being used. One train line, the No. 6, uses the Old City Hall Station to turn around. And while the public cannot enter the station from the street, the members of the New York Transit Museum can see the station a few times a year at a cost of about $50. Over the years, there have been ideas to make the old station a restaurant or a place for travelers to the city to visit. However, security concerns put those ideas to rest. Today, the unofficial way for the public to see the old station is by taking the No. 6 train and staying on after the last stop. Then, the train turns around at the Old City Hall Station, and riders will be able to see the majestic space.

虽然不再是地铁系统的一部分，但旧市政厅站仍在使用。其中一条火车线路 6 号线在旧市政厅站掉头。虽然公众无法从街道进入车站，但纽约交通博物馆的成员每年可以花费约 50 美元参观车站几次。多年来，一直有想法将旧车站打造成餐厅或供游客前往城市参观的地方。然而，出于安全考虑，这些想法不得不搁置。如今，公众参观旧车站的非官方方式是乘坐 6 号列车并在最后一站停留。然后，火车在旧市政厅站掉头，乘客就可以看到雄伟的空间。

Look at many of the items around your home and some will probably have been imported from abroad by ship. Moving goods around the world by sea is the easiest and most cost-effective way to do it. But what has made it more practical is the invention of the shipping container. They're not the most amazing thing to look at, but because of their design, and especially their universal size, it means they can be loaded and unloaded on to huge vessels at any port that is big enough to accommodate them. The standardisation of these simple metal containers in the 1950s and 60s marked a turning point in world trade, driving down costs and ultimately leading to globalisation.

看看你家周围的许多物品，有些可能是从国外通过船运进口的。 通过海上运输货物到世界各地是最简单且最具成本效益的方式。 但使它变得更加实用的是集装箱的发明。 它们并不是最令人惊奇的东西，但由于它们的设计，特别是它们的通用尺寸，这意味着它们可以在任何足够大的港口装载和卸载到大型船只上。 这些简单金属容器在 20 世纪 50 年代和 60 年代的标准化标志着世界贸易的转折点，降低了成本并最终导致全球化。

Inside these versatile metal boxes could be anything from nappies to cars, and they are transported on container ships that ply our seas and oceans. They have been described as 'the monsters of the seas' because of their huge size. The very biggest are almost half a kilometre long and are piled high with more than 20,000, 20-foot-long (6.06m) boxes. In fact, the world's largest, The Port of Rotterdam, has a capacity of 24,346 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit) – an exact unit of measurement used to determine cargo capacity for container ships and terminals. With around 5,500 container ships globally, it's incredible to think about the amount of goods being moved around the world.

这些多功能的金属盒子里可以装着从尿布到汽车的任何东西，它们通过往返于我们的海洋的集装箱船运输。 由于体型巨大，它们被称为“海洋怪物”。 最大的箱子几乎有半公里长，堆满了 20,000 多个 20 英尺长（6.06m）的箱子。 事实上，世界上最大的港口鹿特丹港的吞吐量为 24,346 TEU（二十英尺当量单位），这是用于确定集装箱船和码头货运能力的精确测量单位。 全球约有 5,500 艘集装箱船，想想在世界各地运输的货物数量就令人难以置信。

However, because we now rely so much on these global shipments of goods, there can be problems when things go wrong. In 2021, the Ever Given, loaded with 18,000 containers, got stuck in the Suez Canal – blocking an important trade route. Countless businesses were affected by the delay in receiving their goods. One shipping company, Maersk, said the "ripple effects on global capacity and equipment" were significant.

然而，由于我们现在非常依赖这些全球货物运输，因此当出现问题时可能会出现问题。 2021 年，满载 18,000 个集装箱的长赐号被困在苏伊士运河，封锁了一条重要的贸易路线。 无数企业因收到货物延迟而受到影响。 马士基航运公司表示，“对全球运力和设备的连锁反应”非常严重。

Despite the occasional problems, our demand for goods is increasing, and so the shipping container is here to stay. George Griffiths from S&P Global Platts told the BBC: "We're seeing a lot more of the ultra-large container ships being built… the proportion of new ships that are moving over 14,000 containers is staggering." Each container can have a lifespan of up to 25 years. And even when the effects of wind, waves and loading takes its toll, some find a new lease of life as land-based storage units or even used as houses and hotels!

