Bluetongue outbreak hits Suffolk farm

A deadly animal disease that has devastated farms in continental Europe, killing millions of livestock, has been found in Britain for the first time, it was disclosed last night.

导读

一场致命性的动物流行病袭击欧洲大陆农场，杀死了数百万家畜，这种流行病最先在英国发现，现在已逐渐蔓延。这种流行病被称为蓝舌病，是羊、马等的病毒性疾病，与口蹄疫相似。蓝舌病由蓝舌病病毒引起，伊蚊等吸血昆虫能将这种病毒传染给反刍动物，染病牲畜会出现高烧、黏膜水肿和糜烂等症状，致死率为２０％至３０％，目前尚无有效疗法。迄今尚未发现蓝舌病病毒对人类有传染性。目前欧盟已极力采取措施，尽量阻止病毒的蔓延。

详细可参见

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/23/nbluetongue123.xml

Buy a Laptop for a Child, Get Another Laptop Free

One Laptop Per Child, an ambitious project to bring computing to the developing world’s children, has considerable momentum. Years of work by engineers and scientists have paid off in a pioneering low-cost machine that is light, rugged and surprisingly versatile. The early reviews have been glowing, and mass production is set to start next month.

导读

美国拉斯维加斯国际消费类电子产品展览会早已成为最新技术发明展示的圣地。 众多工程师和科学家经过多年的研究，发明了一款酷似玩具的笔记本电脑。“一个孩子，一台电脑”（OneLaptopPerChild，简称OLPC）组织向公众展示了他们最后的产品原型XO。这款电脑是为全球最贫穷的消费者——发展中国家的孩子而设计的。美国麻省理工学院教授尼葛洛庞帝(Nicholas Negroponte)为了推进这一活动，最近都推出新的活动“买一台送一台”，这一活动将把这一活动推向高潮。

详细可参见

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/business/worldbusiness/24laptop.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

Closer Eye on Campus Drinking

AT this time of year college students on many campuses can expect to hear lectures about the dangers of binge drinking from university administrators trying to tackle the longstanding problem of under-age drinking and alcohol abuse.

导读

美国莱特大学的一项调查报告表明，现在，聚会豪饮在美国大学生中已成一种时尚，看谁喝得最多是校园生活中时髦的表演。 随着酗酒之风的蔓延，大学校园里发生了一连串与酒精有关的逃课、滥交、犯罪、死亡等事件。面对醉生梦死的大学生，美国一些大学正在力图遏制酗酒现象。不少大学在新生入校后组织课堂讨论，引导学生认清酗酒的危害。有些大学为学生营造忌酒的生活环境，还有的大学采取更加严厉的措施，鼓励警察随时进入学校惩罚酗酒闹事的学生。文中出现的短语有in connection with：与...有关, 连同。

详细可参见

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/23Rrider.html?ref=education

Defense Shows Up for Giants

LANDOVER, Md., Sept. 23 — Last December, the Giants arrived at FedEx Field needing a victory to make the playoffs and to save the job of Coach Tom Coughlin.

The situation for the Giants on a balmy late-September day in front of a record crowd was nearly as dire, even if the consequences were not as obvious. The team had not won since their last trip to suburban Washington, starting the season 0-2 and having lost 9 of 11 games, dating to November.

导读

纽约巨人队是NFL的老牌球队之一，始建于1925年。球队创始人是蒂姆·玛拉（Tim Mara），他从棒球队里借用了“巨人队”这个队名。而事实上，他们将自己称为纽约橄榄球巨人队，以此作为区别，尽管棒球队在1957年搬迁出了纽约，但这仍然是巨人队的法定名字。巨人队本赛季开局两连败，这也是自1996年以来的第一次，而那一年当时的巨人主帅丹·里维斯（Dan Reeves）被解雇。现任主帅汤姆·考夫林（Tom Coughlin）本赛季顶着巨大压力上任，人们期望他不仅能打入季后赛，还能带领巨人走的更远。但是，本赛季开局的两连败已经让他处在了枪口之下。

详细可参见

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/sports/football/24giants.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin

Journey into remote Amazon

In an exclusive extract from his last book, Nick Gordon witnesses the bizarre rituals of the Matis tribe as they prepare for the hunt.

