Nearly half of the tap water in the US is contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’ 美國(guó)近一半自來水被“永久性化學(xué)物質(zhì)”污染 Almost half of the tap water in the US is contaminated with chemicals known as “forever chemicals,” according to a new study from the US Geological Survey. The number of people drinking contaminated water may be even higher than what the study found, however, because the researchers weren’t able to test for all of these per- and polyfluorinated① alkyl② substances, or PFAS, chemicals that are considered dangerous to human health. There are more than 12,000 types of PFAS, according to the National Institutes of Health, but this study looked at only 32 of the compounds③. The scientists collected water samples directly from taps at 716 locations—269 from private wells and 447 from public sources—between 2016 and 2021. Based on their findings, they estimate that at least one PFAS chemical would be detected in 45% of US drinking water samples. Most of the contamination came from water sources near urban areas and in areas that generated PFAS, like manufacturing that uses the chemicals in its products or sites where waste was collected. (CNN) 美國(guó)地質(zhì)調(diào)查局開展的一項(xiàng)新研究顯示，美國(guó)近一半自來水被“永久性化學(xué)物質(zhì)”污染。由于研究者無法測(cè)定所有種類的全氟和多氟烷基物質(zhì)（簡(jiǎn)稱 PFAS）——此類化學(xué)物質(zhì)對(duì)人體健康有害，飲用被污染自來水的人數(shù)可能會(huì)比研究發(fā)現(xiàn)的更多。美國(guó)國(guó)立衛(wèi)生研究院稱，PFAS 的種類超過1.2萬(wàn)種，但研究涉及的此類化合物僅有32種。2016年到2021年間，科學(xué)家對(duì)716個(gè)地點(diǎn)的水龍頭進(jìn)行了直接取樣，其中有269處是私人水井，其他447處是公用水源。從研究結(jié)果來看，科學(xué)家估計(jì)全美大約45%的自來水樣本中會(huì)檢測(cè)出至少一種形式的 PFAS。大部分水源污染發(fā)生在城區(qū)附近和產(chǎn)生 PFAS 的區(qū)域，比如在生產(chǎn)過程中使用 PFAS 的工廠以及廢料垃圾場(chǎng)。 【注釋】 ① fluorinate: ['fl??r?ne?t] v. to treat or combine with fluorine 氟化；per- and polyfluorinated: 全氟化和多氟化的。 ② alkyl: [??lk?l] n. of, consisting of, or containing the monovalent group CH烷基；烴基。 ③ compound: [?k?mpa?nd] n. a substance formed by a chemical reaction of two or more elements in fixed amounts relative to each other 化合物。

China unveils plan on crewed moon mission

中國(guó)公布載人登月方案

China made public on Wednesday specific designs for its manned lunar mission, which is scheduled to be achieved before the end of this decade. Speaking at a space industry forum in Wuhan, Hubei province, Zhang Hailian, deputy chief planner at the China Manned Space Agency, said the plan is to launch two Long March 10 carrier rockets from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province to transport a lunar landing module and a manned spacecraft to lunar?orbit①. After reaching their preset orbital positions, the landing module and the spacecraft carrying astronauts will?rendezvous②?and?dock③?with each other. The crew will enter the landing module, which will then undock and descend toward the lunar surface for an engine-assisted soft landing. On the moon, the astronauts will drive a?rover④?to carry out scientific tasks and collect samples. Upon the completion of their assignments, they will return to the landing module, which will fly them back to lunar orbit and dock with their spacecraft. In the final stage, the astronauts will carry the samples into their spacecraft, which will then undock and carry the crew back to Earth. (