尽管偶尔会出现问题，但我们对货物的需求仍在增加，因此集装箱将继续存在。 S&P Global Platts 的 George Griffiths 告诉 BBC：“我们看到越来越多的超大型集装箱船正在建造中……运输超过 14,000 个集装箱的新船的比例令人震惊。” 每个容器的使用寿命可达 25 年。 即使风、波浪和载荷的影响造成损失，一些人也发现了作为陆上存储单元的新生命，甚至用作房屋和酒店！

词汇表

imported 进口
goods 商品，货物
cost-effective 划算的
container 集装箱
universal 通用的，广泛适用的
vessel 船，大船
port 港口
world trade 世界贸易
globalisation 全球化
versatile 多功能的，多用途的
ply 定期往返（于）
cargo （轮船或飞机装载的）货物
terminal 码头
shipment 运输
trade route 贸易路线
ripple effect 连锁反应
staggering 惊人的，令人震惊的
take its toll 造成破坏
a new lease of life “重获新生”，使用寿命延长
storage 储物，储藏

American government experts who studied a popular medicine used for colds say the drug is likely not effective and should not be taken by mouth. Sixteen experts for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration examined the drug phenylephrine. The drug is in many medicines that treat nasal congestion, a condition also known as a stuffy nose. The medicines include Sudafed, Allegra and Dayquil among others. The experts read a scientific review released by the FDA before they met. The scientific study said there were many mistakes in earlier tests of phenylephrine’s effectiveness. It said the FDA no longer accepted the earlier testing results.

研究一种用于治疗感冒的流行药物的美国政府专家表示，该药物可能无效，不应口服。美国食品和药物管理局的十六名专家检查了这种药物去氧肾上腺素。许多治疗鼻塞（也称为鼻塞）的药物中都含有这种药物。这些药物包括 Sudafed、Allegra 和 Dayquil 等。专家们在会面前阅读了 FDA 发布的科学评论。这项科学研究称，早期对去氧肾上腺素有效性的测试存在许多错误。据称，FDA 不再接受之前的检测结果。

One of the experts was Dr. Mark Dykewicz. He is an allergy specialist at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Dykewicz said, “Modern studies, when well conducted, are not showing any improvement in congestion with phenylephrine.” Phenylephrine is an over-the-counter drug. Anyone can buy it at a store. A doctor’s order is not required to purchase it. Phenylephrine is the most popular decongestant in a market valued at $2.2 billion dollars. If the FDA follows the advice of the experts, companies that make the medicine will have to remove it from stores. These companies include Johnson & Johnson, Bayer and other leading drug makers.

Mark Dykewicz 博士就是其中一位专家。他是圣路易斯大学医学院的过敏专家。 Dykewicz 说：“现代研究，如果进行得当，并没有显示去氧肾上腺素对充血有任何改善。”去氧肾上腺素是一种非处方药。任何人都可以在商店购买。购买不需要医生的处方。去氧肾上腺素是市场价值 22 亿美元中最受欢迎的减充血剂。如果 FDA 听从专家的建议，生产该药物的公司将不得不将其从商店下架。这些公司包括强生公司、拜耳公司和其他领先的制药商。

The drug would remain in medicines taken through the nose, however. The nasal spray form of phenylephrine is considered effective and there are no plans to review it. But offering higher amounts of the drug by mouth is not possible because it can increase blood pressure to dangerous levels. Researchers at the University of Florida first requested that the FDA remove phenylephrine from a list of approved drugs. The same researchers questioned the drug’s effectiveness in 2007. They said they found no difference between using the drug and using an inactive substance called a placebo.

