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Newsworthy Clips: Bedbugs move into dorm rooms 臭虫大举入侵宿舍

 

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Bedbugs move into dorm rooms  臭虫大举入侵宿舍

 

Just as they’ve made an itchy, scratchy comeback in hotel rooms, bedbugs increasingly are appearing in dorm rooms, say college officials and pest-control experts, who are busy devising ways to eradicate the bloodsuckers.

正当臭虫以令人浑身发痒之姿、再度现身饭店房间之际，在此同时，也有愈来愈多臭虫出现在宿舍房间里，大学校方人员与除虫专家如此表示。他们正忙着规划消灭这些吸血虫子的方法。

 

“They’re taking off right now,” says Dan Mizer, associate director of residence life at Texas A&M University.

「他们现在正开始活跃起来，」「德州A&M大学」住宿生活副主任丹．迈泽说道。

 

Bedbugs are everywhere: “They’re finding these things in public transit, in movie theaters, in cruise ships, in all the different hospitality accommodations.”

臭虫无所不在：「大众运输、电影院、邮轮、各种不同的饭店住宿中，都会发现这些小东西。」

 

Blame an increase in international travel, bigger bedbug populations worldwide, new protocols that discourage widespread spraying, and possibly even tougher bugs resistant to pesticides.

要怪就怪国际旅游大增、全世界臭虫总数暴增、阻挠大规模喷洒农药的新公约问世，甚至如臭虫对杀虫剂具有更高的抗药性也是可能原因。

 

The size of an apple seed, the nocturnal six-leggers hitchhike on luggage, old furniture and clothing and can live up to a year without a blood meal, so a dorm room left empty over the summer poses but a brief nutritional challenge.

这种夜行性的六脚昆虫，大小有如一颗苹果籽，他们搭上行李、旧家具和衣服的便车到处趴趴走，即使不吸血也能活上一年之久，因此暑假期间人去楼空的宿舍房间，只不过对臭虫造成暂时性的营养不足的挑战而已。

 

Ohio State University has seen “several incidents” in recent months, spokeswoman Ruth Gerstner says, including an outbreak in three rooms of a high-rise dorm; workers treated 114 rooms.

「俄亥俄州立大学」发言人鲁思．葛斯诺指出，该大学近几个月历经（译注：和臭虫有关的）「数起事件」，包括宿舍大楼三处房间爆发臭虫害，而工作人员则清理了一百一十四个房间。

 

At the University of Florida’s 4,000 dorm rooms and 980 apartments, “bad” infestations are limited to a couple of times a year, says Wayne Walker, who supervises dorm pest control. The school treats the problem with extreme heat, steam cleaning and pesticides.

「佛罗里达大学」监督宿舍病媒防治的韦恩．华克表示，该大学四千个宿舍房间与九百八十间公寓中，一年只发生数次「严重的」虫害。校方以高温、蒸气清洗和杀虫剂来处理病虫问题。

 

Greg Baumann, senior scientist at the National Pest Management Association, says he has heard from “quite a few” members called to campuses. Like hotel rooms, dorms are an ideal bedbug habitat: small, crowded, with “quite a bit of humanity per square foot.”

「美国病媒管理协会」资深科学家葛瑞格．鲍曼指出，他已经从「好几位」被请到校园协助处理病虫问题的会员处接获消息。宿舍和饭店房间一样，都是理想的臭虫栖息地：空间又小、又挤、而且「每平方呎充满了人气」。

 

Unlike cockroaches, bedbugs aren’t an indicator of bad housekeeping, says Richard Cooper, co-author of Bed Bug Handbook: The Complete Guide to Bed Bugs and Their Control.

《臭虫手册：臭虫与防治全集》一书的共同作者理察．库柏表示，和蟑螂不同的是，臭虫并不是屋子没打扫干净的指标。

 

“The bug doesn’t discriminate on social status. Blood’s blood.”

「臭虫不会有社会地位的歧视，血就是血。」

 

−by Greg Toppo

 

单词发音

 

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bedbug [ˋbɛd͵bʌg] n. 臭虫

scratchy [ˋskrætʃɪ] adj. 刺痛的, 发痒的

devise [dɪˋvaɪz] v. 设计；发明；策划；想出

bloodsucker [ˋblʌd͵sʌkɚ] n. 吸血动物

hospitality accommodation 酒店住宿

blame [blem] v. 归因于[（+on/onto）]

protocol [ˋprotə͵kɑl] n. 议定书；协议；草案

spray [spre] n. 喷洒，喷涂

nocturnal [nɑkˋtɝn!] adj. 夜间活动的; 夜间发生的

pose [poz] v. 造成，引起

infestation [ɪnfɛsˋteʃən] n.（动、植物的）寄生虫侵扰 a problem caused by insects or pests being present in large numbers

 

 

 

 

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Japan considers smog observation satellite  日本研拟开发烟雾观测卫星

 

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is considering building and launching a satellite to observe, around the clock, air pollution coming to Japan from China and other East Asian countries.

