英语时事短文

英语时事短文篇一：有关新闻话题英文作文

How the News Got Less Mean

新闻何以不再那么负面

The most read article of all time on BuzzFeed contains no photographs of celebrity nip slips and no inflammatory ranting. It’s a series of photos called “21 pictures that will restore your faith in humanity,” which has pulled in nearly 14 million visits so far. At Upworthy too, hope is the major draw. “This kid just died. What he left behind is wondtacular,” an Upworthy post about a terminally ill teen singer, earned 15 million views this summer and has raised more than $300,000 for cancer research.

新闻聚合网站BuzzFeed上有史以来阅读次数最多的一篇文章既没有女明星的露点照，也没有煽动性的呼号，而是一组照片，名为“21张照片让你重拾对人性的信念”。迄今为止，这组照片已经吸引了将近1400万次访问。Upworthy网站主打的也是希望牌。网站上一篇题为“那名孩子刚走了，留给我们一个了不起的奇迹”的帖文，讲述了一个病重少年歌手的事迹，在这个夏季被阅读了1500万次，募集了30多万美元的癌症研究基金。

The recipe for attracting visitors to stories online is changing. Bloggers have traditionally turned to sarcasm and snark to draw attention. But the success of sites like BuzzFeed and Upworthy, whose philosophies embrace the viral nature of upbeat stories, hints that the Web craves positivity.

吸引读者在线阅读的策略组合正在变化。博客作者惯于使用冷嘲热讽搏人眼球，但是BuzzFeed和Upworthy等网站倚托正能量故事的传播力取得成功的事实表明，网络亟需正能量。

The reason: social media. Researchers are discovering that people want to create positive images of themselves online by sharing upbeat stories. And with more people turning to Facebook and Twitter to find out what’s happening in the world, news stories may need to cheer up in order to court an audience. If social is the future of media, then optimistic stories might be media’s future.

原因就是媒体的社会性。研究人员发现，人们希望通过在线分享积极乐观的故事为自己塑造积极的形象。随着越来越多的人转投脸书和推特等社交网站了解时事，新闻报道要想赢得观众，或许需要采用更为积极乐观的基调。如果说社会性是媒体的未来，乐观的故事或许就是传媒企业的未来。

“When we started, the prevailing wisdom was that snark ruled the Internet,” says Eli Pariser, a co-founder of Upworthy. “And we just had a really different sense of what works.”

“刚上线那会儿，盛行的理论认为互联网是讽刺挖苦的天下，” Upworthy的联合创始人以利·帕里泽说，“可是，什么管用、什么不管用，我们的看法却完全不一样。”

“You don’t want to be that guy at the party who’s crazy and angry and ranting in the corner — it’s the same for Twitter or Facebook,” he says. “Part of what we’re trying to do with Upworthy is give people the tools to express a conscientious, thoughtful and positive identity in social media.”、

“谁也不想成为派对上疯疯癫癫怒气冲冲躲在角落里大叫大嚷的那个人——推特和脸书也不想，”他说，“Upworthy所要做的一件事情，就是给人们提供各种工具，让他们在社会媒体上表达一个真实的、经过思考的、积极的身份。” And the science appears to support Pariser’s philosophy. In a recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers found that “up votes,” showing that a visitor liked a comment or story, begat more up votes on comments on the site, but “down votes” did not do the same. In fact, a single up vote increased the

likelihood that someone else would like a comment by 32%, whereas a down vote had no effect. People don’t want to support the cranky commenter, the critic or the troll. Nor do they want to be that negative personality online.

科学研究似乎印证了帕里泽的理念。麻省理工学院最近的一项研究显示，Upworthy网站上被“顶”——亦即表明网友喜欢某个评论或故事的方式——的评论或故事能够为站点带来更多的赞成人数，但是被“踩”的评论或故事却没有这种作用。实际上，每次“顶”都可以把他人参与评论的可能性提高32%，而“踩”就没有效果。人们不想去支持脾气暴躁的评论者、吹毛求疵的人或恶搞的人。也没有人愿意在网上留下拥有消极人格的形象。

In another study published in 2012, Jonah Berger, author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On and professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, monitored the most e-mailed stories produced by the New York Times for six months and found that positive stories were more likely to make the list than negative ones.

