EZCNN 易英网

What's up, sunshine? Welcome to the show. I'm Coy Wire. This is CNN 10 with your news for Wednesday, September 3rd.

 

It is Your Word Wednesday. One of you helped us write today's show with a vocabulary word you submitted on my @coywire social account. So listen up and let's get this show on the road.

 

In China, where a gathering of keyworld leaders could have big implications for global politics, Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed allies from across Asia and the Middle East for a summit designed to showcase China as a capable counterweight to Western institutions like the United States and Europe.

 

counterweight [ˋkaʊntɚ͵wet] n. 平衡力；砝码

 

It was Xi's meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin taking center stage. The friendly displays come as all three of the world's superpowers face uncertain relationships with the US stemming from things like President Donald Trump's tariffs and Russia's war on Ukraine.

 

Our Ivan Watson has more.

 

A show of international solidarity at a time of global uncertainty. Leaders of three of the world's largest countries happily rubbing shoulders at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin, China.

 

solidarity [͵sɑləˋdærətɪ] n. 团结；团结一致

 

The leaders of China and Russia have long complained that the US and its Western allies have dominated international relations.

 

So now they've gathered heads of state from across Asia and the Middle East into this vast building to call for the creation of a new world order.

 

The host, Chinese President Xi Jinping denouncing bullying and double standards and promoting China as a champion for developing countries.

 

denounce [dɪˋnaʊns] v. 指责，谴责

champion [ˋtʃæmpɪən] n. 提倡者，拥护者；战士

 

The house rules of a few countries should not be imposed upon others. Those points echoed by his close partner, Vladimir Putin.

 

house rule 家规；（仅对一部分人或特定场所适用的）局部规范

 

Even as his military continues its nightly bombardment of Ukrainian cities, defying US President Donald Trump's demands for peace.

 

But the Russian president accuses the West of starting Russia's war with Ukraine and makes his own appeal for a new global system of governance.

 

appeal [əˋpil] n. 呼吁，请求

 

A system that would replace the outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models, taking into account the interests of the broadest possible range of countries, truly balanced.

 

Eurocentric [͵jʊrəˋsɛntrɪk] adj. 欧洲中心论的

 

But it is the presence of India's prime minister that has been most notable at this gathering.

 

Narendra Modi came to China still stinging from 50% tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Indian goods.

 

Snubbed by Washington, Modi is now mending fences with China. Despite an ongoing Chinese-Indian border dispute that five years ago turned very deadly, Modi also spent an hour talking to Putin in the Russian president's limousine.

 

snub [snʌb] v. 冷落，怠慢；严厉斥责；厉声制止

limousine [ˋlɪmə͵zin] n. 大型豪华轿车；大轿车

 

Demonstrating India has other powerful friends if it can no longer count on US support.

 

Children in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv have started their new school year underground. Their classrooms are located in new facilities that were built to shield students from potential Russian attacks.

 

As air raid sirens go off, teachers and children gather in classrooms equipped with modern supplies and safety systems all three floors below ground.

 

Kharkiv has built seven underground schools, and six subway stations are now also being used as underground classrooms.

 

Next up, a deeper look at artificial intelligence and chatpots.

 

We know they can be a big help when trying to find creative solutions to problems, conducting research, et cetera. We also know we shouldn't rely too heavily on them, right, so that our mental muscles don't get weak.

 

But did you know that every time someone uses a chatbot, it uses a lot of energy and resources that could potentially hurt the environment? It's estimated that more than 2.5 billion messages are sent to just ChatGPT every day.

 

CNN's Claire Duffy talked to an expert whose bailiwick is all things conservation. They ruminated over potentially more sustainable ways to use AI.

 

bailiwick [ˋbelə͵wɪk] n. 活动（或兴趣、知识、权利）范围

ruminate [ˋrumə͵net] v. 反刍，倒嚼；沉思，反复思考

 

The data centers answering your AI questions are pulling a whole lot of electricity from local grids and a ton of water to stay cool.

 

And the computers inside are made from rare earth metals that have to be mined out of the ground.

 

There's limited data out there, but some big AI companies have given us at least some indication of the resources their AI systems use.

 

indication [͵ɪndəˋkeʃən] n. 指示；指点; 征兆；迹象

 

In its latest environmental report, Google said the electricity consumed by its data centers grew 27% in 2024 compared to the year prior, although it said emissions were falling thanks to investments in clean energy and making its technology more efficient.

 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has written that one ChatGPT query uses just about 0.34 watt-hours, about what a high-efficiency light bulb uses in a couple of minutes.

 

query [ˋkwɪrɪ] n. 质问；询问；疑问；（用以提出问题）请问

light bulb 灯泡

 

But OpenAI also says that more than 2.5 billion messages are sent to ChatGPT daily. So if you do the math, every day ChatGPT is using enough energy to keep that light bulb running for more than 9,500 years.

