数字货币 digital currency

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, is testing its digital currency in Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou, Xiong'an and some areas where the 2022 Winter Olympics will be held.
中国人民银行将在深圳、成都、苏州、雄安以及2022年冬奥部分场景开展数字人民币试点。

【知识点】

中国人民银行自2014年开始研究法定数字货币。2017年，中国人民银行数字货币研究所正式成立。经国务院批准，人民银行组织部分实力雄厚的商业银行和有关机构共同开展数字人民币体系（digital currency and electronic payment，DC/EP）的研发。

中国人民银行数字货币可以看做是数字化的人民币现金（digitalized currency），由央行结算且具有法偿性（legal tender）。从使用场景上看，央行数字货币可用于小额、零售、高频的业务场景，与使用纸币差别不大。它不依托于银行账户和支付账户，只要用户手机装有数字货币钱包（digital wallet）即可使用。

中国人民银行日前召开的2020年下半年工作电视会议指出，法定数字货币封闭试点顺利启动。

Currently, the tests include salary payments to civil servants, payment for public transport services and energy and supply chain trading.
目前，试点涉及公务员工资支付、公共交通支付以及能源供应链支付等领域。

中国人民大学金融科技与互联网安全研究中心主任杨东表示：

Most of the applications are designed for consumer consumption, and it still needs time to find the appropriate model for business users.
大部分应用场景都是为消费者服务场景设计的，找到适合商业用户的应用模式还需要时间。

E-payment services in China are dominated by internet giants such as Alipay and WeChat Pay which allow transfer of money by a simple scan of the quick response code. The sovereign digital currency may need to find ways to make the payment options more convenient and the costs will have to be competitive with other third-party payment services.
目前国内的电子支付领域由支付宝和微信支付占据主导地位，用户使用这两种支付服务时，简单扫一下二维码就可以完成。主权数字货币可能需要找到一种让支付选择更便捷、支付成本相比第三方支付更有竞争力的途径。

I级防汛应急响应 the highest level of flood control response

8月18日5时，四川启动I级防汛应急响应（activate the highest level of flood control response），这是有记录以来，四川首次启动该响应。

Continuous rainfall has caused 22 major rivers in Sichuan to exceed their flood warning levels. Swelling rivers have flooded some urban areas in the city of Ya'an and Leshan. Local authorities have evacuated more than 100,000 people affected by the disaster.
连续降雨已导致四川省境内22条主要河流超过警戒水位。泛滥的河水淹没了雅安和乐山市的城区，当地政府已撤离10万多受灾群众。

The Ya'an section of the Qingyi River was hit by a major flood rarely seen in a hundred years, while water levels in the entire Qingyi River basin, as well as the lower reaches of Dadu River and Minjiang River, are expected to exceed warning levels.
目前，青衣江雅安城区段已出现百年一遇洪水，预计整个青衣江流域将全面超过保证水位，大渡河下游、岷江下游也将出现全面超警超保洪水。

【知识点】

最近有关洪水的报道中，我们经常能看到“超警”、“超保”、“超限”等表述，其中的“警”代表“警戒水位”，“保”代表“保证水位”，“限”代表“汛限水位”。

警戒水位（warning level）是指河流、湖泊随着水位逐步升高，堤防可能发生险情并需要加强防守的水位（the water level where dykes need consolidation）。到达这一水位，要进行防汛动员，加大人力、物力投入，实行昼夜巡堤查险。

保证水位（flood-stage level），又称最高水位或危险水位，是指堤防设计水位或历史上防御过的最高洪水位（the highest floodwater level a dyke has ever withstood），也是汛期堤防及其附属工程能保证安全运行的上限洪水位。接近或到达这一水位，防汛进入全面紧急状态，堤防临水时间已长，堤身土体可能达到饱和状态，随时都有出险的可能。这时要密切巡查，全力以赴，确保堤防安全。

汛限水位（the upper limit of reservoir water level）是指汛期水库允许蓄水的上限水位，也是水库汛期防洪调度运用时的起调水位。

九寨沟景区临时关闭

The Jiuzhaigou National Park, also known as the Jiuzhai Valley, a UNESCO world heritage site famed for its spectacular waterfalls, lush forests, serene plateau lakes and karst rock formations in the mountainous areas of Sichuan, announced temporary closure due to safety concerns.
为安全起见，九寨沟景区临时关闭园区。九寨沟是联合国教科文组织世界遗产地，以壮观的瀑布、葱翠的森林、静谧的高原湖水以及四川山区卡斯特地貌闻名。

