英语作文

尽管我喜欢广交朋友，但我只愿与为数不多的几人成为至交。我所提及的那位黑衣男士，就是那样一个我希冀与其成为莫逆之交的人，因为他深得我的景仰。诚然，其行为举止不乏某些怪异的出尔反尔，他全然可被称为幽默家王国中的幽默大师。虽然他慷慨大方，乃至奢靡无度，但他仍假惺惺地希望人们将其视作节俭与审慎之奇才。尽管其言谈之中满是污秽和自私的格言，其内心却充盈

着最博大无际的爱心。

参考译文：

Though fond of many acquaintances, I desire an intimacy only with a few. The Man in Black, whom I have often

mentioned, is one whose friendship I could wish to acquire, because he possesses my esteem. His manners, it is true, are tinctured with some strange inconsistencies, and he may be justly termed a humorist in a nation of humorists. Though he is generous even to profusion, he affects to be thought a prodigy of parsimony and prudence; though his conversation be replete with the most sordid and selfish maxims, his heart is dilated with

the most unbounded love.

低碳生活，简单生活的好处

A lot of people think being a minimalist is akin to being a monk—living a sort of ascetic lifestyle in which you deprive yourself of “wordly” things simply for the sake of it.

Others regard minimalists with polite curiosity (why ever would you WANT to have an empty house?), or write us off as a bit quirky (since when is it quirky to count how many socks you have? ).

What gets lost in most considerations of minimalism is the true joy that can be found in the lifestyle. I think that’s the number one reason most of us adopt it: to make ourselves happy.

To this end, I’ve decided to wax philosophical today on the top ten benefits of being a minimalist.

1. Less stuff = less stress. The fewer possessions you have, the less you need to worry about maintaining, repairing, insuring, protecting, and paying for them.

2. Less stuff = more freedom. Possessions are like anchors, tethering us to our houses (to store them), and our jobs (to pay for them). When you don’t have a houseful of stuff, you’re much more mobile and able to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

3. Less stuff = more time. It takes time to plan for, research, and acquire a purchase (from driving around to stores, to surfing the web for consumer reviews). And it takes time to clean, maintain, and keep stuff in order once you own it. The less stuff you buy, the more time you have for other (more pleasurable) pursuits.

4. Less stuff = more money. The less you buy, the more you save. And who wouldn’t be happier with a little more money in their bank account?

5. Less stuff = less pressure to keep up with the Joneses. When people know you’re a minimalist, they don’t expect you to have the latest and greatest toys and status symbols. In fact, they don’t expect you to have anything at all. (Ac tually, I’d love to see the Joneses become minimalist, and the competitive non-consumption that results.)

6. Less stuff = less to clean. I prefer not to spend my weekends dusting around tchotchkes, and corralling wayward items into drawers, bins, and clos ets (and I suspect I’m not the only one!) What’s more: when you’re a minimalist, your house is more likely to look halfway decent when someone drops by unexpectedly.

7. Less stuff = more opportunity to be creative and resourceful. I love the challenge of

m eeting a need, or completing a task, without purchasing something “extra.”

8. Less stuff = a greener planet. The fewer things you buy, the better for the environment. Rampant consumption is a terrible waste of the Earth’s natural resources.

9. Less stuff for me = more for others. The resources of our planet are finite. When we over-consume, we take more than our fair share—leaving less for others, and future generations. A minimalist lifestyle helps restore the balance.

10. Less stuff = more joy. The fewer possessions you have to fuss over, the more time you have for friends, family, flowers, sunsets, and the beautiful things in life. And that—more than any consumer item—is the source of true happiness.

