1
the digital currency initiative in China
中国数字货币项目
Around noon on August 29, users of China Construction Bank noticed that a central bank digital currency wallet feature was available inside the bank’s mobile app. However, the bank has now disabled① the feature from public users. Nonetheless, the brief availability of the wallet shows the Chinese commercial bank has been working towards adoption for the digital yuan initiative, also known as DCEP, which is led by the People’s Bank of China. It is expected to be a digital ledger② that will be pegged③ 1:1 with the existing RMB. Currently being piloted④ in major Chinese cities from Shenzhen to Chengdu, the design is expected to be finalized by the end of 2020. The PBoC is also working with DiDi Chuxing and other internet-based services to apply digital yuan into more payment scenarios. (Coindesk and Forbes)
8月29日中午前后，中国建设银行的用户注意到，在该行的手机应用中，人行数字货币钱包的功能已经上线。然而，建行目前已暂停向公众用户开放该功能。尽管如此，数字货币钱包的短暂亮相，说明这家商业银行一直在努力推进数字货币（即DCEP）的采用。数字货币项目由中国人民银行主导，有望成为数字账本，与现有人民币1:1挂钩。目前DCEP正在深圳和成都等中国主要城市试点，预计将在2020年底前完成设计。人行也在与滴滴出行等互联网公司合作，将数字货币应用到更多的支付场景中。
【注释】
① disable: [dɪsˈeɪbl] vt. to make (sth.) unable to work so that it cannot be used 使停止工作，使不起作用
② ledger: [ˈledʒə(r)] n. a book or electronic document in which a bank, a business, etc. records the money it has paid and received 分类账
③ peg: [peɡ] vt. to fix or keep (prices, wages, etc.) at a particular level 将｛价格、工资等｝与｛…｝挂钩
④ pilot: [ˈpaɪlət] vt. to test (a new product, idea, etc.) with a few people or in a small area before it is introduced everywhere 试用｛新产品、新想法等｝
2
Trump and Biden’s Kenosha visit
特朗普和拜登访问基诺沙
US President Trump visited Kenosha, Wisconsin last Tuesday, surveying a city that was thrown into tumult① by a police shooting and the killing of two protesters. He came down squarely② on the side of law enforcement, blaming “domestic terror” for the violence in Kenosha and making no nod to③ the underlying④ cause of anger and protests—the shooting of yet another Black man by police. The city has been the scene of protests since the Aug. 23 shooting of Jacob Blake, who was left paralyzed after being shot in the back seven times by an officer. Two days after Mr. Trump’s visit to Kenosha, Mr. Biden sought to strike a drastically different tone during his visit to Wisconsin, as he repudiated the president’s divisive⑤ approach to matters of racial injustice and civil unrest and offered an alternative vision focused on national unity. (The New York Times and AP)
9月1日，美国总统特朗普到威斯康星州的基诺沙视察。这座城市因警察开枪、两名抗议者被*而陷入*乱。特朗普毫不含糊地站在执法部门一方，将基诺沙的暴力事件归咎于“国内恐怖主义”，并不承认民愤和抗议的根本原因——警方又向一名黑人男子开了枪。8月23日，一名警员朝雅各布·布莱克背部连开七枪，致其瘫痪。基诺沙爆发了抗议。在特朗普访问基诺沙两天后，拜登访问基诺沙，试图展现出与特朗普截然不同的姿态。他否定了特朗普对待种族、国内动乱问题的做法，认为加重了社会分裂，并提出了另一种聚焦国家团结的愿景。
【注释】
① tumult: [ˈtjuːmʌlt] n. a confused situation in which there is usually a lot of noise and excitement, often involving large numbers of people *乱，*动
② squarely: [ˈskweəli] adv. in a direct and uncompromising manner; without equivocation 毫不含糊地，直截了当地
③ a (passing) nod to: sth. that you do or say to acknowledge the importance or influence of (sth.) 对｛重要性、影响｝的承认
④ underlying: [ˌʌndəˈlaɪɪŋ] adj. used to identify the idea, cause, problem, etc., that forms the basis of sth. 根本的
⑤ divisive: [dɪˈvaɪsɪv] adj. causing people to be split into groups that disagree with or oppose each other 引起分歧的
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3
Thai king restored titles to once-disgraced① royal consort②
泰国国王恢复失宠贵妃头衔
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has restored the official titles and military rank to his royal consort Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi last Wednesday, nearly a year after she was accused of being disloyal and disappeared from public view. Recently, Thailand has been roiled③ by anti-government protests during which demands have also been made for curbs④ to newly expanded powers of the king, breaking a strong taboo in a nation where conservative tradition upholds the monarch as semi-divine and above⑤ criticism. Sineenat worked as a nurse before entering a relationship with Vajiralongkorn and eventually joined the royal guards. Shortly after the king married his fourth wife Queen Suthida, he conferred the title Royal Noble Consort to Sineenat last July. She was stripped⑥ of this title last October in a palace statement that called her “ungrateful” in conducting a rivalry with the Queen. (Reuters and BBC)
