6月16日午间双语新闻：西沙群岛植物有了“身份证”

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124M passenger trips during holiday
端午预计发送旅客1.24亿人次

Total passenger trips made during China's Dragon Boat Festival holiday are expected to reach 124 million, according to official data. The average daily passenger trips will likely exceed 41.23 million during the period, up by 52.5 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Transport said Monday. The figure was down by 18.8 percent compared with 2019, the data showed. 
中国交通运输部近日消息，全国铁路、公路、水运、民航预计发送旅客1.24亿人次，日均或超4123万人次，比2019年同期日均下降18.8%，比2020年同期日均增长52.5%。

The Dragon Boat Festival holiday extended from Saturday to Monday this year. During the three-day holiday, the country's railway sector will likely handle over 31.67 million passenger trips, up by 58.1 percent year-on-year. The civil aviation sector is expected to see 3.71 million passenger trips, up by 40.1 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
今年端午假期为三天(6月12日至14日)，铁路预计发送旅客超过3167万人次，比2020年同期日均增长58.1%；民航预计发送旅客371万人次，比2020年同期日均增长40.1%。

重点词汇
1、year-on-year
adj. 与上年同期数字相比的； 同比增长

Over 500 plant species recorded
西沙群岛植物有了'身份证'

More than 500 species of plants have been recorded in China's Xisha Islands, it was discovered during a recent campaign to put name tags on the plants. The name-tagging project covers plants on over 10 islands and reefs in the Xisha Islands, including Jinqing Island, Zhaoshu Island, and Ganquan Island, the Hainan Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said. 
海南省住房和城乡建设厅近日称，已联合相关部门在西沙群岛各岛礁启动开展植物挂牌工作。此次植物挂牌工作覆盖到晋卿岛、赵述岛、甘泉岛等10多个西沙岛礁。目前，西沙群岛上的植物种类，已记录达500余种。

Since its establishment in 2012, the government of Sansha has introduced a large variety of high-value ornamental plants, which have significantly improved the local ecological and living environment. Chen Xiaojing, deputy director of the department, said the name-tagging project is of great importance to the science education of the island’s residents and can help promote the city's landscaping work.
三沙市自2012年成立以来，精心引种引进大量高价值的园林观赏植物，全面改善岛礁的生态环境和人居环境。海南省住房和城乡建设厅副厅长陈孝京表示，西沙群岛岛礁植物挂牌活动不仅是对驻岛军民进行科普教育的重要举措，也是三沙市以园林绿化工作助推城市品质提升的有益探索。

重点词汇
1、ornamental
英 /ˌɔːnəˈmentl/  美 /ˌɔːrnəˈmentl/ 
adj. 装饰的，装饰性的
n. 观赏植物；装饰品

Plans for future space exploration
火星采样返回、木星系探测提上日程

China is making plans for the future development of its space program, including exploring asteroids and the Jovian system, collecting samples from Mars and exploring the polar region of the moon, an official from the China National Space Administration said on Saturday. 
国家航天局新闻发言人许洪亮6月12日在新闻发布会上介绍我国太空项目未来规划，表示我国将开展小行星和木星系探测、火星取样、月球极区探测等任务。

Xu Hongliang, speaking for  the space agency, said at a press conference that in about the year 2025 China plans to launch a probe to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid and explore a comet in one mission. China plans to launch a Mars sample-return mission and a Jovian system exploration mission sometime in about 2030, Xu said. In addition, China plans to launch the Chang'e-6 and Chang'e-7 lunar probes in the coming five years to explore the environment and resources and collect samples from the polar region of the moon, Xu said. By the end of 2022, China will have completed the construction of its space station, in which astronauts can stay for prolonged periods to carry out scientific experiments, Xu said.
许洪亮表示，2025年前后，我国将实施近地小行星取样返回和主带彗星环绕探测任务；2030年左右，我国将实施火星取样返回任务，还将实施木星系的环绕探测任务；"十四五"时期，我国将发射嫦娥六号、七号探测器，实施月球极区环境与资源勘查、月球极区采样返回等任务；2022年底，我国将建成长期有人照料的载人空间站，供航天员长期驻留、开展科学试验。

重点词汇
1、asteroid
英 /ˈæstərɔɪd/  美 /ˈæstərɔɪd/ 
n. [天] 小行星；[无脊椎] 海盘车；小游星
adj. 星状的

2、Jovian
英 /ˈdʒəʊvɪən/  美 /ˈdʒoʊviən/ 
adj. 木星的；威风凛凛的；朱庇特神的

3、comet
英 /ˈkɒmɪt/  美 /ˈkɑːmɪt/ 
n. [天] 彗星

New Southern Ocean recognized
国家地理:四大洋变五大洋

Anyone who thought the world had four oceans will now have to think again, after the National Geographic Society announced it would recognize a new Southern Ocean in Antarctica, bringing the global total to five. National Geographic said the Southern Ocean consists of the waters surrounding Antarctica, out to 60-degrees south latitude. National Geographic Society geographer Alex Tait said scientists have long known that the waters surrounding Antarctica form a "distinct ecological region defined, by ocean currents and temperatures". 
认为世界上有四大洋的人要再想想了。美国国家地理学会宣布，正式认定南大洋为一个新的大洋，这样一来，四大洋就变成五大洋了。美国国家地理学会称，南大洋由南极洲周围海域构成，从大陆的海岸线延伸至南纬60度。国家地理学会的地理学家亚历克斯•泰特称，科学家很早以前就知道南极洲四周水域组成了一个"由洋流和温度界定的独特生态区域"。

"We think it's really important from an educational standpoint, as well as from a map-labeling standpoint, to bring attention to the Southern Ocean as a fifth ocean," Tait said. "So when students learn about parts of the ocean world, they learn it's an interconnected ocean, and they learn there are these regions called oceans that are really important, and there's a distinct one in the icy waters around Antarctica."
泰特称："我们认为，站在教育和地图注记的立场上，将南大洋认定为第五大洋真的很重要。这样，当学生学习海洋世界的各个部分时，他们会了解到这是一个互联互通的海洋，并了解到各个非常重要的大洋，包括环绕南极洲的这片独特的冰冷水域。"

重点词汇
1、standpoint
英 /ˈstændpɔɪnt/  美 /ˈstændpɔɪnt/ 
n. 立场；观点

2、interconnected

adj. 连通的；有联系的

v. 互相连接（interconnect的过去式）

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