很多人都认为成为一个简约主义者就像是成为一个苦行僧，并因为这样，过着一种剥夺自己尘世生活的日子。

有些人以善意的好奇心看待简约主义者（为什么你曾经想拥有一套空房子？），或者离奇地写信给我们。

最让我们入迷的是在这种简约主义里面，我们可以发现生活的真正乐趣。我想这就是那么多人接受这种生活方式的最终要的原因：能够让我们自己开心起来。

所以，我决定和大家分享像简约主义者简单生活的十大好处。

1、拥有越少=压力越少。你拥有的财产越少，你越不用担心财产的保值、维修、保险、保管、和用在它上面的花费。

2、拥有越少=自由越大。财产像一个船锚，让我们为我们的房屋和工作画地自牢，当你不再是一个房奴，更能把握住那些您曾视而不见的机会。

3、拥有越少=时间越多。计划、寻找、买一样东西（从驾车去考察到在网上搜索消费者的评价）是很花时间的。整理、清洁、保管你的财产也要花很多时间。所以，你买少点东西，你将有更多时间放在你更喜欢的追求上。

4、拥有越少=钱越多。你买得越少，你的钱存得越多，看到自己的银行户头日渐充盈，谁会不开心？

5、拥有越少=越少跟邻居攀比的压力。当人们知道你是个简约主义者的时候，他们就不会在意你是否拥有最新的，最酷的玩物或者其他象征地位的物品。事实上，他们根本不在意你

拥有的任何东西。（实际上，我很乐意看到邻居变成简约主义者，那么这种竞争性的非消费就有结果了）

6、拥有越少=清理越少。我并不像浪费我的周末在那些小装饰品、到处到处的小物品身边打转，把它们收拾进抽屉、垃圾桶、壁橱。（我怀疑不仅仅是我有这种想法）。而且，当你是一个简约主义者的时候，你的家就像一块走到半路，不期而遇的硬币。

7、拥有越少=让自己变得更富创造力和更机敏的机会越多。我喜欢面对一个需要或者完成一项任务时的挑战感，而不是买更多额外的东西。

8、拥有越少=一个更绿色的星球。你买得越少，对环境越好。泛滥消费时对地球自然字眼的严重浪费。

9、自己拥有越少=别人拥有越多。我们地球上的资源是有限的。当我们过度消费的时候，留给别人和后代的就变少了。简约主义者的生活方式帮助保持生态平衡。

10、拥有越少=越多乐趣。你花在担心你的财产上的时间越少，你就有越多时间花在朋友、家人、甚至是花开、日落和生命中一切美好的东西。而这些，要比消费品多得多，这些才是人生开心的源泉。

美国驻中国大使上海世博会电视致辞

字号: 小中大| 打印发布: 2010-5-04 21:18 作者: webmaster 来源:

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美国驻中国大使Jon Huntsman近日发表电视致辞，表达了对世博和中美两国明天的期待，顺便也宣传了一下美国馆的展览。以下是致辞全文。

I'm pleased to congratulate China on the opening of the Shanghai Expo, a major event of the world this year and one that will allow Americans and Chinese to continue to get to know each other on the deeper and broader bases.

我高兴地就上海世博会的开幕向中国表示祝贺：这是一个今年世界上的重要事件，它将允许美国人和中国人在一个更深入和更广泛的基础上继续相互了解。

America has hosted and participated in many World Expos since 19th century and we're excited to see this tradition carry on at the Shanghai Expo. Our participation demonstrates America's commitment to a forward-looking, positive relationship with China.

美国自19世纪以来，已经举办和参加了许多世博会，我们很兴奋地看到这一传统在上海世博会上得以延续。我们的参与表明美国对一个与中国前瞻性和积极关系的承诺。

I invite you to visit American pavilion to learn about America's approach to creating "a better city and a better life". We have prepared a special theatre presentation that we hope will entertain visitors of all ages and inspire them to be part of efforts to improve their own communities.

我邀请您访问美国馆，了解美国创建一个“城市让生活更美好”的方法。我们已经准备了特别的戏剧表演，我们希望以此招待各年龄段的游客，并激励他们成为改善他们自己社区努力的一部分。

The USA pavilion will also featuer an array of American cultural performers -- from Blue Grass to Hiphop, to Jazz to classical music. One of the Grammy Award winning artists scheduled to perform is American Jazz legend Herbie Hancock.

