2月23日午间英语新闻：脸书母公司将推出月费11.99美元订阅服务

>About 60 million Americans under extreme weather alerts
美国近6000万人处于冬季风暴预警下

Nearly 60 million people across 20 US states are facing extreme weather warnings as a major winter storm is expected to bring heavy snow and strong winds to the Southwest, Midwest and Southeast, and some areas may suffer tornadoes, ABC News reported Thursday.
美国广播公司16日报道称，全美20个州的近6000万人正处于极端天气警报之下，一场大型冬季风暴预计将给美国西南部、中西部和东南部等地带来大雪、强风，部分地区可能会遭遇龙卷风。

Winter storm warnings stretch from New Mexico to Illinois, with heavy snow expected in many areas. The Southwest and the Great Lakes are under a high-wind warning. Damaging winds and tornadoes are possible in states such as Texas, Alabama and Ohio.
报道称，冬季风暴警报从新墨西哥州一直延伸到伊利诺伊州，许多地区将有大雪。西南地区和五大湖区正处于强风预警下，得克萨斯、亚拉巴马以及俄亥俄等州可能会有破坏性的大风和龙卷风。

The states with the highest risk of tornadoes are Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. Heavy snow is expected from Colorado to Michigan. Some areas, especially Kansas and Nebraska, could see 6 to 12 inches of snow.
受龙卷风威胁最高的地区有密西西比州、亚拉巴马州和田纳西州。此外，从科罗拉多州到密歇根州预计将会出现大雪天气。一些地区，特别是堪萨斯州和内布拉斯加州，可能会看到15到30厘米的积雪。

Nearly 40 percent of flights in Denver were delayed or canceled Wednesday because of the extreme weather. More than 300 flights were canceled in Chicago on Thursday.
受极端天气影响，丹佛机场周三（15日）有近40%的航班被延误或取消。周四，芝加哥机场也有300多家航班被取消。

重点词汇：
tornado
英/tɔːˈneɪdəʊ/ 美/tɔːrˈneɪdoʊ/
龙卷风，大旋风；极具破坏力的人（或物），情感火爆的人

>Surging demand for "medical chaperon"
新职业“陪诊员”订单激增！

In 2022, about 26,000 people searched for "medical chaperon (or medical escort)" on e-commerce platforms, and some shops made thousands of transactions.
2022年，约2.6万人在某电商平台搜索过“陪诊”，生意好的店铺月销达上千单。

A medical chaperon, as the name implies, is a person who accompanies a patient to the clinic. The main tasks include registration, consultation, medication and result pickup, payment, and transporting patients to and from medical appointments. Most of the escort clients are elderly people living alone, people from other cities, pregnant women and single young people.
陪诊员，顾名思义就是陪同病人诊疗的人。主要工作内容有挂号、问诊、取药、缴费、取结果、接送患者就医等。陪诊客户多为独居老人、异地人群、孕妇、单身年轻人等。

According to statistics, there are more than 125 million one-person households in China, and the number of people living alone has increased. At the same time, with the emergence of an aging population, the inability to take time off work, complicated and cumbersome medical procedures, travel restrictions and other factors, "medical chaperons" came into being.
有统计数据显示，我国一人户家庭已超过1.25亿户，独居人口增加。同时，老龄化、低生育等现象的出现，以及无法随时请假、复杂又繁琐的看病手续、出行受限等因素的影响下，“陪诊员”也应运而生。

Medical chaperons are like family members and friends who understand the medical treatment process. They help patients through the process of waiting and queuing to improve the efficiency of treatment. Sometimes they also play the role of "temporary family members" to provide emotional support for patients.
“陪诊员”就像个懂医的家人朋友，他们清楚就医流程，可以在等候和排队的环节为患者提供帮助、提高就诊效率，有时还会充当起“临时家人”的角色，为患者提供情感上的寄托。

重点词汇：
chaperon
英/ˈʃæpərəʊn/
n.（陪未婚少女上社交场所的）年长女伴；（青年社交聚会时在场的）监护人；蛋白质（如热休克蛋白）
v.陪伴，护送；当女伴；当监护人
n.（Chaperon）（法、美、加）沙普龙（人名）

>Meta to launch monthly subscription service priced at $11.99
脸书母公司将推出月费11.99美元订阅服务

Meta Platforms on Sunday announced that it is testing a monthly subscription service, called Meta Verified, which will let users verify their accounts using a government ID and get a blue badge, as it looks to help content creators grow and build communities.
Meta Platforms周日（2月19日）宣布正在测试一项名为Meta Verified的月度订阅服务，该服务将允许用户使用政府ID验证他们的账户并获得蓝色徽章，以帮助内容创作者发展和建立社区。

The subscription bundle for Instagram and Facebook, to be launched later this week, also includes extra protection against impersonation and will be priced starting at $11.99 per month on the web or $14.99 a month on Apple’s iOS system and Android.
Meta将于本周晚些时候在Facebook和Instagram推出这项订阅服务，其中还包括假冒保护措施，网络版订阅费用为每月11.99美元，如果通过苹果iOS应用程序和安卓系统购买则为14.99美元。

Meta Verified will be rolled out in Australia and New Zealand this week, with gradual launches in other countries to follow.
据悉，Meta Verified本周将在澳大利亚和新西兰推出，随后将逐步在其他国家/地区推出。

Meta’s foray into subscription services follows Twitter, which announced last month that Twitter Blue will be priced at $11 per month. Other social media apps, like Snap Inc.’s Snapchat and messaging app Telegram launched paid subscription services last year, as a new source of revenue.
Meta进军订阅服务是继推特之后，推特上个月宣布Twitter Blue的定价为每月11美元。其他社交媒体应用程序，如Snap Inc(SNAP.N)的Snapchat和消息应用程序Telegram去年推出了付费订阅服务，作为新的收入来源。