Incessant torrential rainfall has blocked roads to the scenic spot, with part of the area flooded by a river, according to the site's administration.
景区管理部门表示，持续强降雨导致通往景区的道路受阻，部分路段被泛滥的河水淹没。

洪水浸过乐山大佛佛脚平台

Floods also affected the Leshan Giant Buddha, another UNESCO world heritage site situated outside the city of Leshan. Flood water reached the toes of the Buddha statue for the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
另一处联合国教科文组织世界遗产地乐山大佛也受到洪水影响，这是1949年新中国成立以来洪水首次浸过大佛脚趾。

On Monday night, local police and scenic-spot staff placed sandbags at the platform under the Buddha's feet, building a dam-like structure to protect the statue.
8月17日晚，当地民警和景区工作人员在大佛佛脚平台堆放了沙袋，组成堤坝保护大佛。

三峡水利枢纽将迎建库以来最大洪峰

This coming Thursday the Three Gorges reservoir in central China's Hubei province is expected to see the most severe round of floods since it started to hold water in 2003.
预计8月20日，位于湖北省的三峡水利枢纽将迎来2003年蓄水以来的最大洪峰。

According to a forecast by the Changjiang Water Resources Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources, the inbound flow of water is expected to reach more than 74,000 cubic meters per second after continuous heavy rain battered the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
根据长江水文局以及水利部的预报，受长江上游持续强降雨影响，三峡水利枢纽入库洪水峰值将达到74000立方米每秒。

The Yangtze River, China's longest waterway, recorded the fifth flood of the year in its upper reaches on Monday.
8月17日，“长江2020年第5号洪水”已在长江上游形成。

潜伏期 incubation period

8月19日，国家卫健委办公厅、国家中医药管理局办公室印发了《新型冠状病毒肺炎诊疗方案（试行第八版）》。

The incubation period for COVID-19, the time between exposure to the virus and the onset of symptoms, is about three to seven days for most people and can be up to 14 days, during which these pre-symptomatic patients can be contagious, according to the latest guideline.
试行第八版诊疗方案提出，新冠肺炎的潜伏期（感染病毒到出现症状之前）多为3到7天，最长可达14天，潜伏期即有传染性。

The five days after symptoms occur is when the disease becomes highly transmissible, the guideline said.
发病后5天内传染性较强。

【单词讲解】

在说到“具有传染性的”这个意思时，新闻报道中常用的两个词是contagious和transmissible，在表示某个疾病具有传染性的时候，这两个词是可以互相替换使用的，contagious/transmissible disease。二者的区别在于，transmissible只能用来形容疾病的传染性，而contagious适用的范围要广得多，除了表示疾病本身的传染性之外，也可以用来形容染了传染病的患者，contagious patients。此外，我们形容一个人的笑声特别有感染力，也可以说contagious laughter；某个时尚潮流传播很快就是a contagious fad。

Respiratory droplets and close contact with infected patients are the primary methods of transmission,and exposure to virus-contaminated objects can also cause infection, it added.
经呼吸道飞沫和密切接触传播是主要的传播途径。接触病毒污染的物品也可造成感染。

病理改变

In terms of the effect of the novel coronavirus on the body, the guideline said the virus can damage the lungs, spleen, bone marrow, cardiovascular system, liver, kidney, brain and digestive tracts.
在新冠病毒对身体的病理改变方面，方案指出，病毒会对肺脏、脾脏、骨髓、心脏和血管、肝脏、肾脏、脑组织以及消化道等器官和组织产生破坏作用。

临床表现

The symptoms of infected children are typically mild, with nausea, diarrhea and shortness of breath being some of the more common ones, the guideline found. However, an extremely small number of children could develop Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, showing symptoms similar to the rare Kawasaki disease, an inflammation in the walls of arteries throughout the body that primarily affects children younger than 5.
儿童患者多为轻症，常见症状有恶心、腹泻、呼吸短促等。不过，极少数儿童可有多系统炎症综合征（MIS-C），该综合征表现为全身血管壁上的炎症，其症状与川崎病类似，5岁以下儿童为多发人群。