然而，这种药物将保留在通过鼻子服用的药物中。去氧肾上腺素鼻喷雾剂被认为是有效的，并且没有计划对其进行审查。但通过口服提供更高剂量的药物是不可能的，因为它会使血压升高到危险水平。佛罗里达大学的研究人员首先要求 FDA 将去氧肾上腺素从批准的药物清单中删除。同样的研究人员在 2007 年对该药物的有效性提出了质疑。他们表示，他们发现使用该药物和使用一种称为安慰剂的非活性物质没有区别。

Phenylephrine has been sold in different forms for 75 years. Dr. Theresa Michele leads the FDA’s office of nonprescription drugs. She said, “Any time a product has been on the market that long, it’s human nature to make assumptions about what we know about the product.” The FDA reviewers said the studies they examined showed how quickly the body processes phenylephrine. The research shows that too little of the drug reaches the area of the nose when the medicine is taken by mouth. Forms of the drug sprayed into the nose appear more effective.

去氧肾上腺素已以不同形式销售 75 年。 Theresa Michele 博士领导 FDA 非处方药办公室。她说：“任何时候，只要一种产品在市场上上市了这么长时间，我们就会对我们对该产品的了解做出假设，这是人类的本性。” FDA 审查人员表示，他们检查的研究表明身体处理去氧肾上腺素的速度有多快。研究表明，当口服药物时，到达鼻子区域的药物太少。喷入鼻子的药物形式似乎更有效。

The reviewers said barring the drug from medicine taken by mouth would avoid the “unnecessary costs and delay in care of taking a drug that has no benefit. The FDA has not updated its list of approved drugs to treat nasal congestion since 1995. The process for changing the list takes years. But Congress passed a law in 2020 that would speed the process for drugs that do not require a doctor’s permission to use.

审查人员表示，禁止口服该药物将避免“不必要的费用和延迟服用没有益处的药物。”自 1995 年以来，FDA 就没有更新过批准治疗鼻塞的药物清单。更改清单的过程需要数年时间。但国会在 2020 年通过了一项法律，将加快无需医生许可即可使用的药物的审批流程。

Invasive grasses might have played a part in the deadly wildfires that burned Lahaina, Hawaii recently. The grasses have taken over land that was once occupied by crops like sugar and pineapple.↳ Michele Steinberg is wildfire division director at the National Fire Protection Association. She said some plants are more flammable than others. But, she noted, “there is no such thing as a fireproof plant.” All plants can catch fire under the right conditions. Those conditions include poor pruning, lack of watering, and letting dry, dead plant parts remain on the soil surface in high-risk areas.

最近，夏威夷拉海纳发生的致命野火可能与入侵草有关。这些草已经占据了曾经种植糖和菠萝等农作物的土地。↳米歇尔斯坦伯格是国家消防协会野火部门主任。她说有些植物比其他植物更易燃。但是，她指出，“不存在防火植物这样的东西。”所有植物在适当的条件下都可以着火。这些条件包括修剪不当、缺乏浇水以及让干燥、死亡的植物部分留在高风险地区的土壤表面。

If you are selecting plants for your garden, knowing which plants offer some fire resistance and which are more flammable can serve you well.Plants that produce flammable substances, like aromatic oils, resins, waxes, or sap, are among the quickest to catch fire. They will often catch fire even if they have been well-watered and cared for. They include bamboo, rosemary, and eucalyptus. Trees with papery bark that falls off, like river birch, are usually more flammable than those without. And fine-needled plants like pine, juniper, and spruce contain saps and resins. Their needle-like leaves increase the risk of fire when left on the ground or on the top of a house.