在2012年发布的另一项研究中，《传染力：流行密码》一书的作者、宾州大学沃顿商学院营销学教授乔纳·伯杰监控了纽约时报六个月内被网民邮件转发推荐次数最多的新闻报道排行榜，发现积极的报道比消极的报道上榜几率更大。 “What we share [or like] is almost like the car we drive or the clothes we wear,” he says. “It says something about us to other people. So people would much rather be seen as a Positive Polly than a Debbie Downer.”

“我们分享（或喜欢）的东西，就想我们开的车和穿的衣服一样，”他说，“会向他人传达一些关于我们个人的信息。因此，人们宁愿被看作波利那样乐呵呵的傻大姐，而不愿被看作黛比唐纳式的丧气话大王。”

It’s not always that simple: Berger says that though positive pieces drew more

traffic than negative ones, within the categories of positive and negative stories, those articles that elicited more emotion always led to more shares.

事情并不总是如此简单。伯杰说，积极的报道虽然比消极的报道能够吸引更多的阅读量，但是单就这两类报道而言，能打动人的文章总能被更多分享。

“Take two negative emotions, for example: anger and sadness,” Berger says. “Both of those emotions would make the reader feel bad. But anger, a high arousal emotion, leads to more sharing, whereas sadness, a low arousal emotion, doesn’t. The same is true of the positive side: excitement and humor increase sharing, whereas contentment decreases sharing.”

“举个例子，愤怒和悲伤是两种消极的情感，”伯杰说，“都会让读者感觉不快。但是愤怒更能激起人的情感，因而涉及愤怒情感的文章，更容易被分享，而悲伤则不然。积极情感也是如此，激动和幽默会促进分享，而满足会减少分享。” And while some popular BuzzFeed posts — like the recent “Is this the most embarrassing interview Fox News has ever done?” — might do their best to elicit shares through anger, both BuzzFeed and Upworthy recognize that their main success lies in creating positive viral material.

BuzzFeed上有些流行的帖文——像最近的“这是福克斯新闻频道史上最囧的采访吗？”——广为分享或许是因为走了激起读者愤怒的路数。然而，BuzzFeed和Upworthy都认为，积极而富有传播力的内容才是此类帖文获得成功的主要原因。

“It’s not that people don’t share negative stories,” says Jack Shepherd, editorial director at BuzzFeed. “It just means that there’s a higher potential for positive stories to do well.”

BuzzFeed社论主管杰克·谢泼德说，“不是说人们不分享消极的故事，而是积极的故事被分享的可能性更大。”

Upworthy’s mission is to highlight serious issues but in a hopeful way, encouraging readers to donate money, join organizations and take action. The strategy seems to be working: barely two years after its launch date (in March 2012), the site now boasts 30 million unique visitors per month, according to Upworthy. The site’s average monthly unique visitors grew to 14 million people over its first six quarters — to put that in perspective, the Huffington Post had only about 2 million visitors in its first six quarters online.

Upworthy的使命是突出重大事件，但是要以一种让人充满希望的方式实现，以此鼓励读者捐赠、加入某些组织或行动起来。这一策略似乎起了作用，据Upworthy称，上线还不到两年（指截止原文创作时期，Upworthy是2012年3

月上线的），网站每月的独立访客已经达到3000万。站点上线后的前六个季度，月均独立访客已经达到1400万。要知道，哈芬顿邮报上线前六个季度，独立访客才200万。

But Upworthy measures the success of a story not just by hits. The creators of the site only consider a post a success if it’s also shared frequently on social media. “We are interested in content that people want to share partly for pragmatic reasons,” Pariser says. “If you don’t have a good theory about how to appear in Facebook and Twitter, then you may disappear.”