美国馆还将以大量的美国文化表演者为特色——从蓝草、嘻哈、爵士到古典音乐。计划演奏的格莱美得奖艺术家之一的是美国爵士乐的传奇赫比·汉考克。

I'm also particularly proud of our "Student Ambassador" program. Visitors to American pavilion will be greeted by American college students from schools across America. They have many different life experiences they will share with you. And all 160 student ambassadors speak Chinese, which demonstrates the importance American younger generation is placing on learning about China.

我还为我们的“学生大使”项目而感到特别自豪。美国馆的参观者将受到来自全美各地学校大学生的欢迎。他们将有许多不同的生活经历与大家分享。并且，所有160名学生大使都说中文，这表明美国年轻一代对学习了解中国的重视。

While the Expo is an opportunity to present some of the best of America to visitors, it is also an opportunity to learn from China and many of countries will be exhibiting about how they are working to improve their communities. I personally look forward to visiting other national pavilions to see the many exciting things they will have to offer。

世博会是一个向游客展示美国最好方面的机会，也是个向中国和其他许多即将参展的国家学习他们如何努力改善他们社区的机会。我本人期待着参观其他国家的展馆，看他们即将提供的许多令人兴奋的东西。

I congratulate China on what I'm sure will be a spectacular world's fair. Come and see at the US pavilion。

我确信这将是一个非常壮观的世界博览会，我就此向中国表示祝贺。到美国馆来看我们吧！

?西南部旱灾

?莫斯科地铁爆炸

?让剧毒地沟油来得更猛烈些吧

?个税起征点

?两会

?民工荒

?股指期货

?植入式广告

2010年中国西南大旱是2009年秋季开始发生于中国云南、贵州、广西、四川及重庆的百年一遇的特大旱灾。

一些地方的干旱天气可追溯至2009年7月，至2010年3月，受灾人口逾5000万人；仅贵州一省，由于受灾严重需要救济者就高达310万人。同月旱灾蔓延至湖南西部，西藏等地区。

有人认为云南及广西近年为了经济原因，大规模种植吸取地下水较多的桉树和橡胶树，破坏原有植被，是造成今次旱灾的一个原因。

BEIJING—China's government is paying increasing attention to a relentless drought in the country's southwest, which a senior official said has left 24 million people

short of drinking water.

The situation is unlikely to ease until late May, with the start of the rainy season, said Liu Ning, vice minister of water resources, at a news briefing Wednesday.

The drought has raised fears of inflationary pressures as the water shortage threatens to drive up prices for rice and other agricultural products. It has also drawn attention from environmentalists who wonder to what extent disruptions from China's massive construction of hydroelectric dams and reservoirs have contributed

to the water shortages.

"This drought is the worst in a century, and it's another demonstration that our water supply system is on a very tight balance," Ma Jun, director of the Institute

of Public and Environmental Affairs, a nongovernmental organization in Beijing, said

in an interview Wednesday.

Mr. Ma said paper mills have recently planted crops of eucalyptus, rubber trees and other non-local species, reducing native forest areas that can hold excess water and release it in the dry season. "Logging, deforestation and general

eco-degradation in that region … has weakened the ecological capability to regulate

water."

Mr. Liu said inadequate water-storage facilities and inadequate irrigation systems have worsened a situation caused by lower rainfall and higher-than-normal temperatures in the southwest. He said dam and reservoir projects were based on stringent research and debate, and they have actually helped to relieve water

problems during the drought.

Around 6% of the country's 120 million hectares arable land are hit by the drought, with 80% in the southwest, Mr. Liu said.

Mr. Liu sought to allay concern around rising food prices due to the drought, saying it so far is concentrated in the country's southwest, where little of the country's grain is grown. But he said the drought could expand to the major grain-growing areas of the north. Already, there are early signs of drought in the northern wheat-growing

areas, he said.