 

Google estimates the average text question to its chatbot Gemini uses slightly less, about 0.24 watt-hours. Part of the challenge is that AI systems demand a lot more resources than earlier computing models.

 

According to the studies that I ran on open source models, it's 30 times more energy for a generative model compared to an old school, like traditional model for a task like web search.

 

generative [ˋdʒɛnə͵rətɪv] adj. 有生产力的

 

We're still using Google, we're still using Bing.

 

The fact that we're switching out tasks that were traditionally done in a much more kind of efficient way with generative AI, and then multiplied by the amount of people that uses these tools every day, that's what really worries me because the interfaces are the same, but the back end is so much more energy and resource intensive, and we don't see that.

 

So for consumers out there who are trying to be mindful about the impact of their AI usage, how do you go about that? The good rule of thumb, if a model does a single task, it's going to use a lot less energy.

 

rule of thumb 实用方法; 基本原则; 经验法则

 

For a lot of people, it's become chat GPT for just about anything, and that's where environmental costs add up. We should be using multiple platforms, multiple tools, and I think that that's a healthy practice to have as a user.

 

10 second trivia.

 

The RMS Titanic is one of the most famous shipwrecks of all time. How long was the ship?

 

750 feet, 883, 930, or 657 feet?

 

You are cruising if you said 883 feet. The Titanic was the largest movable object in the world when it was built.

 

Today, Royal Caribbean's Star of the Seas holds the record at 1197 feet long, a football field longer than the Titanic.

 

This week marks the 40th anniversary of a landmark discovery stemming from one of history's most famous disasters, the RMS Titanic, which famously sank during its maiden voyage in 1912, sat undisturbed at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for more than 73 years.

 

maiden [ˋmedn] adj. 首次的

undisturbed [͵ʌndɪˋstɝbd] adj. & adv. 未受打扰地

 

That all changed on September 1st, 1985, when a team of scientists led by Bob Ballard did the unthinkable, finally locating the elusive wreck.

 

Wow, it's a boom! Beautiful. Whoa, where is that going to turn? It's a bow. Yes, yes. Fantastic!

 

The crew used cutting-edge prototype technology of the time, including remote vehicles that could live stream video from miles below the surface.

 

Ballard also became the first person to visit the wreck that year via Alvin, a crewed submersible that took two hours to reach the seafloor. And the story gets more unbelievable.

 

Decades later, Ballard revealed that the entire expedition had actually been a cover for a top-secret military operation, did you know?

 

Ballard convinced the US Navy to help fund the tech that made his expedition possible, provided he help them locate a pair of downed nuclear subs.

 

convince [kənˋvɪns] v. 使..确信，使..信服；说服

down [daʊn] v. 击倒；【美】打败

 

The discovery even resulted in a new word being added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Ballard coined the term rusticles to describe the unique formations covering the wreck, the result of bacteria feasting on the metal hull.

 

rusticle [ˋrʌstɪk!] n. 锈迹

hull [hʌl] n. 船身；船壳

 

Today's story getting a 10 out of 10.Not all heroes wear capes, sometimes they wear shoulder pads. An army football player and his dad are being hailed as heroes after pulling a man from a car crash just moments before the vehicle burst into flames.

 

Second-year West Point cadet Larry Pickett Jr. and his dad sprang into action when they came across this crash.

 

cadet [kəˋdɛt] n. 军校学生

 

The pair immediately rushed to the driver's aid as first responders were still on their way to the scene.

 

I was just thinking I'm just grateful that that we got him out on it because I really don't think that anybody else was there because when we pulled up there was already somebody standing there but they saw the electric wire and I don't think that they wanted to go get him.

 

And their quick thinking may have saved the driver's life. Just moments after they pulled the driver to safety, the car burst into flames.

 

West Point has praised the father-son duo's selfless act as an embodiment of army values, a sentiment echoed by Larry's father.

 

embodiment [ɪmˋbɑdɪmənt] n.（某种质量或思想的）化身，表现；典型

echo [ˋɛko] v. 共鸣; 附和

 

It was no discussion. My son just jumped right into action. He mentioned his military training kicked in and we pulled him out.

 

He took care of him on the side of the road until the police officers got there and then the fire department got there shortly after.

 

Awesome stuff.

 

Also awesome. Mr. Pitts' class at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan for submitting our Your Word Wednesday winner. Bailiwick, a noun meaning a person's area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work. Thank you for boosting our vocabulary today.

 

Our first shout out today goes to the Nighthawks at First Flight High School in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Rise up. Friends in Miss Christie's and Miss Sam's class, I see you.

 

And this shout out goes to Miss Martin, Dr. Tony, and all our friends, the Dragons at Springdale Park Spark in Atlanta. Thank you for making this part of your day. I see you, Zachary.

 

Going out, make someone smile. You might be the spark of joy someone needs. I'm Coy Wire and we are CNN 10.