介绍:
This is Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. Here is the news.
China has launched an experiment satellite "TK-1", from a satellite launch center in northwest China.
The satellite, carried by the rocket "KT-2", blasted off from the launch center and it later entered its intended orbit.
"TK-1" is the first satellite independently developed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. It will be used for remote sensing, telecommunications and experiments in minisatellite-based technologies.
The "KT-2" rocket is one of the five carrier systems in the corporation&`&s commercial space plan. It features high carrying efficiency and adaptability.
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China will conduct nationwide safety checks on coal mines this year to prevent major accidents.
The State Administration of Work Safety has said the examination will last from March until the end of the year. It covers both operational mines and those previously ordered to suspend production.
Also checked will be collieries required to close as part of government plans to cut capacity but which are still operating.
The move came after a string of tragic accidents. A gas explosion killed seven people and injured 11 in southwest China&`&s Guizhou Province earlier this year.
The administration said coal mine safety was "complicated and grim".
Around 60 percent of China&`&s coal mines are small collieries with production of less than 300,000 tonnes a year.
Outdated equipment, lack of technicians and weak management at these mines were accountable for almost 80 percent of severe accidents in the mines.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
A United Nations spokesman has described the first Chinese strategy report on cyberspace cooperation as a very important one, saying "China has a big role to play" in the global cyberspace governance.
The spokesman told Xinhua News Agency that the strategy is a very important report and China has a big role to play in it.
China released its strategy on cyberspace cooperation titled "The International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace". This is the first report China has released regarding the virtual domain. The report also attaches great importance to the leading role of the United Nations in promoting world cooperation on cyberspace.
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For the third year in a row, Washington D.C. has ranked first among the 50 largest U.S. metro areas in the 2016 Gallup Good Jobs ratings.
According to a Gallup poll released recently, state capitals once again filled the top slots after Washington D.C. All of the top six metro areas on the list include state capitals, or the nation&`&s capital, and all have been in the top 10 rankings since Gallup began comparing the 50 most populous metro areas in 2014.
The poll comes as pockets of the country continue to struggle to make ends meet, even nearly a decade after the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
But for its part, Washington D.C. was not only able to avoid the sting of the recession, but is a place where jobs are plentiful, high-paying and easy to find. Many jobs are easily in the 100,000 U.S. dollars per year range.
The past year had its share of positive economic news for the United States, including a rising stock market, low unemployment and a boost to Gallup&`&s job creation index.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
The Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS has marked Zero Discrimination Day with a "Make Some Noise" campaign, urging people to speak up against discrimination.
A UN spokesperson said discrimination takes many forms, and can be based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or age. This year&`&s campaign puts particular focus on the need for zero discrimination in health-care settings.
According to the United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS, people living with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to be denied health-care than other people.
An executive director of the program said health-care settings should be safe and supportive environments. It is unacceptable that discrimination is inhibiting access to care today.
Zero Discrimination Day highlights how everyone can be part of the transformation and take a stand for a fair and just society".
Data from 50 countries shows that one in eight people living with HIV report being denied health care.
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Egypt&`&s recently-appointed first female governor has vowed to meet the aspirations and expectations of her people.
Nadia Abdou told Chinese journalists that she had mixed feeling of responsibility and joy to become the first female governor in Egypt and the Arab world.
She was appointed governor of Beheira province, around 130 kilometers north of the capital Cairo, after serving as deputy governor over the past three years.
She sees the move as a step forward for greater women&`&s participation in the country&`&s political leadership.
The governor said women&`&s participation in Egypt has become fairly acceptable, as an Egyptian woman has become a minister, an ambassador, a judge and finally a governor. In addition to this, Egyptian women are also highly represented in the parliament.
She said her major challenge after taking office is to provide all necessary care and attention to women and children in order to prepare a generation that is able to endure the burdens and responsibilities of the future.
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The Mobile World Congress has closed following four days of exhibition, in which Chinese companies actively participated.
Chinese firms led presentations on new devices and also launched new technologies. It was recognized through the Global Mobile Awards as Chinese company Huawei received three prizes.
Among the so-called Oscars of the mobile phone industry, Huawei gained the award of the "Best Mobile Infrastructure", "Best Technology Enabler" and "Outstanding contribution for LTE Evolution to 5G", in the category of "Best Mobile Technology".