「日本宇宙航空研究开发机构」考虑建造并发射一枚卫星，以便二十四小时观测从中国及其他东亚国家扩散到日本的空气污染。

 

The satellite’s purpose is to find sources of air pollutions, including exhaust gas, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emitted from factories. It will utilize the information it gathers to issue early-stage photochemical smog warnings. The satellite would be the first in the world to monitor such information on a 24-hour basis.

卫星的目的在于找出空气污染的来源，包括废气、二氧化碳、以及工厂排出的一氧化碳。它会利用搜集到的信息，发出早期光化学烟雾的警告。这将是全球第一枚二十四小时监控此类信息的卫星。

 

There are many types of cross-border pollution, including acid rain, yellow dust and photochemical smog. Last year, photochemical smog warnings were issued in a record 28 prefectures, including Oita and Niigata, where such warnings had never before been issued. Photochemical smog can cause health problems such as sore throat and eye irritation.

跨国界污染有许多种，包括酸雨、沙尘和光化学烟雾等。去年日本破纪录地对二十八个县发出光化学烟雾警告，其中也包括从未收到过此类警告的大分县及新泻县在内。光化学烟雾会引发喉咙痛、眼睛不适等健康问题。

 

A panel special to the Japanese Environment Ministry compiled a report recently on the increase in photochemical oxidant, which causes the smog. The report’s findings [show that] the oxidant was caused partly by pollutants from China and other East Asian countries.

「日本环境省」的特约专家小组，最近针对造成烟雾的光化学氧化剂的增加，汇整出一份报告。报告结果[显示]氧化剂有部分是由来自中国与其他东亚国家的污染物所造成。

 

Satellite air pollution observation has been conducted by European countries and the United States since the late 1990s. However, current observational satellites can only record data in a specific region once a day, and observation hours are limited. Therefore, it is difficult to analyze pollutant sources and pathways.

从一九九０年代末期开始，欧洲国家与美国就已经开始用卫星观测空气污染，然而，目前的观测卫星只能在特定地区一天记录一次信息，观测时间也有限，因此难以进一步分析污染来源及路径。

 

JAXA is planning to launch four environmental satellites, including one to observe greenhouse gases, by 2013. JAXA’s Toru Fukuda said: “We hope to finalize our plan to build an air pollution observation satellite by the end of this fiscal year. In the future, it’ll be important to have an environmental satellite that’s closely connected to people’s daily lives.”

「日本宇宙航空研究开发机构」计划在二０一三年之前发射四枚环境卫星，其中包括一枚观测温室气体的卫星。该机构人员Toru Fukuda表示，「我们希望能将计划定案，以便在这个会计年度结束之前建造一枚空气污染监测卫星，在未来，能拥有一枚与人们日常生活紧密相关的环境卫星至为重要。」

 

−by The Yomiuri Shimbun

 

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carbon monoxide 一氧化碳 the poisonous gas produced when carbon is partly burned, especially in car fuel

photochemical smog 光化学烟雾 a fog caused by light from the sun shining on chemicals in the air produced by traffic and industry

smog [smɑg] n. 烟雾（= smoke and fog）

acid rain 酸雨 rain which contains large amount of harmful chemicals as a result of burning things such as coal and oil

prefecture [ˋprifɛktʃɚ] n. 府；专区；县

panel [ˋpæn!] n. 专门小组；评判小组；专题讨论小组

oxidant [ˋɑksədənt] n.【化】氧化剂 a substance that adds oxygen to other substances

finalize [ˋfaɪn!͵aɪz] v. 完成；结束

 

 

 

 

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In Britain, humble postcard enjoys resurgence  朴实的明信片在英国卷土重来

 

In this era of instant messaging and snapshots shared on cell phones, you might think the seaside holiday postcard would be on its way out.

在这个实时传讯与手机分享快照的年代，你可能会认为海边度假明信片即将式微。

 

But in Britain, picture postcards – those humble vacation standbys – are enjoying a not entirely understood resurgence.

但是在英国，图画明信片──也就是那些朴实的假期备用品──却正享受着令人难以全然理解的卷土重来风潮。

 

After initially stagnating after the advent of electronic communication, postcard mailings have leapt by 10 million a year for the past three years in Britain, to 135 million annually. That’s an average of two postcards a year for each U.K. resident.