如果您正在为您的花园选择植物，那么了解哪些植物具有一定的耐火性以及哪些植物更易燃会对您大有裨益。产生易燃物质（如芳香油、树脂、蜡或汁液）的植物是最容易着火的植物之一。即使它们得到了充分的浇水和照顾，它们也经常会着火。它们包括竹子、迷迭香和桉树。具有脱落的纸质树皮的树木，例如河桦，通常比没有脱落的树皮更易燃。松树、杜松和云杉等细针植物含有汁液和树脂。当它们的针状叶子留在地上或屋顶上时，会增加火灾的风险。

Many grasses are highly flammable. Their ability to ignite increases when they are left to stand dry over winter or during periods without rain. Additionally, too much heat dries out the soil and under such conditions, many kinds of plants turn into a fire starter.As a group, “native plants aren’t necessarily less flammable” than introduced kinds of plants, Steinberg said. But nonnative, invasive plants often are a greater fire risk because they spread quickly and are usually left alone by wildlife. The nonnative plants spread faster than native plants, and often tolerate heat, lack of rain and heavy rain better. For the best fire resistance, choose deciduous trees, like ash, crabapple, and maple, over fine-needled trees. Plants like succulents with water-filled leaves are slow to burn. They include ice plants and sedums. Some groundcover plants, like ajuga and creeping phlox, are also slow burners.

许多草高度易燃。当它们在冬季或无雨期间保持干燥时，它们的点燃能力会增加。此外，过多的热量会使土壤变得干燥，在这种情况下，许多种类的植物都会成为引火物。斯坦伯格说，作为一个群体，“本土植物不一定比引进的植物更不易燃”。但外来入侵植物往往具有更大的火灾风险，因为它们传播得很快，而且通常被野生动物忽视。外来植物比本地植物传播得更快，并且通常能更好地耐受高温、缺雨和大雨。为了获得最佳的耐火性，请选择落叶树，如白蜡树、海棠树和枫树，而不是细针树。叶子充满水的多肉植物等植物燃烧缓慢。它们包括冰植物和景天属植物。一些地被植物，如牛筋草和匍匐福禄考，也是缓慢燃烧的。

The Washington State University Extension Service has published advice for choosing plants that are fire-resistant. Qualities that make a plant less likely to burn include: • High water content in leaves (these ignite and burn more slowly). • Little or no seasonal gain of dead plant material. • Open branching (they provide less fuel for fires). • Fewer total branches and leaves (again, less fuel for fires). • Slow-growing, so less pruning is required (to keep open structure as noted above). • Non-flammable material on the plant, like resins, oil, or wax.

华盛顿州立大学推广服务中心发布了选择耐火植物的建议。使植物不易燃烧的品质包括： • 叶子中含水量高（这些叶子点燃和燃烧的速度较慢）。 • 死亡植物材料的季节性增加很少或没有。 • 开放的分支（它们提供的火灾燃料较少）。 • 树枝和树叶总数减少（同样，火灾燃料也减少）。 • 生长缓慢，因此需要较少的修剪（以保持如上所述的开放结构）。 • 植物上的不可燃材料，如树脂、油或蜡。

It's the second year in a row that the proportion of top grades has fallen. Around 27% of exams were graded A* or A. That's almost the same as in 2019 which was the last year of exams before Covid.

获得高分学生的比例连续第二年下降。约 27% 的考试成绩被评为 A* 级或 A 级。这一比例与2019年的考试成绩几乎相同，2019年是新冠肺炎疫情前的最后一次考试。

Grades in 2020 and 2021 were unusually high as results were based on teachers' assessments. But the picture varies across the UK this year. The proportion of students receiving top grades in Wales and Northern Ireland is significantly higher than in England where the plan was to bring grades back in line with pre-pandemic levels more quickly.

2020年和2021年的 A-level 考试成绩异常优秀，因为这两年的成绩是基于教师的评估。但今年英国各地的情况各不相同。威尔士和北爱尔兰获得高分的学生比例远高于英格兰，英格兰的计划是更快地将成绩恢复到疫情前的水平。

词汇表

in a row 连续地
proportion 比例
A* “最优” 成绩
teachers' assessments 教师给学生作出的评估
the picture varies 情况各不相同
bring back 带回，恢复
in line with 与…一致

The Rolling Stones said this week that their first new collection of songs in almost 20 years comes out on October 20. The album will be called Hackney Diamonds. The name comes from broken glass often seen on the streets of east London’s Hackney area. Three of the band’s original members - Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood – came to the Hackney Empire, a historic theater, for the announcement.