9月2日，泰国国王玛哈•哇集拉隆功恢复废妃诗妮娜•披拉萨甘娅妮的封号和军衔。约一年前，诗妮娜被指对国王不忠，随后从公众视野消失。近来，泰国经受着反政府抗议的冲击，抗议者要求限制国王新近扩大的权力。这打破了泰国的大忌：泰国传统上较为保守，国王被视为半神，不受任何批评。诗妮娜在与泰王哇集拉隆功交往前，是一名护士。后来，她加入王室护卫队。2019年7月，国王册封诗妮娜为贵妃。而在此前不久，国王刚刚迎娶了第四任妻子苏提达王后。同年十月，王室发布公告，称诗妮娜“忘恩负义”，与王后争宠，褫夺其贵妃封号。
【注释】
① disgraced: [dɪsˈɡreɪst] adj. having lost the respect of people, usually meaning you have also lost a position of power 失宠／势
② consort: [ˈkɒnsɔːt] n. the husband or wife of a king, queen, leader, etc. 君主的配偶
③ roil: [rɔɪl] vt. to cause (sth.) to stop working in the usual or expected way 使不正常工作，使失常
④ curb: [kɜːb] n. sth. that controls and puts limits on sth. 控制，约束，抑制
⑤ above: [əˈbʌv] prep. too good or too honest to do (sth.) 不受…之影响
⑥ strip: [strɪp] vt. to take away property or honours from (sb.), as a punishment 剥夺｛财产、荣誉等｝
4
a Panamanian-flagged ship capsized① in a storm off Japan
巴拿马一艘船在日本附近海域遭遇风暴后翻船
Forty crew members were missing after a Panamanian-flagged ship carrying cattle from New Zealand to China capsized in stormy weather in the East China Sea. By last Friday, three survivors had been found. The crew of 43 was made up of 39 people from the Philippines, two from New Zealand, and two from Australia. The ship, with a cargo of nearly 6,000 cattle, sent a distress call② from the west of Amami Oshima island in southwestern Japan last Wednesday as Typhoon Maysak lashed the area with strong winds and heavy seas. According to a survivor, the ship lost an engine before it was hit by a wave and capsized. (Reuters and Forbes)
一艘载牛的巴拿马船在中国东海遭遇暴风雨后倾覆，四十名船员失踪。船上共43名船员，包括39名菲律宾人、两名新西兰人和两名澳大利亚人。截至9月4日，有三名幸存者获救。船上载有近六千头牛，从新西兰出发，驶往中国。9月2日，货轮从日本西南部奄美大岛西面发出求救信号，当时台风“美莎克”正在袭击这片海域，风急浪高。一名幸存者称，货轮的一台引擎失效，随后被海浪掀翻。
【注释】
① capsize: [kæpˈsaɪz] vi. turns over in the water（船）倾覆
② distress call: n. an internationally recognized means for obtaining help 国际遇险求救信号
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5
Astronomers detected an intermediate-mass black hole for the first time
天文学家首次探测到中等质量的黑洞
Astronomers have detected the most massive merging of two black holes yet through the oldest and most distant gravitational waves to ever hit Earth. This collision created the first intermediate-mass black hole ever discovered, and it has a mass of 142 times that of our Sun. The “bang①” of energy created by this black hole merger and released through gravitational waves, or ripples② in the space-time continuum, equaled the energy of eight Suns. The gravitational waves were traced on Earth on May 21, 2019, by the dual③ detectors of Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory in the US, as well as the Virgo gravitational-wave detector in Italy. The ripples took 7 billion years to travel across space to reach us on Earth. (CNN)
借助抵达地球最古老、最遥远的引力波，天文学家发现了迄今最大规模的两黑洞合并事件。两黑洞相撞后，产生的黑洞质量约为太阳的142倍，这是人类首次发现中等质量的黑洞。此次合并所产生的能量“爆炸”，相当于八个太阳，通过引力波（时空连续体中的涟漪）释放了出来。2019年5月21日，美国激光干涉引力波天文台的两台探测器及意大利的“处女座”引力波探测器，追踪到了引力波。这些涟漪经过了70亿年才穿越太空，抵达地球。
【注释】
① bang: [bæŋ] n. a quick burst of energy or activity 爆炸
② ripple: [ˈrɪpl] n. a small wave 涟漪
③ dual: [ˈdjuːəl] adj. having two parts or aspects 双的，二元的，双倍的
6
Macron threw 100 billion euros at French economic relaunch
马克龙出台1000亿欧元的法国经济重启计划
Macron’s government unveiled the long-awaited 100 billion-euro economic stimulus plan. The plan, dubbed① “France Relaunch,” includes wage subsidies, tax cuts for businesses, and funding for environmental projects. It aims to shift away from the emergency spending of the COVID-19 crisis to addressing longer term problems of weak investment and job creation in the euro area’s second largest economy. The fiscal reboot② will be spread over two years and is split in roughly equal parts between competitiveness, jobs and social policies, and financing the transition to a greener economy. The government estimates that France Relaunch will return economic output to 2019 levels in 2022, while also having a lasting impact that will raise potential growth by one percentage point 10 years from now. (Bloomberg)
法国马克龙政府公布了人们期待已久的1000亿欧元经济刺激计划。这项计划被命名为“法国重启”，涉及工资补贴、为企业减税、资助环保项目等。该计划的目的，是使这个欧元区第二大经济体从紧急支出应对新冠危机，转向解决投资疲软和创造就业等长期问题。财政重启将持续两年，资金将大致平均地流向三个领域：竞争力、就业和社会政策、绿色经济转型。法国政府估计，“法国重启”将在2022年使经济产出恢复到2019年的水平，同时还会产生长远影响——将十年后的潜在增长率提升一个百分点。
【注释】
① dub: [dʌb] vt. to give (sb./sth.) a particular name, often in a humorous or critical way 给…起绰号，把……称为
② reboot: [ˈriːbuːt] n. the action or process of restarting or reviving sth. 重启
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（复旦大学江默柔编译，复旦大学章逍然、重光会王暖流审订）