中美航班 China-US flights

Under the agreement, Chinese airlines that already fly to the US－Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines－will be allowed to make eight weekly round trips instead of four, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
中国民航局表示，根据协议，中国国航、东方航空、南方航空和厦门航空这四家目前执飞中美航线的国内航空公司，每周运营的往返航班将由4班改为8班。

The two US carriers currently flying to China－United Airlines and Delta Air Lines－would also double their service to eight a week, equivalent to the total number of flights now permitted by US aviation authorities to Chinese carriers, according to a US Department of Transportation statement on Tuesday.
美国交通部8月18日表示，目前执飞中美航线的美联航和达美航空每周航班数也将增加至8班，与美国民航管理部门最近允许中国承运人执飞的航班总数相对等。

【单词讲解】

Double、triple、quadruple 这三个词在英语中用来表达不同的倍数，均可以做名词、动词、形容词和副词，用法很灵活。Double 表示“两倍、双份”或“使（什么）增加一倍”，比如：The editor thinks they can double the magazine circulation by the end of the year.主编觉得他们能在年底把杂志发行量增加一倍。另外，单词 double 在影视领域还指“替身演员”，比如，He worked as a double for Daniel Craig in the film.他在这部影片中担任丹尼尔·克雷格的替身。

Triple表示“三倍，增加两倍”，比如，My rent tripled last month.上个月，我的房租涨了两倍。

Quadruple这个词表示“四倍，四部分，增加三倍”的意思，词性和用法与前面的 double 和 triple 相似。需要注意的是，“增加三倍”其实也就是中文中常说的“翻两番”，所以这两种说法都可以用 quadruple 来表示，比如：Our exports to the US have quadrupled in the past three years.过去三年间，我们对美国的出口额增加了三倍（也就是翻了两番）。

美国两家航空公司公布新增航班计划

Delta Air Lines said it will add one more flight each week between Detroit and Shanghai and Seattle and Shanghai, both via Seoul, as of Monday.
达美航空表示，自8月24日起，将每周各增加一班底特律－上海及西雅图－上海的国际航班（均经停首尔）。

United Airlines said it will go from two to four flights per week between San Francisco and Shanghai starting on Sept 4.
美联航表示，从9月4日起，旧金山-上海浦东的往返航线将从每周2班增加为4班。

受新冠肺炎疫情影响，今年3月民航局发布《关于疫情防控期间继续调减国际客运航班量的通知》，进一步调减国际客运航班运行数量。

All domestic airlines were allowed to operate only one flight to each country per week, while foreign aviation companies should keep only one air route to China and there should be no more than one flight every week for each of the air route to China, according to the circular.
国内每家航空公司经营至任一国家的航线只能保留1条，且每条航线每周运营班次不得超过1班；外国每家航空公司经营至我国的航线只能保留1条，且每周运营班次不得超过1班。

为了控制新冠肺炎输入病例，自6月8日起，民航局推出以落地后乘客核酸检测结果为依据的航班奖励和熔断机制。

As an incentive, carriers will be allowed to increase the number of international flights to two per week on one route if the number of passengers who have a positive nucleic acid test on their flights stands at zero for three consecutive weeks, according to the administration.
奖励措施是指航空公司同一航线航班，入境后核酸检测结果为阳性的旅客人数连续3周为零的，可在航线经营许可规定的航班量范围内增加每周1班，达到每周2班。

The airline must suspend the operation of the route for one week if the number of passengers who test positive for the coronavirus reaches five. If the number exceeds 10, the airline will suspend the flights for four weeks, it said.
航空公司同一航线航班，入境后核酸检测结果为阳性的旅客人数达到5个的，暂停该公司该航线运行1周；达到10个的，暂停该公司该航线运行4周。

在保证防疫措施严格落实的前提下，我国近期已批准国内和国际航空公司增加由法国、荷兰、加拿大、澳大利亚、韩国及日本出发的入境航班。

As of Aug 12, China maintained regular passenger traffic with 50 countries. A total of 93 airlines－19 domestic and 74 foreign－have been operating 187 international passenger routes, according to the CAAC.
民航局的数据显示，截至8月12日，共计93家中外航空公司，其中国内航空公司19家、外航74家，运营187条定期国际客运航线，与50个国家保持定期客运通航。