滚石乐队本周表示，他们近 20 年来的第一张新歌集将于 10 月 20 日发行。这张专辑将被称为 Hackney Diamonds。这个名字来源于伦敦东部哈克尼地区街道上经常看到的碎玻璃。乐队的三名原始成员 - 米克·贾格尔 (Mick Jagger)、基思·理查兹 (Keith Richards) 和罗尼·伍德 (Ronnie Wood) - 来到历史悠久的哈克尼帝国剧院，聆听这一消息。

The Rolling Stones are still traveling the world and performing concerts, but they have not made an album since 2016. That recording did not include new material. Richards, 79, said the band only made a new album because Jagger wanted to sing. So they went to record new songs after almost 20 years. “When you have a singer that wants to sing,” Richards said, “you grab him and throw him in the studio.” Richards said the songs came together with “energy and urgency.”

滚石乐队仍在世界各地巡回演出并举办音乐会，但自 2016 年以来他们就没有制作过专辑。该唱片不包含新材料。 79 岁的理查兹表示，乐队制作新专辑只是因为贾格尔想唱歌。于是他们时隔近20年才去录制新歌。 “当你有一个歌手想唱歌时，”理查兹说，“你抓住他，把他扔进录音室。”理查兹表示，这些歌曲充满了“活力和紧迫感”。

Jagger, who is 80, said, “we are quite pleased,” with the new album. He said the group would not have put a recording together if “we hadn’t really liked it. We said we had to make a record we really love ourselves … we hope you all like it.” They released the first song, called Angry, this week. But Jagger said the rest of the songs are not angry. He said the album contains “love songs, ballads, country…” sounds. The new recording includes songs with Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder and Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones drummer who died in 2021. Watts recorded sounds for two songs in 2019. Steve Jordan is the drummer for the other 10.

80 岁的贾格尔表示，“我们对新专辑非常满意”。他说，如果“我们不是真的喜欢它”，乐队就不会录制这张唱片。我们说我们必须制作一张我们真正爱自己的唱片……我们希望你们都喜欢它。”他们本周发行了第一首歌曲《Angry》。但贾格尔表示其余歌曲并不愤怒。他说这张专辑包含“情歌、民谣、乡村……”的声音。新唱片包括保罗·麦卡特尼、Lady Gaga、史蒂夫·旺德和 2021 年去世的滚石乐队鼓手查理·瓦茨 (Charlie Watts) 的歌曲。瓦茨在 2019 年为两首歌曲录制了声音。史蒂夫·乔丹 (Steve Jordan) 是另外 10 首歌曲的鼓手。

“Of course, he’s missed incredibly,” Richards said about Watts. But he added that Jordan was Watts’ suggestion for a replacement. Jagger said the addition of Lady Gaga to the album was unplanned. The Stones were recording at a studio in Los Angeles and Lady Gaga just happened to be in the studio next door. So, she recorded the song Sweet Sound of Heaven with the band.

“当然，他错失了令人难以置信的机会，”理查兹谈到瓦茨时说道。但他补充说，乔丹是瓦茨建议的替代者。贾格尔表示，Lady Gaga 加入这张专辑是计划外的。滚石乐队正在洛杉矶的一个录音室录音，Lady Gaga 恰好就在隔壁的录音室。于是，她和乐队一起录制了歌曲《Sweet Sound of Heaven》。

“She walked in next to me and we started singing together,” Jagger said. Wood said McCartney of the Beatles played the bass guitar on one track. “You know, he was loving it.” McCartney’s band was perhaps the Rolling Stones’ biggest rival in the 1960s. Taric Fioravanti was one of the fans who lined up outside hoping to see the band arrive. He is from Brazil. “I love these guys,” he said. “They’re 80 years old. Most bands have stopped making music by that age,” he added.