Prices of China's small-package rice have risen less than 3% since last October, when the drought started, while pork and egg prices have been falling for weeks, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

The ministry expects prices for rice and vegetables, which have gained, will

normalize as supplies increase.

The drought has drawn attention from China's top leaders, with Premier Wen Jiabao declining an offer of water to drink from a villager during his recent visit to the

drought-hit Yunnan province.

Authorities have said that people in the most seriously affected, mountainous areas may be forced to move if water resources dry up further, though Mr. Liu said Wednesday that such an "extreme situation" is unlikely to occur.

Dwindling water supplies and drought comes just as China's wealth is increasing demand for more water. McKinsey & Co. estimates China's demand for water will be

25% higher than its supply by 2030.

--"Beijing Turns Attention to Worsening Drought", 2010-04-01, The Wall Street

Journal

地沟油 Drainage Oil

地沟油实际上是一个泛指的概念，是人们在生活中对于各类劣质油的通称。通俗地讲，地沟油可分为以下几类：一是狭义的地沟油，即将下水道中的油腻漂浮物或者将宾馆、酒楼的剩饭、剩菜(通称泔水)经过简单加工、提炼出的油;二是劣质猪肉、猪内脏、猪皮加工以及提炼后产出的油;三是用于油炸食品的油使用次数超过规定要求后，再被重复使用或往其中添加一些新油后重新使用的油。潲水油（俗称地沟油）对人体的危害极大，长期食用可能会引发癌症。由于销售地沟油存在不小的经济诱惑，仍有人铤而走险。据说国人每年要吃掉200～300 万吨。据专家估计，国人每吃10顿饭中，可能会有1顿碰上地沟油。

Food safety is once again being put into the limelight following media reports last week that a "significant portion" of used cooking oil is being recycled and returned

to people's dining tables across China.

Catering industry insiders and food safety experts say huge profits, inadequate supervision and the difficulty of disposing of used cooking oil are the main reasons that used oil is collected from kitchen waste and reused as cooking oil.

Huang Fenghong, deputy director of the Oil Crops Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told the Global Times that, after seven years of field research, his research team has concluded that the use of recycled oil is rampant in some areas, especially where cash-strapped migrant workers and students

are major diners.

Recycled cooking oil, dubbed "drainage oil," is refined from discarded kitchen waste and reused in the preparation of meals at restaurants and canteens.

"The use of drainage oil will put the public's health in peril because it may contain heavy metal, waste antibiotics or aflatoxins, a highly toxic substance that could

cause cancer," he said.

Huang did not specify how much drainage oil China consumes each year, saying it is

difficult to calculate the figure.

Earlier, He Dongping, a nutrition professor at central China's Wuhan Polytechnic University and a member of Huang's team, told the China Youth Daily on Thursday that people in China consume about 2 to 3 million tons of drainage oil a year.

"China consumes about 22.5 million tons of cooking oil annually, which means that one in 10 meals in the country may be cooked with illegal cooking oil," the newspaper

quoted him as saying.

Although Huang said the media misinterpreted He's statements, which only suggested the total amount of China's recycled oil annually, the shocking report renewed concerns among authorities, experts and citizens over food safety in China.

In Wuhan, the capital of Hebei Province, the Food and Drug Bureau set up a hotline Saturday to process citizens' complaints about the use of drainage oil by restaurants

or cafeterias.

A hotline worker who refused to be named told the Global Times Sunday that the line had been busy ever since it was opened. People called in to report what they said might be recycled oil at restaurants, or to report people allegedly involved in the

illegal recycling business.

"Many recycling plants are based in the suburbs," Chen Debin, general manager of NZBM, a Beijing-based fast food chain with over 10 outlets in China, told the Global Times that recycling drainage oil for cooking meals is an open secret in the catering industry, and especially so for small restaurants, unlicensed restaurants, roadside

food stands and in-house cafeterias.