电子通讯出现后，寄明信片起初也曾一度陷入萧条，不过，过去三年间，英国所寄的明信片开始每年成长一千万张，总量达到平均每年一亿三千五百万张，等于是每位英国居民平均每年寄两张明信片。

 

Postcard use appears to be on the rise in part because Britons are taking more holidays these days to places you’d want to send a card from. Today most postcards mailed within Britain arrive in just a day or two. And cards by top photographers or artists have largely replaced the dreary hotel freebies of earlier years.

使用明信片看来正当红，部分原因是英国人近来更常到那些你会想寄明信片的风景区度假。如今大部分在英国国内寄出的明信片，一两天之内就能收到。而顶尖摄影师或艺术家设计的明信片，也已大量取代了早年饭店免费提供的乏味明信片。

 

But the newfound fondness for the postcard also appears to be driven by a desire, at least while on vacation, to chuck the Blackberry in the hotel safe and “turn back the clock in favor of a more personal and thoughtful method of contact,” as the U.K. post office puts it.

但是这股对明信片重新燃起的喜爱，似乎也是受到一种至少在度假时会产生的渴望所驱策，因为人们想把黑莓机扔进饭店保险箱里，「好让时光倒流，重回过去更有个人情感、更贴心的联络方式」，英国邮局如是说。

 

“People have realized e-mails and text messages are not very permanent or personal,” said Brian Lund, editor of Picture Postcard Monthly magazine.

「图画明信片月刊」杂志编辑布莱安．隆德指出，「大家已经体认到，电子邮件与简讯不够持久、也不是很有个人情感。」

 

The cards remain a unique form of communication. Their brief, scrawled messages – or epic tales crammed onto every nook of the tiny space – are at the same time private and very public, a chance not only to send a “wish you were here” home but to brag to or scandalize the mail carrier and any nosy neighbor.

明信片仍然是一种独特的通讯方式，明信片上简短的潦草讯息──或是把小小空间每个角落都塞满的长篇大论──既私密却也非常公开，不仅让人有机会寄送「真希望你也在这里」的讯息回家，也让人有向邮差和任何好管闲事的邻居吹嘘或让他们错愕的机会。

 

“Sending a postcard might be a bit retro,” Lund notes, “but it’s a really good personal thing to do.”

「寄明信片或许略嫌老气，」隆德指出，「但这真是件富有个人情感的好事。」

 

−by Laurie Goering

 

单词发音

 

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humble [ˋhʌmb!] adj. 不起眼的

seaside [ˋsi͵saɪd] adj. 海边的，海滨的

standby [ˋstænd͵baɪ] n. 备用物 something that can be relied on when needed; something which is always ready for use, especially if the regularly used one fails

advent [ˋædvɛnt] n. 出现；到来

dreary [ˋdrɪərɪ] adj. 枯燥的，令人生厌的

freebie [ˋfribi] n. 【美】【俚】免费物（如戏院赠票）; 不花钱的东西

chuck [tʃʌk] v. 扔，抛

safe [sef] n. 保险箱 a metal container usually having a lock, used for storing valuables

turn back the clock 让时光倒流; 把钟拨慢 to make things the same as they were at an earlier time

in favor of something 偏爱 because you prefer something

thoughtful [ˋθɔtfəl] adj. 体贴的，考虑周到的

scrawl [skrɔl] v. 潦草地写，乱写

epic [ˋɛpɪk] adj. 史诗的，叙事诗的

nook [nʊk] n. 角落

brag [bræg] v. 吹嘘；夸耀

nosy [ˋnozɪ] adj.【口】好管闲事的；爱追问的

retro [ˋrɛtro] adj. (服装、音乐和物品的风格) 复古的，怀旧的 a fashion reminiscent of the past    

 

 

 

单词发音

 

Vocabulary Focus

comeback [ˋkʌm͵bæk] n. 复出，东山再起 a return to activity, especially after being inactive for a period of time

eradicate [ɪˋrædɪ͵ket] v. 根除; 杜绝; 扫除 to get rid of completely

hitchhike [ˋhɪtʃ͵haɪk] v.【美】【口】作搭便车式的旅行 to travel by getting free rides

discriminate [dɪˋskrɪmə͵net] v. 有差别地对待 to see the difference between two things or types of things, and to show preference based on the perceived difference

compile [kəmˋpaɪl] v. 汇编；编辑 to collect information from a variety of places and arrange it in a book, report or list

conduct [kənˋdʌkt] v. 实施；处理 to organize and direct a particular activity

resurgence [rɪˋsɝdʒəns] n. 再起, 复活, 再现 an increase of interest in a particular thing which had been forgotten for some time

on (the) way out  即将变得过时 becoming increasing unpopular

stagnate [ˋstægnet] v. 沉滞；失去活力 to stay the same and not grow or develop

scandalize [ˋskænd!͵aɪz] v. 使震惊 to cause someone to be shocked by something that might be considered immoral