“她走到我旁边，我们开始一起唱歌，”贾格尔说。伍德说，披头士乐队的麦卡特尼在一首曲目中演奏了低音吉他。 “你知道，他很喜欢它。”麦卡特尼的乐队也许是 20 世纪 60 年代滚石乐队最大的竞争对手。塔里克·菲奥拉万蒂 (Taric Fioravanti) 是在外面排队希望看到乐队到来的歌迷之一。他来自巴西。 “我爱这些家伙，”他说。 “他们已经80岁了。大多数乐队到了那个年纪就已经停止创作音乐了，”他补充道。

The Rolling Stones started in 1962. They celebrated their 60th year with a tour of Europe in 2022 and they said they have plans to visit North America in 2024. Wood, 76, plays guitar. He said the idea of retirement is “Impossible. You’ve got to keep playing,” he added.

滚石乐队成立于 1962 年。他们于 2022 年进行了欧洲巡演来庆祝成立 60 周年，并表示计划于 2024 年访问北美。76 岁的伍德会弹吉他。他说退休的想法“不可能”。你必须继续比赛，”他补充道。

A newly discovered comet is passing through our solar system for the first time in more than 400 years. Scientists say star watchers across the Northern Hemisphere should look to the sky as soon as possible, either this week or early next. They say it will be another 400 years before the comet returns to our neighborhood. The comet’s official name is C/2023 P1 Nishimura. It is about one kilometer wide. Comet Nishimura will travel to within 125 million kilometers of the Earth on September 12.

一颗新发现的彗星400多年来首次穿过我们的太阳系。科学家表示，北半球的观星者应该在本周或下周早些时候尽快仰望天空。他们说彗星还要再过 400 年才会回到我们附近。这颗彗星的正式名称是 C/2023 P1 Nishimura。它宽约一公里。西村彗星将于9月12日前往距离地球1.25亿公里以内的地方。

The comet was discovered in August by a Japanese star watcher, Hideo Nishimura. He discovered the comet using 30-second-long exposures with a digital camera. The American space agency NASA says the comet has increased in brightness as it crosses our solar system. As the comet heads closer to the Sun, it will continue to get brighter. Early risers should look toward the northeastern horizon about 90 minutes before sunrise. The comet will be less than 10 degrees above the horizon making it difficult to see.

这颗彗星是由日本星星观察者西村秀夫于八月发现的。他用数码相机进行了 30 秒的曝光，发现了这颗彗星。美国宇航局表示，这颗彗星在穿过太阳系时亮度有所增加。随着彗星越来越接近太阳，它会继续变得更亮。早起者应在日出前约 90 分钟朝东北地平线看。这颗彗星与地平线的夹角不到 10 度，因此很难看到。

Paul Chodas is head of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. He said, “You really need a good pair of binoculars to pick it out and you also need to know where to look.” The comet will come closest to the sun on about September 17. Then it will leave the solar system. Chodas said that the comet is “likely to survive its passage,” meaning he does not believe it will burn up near the sun. Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi is the founder of the Virtual Telescope Project. He said in an email to the Associated Press that the next week represents “the last, feasible chances” to see the comet from the Northern Hemisphere before it is lost in the sun’s glare.

保罗·乔达斯 (Paul Chodas) 是美国宇航局近地天体研究中心的负责人。他说：“你确实需要一副好的双筒望远镜来挑选它，而且你还需要知道在哪里看。”这颗彗星将于9月17日左右最接近太阳。然后它将离开太阳系。乔达斯说，这颗彗星“很可能在通过过程中幸存下来”，这意味着他不相信它会在太阳附近燃烧。意大利天文学家詹卢卡·马西是虚拟望远镜项目的创始人。他在给美联社的一封电子邮件中表示，下周是在彗星消失在阳光下之前从北半球看到它的“最后的、可行的机会”。

“The comet looks amazing right now, with a long, highly structured tail, a joy to image with a telescope,” he said. If it survives its passage by the sun, the comet should be visible in the Southern Hemisphere by the end of September, Masi said. Professional astronomers use powerful telescopes around the world to watch the sky. It is unusual for a non-professional sky watcher to discover a comet these days. Chodas of NASA said of Nishimura’s discovery, “This is his third find, so good for him.” The comet last visited about 430 years ago, Chodas said.