但是，点击次数并不是Upworthy衡量一个故事成功与否的唯一标准。网站创始人认为，成功的帖子还需要频频在社交媒体上被分享。帕雷泽说“对于那些出于实用原因被人分享的内容，我们很感兴趣。在脸书或推特上所造自己的形象没有一套，你就会消失。”

Nobody has mastered the ability to make a story go viral like BuzzFeed. The site, which began in 2006 as a lab to figure out what people share online, has used what it’s learned to draw 60 million monthly unique visitors, according to BuzzFeed. (Most of that traffic comes from social-networking sites, driving readers toward BuzzFeed’s mix of cute animal photos and hard news.) By comparison the New York Times website, one of the most popular newspaper sites on the Web, courts only 29 million unique visitors each month, according to the Times.

BuzzFeed已经掌握了让故事疯狂传播的技能。BuzzFeed源自2006年发起的一个研究人们在线分享习惯的实验室，并以此发迹，现在每月独立访客超过6000万。（大多数访问流量来自社交网络，读者更喜欢BuzzFeed网站上因可爱动物照片点缀而不再干巴巴的新闻）。相比之下，根据《纽约时报》的数据，纽约时报网站这个互联网上最受欢迎的新闻站点，每月吸引的独立访客也就2900万人。 BuzzFeed editors have found that people do still read negative or critical stories, they just aren’t the posts they share with their friends. And those shareable posts are the ones that newsrooms increasingly prize.

BuzzFeed的编辑发现，人们仍然会阅读消极的或批判性的故事，只是不会与朋友分分享而已。而且，被人分享的帖文也越来越受到传统新闻媒体的重视。 “Anecdotally, I can tell you people are just as likely to click on negative stories as they are to click on positive ones,” says Shepherd. “But they’re more likely to share positive stories. What you’re interested in is different from what you want your friends to see what you’re interested in.”

“顺便说一句，虽说人们点击消极故事和积极故事的可能性一样大，”谢泼德说，“但是积极的故事更有可能被分享。你感兴趣的东西和你想让朋友认为你感兴趣的东西，是不一样的。”

So as newsrooms re-evaluate how they can draw readers and elicit more shares on Twitter and Facebook, they may look to BuzzFeed’s and Upworthy’s happiness model for direction.

因此，传统媒体在重新评估如何吸引读者并让他们在推特和脸书上分享自己的故事时，或许可以向BuzzFeed和Upworthy的幸福模式看齐，以找准方向。 “I think that the Web is only becoming more social,” Shepherd says. “We’re at a point where readers are your publishers. If news sites aren’t thinking about what it would mean for someone to share a story on social media, that could be detrimental.” “ 我认为，网络的社会性只会加强，”谢泼德说，“我们现在处于读者即出版商的时代。新闻站点再不想想在社会媒体上分享故事意味着什么，后果也许是灾难性的。

英语时事短文篇二：英语新闻阅读

英语新闻阅读

时间：2014/1/6，来源：bbc/asia/china

China destroys tonnes of ivory in landmark move China has for the first time destroyed a large quantity of confiscated ivory, in a public event described by conservation groups as a landmark move.

Just over six tonnes of carvings, ornaments and tusks amassed over the years were fed into crushing machines.

State media say the move aims "to discourage illegal ivory trade, protect wildlife and raise public awareness".

Conservationists say demand for ivory, where China is seen as the biggest market, is fuelling poaching in Africa.

The Chinese use ivory in traditional crafts and carvings are prized as status symbols, correspondents say.

John Scanlon, secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species (Cites), said this was the first time China has chosen to crush ivory it had previously seized.

"It's an occasion when China can send and is sending a very powerful message both domestically to the Chinese people and internationally, that it is not prepared to tolerate the illegal trade in elephant ivory," he told Reuters news agency.

The event in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, which had media, diplomats and conservationists in attendance, was broadcast on state television.

Some of the powder from the crushed ivory is to be disposed, with others sent to a museum and preserved, state media said.

Cites banned the trade in ivory in 1989. But poaching has increased across

sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, with criminal gangs slaughtering elephants for ivory markets in Asia.

时间：2014/1/12，来源：bbc/asia/china

US: China new sea rules 'provocative' The US has described new Chinese rules on fishing access to disputed areas of the South China Sea as "provocative and potentially dangerous".