导读

在遥远的亚马逊丛林中，生活着一个古老的部族——Matis部落。文章讲述了在亚马逊的旅游探险见闻，尤其是对Matis部落生活的刻画，细致生动，展现了现代文明中一种原生态的生活方式。

阅读时注意固定搭配的用法，留心记忆，增加词汇量。例如：shake with fear（吓得发抖），be covered with（盖着，覆盖），be made from（由…做成）。

详细可参见 http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/article2505072.ece

... NCC, BSA unite against digital piracy

IN line with its objective of ensuring that the society is rid of pirates, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), currently transiting to Nigerian Intellectual Property Commission (NIPCOM), broadened the scope of implementation of Strategic Action Against Piracy (STRAP) by partnering with the Business Software Alliance (BSA) to fight digital piracy in the lucrative software industry.

导读

尼日利亚版权委员会与尼日利亚知识产权委员会联合，并与商业软件联盟，将拓宽反盗版战略措施的执行范围，更加有力的打击软件盗版侵权行为。在科学技术发展愈加迅速的今天，各种高科技产品应运而生，相对的，盗版技术也更加先进，于是打击盗版的活动也愈演愈烈，但最关键的还是提高公民素质，自觉维护正版，打击盗版。

详细可参见 http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/arts/article03

Parallel universe proof boosts time travel hopes

Science fiction looks closer to becoming science fact, reports Roger Highfield.

Parallel universes really do exist, according to a mathematical discovery by Oxford scientists that sweeps away one of the key objections to the mind boggling and controversial idea.

导读

在人们看来，时间旅行是不可能实现的，除非平行宇宙真的存在。而平行宇宙是否存在，一直是科学界人士争论的焦点。最近，有理论证明，它的确存在。这也让时间旅行成为了可能。本文通过对相关研究的描述，以及相关人士的评论，让读者对这一事件有了更全面的了解，也对时间旅行将带来的影响有了更多的认识。

详细可参见

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/09/21/sciuni121.xml

Pink ladies

It was pink carpet event last Sunday at the City People Fashion & Style Awards. NIKE SOTADE reports the glamorous event.

FEELING pink already? These women richly adorned in pink just surely set you in the pink mood.

导读

时尚界总是在五彩缤纷的世界中，为人们挑选着最时尚的色彩。上周日，时尚界的一个重要奖项，时尚风格奖产生了，颁奖仪式是在一个粉红色氛围下进行的。而粉红色也成为了时尚界的宠儿。本文通过引用相关人士的评论，以及相关的事例，简明详细地向读者介绍了时尚界的风云变幻。

详细可参见 http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/fashion/article01

Software That Fills a Cellphone Gap

VANU BOSE is the son of a fabled engineer, but he garnered no mercy when he presented his big idea at a technical conference in 1996. Mr. Bose’s graduate work at M.I.T. involved using software to handle the radio function in a cellular phone. He remembers that after he successfully demonstrated his technology, an audience member stood up and dismissed it with: “Congratulations! You’ve just invented the world’s most expensive cellphone.”

导读

Vanu Bose于1996年首次提出软件无线电的概念，当时人们对之嗤之以鼻。但是软件无线电的确是一项革命性的设想，手机用户可以通过该技术直接下载软件，同时处理多种信号，如同电脑一般，而不需要通过发射台中转，因此连接更方便，费用也大大降低。

详细可参见 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/technology/23prototype.html?ref=technology

The Caffeine Habit

There are more than 170 million addicts in the U.S., and odds are you're one of them. You consume your drug of choice every day; you'd feel ill if you couldn't have it; you'd have a hard time quitting it.

导读

美国人爱喝咖啡，如今有1.7亿美国人喝咖啡上瘾，每天有55%到90%的人喝咖啡。咖啡让人上瘾的主要因素是咖啡因，除了咖啡以外，市场上很多产品都包含咖啡因，例如口香糖、唇膏、葵花子、啤酒、糖果等等，咖啡因几乎充斥了人们生活的方方面面。科学家们指出咖啡因对人体有很多危险，过量饮用甚至能导致死亡，想要戒掉也很难。文中出现的有用短语有：at every turn，经常；cash register，收银机；withdrawal symptom，断瘾症状。

详细可参见 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1663847,00.html