“这颗彗星现在看起来很神奇，有一条长长的、高度结构化的尾巴，用望远镜成像很有趣，”他说。马西说，如果彗星在经过太阳时幸存下来，那么到九月底在南半球就可以看到这颗彗星。专业天文学家在世界各地使用强大的望远镜观察天空。如今，对于非专业的天空观察者来说发现彗星是很不寻常的。美国宇航局的乔达斯谈到西村的发现时说：“这是他的第三个发现，对他来说非常好。”乔达斯说，这颗彗星上次访问是在大约 430 年前。

Most of us know what it's like to get presents from friends. Whether it's for a birthday or other celebration, it's hard to beat the excitement of opening a carefully wrapped box to find something that's both unexpected and suits you perfectly. Now, imagine if you could get the same feeling when you go shopping for yourself. That's the feeling that mystery boxes hope to replicate.

我们大多数人都知道从朋友那里收到礼物是什么感觉。 无论是生日还是其他庆祝活动，打开精心包装的盒子，发现一些既出乎意料又完美适合您的东西，都是一种无比兴奋的感觉。 现在，想象一下当您自己去购物时是否也能有同样的感觉。 这就是神秘盒子希望复制的感觉。

Mystery boxes are not a new idea – they were a feature of department stores in Japan in the early 20th Century. They contain a range of different products, which are sold at a lower price than their combined value. The key thing is that customers don't know what's in the box before they buy. All kinds of mystery boxes are available: fashion boxes, food boxes, beauty boxes, even loot boxes, which are virtual items for video games.

神秘盒子并不是一个新想法——它们是 20 世纪初日本百货公司的一个特色。 它们包含一系列不同的产品，这些产品的售价低于其总价值。 关键是顾客在购买之前并不知道盒子里有什么。 各种神秘盒子可供选择：时装盒、食物盒、美容盒，甚至战利品盒，这些都是视频游戏的虚拟物品。

The pleasant surprise is not the only attraction of mystery boxes. They also allow people to try things that they otherwise wouldn't. Seasonal vegetable subscription boxes might lead people to learn to cook new meals. They can also potentially offer great savings – as the recommended retail price of the contents is often far higher than the purchase price. For retailers and suppliers the benefits are clear – it allows them to sell unwanted stock for a profit. British fashion mystery box entrepreneur Mario Maher highlights how mystery boxes can help reduce the amount of waste in the fashion industry. People might discover product ranges that would otherwise be thrown away. 

惊喜并不是神秘盒子的唯一吸引力。 它们还允许人们尝试原本不会尝试的事情。 时令蔬菜订阅盒可能会引导人们学习烹饪新饭菜。 它们还可以节省大量费用——因为内容的建议零售价通常远远高于购买价。 对于零售商和供应商来说，好处是显而易见的——它允许他们出售不需要的库存以获取利润。 英国时尚神秘盒企业家 Mario Maher 强调了神秘盒如何帮助减少时尚行业的浪费。 人们可能会发现原本会被丢弃的产品系列。

There is an obvious downside to mystery boxes – when you buy them, you don't know what you'll get! It may be that the goods inside are not to your taste, but there is also the potential for fraudsters to exploit the unpredictability of mystery boxes to send items that have a much lower value than the price of the box.

神秘盒子有一个明显的缺点——当你购买它们时，你不知道你会得到什么！ 可能里面的货物不合你的口味，但欺诈者也有可能利用神秘盒子的不可预测性来发送价值远低于盒子价格的物品。

So, are mystery boxes a fun way of reducing waste and making shopping more exciting, or more an opportunity for disappointment, or worse – deception?