Regulations approved by Hainan province requiring foreign fishing

vessels to ask for permission to enter its waters took effect on 1 January. China claims a U-shaped swathe of the South China Sea, which it puts under the authority of Hainan province.

This swathe overlaps areas also claimed by several South East Asian nations.

The move comes with tensions already high over China's recent

establishment of an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) that covers East China Sea islands claimed and controlled by Japan, and a rock claimed by South Korea.

It also comes as China takes an increasingly assertive stance on its territorial claims across Asia.

"The passing of these restrictions on other countries' fishing activities in disputed portions of the South China Sea is a provocative and potentially dangerous act," state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a regular briefing.

"These regulations appear to apply to the maritime space within China's so-called nine-dash line. China has not offered any explanation or basis under international law for these extensive maritime claims."

The US believed all parties "should avoid any unilateral action that

raises tensions and undermines the prospects for a diplomatic or other peaceful resolution of differences", she said.

'Groundless'

The rules - which require foreign vessels to obtain permission to fish or survey fisheries resources in waters administered by Hainan from the "relevant" department of China's State Council - were passed by the provincial government in November, China Daily said.

Under existing national law, unauthorised boats that enter Chinese waters can be fined and have their equipment seized.

Hainan province says on its website that its area covers the Paracel and Spratly Islands, which are claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, and covers about 2m sq/km of the 3.5m sq/km South China Sea.

The Philippines said it was "gravely concerned" by the new rules, which it said threatened regional stability and raised tensions.

"We have requested China to immediately clarify the new fisheries law issued by the Hainan Provincial People's Congress," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Taiwan says it does not recognise the rules. Vietnam, in a written

statement to Reuters news agency, said: "All foreign activities at these areas without Vietnam's acceptance are illegal and groundless."

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, meanwhile, said the rules were "to strengthen the security of fisheries resources", and were "absolutely a normal routine practice".

They come a year after Hainan announced rules that gave police the right to board and seize foreign ships involved in unauthorised entry,

damage to coastal defence facilities "and engaging in publicity that threatens national security", according to state-run China Daily.

It is not clear to what extent the new rules would be enforced, given the size of the area involved.

The announcement of China's ADIZ last year sparked concern across the region. It said that aircraft flying through the zone must follow its rules, including filing flight plans.

The zone covers East China Sea islands called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China that both sides claim. Japan controls the islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan.

The US, Japan and South Korea have rejected China's zone, and flown undeclared military aircraft through it. The US has called the move a unilateral attempt to change the status quo in the region.

时间：2014/1/13，来源：bbc/asia/china

Fire ravages ancient Tibetan town Fire has severely damaged an ancient Tibetan to

wn in

south-western China. Nearly 300 mostly wooden houses were destroyed in the

blaze in Dukezong in Shangri-La county, in Yunnan province.

Officials say more than 2,600 people have lost their homes in the town, which dates back 1,300 years and is popular with tourists.

The blaze, which raged for nearly 10 hours, was put out by 2,000 firefighters, police and volunteers. No fatalities have been reported. The fire, which broke out at about 01:30 local time on Saturday, destroyed about 242 houses and shops in Dukezong, Xinhua news agency reported.

The damage was estimated to be worth 100m yuan ($16m, ￡10m), state TV reports.

The 10-hour inferno razed the ancient Tibetan town

英语时事短文篇三：中英双语双语文章

研究：狗也有嫉妒心

Dogs can be jealous, say scientists——

Dogs are prone to complex emotions such as jealousy and pride, according to scientific research that sheds new light on their relationship with humans.

Canines do not like seeing their owners offering affection to other creatures, especially other dogs, and react negatively when their owners bring home new partners, the research found.

Psychologists previously believed most animals lack the "sense of self" needed to experience so-called

secondary emotions such as jealousy, embarrassment, empathy or guilt. These emotions are more complex than feelings associated with instant reaction – such as anger, lust or joy.

Dr Friederike Range, of the University of Vienna's neurobiology department, has shown that dogs feel intense jealously when they spot that they are unfairly treated compared with other dogs. "Dogs show a strong aversion to inequity," she said.