China Daily

) 7月12日，中國(guó)公布了載人登月具體方案，計(jì)劃2030年前實(shí)現(xiàn)。在湖北武漢舉辦的商業(yè)航天高峰論壇上，中國(guó)載人航天工程辦公室副總設(shè)計(jì)師張海聯(lián)透露了載人登月方案。計(jì)劃在海南文昌航天發(fā)射場(chǎng)發(fā)射兩枚長(zhǎng)征十號(hào)運(yùn)載火箭，分別將月面著陸器和載人飛船送至環(huán)月軌道。二者進(jìn)入預(yù)定軌道位置后將進(jìn)行交會(huì)對(duì)接；航天員從飛船進(jìn)入月面著陸器。著陸器隨后與飛船分離，單獨(dú)下降，在反推發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)輔助下于月面軟著陸。接著航天員踏上月表，駕駛月球車開展科學(xué)考察并采集樣品。任務(wù)完成后，航天員返回著陸器，上升至環(huán)月軌道與飛船交會(huì)對(duì)接。最后，航天員攜帶樣本回到飛船，飛船與著陸器分離并帶著他們返回地球。 【注釋】 ① orbit: [??:b?t] n. a curved path followed by a planet or an object as it moves around another planet, star, moon, etc. （天體等運(yùn)行的）軌道。 ② rendezvous: [?r?nde?vu:] v. to meet at a time and place that have been arranged in advance （在約定的時(shí)間和地點(diǎn)）會(huì)面，相會(huì)，集合。 ③ dock: [d?k] v. if two spacecraft dock, or are docked, they are joined together in space （使宇宙飛船在外層空間）對(duì)接。 ④ rover: [?r??v?(r)] n. 月球車。

Actors strike: ‘Gladiator 2,’ ‘Mortal Kombat 2’ and others major international shoots prepare to stop filming 演員罷工：《角斗士2》《真人快打2》等大片面臨停拍 Talks between the U.S. actors union and Hollywood’s collective bargaining agent, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, broke down Wednesday. Both sides concluded talks without reaching an agreement, thus triggering a strike vote by the SAG-AFTRA① National Board for Thursday morning. A strike is expected to be called, and the union will direct its 160,000 members to immediately stop all scripted film and TV work around the world. Major international shoots set to pause production due to the actors strike include the Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal-starring “Gladiator 2” movie, which was filming in Morocco, and martial arts sequel “Mortal Kombat 2,” which was filming in Australia. “We’re all in limbo with this strike,” says Laurent Gregoire, a leading talent agent from France. “It would be better if shoots were canceled rather than delayed because we can’t wait any longer in this fog. We need to know where we’re going.” (The Global News) 7月12日，美國(guó)演員工會(huì)與好萊塢集體談判代理——美國(guó)電影和電視制片人聯(lián)盟——之間的談判破裂。雙方?jīng)]有達(dá)成協(xié)議就結(jié)束了談判，從而引發(fā)美國(guó)演員工會(huì)和廣播電視藝人聯(lián)合工會(huì)的全國(guó)委員會(huì)發(fā)起7月13日上午的罷工投票。工會(huì)預(yù)計(jì)將舉行罷工，并將指示16萬(wàn)名會(huì)員立即停止全球所有已寫好劇本的影視作品的制作進(jìn)程。由于演員罷工，大型國(guó)際拍攝也將暫停，包括在摩洛哥拍攝的《角斗士2》（保羅·梅斯卡爾和佩德羅·帕斯卡主演），以及在澳大利亞拍攝的武打片續(xù)作《真人快打2》。來自法國(guó)的一流經(jīng)紀(jì)人——洛朗·格雷瓜爾說：“我們都因此次罷工處于懸而未決的困境。最好是取消拍攝，而不是延遲，因?yàn)槲覀儾荒茉僭评镬F里地等下去了。我們得清楚我們將何去何從?！?【注釋】 ① SAG-AFTRA: [s?ɡ-??ftr?] n. Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists 美國(guó)演員工會(huì)和美國(guó)電視與廣播藝人聯(lián)合會(huì)的合并體，目前全美最大的娛樂產(chǎn)業(yè)聯(lián)盟。