Huawei was also part of the "Innovation City" this year in which it showed some of the latest innovations on 5G, drones, apart from launching new devices including smartphones and a smart watch.
Visitors of the "Innovation City" could also learn the latest technology to protect the ocean environment, on security and automotive connectivity.
The other Chinese companies hitting headlines this year included ZTE which presented the world&`&s first smartphone with a download speed of up to 1 Gigabyte per second, while OPPO and Meizu presented new technology on photography and record-breaking 20-minute full charging time for a 3,000 mAh cell respectively.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to crienglish.com. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. Now the news continues.
An emergence of baseball-version of Yao Ming, former NBA basketball star, will help boost the popularity of the game in China.
An official with Major League Baseball said "Go find us a baseball-version of Yao Ming, and that helps." Al Leiter, an analyst with Major League Basketball Network, made the remarks when answering questions by Xinhua at a briefing at Yankee Stadium in New York. The interview came on the sidelines of the upcoming World Baseball Classic, a global tournament jointly operated by Major League Basketball and the league&`&s Players Association.
In his response, Chris Park, Major League Basketball Senior Vice President, said the game has witnessed a quite rapid growth, mainly in the grass root efforts, in the past decade in China. He said this tournament comes right as a reflection of progress has been made and can be showcased.
China will be playing in Pool B. Other teams in the pool include Championship contender Japan, Cuba and Australia.
The World Basketball Classic 2017 is the fourth installment of the tournament, following 2006, 2009 and 2013.
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Australian scientists say the brains of obese people could be "wired" to seek out fatty foods.
Researchers from Monash University are investigating the messaging system between the brain and the body, with hopes of discovering the neurological cause of obesity.
Associate Professor Zane Andrews from Monash said there is no question the brain is the key site regulating appetite and obesity. He said there are a number of genetic mutations that increase the risk of obesity, and the majority is located somewhere in the brain.
Andrews said it is a control issue, but it&`&s not a willful conscious decision, because in obesity, the brain doesn&`&t perceive information correctly from the body. His focus was on brain cells responsible for sensing hunger that also influenced motivation and reward.
Early results indicated that the brains of obese people were not sending messages to tell the body that they already have enough energy stored.
Andrews&`& team has identified that part of the problem could form while the brain pathways are forming during childhood, with children who are rewarded for good behavior with sweet treats, forming an association between sugar and feeling good.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
An Argentine mother lost her four-year-old son in February last year to progeria, a rare condition that speeds up the aging process.
When she was mourning her son, she found a novel way to channel her grief.
In memory of her son Franco, the mother has opened a makeshift soup kitchen near her home to attend to the children of the poor and homeless families.
She said she doesn&`&t want to cry for her son or become sad. She just wanted to look up at the sky and say that she missed him. In his memory, she is going to open a soup kitchen named after him.
The soup kitchen is called "Franquito My Angel" and is located in a poor neighborhood of dirty streets and dilapidated houses in Moreno, a town some 50 kilometers west of Buenos Aires.
Franquito is one of the numerous soup kitchens popping up across Argentina in solidarity with the country&`&s poor. Decked with photos of Franco, the kitchen offers a meal twice a week to more than 30 children.
In Moreno alone, the number of kitchens to serve children from families experiencing economic difficulties increased from 45 in 2015 to 90 in June 2016.
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A Hong Kong comic series, Military Boxing, once drew China&`&s late Premier Zhou Enlai as a martial arts master. It sounds far-fetched, but Zhou really did learn a traditional Chinese form of boxing from kong fu master Han Muxia.
When Zhou studied in Nankai University in Tianjin, Han was invited to give students martial arts classes. And according to Han&`&s memory, Zhou was the most industrious student of boxing and achieved a lot during the practice.
Born in Tianjin in 1877, Han&`&s experience was adapted into a kung fu film in 1990.
According to traditional martial arts theories, people who are good at Chinese internal boxing are not afraid of the cold.
It is said Zhou had an excellent physical character thanks to his boxing practice. He only wore a woolen overcoat when he visited Moscow where people often wear heavy fur coats to protect them against the icy temperatures.
This is the end of this edition of Special English. To freshen up your memory, I&`&m going to read one of the news items again at normal speed. Please listen carefully.
This is the end of today&`&s program. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing, and I hope you can join us every day, to learn English and learn about the world.
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