The dog study is the latest into several species, including cows, horses, cats and sheep, which have shown that animals are far more self-aware than was thought.

Dr Paul Morris, a psychologist at the University of Portsmouth who studies animal emotions, told The Sunday Times: "We are learning that dogs, horses, and perhaps many other species are far more emotionally complex than we ever realised. They can suffer simple forms of many emotions we once thought only primates could experience."

In research among dog owners, Dr Morris found almost all of them reported jealous behaviour by their pets. The dog often tried to prise their owner away from a new lover in the early days of a relationship.

Behavioural experts recommend owners keeping their dog's routine as much as possible when a new partner or child comes along in order to prevent jealous activity from the dog such as interruptions with barking or whining.

一项科学研究表明，狗也会产生嫉妒和骄傲等复杂的情感。该研究进一步揭示了狗与人之间的关系。 研究发现，狗不愿意看到自己的主人对其它动物，尤其是其它的狗表现出关注。当主人把新男友或女友带回家时，它们也会表现出抵触情绪。

此前，心理学家认为大多数动物缺乏体会嫉妒、困窘、移情和内疚等高级情感的―自我意识‖。这些情感远比愤怒、欲望或高兴等与即时反应相关的情感复杂。

奥地利维也纳大学的神经生物学博士弗里德里克?朗格称，当狗意识到自己得到的关注不如其它狗，即受到了不公正待遇时，就会表现出强烈的嫉妒情绪。她说：―狗对不公正十分抵触。‖

此前研究人员已对牛、马、猫、羊等动物进行了类似研究，结果表明，动物的自我意识远远超出人的意料。

朴茨茅斯大学从事动物情感研究的心理学家保罗?莫里斯在接受《星期日泰晤士报》采访时说：―我们发现狗、马，可能还有其他很多动物的情感比我们预想的丰富得多，它们同样会表现出多种简单的感情形式，而之前我们以为只有灵长类动物才具有这样的高级情感。‖

此外，莫里斯对养狗人开展的一项调查发现，几乎所有人都称他们的宠物狗有过嫉妒行为。比如，在他们把新男友或女友带回家的最初几天，他们的狗总是想方设法让他们远离对方。

行为学家建议，当家里出现新成员时，尽量不要打乱宠物狗的生活规律，以避免它们因为嫉妒而狂吠或哀嚎。

Dogs are prone to complex emotions such as jealousy and pride, according to scientific research that sheds new light on their relationship with humans.

Vocabulary:

aversion:A fixed, intense dislike; repugnance（反感；厌恶） 总统模拟游戏即将出炉 玩家试当奥巴马

Gamers can pretend to be President Obama

A computer game set to hit US stores the day Barack Obama is sworn in as president challenges players to see whether they can do a better job running the country than he can.

Interactive Gaming Software (IGS) said on Monday it would make Commander in Chief available on January 20, the day of Obama's inauguration.

'Player presidents' will make budget, health, education, military, diplomatic and other decisions in simulated environments and have to virtually live with the ramifications of their choices.

Commander in Chief will give players information from 50 international organizations including the UN, NATO and OPEC.

"You can put your own political theories into action and see the domestic and international domino effect," lead designer Louis-Marie Rocques had said in April.

"Anyone will now be able to develop their own exit strategy for Iraq, reverse the course of the economic recession and attempt to prevent terrorist attacks from Al-Qaeda." Throughout the game there is a threat of terrorist strikes or invasion by foreign troops.

Players will start by selecting cabinet members and then go on to tackle the same social, environmental, economic, energy, cultural and military issues facing Obama's administration.