那么，神秘盒子到底是一种减少浪费、让购物更令人兴奋的有趣方式，还是更多地带来失望，或更糟糕的是——欺骗？

词汇表

wrapped 有包装的，包裹好的
suit 适合
department store 百货商店
product 产品
price 价格
combined value 总价值
customer 顾客
fashion 时装，时尚
beauty 美容
loot box （电子游戏中的）虚拟战利品盒
subscription box 订阅盒
savings 省下的钱
recommended retail price 建议零售价
purchase price 购买价格
retailer 零售商
supplier 供应商，供货商
unwanted stock 多余的库存
product range 产品系列
goods 商品，货物
item 商品，物品
waste 浪费

If you've never planked, it involves holding the starting position for a push-up. A wall squat requires you to hold a sitting position with your back against a wall.

如果你从来没有做过平板支撑运动，那么它指的是身体保持俯卧撑起始位置的训练方法。靠墙静蹲运动则需要你保持坐姿，背部贴住墙面。

Both are isometric exercises, focusing on static strength training. According to a review of trials involving nearly 16,000 people, this type of exercise is the best way to lower blood pressure although all exercise is beneficial.

以上两种动作都是等长运动，侧重于训练静态力量。根据一项有近1.6万人参与的试验综述，尽管所有运动都对身体有益，但这种类型的运动是降低血压的最佳方式。

Instead of pushing up the heart rate like running, researchers say it increases tension in the muscles and then prompts a sudden rush of blood when the exercise is over.

研究人员们说，这类等长运动并不像跑步那样会提高心率，而是会增加肌肉的张力，然后在训练结束时引起血液的突然上涌。

词汇表

position 姿势
push-up 俯卧撑
wall squat 靠墙静蹲
isometric 等长的，等距的
static 静态的，静止的
strength 力量
blood pressure 血压
beneficial 有益的
heart rate 心率
tension 张力，拉伸
rush of blood 血液上涌

There is growing interest in how AI could transform healthcare. The idea of using it to help with breast cancer screening is one of the major areas of interest.

人们对可以如何运用人工智能来改造医疗保健服务的兴趣日益浓厚。使用人工智能帮助筛查乳腺癌的想法是人们感兴趣的主要领域之一。

Previously, studies have shown benefit, and this latest research, led by a team at Lund University, adds to that by directly comparing the performance of human experts and AI head-to-head for the first time. It found AI could spot cancer at a similar rate to two radiologists and produce the same number of false positives – where a scan is incorrectly diagnosed as abnormal.

此前的研究已显示出人工智能在这方面有用处，而这项由瑞典隆德大学的团队领头的最新研究则通过首次直接对比人类专家与人工智能的表现，进一步证明了这一点。该研究发现，人工智能检查出癌症的效率与两位放射科医生一同评估筛查图像的效率相似，得出假阳性误报的数量也一致，假阳性指检测扫描被误诊为异常。

But the researchers will have to follow the trial participants for another two years to discover whether AI is better than humans and not missing cancers that should be picked up. The lead researcher, Dr Kristina Lang, said the findings certainly suggested AI could potentially have an important role to play.

但是研究人员必须再跟踪试验参与者两年的时间，以发现人工智能是否强过人类，并且不会遗漏本应被发现的癌症病例。首席研究员克里斯蒂娜·朗博士表示，这些研究发现无疑显示出人工智能有可能发挥重要作用。

UK experts say while AI could never replace radiologists, its use offered huge promise, as a radiologist armed with the data insight and accuracy of AI could be a formidable force in patient care.

英国的专家称，尽管人工智能永远无法取代放射科医生，但是它的运用提供了巨大的发展潜力，因为一位具有人工智能带来的数据洞察力和准确性的放射科医生可能会成为患者护理领域的强大力量。

词汇表

screening 检测，筛查
head-to-head 正面交锋，一对一较量
spot 发现，看出
radiologists 放射科医生
false positive 假阳性，实际非阳性但检验结果呈阳性
abnormal 不正常，异常
trial participants 试验参与者，试验对象
picked up 被发现
armed 装备着，具有
data insight 数据洞察，通过分析研究数据而得到的深度理解
formidable 强大的，令人敬畏的