Milan Kundera dies at 94 米蘭·昆德拉去世，享年94歲 Kundera has died iParis at the age of 94, the Milan Kundera Library said Wednesday. The Czech writer Milan Kundera was interested in big topics: sex, surveillance①, death, totalitarianism②. But his books always approached them with a sense of humor, a certain lightness. Kundera’s most popular book, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, follows a tangle of lovers before and after the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. It starts off ruminating③ on philosophy, but it has a conversational tone. The book coupled with his status as a writer-in-exile made Kundera popular across the globe, but Michelle Woods, who teaches literature at SUNY New Paltz, said he bristled at the fame. “He really hated the idea that people were obsessed by the celebrity author,” she says. (npr) 7月12日，米蘭·昆德拉圖書館宣布，米蘭·昆德拉在巴黎去世，享年94歲。這位捷克作家對(duì)一些重大話題很感興趣，比如關(guān)于性、監(jiān)視、死亡和極權(quán)主義，但他總是在作品中以幽默、輕松的方式觸碰這些話題。昆德拉最受歡迎的作品——《不能承受的生命之輕》，講述了1968年蘇聯(lián)占領(lǐng)捷克斯洛伐克前后一對(duì)戀人黏吝繳繞的故事。小說開篇以一種輕松自如的對(duì)話方式對(duì)哲學(xué)展開沉思。這本書加上他作為流亡作家的身份，使昆德拉在全球都很受歡迎，但紐約州立大學(xué)新帕爾茨分校教授文學(xué)的米歇爾·伍茲說，昆德拉對(duì)這種名聲感到憤怒。她說：“昆德拉真的很討厭人們迷戀名人作家?！?【注釋】 ① surveillance: [s?:?ve?l?ns] n. the act of carefully watching a person suspected of a crime or a place where a crime may be committed （對(duì)犯罪嫌疑人或可能發(fā)生犯罪的地方的）監(jiān)視。 ② totalitarianism: [t???t?l??te?ri?n?z?m] n. a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.) 極權(quán)主義。 ③ ruminating: [?ru?m?ne?t??] v. reflect deeply on a subject 反芻；沉思，深思：仔細(xì)思考或反復(fù)思考某個(gè)問題或想法。

Sotheby’s auction to feature prehistoric remains of flying 'Horus' and swimming ‘Nessie’ 蘇富比將拍賣史前翼龍“荷魯斯”和海生蛇頸龍“尼斯”恐龍化石 The fossilized prehistoric skeletons of a flying Pteranodon① and marine reptile② Plesiosaur③, which date as far back as 190 million years ago, will go up for auction later this month at Sotheby’s in New York. A public exhibition of the mounted④ skeletons will open July 20 ahead of the live auction on July 26. The auction house is advertising “Horus” the Pteranodon as “one of the largest, and most fearsome flying species ever to roam Earth” with an estimated value of $4 million to $6 million. The aerial predator with a 20-foot wingspan from the late Cretaceous⑤ period was discovered in 2002, buried in a seabed in what was once the Western Interior Seaway⑥ that divided the continent of North America. “Nessie”, the Plesiosaur from the lower Jurassic⑦ period, is being called the “best-preserved ever offered on the market” with a value of between $600,000 and $800,000 and measuring 11 feet in length. It is believed to have inspired the Loch Ness monster legend with its long neck, small head and affinity for water. (UPI) 7月下旬，紐約蘇富比拍賣行將拍賣兩具史前恐龍化石骨架，一具是翱翔天空的翼龍“荷魯斯”，另一具是海生爬行動(dòng)物蛇頸龍“尼斯”，兩者均可追溯至1.9億年前。蘇富比將于7月20日公開展覽這兩具裝好的恐龍化石骨架，隨后于7月26日進(jìn)行現(xiàn)場(chǎng)拍賣。蘇富比宣稱翼龍“荷魯斯”是“地球上體型最大、最可怖的飛行生物之一”，其化石估值400萬(wàn)到600萬(wàn)美元。這只天空掠食者生活在白堊紀(jì)晚期，翼展可達(dá)20英尺。2002年，人們?cè)谖鞑績(jī)?nèi)陸海道的一處海床中發(fā)現(xiàn)了其化石，該海道曾分割北美大陸。蛇頸龍“尼斯”則來自侏羅紀(jì)早期，測(cè)量體長(zhǎng)達(dá)11英尺，被稱為“目前市場(chǎng)上保存最完好的蛇頸龍化石”，估值在60萬(wàn)到80萬(wàn)美元之間。據(jù)信，正是其長(zhǎng)頸、小頭、親水的特點(diǎn)引發(fā)了尼斯湖水怪的傳說。 【注釋】 ① Pteranodon: [te?r?n??d?n] n. 翼龍；無齒翼龍。 ② reptile: [?repta?l] n. any animal that has cold blood and skin covered in scales, and that lays eggs. Snakes, crocodiles and tortoises are all reptiles. 爬行動(dòng)物。 ③ Plesiosaur: [?pli?s???s??] n. 蛇頸龍。 ④ mounted: [?ma?n.t??d] adj. placed on sth or attached to sth for display or support 裝裱好的；安裝好的。 ⑤ Cretaceous: [kr??te???s] adj. 白堊紀(jì)的。 ⑥ Western Interior Seaway: The Western Interior Seaway was a huge inland sea. It split North America into two halves for most of the mid- and late-Cretaceous Period. 西部?jī)?nèi)陸海道是一個(gè)大型內(nèi)海，在白堊紀(jì)中晚期絕大部分時(shí)間將北美大陸分割成兩半。 ⑦ Jurassic: [d???r?s?k] adj. 侏羅紀(jì)的。