Chen said that his restaurants don't practice oil recycling.

"They send workers to collect kitchen waste from restaurants. It is normal if they process it into pigwash or soup, but some illegal processors sell it to the black

market as cooking oil," he said.

Handing over kitchen waste to private processors seems to be the only way to get rid of the waste, since the sanitation department has stopped.

--" Recycled cooking oil surfaces at tables ", 2010-3-22, Global Times

出租车价上涨 taxi/cab fare increase/hike

从2009年10月11日起，上海市的出租车将全面提价，平均每次打车费用将提高10%。

调价后，上海出租车中的小型客车，起租费由11元调整为12元，超过3公里单价从每公里2.1元调整为2.4 元；中型客车和区域性出租车，起租费及里程单价也相应上涨。上海市发展和改革委员会副主任吴建融：(平均每车次)大约就是增长了10%这个当然是个平均

价格。

TAXI passengers in Shanghai will pay about 10 percent more from tomorrow as the city raises fares for the first time in three years to offset higher fuel prices and

environmental protection costs.

The changes include raising minimum fares by 1 yuan (14.6 US cents) to 12 yuan and increasing the per-kilometer charge by 0.3 yuan to 2.4 yuan after the first 3km, according to the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission.

Passengers are likely to be charged at the old rates until about the end of the month as it will take time for taxi firms to make adjustments on the meters for all the

40,000-plus city cabs.

The new prices will be in place for at least a year according to a mechanism that links taxi fares to fuel prices introduced in the city in May 2006, when Shanghai

last adjusted cab fares.

The fare lift comes after local gasoline prices have risen more than 30 percent since

2006.

The commission said a subsidy to taxi drivers that had been in place for more than two years would be terminated with the fare increases.

"That subsidy is not conducive to long-term development and will increase the fiscal burden," said Wu Jianrong, vice director of the commission.

The city government and taxi firms have been subsidizing each car with nearly 820 yuan a month to offset soaring fuel prices. The allowance is usually shared by two

cabbies driving the same taxi.

Wu Chunpan, a driver with the leading Dazhong Taxi firm, said the extra revenue from the fare increase per month would be roughly the same as the subsidy.

Wu hopes the government will provide subsidies when necessary. "Otherwise we suffer

losses when gas prices soar," he said.

Li Zhongjia, a cabbie with a smaller firm, is pessimistic. "I fear more people will

take subways and buses," Li said.

Taxi fares average 23 yuan for each trip in Shanghai, according to estimates by city transport authorities. Based on that, the new prices will result in extra spending for each passenger of 2.32 yuan, or about 10 percent.

Long-haul passengers will be more affected.

For example, people will have to pay 12.4 percent more for a 30km ride under the new price structure, but only 9.1 percent more for a trip of less than 3km.

Some city commuters complained yesterday upon hearing the fare-rise news.

Stella Xu, a young office worker, said she feared sharing a taxi with others to work

would no longer be financially viable.

Lu Yuchen, a reporter, agreed. "I can't afford the fare increase, which reinforces

my preference for the subway," Lu said.

Others expressed concerns that higher fares could provide more business for illegal

cabbies.

The 30 percent surcharge on night fares (11pm-5am) will still apply. That would mean

a start-up fare of 16 yuan, compared with 14 yuan now, the commission said.

Start-up fares for regional suburban taxies will also rise by 1 yuan to 10 yuan, with the changes in the following per-kilometer fees in line with downtown increases.

--“City taxi-fare increases mirror fuel”，Shanghai Daily, Oct.10th 2009

1.Beijing's first taxi fare hike in six years starts on Saturday, raising

the price per kilometre after the four-kilometre base from 1.6 yuan to

2 yuan.

周六，北京市六年以来首次对出租车价格进行了上调，4公里以后的单价从每

公里1.6元抬高到了2元。

2.The recent cab fare increase will hurt the infirm badly.