美国一家游戏公司将于明年奥巴马就职日当天推出一款模拟总统的电脑游戏，在这款游戏中，玩家可以一尝当总统的滋味，与奥巴马一比高下。

美国IGS游戏公司于本周一宣布，他们将于明年1月20日奥巴马就任总统当天推出这款名为―总司令（Command in Chief）‖的游戏。

―模拟总统‖将在游戏模拟的环境中制定预算以及医疗、教育、军事和外交各个方面的政策，并且他们所做的任何决定都会有后续影响。

游戏将向玩家提供包括联合国、北约和欧佩克在内的50个国际组织的信息。

游戏主设计师路易斯-玛丽?若克斯于今年四月称：―玩家可以将自己的政治理念付诸实施，看看会在国内外引起什么样的连锁反应。‖

他说：―每位玩家都可以设计从伊拉克撤军、振兴经济以及?反恐‘等有关各个问题的方针。‖玩家在游戏中还会面临恐怖袭击以及外国军队入侵的威胁。

游戏开始时玩家首先要选择内阁成员，接下来要处理与奥巴马政府所面临的一系列同样的问题，包括社会、环境、经济、能源、文化和军事等各个方面。

Vocabulary:

swear in:宣誓就职

live with:忍受

ramification: A development or consequence growing out of and sometimes complicating a problem, plan, or 男女快乐感有别 男爱钱女重情

Women find happiness is not about the economy, stupid

Men are happier with money, while women find greater joy in friendships and relationships with their children, co-workers and bosses, a new global survey reveals.

The online survey of 28,153 people in more than 51 countries by global marketing and information firm

Nielsen found that as the world grapples with a recession and financial markets remain volatile, many people are reminding themselves that money can't buy happiness.

The Nielsen Happiness Study found that globally, women are happier than men in 48 of the 51 countries surveyed in April 2008, and only in Brazil, South Africa and Vietnam were men found to be happier than women.

"Because they are happier with non-economic factors, women's happiness is more recession-proof which might explain why women around the world are happier in general than men are," Nielsen Vice President of Consumer Research Bruce Paul said in a statement.

Japanese women reported the greatest difference and are 15 percent happier than Japanese men. Women are also more optimistic about the future, scoring higher than men on predictions of their happiness in the next six months.

Women were also more content with their sex lives, the study found. Japanese and New Zealand women reported the greatest difference in satisfaction with their sex lives.

Men are generally happier with their physical health than women, and this is especially pronounced in South Africa. Egypt bucks the trend, with women rating their happiness with their health considerably higher than men.

Globally, men rated their happiness with their mental health higher than women. This was echoed in Belgium, South Korea, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Egypt, and Israel.

There are three main drivers of happiness globally, according to the study: personal financial situation, mental health and job/career. Being satisfied with your partner is also important for happiness.

Vocabulary:

grapple with:抓住；扭打（例句：He has been grappling with the problem for a long time. 长期以来他一直努力解决这个问题.）

volatile: Tending to vary often or widely, as in price（易波动的，不稳定的：易于经常或大幅度变化的，如价格）

一项最新的全球调查显示，男人因金钱而快乐，而女人的快乐感更多地源于友情以及与孩子、同事和老板的关系。

这项由尼尔森全球营销信息公司开展的在线调查共有来自超过51个国家的28153人参加。调查结果显示，面临目前的全球经济衰退和金融市场的动荡，很多人开始提醒自己金钱并不能买到快乐。

这项于今年四月开展的―尼尔森快乐感大调查‖表明，在参与调查的51个国家中，有48个国家的女性比该国的男性快乐，只有巴西、南非和越南例外。

尼尔森公司消费者调查部副经理布鲁斯?保罗在声明中称：―由于女性的快乐感更多地取决于非经济因素，所以她们的快乐感不易受到经济危机的影响。这或许可以解释为什么从全球范围来看女性的快乐感总体高于男性。‖

日本女性的快乐感比男性高15%，在被调查国家中差距最大。同时女性对未来更加乐观，对未来六个月快乐感的预期也超过男性。

此外，调查发现，女性对性生活的满意度更高。日本和新西兰的男性和女性对性生活的满意度差距最大。

健康给男性带来的快乐感总体高于女性，这在南非尤其突出。而在埃及正好相反，女性从健康中获得的快乐感大大高于男性。

从全球范围来看，男性从心理健康中获得的快乐更多。比利时、韩国、墨西哥、挪威、西班牙、埃及和以色列的调查结果都反映了这一趋势。

调查表明，从全球范围来看，个人经济状况、心理健康和工作/事业是三大主要的快乐之源。而与伴侣的关系是否和睦对于快乐感也至关重要。

威尼斯发大水 酒店打雨靴促销牌

Venice hotel owners offer free boots for floods

Venice hoteliers are urging tourists to enjoy the tourist mecca despite chronic flooding, offering free rubber boots for guests to slosh around the Renaissance city.