Aspartame hazard and risk assessment results released 阿斯巴甜危害及風(fēng)險(xiǎn)評(píng)估報(bào)告發(fā)布 Aspartame is an artificial (chemical) sweetener widely used in various food and beverage products since the 1980s, including diet drinks, chewing gum, gelatin, ice cream, dairy products such as yogurt, breakfast cereal, toothpaste and medications such as cough drops and chewable vitamins. The sugar substitute aspartame was classified as “possibly carcinogenic① to humans” in a report released on Thursday by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The IARC has two more serious categories: “probably carcinogenic to humans” and “carcinogenic to humans”. But the Food and Agricultural Organization’s Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives, which carried out a complementary② study, retained its advice that it is safe for a person to consume 0-40mg for every kg of body weight each day. The WHO said a person weighing 70kg would need to drink more than between nine and 14 cans of diet soft drink a day to exceed the daily guideline. (Reuters ＆ WHO) 阿斯巴甜是一種人造（化學(xué)）甜味劑，自20世紀(jì)80年代以來廣泛用于各種食品和飲料制品，包括減肥飲料、口香糖、明膠、冰淇淋、酸奶等乳制品、早餐麥片、牙膏，以及止咳藥水、維生素咀嚼片等藥物。7月14日，世界衛(wèi)生組織下屬國(guó)際癌癥研究機(jī)構(gòu)發(fā)布的報(bào)告將代糖阿斯巴甜列為“可能對(duì)人類致癌”的物質(zhì)。國(guó)際癌癥研究機(jī)構(gòu)有兩個(gè)比較嚴(yán)重的類別：“很可能對(duì)人類致癌”和“確認(rèn)對(duì)人類致癌”。而聯(lián)合國(guó)糧食及農(nóng)業(yè)組織食品添加劑聯(lián)合專家委員會(huì)開展了一項(xiàng)補(bǔ)充研究，保留了以往建議，即每人每日每公斤體重?cái)z入0-40毫克是安全的。世界衛(wèi)生組織表示，一個(gè)體重70公斤的人每天需要喝9到14罐以上的減肥軟飲料才能超過每日指南。 【注釋】 ① carcinogenic: [?kɑ?s?n??d?en?k] adj. likely to cause cancer 致癌的。 ② complementary: [?k?mpl??mentri] adj. two people or things that are complementary are different but together form a useful or attractive combination of skills, qualities or physical features 互補(bǔ)的；補(bǔ)充的；相互補(bǔ)足的。

轉(zhuǎn)自公眾號(hào)：英語(yǔ)世界 侵刪