介绍:
详细内容请关注周日微信，或登录以下网址：
http://english.cri.cn/7146/2014/10/20/2582s848529.htm
This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Yun Feng in Beijing. Here is the news.
Australian scientists have made the alarming discovery that sea levels have risen more in the past century than at any other comparable period in the past 6,000 years.
Researchers from the Australian National University, based in Canberra, say that the 20-centimetre rise in sea levels since the start of the 20th century was unprecedented. The rise was caused largely by global warming and the melting of polar ice.
The ANU study is a lengthy analysis of historical sea level trends. It found that levels have remained steady for thousands of years before rapid rises over the past 150 years, since global industrialization.
The study found that the sea level has been quite stable in the last 6,000 years before the modern onset of sea level rise. The study has been described as the most comprehensive of its kind looking at the period.
The scientists say the sea levels will continue to rise for some centuries to come even if carbon emissions are kept at present day levels.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife are donating 25 million US dollars to the CDC Foundation to help address the Ebola epidemic.
The money will be used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Ebola response effort in the world where Ebola is a threat.
The grant follows a 9 million-dollar donation made by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen last month. Zuckerberg and his wife are making the grant from their fund at the nonprofit Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page that people need to get Ebola under control in the near term so that it doesn't spread further and become a long term global health crisis. He believes the grant is the quickest way to empower the CDC and the experts in this field to prevent this outcome.
The World Health Organization has said that West Africa could see up to 10,000 new Ebola cases a week within two months. It confirmed that the death rate in the current outbreak is 70 percent.
The disease has killed more than 4,000 people, almost all of them in West Africa. The WHO has called the outbreak "the most severe and acute health emergency seen in modern times".
You are listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Yun Feng in Beijing.
The Singapore government is working with IBM to adopt a supercomputer system that can answer personalized questions on government policies and services, in a bid to boost efficiency in government consultation.
This is the first time any government works with IBM on its cognitive computing system called Watson, a supercomputer that can process and analyze large amounts of data, to come up with solutions to solve problems.
The system was named after IBM's first CEO and industrialist Thomas J. Watson, and is capable of answering questions posed directly in natural language, which is different from traditional way of using computer codes.
Singapore will first use Watson to deal with consultations in areas such as income tax, employment and work pass, and workplace health and safety. The pilot project will go live next year, and will answer enquiries about the above areas based on its analysis.
Singapore hopes the collaboration with IBM will bring about a transformative change in how the government can better interact with citizens and address their needs.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
China's ailing moon rover Yutu has entered its 11th dormancy as the lunar night falls, with its functions degrading gracefully.
The rover is currently in good condition and works normally, but its control problem persists.
Yu Dengyun, deputy chief designer of China's lunar probe mission, says that Yutu has gone through freezing lunar nights under abnormal status, and its functions are gradually degrading.
He said that the moon rover and the lander of the Chang'e-3 lunar mission have completed their tasks. The rover's designed lifetime is three months, but it has survived for over nine months now.
Chang'e-3 mission was the second phase of China's lunar exploration program, which includes orbiting, landing and returning to the Earth. The program is scheduled to end around 2020.
The Chang'e-4 mission is under further analysis.
As the backup probe of Chang'e-3, Chang'e-4 will verify technology for Chang'e-5. The more sophisticated Chang'e-5 and 6 missions are aimed for tasks including unmanned sampling and returning to Earth.
China plans to launch an experimental recoverable moon orbiter before the end of this year to test technology vital for the success of Chang'e-5.
大家还在听