"Venetian hoteliers and Mayor Massimo Cacciari reassure tourists who want to come in Venice: Don't worry, there is no danger: high water is a phenomenon that quickly disappears," says an industry website,

www.veneziasi.it.

A special 190 euros (250 dollar) a night package includes "free use of rubber boots to walk during the high water," along with a map showing where special platforms are erected along the canal city's streets during the flooding.

Venice has been under water for nearly two weeks, reaching a 22-year high on December 1 at 1.56 meters (5 feet, 2 inches). Thursday and Friday are expected to see highs of up to 1.30 meters.

The lagoon city was flooded 50 times between 1993 and 2002, but by far the worst incident was on November 4, 1966, when it was submerged by 1.94 metres of water amid catastrophic flooding throughout Italy.

Every new flood revives debate over an elaborate project to place hinged panels at the inlets leading into the lagoon.

Cacciari is among critics of the so-called Moses Project, which was launched in 2003 and is not expected to reach completion until 2012.

Under the scheme, 78 steel panels will lie on the seabed until activated when high tide is more than 1.1 metres above normal.

Compressed air will then force the panels to rise up on their hinges, forming a slanting barrier to the incoming tide from the Adriatic Sea.

Another approach under consideration is to raise the city's buildings.

Under Operation "Rialto", piston-supported poles would be placed beneath each structure and gradually lift buildings by up to a metre.

Vocabulary:

hotelier:旅馆经营者

slosh:在水[泥]中挣扎[乱走]

submerge:Growing or remaining under water（在水中；被淹没）

（意大利）文艺复兴之城、―水城‖威尼斯近日遭遇洪水侵袭，一些酒店利用水涨之机，打起了促销牌，即住店游客可免费使用酒店提供的雨靴，体验水中漫步威尼斯的乐趣。

据意大利酒店业协会网站（www.venezias.it）称：―威尼斯的酒店和市长玛西莫?卡西亚利给想来威尼斯旅游的游客们吃了颗定心丸：别担心，不会有危险：水很快就会退。‖

酒店打出的促销广告是：190欧元（250美元）住店一晚，即可―免费使用酒店提供的雨靴‖和地图，这张地图可让游客们知道沿街哪些地方有可供―上岸‖的平台。

威尼斯的大水已经持续近两周，本月1日的水位达到22年来最高水平，为1.56米（5 英尺2 英寸），本周四和周五预计将达1.3米。

从1993年至2002年，―水城‖威尼斯共发过50次洪水。但是迄今为止最严重的一次洪水发生于1966年11月4日，当时意大利全国遭遇特大洪水侵袭，威尼斯的水位则涨到了1.94米。

为了治理水患，威尼斯正在兴建一个防洪工程，拟在威尼斯通往海洋的入海口处建多个活动闸门，而每次发洪水都会引发有关该工程的争议。

现任市长卡西亚利就是这项工程的反对者之一。这项名为―摩西工程‖的防洪设施于2003年启动，预计将于2012年建成。

该工程计划在海床上建78个钢板，当水位超出警戒线1.1米以上时，挡板就会被启动。

这些挡板在压缩空气力量的作用下会竖立起来，从而形成一个倾斜的屏障挡住来自亚得利亚海的洪水。 还有一个方案是加高威尼斯全城建筑的高度。

按照这项―Rialto‖（里亚托桥，威尼斯最著名的桥）计划，将在建筑物底部置入活塞柱，使建筑物整体增高1米。

美商界女性职业前景看好

No advance for women in top U.S. jobs

Women in 2008 made no significant gains in winning more top US business jobs, according to a study

released on Wednesday, but the head of the study said women are poised to make strides in the year ahead. The number of women who were board directors, corporate officers or top earners at Fortune 500 companies remained essentially unchanged, said the study by Catalyst, a nonprofit group that promotes opportunities for women in business.

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