最近的一次出租车价上调将严重损害弱势群体的利益。

地铁爆炸 metro bombing

莫斯科时间2010年3月29日早晨7点50分左右，莫斯科市“卢比扬卡”地铁站内一节车厢发生爆炸。其后，莫斯科地铁“文化公园”站发生爆炸，随后又发生第三起爆炸事故，地点位于“和平大街”地铁站。此次事件被称为莫斯科地铁连环爆炸案。据美媒体报道，一个与车臣分裂分子有关联的网站宣称对该起地铁爆炸案负责。

The masterminds behind a double suicide bombing on the Moscow Metro will be

"destroyed", Russian leaders have said.

The attacks, in the morning rush hour, killed at least 38 people and injured more

than 60, officials say.

No group has said it carried out the attacks, but security services have blamed rebels from the North Caucasus - which includes Chechnya and Ingushetia.

President Dmitry Medvedev laid a wreath at the scene of one of the attacks, labelling

the plotters "beasts".

He said: "We will find and destroy them all."

US President Barack Obama called President Medvedev to "personally convey" his condolences, adding that the US was ready to co-operate with Russia to help bring to justice those responsible for the blasts.

Foreign ministers from the G8 group of leading industrial nations also condemned the attacks at the start of talks on global security in Canada.

Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said G8 members would "continue to collaborate to thwart and constrain terrorists".

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had also earlier vowed to hunt down those responsible, saying: "Terrorists will be destroyed."

He described the attacks, believed to have been carried out by female bombers, as

"heinous".

The Moscow city government declared Tuesday would be a day of mourning.

Past suicide bombings in Moscow have been carried out by - or blamed on - Islamist rebels fighting for independence from Russia in Chechnya.

A Chechen rebel leader recently promised to bring the war to Russia's cities, months after Mr Medvedev declared an end to Moscow's "anti-terrorism operations" in the

mainly Muslim republic.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in 15 years of conflict in Chechnya, and low-level insurgencies continue there and in the neighbouring republics of

Ingushetia and Dagestan.

'City is a mess'

The first explosion tore through a carriage of a train at central Lubyanka station at 0756 (0356 GMT) as it stood waiting for commuters to board.

The station lies beneath the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

"I was moving up on the escalator when I heard a loud bang, a blast," an eyewitness named Alexei told Rossiya 24 TV channel.

"People started running, panicking, falling on each other."

The second explosion, six stops away at Park Kultury, came at 0838 (0438 GMT). It hit the back of the train as people were getting on board.

"I smelled burning plastic and heard cries of 'let the wounded through,'" Alevtina Rogatova, a 23-year-old student who was on the train at Park Kultury, told the

Associated Press news agency.

The security services said the bomb that went off at Lubyanka station had an equivalent force of up to 4kg of TNT, while the bomb at Park Kultury was equivalent

to 1.5-2kg of TNT.

The devices - believed to have been made with the powerful explosive hexogen, also known as RDX - were filled with chipped iron rods and screws for shrapnel.

'Terrorist' claims

The city's Metro is one of the busiest underground railways in the world, carrying

about 5.5 million passengers a day.

The system was partially disrupted following the attacks, but damage to the stations was minimal and both had reportedly reopened by the evening rush hour.

FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov said its investigators believed the attacks had been carried out by "terrorist groups related to the North Caucasus".

"Fragments of the bodies of two female suicide bombers were found earlier at the scene of the incident and examinations show that these individuals came from the

North Caucasus region," he said.

The co-ordinated attacks were the deadliest in Moscow since February 2004, when 40 people were killed by a bomb on a packed metro train as it approached the Paveletskaya

station.

Six months later, a suicide bomber blew herself up outside another station, killing

10 people. Both attacks were blamed on rebels from Chechnya.

--"Moscow Metro bombing masterminds 'will be destroyed'", 2010-03-29, BBC News