4月27日午间英语新闻：今年全球气温或将创新高

> Meta commences layoffs, faces $725m settlement
Met再裁4000人 开始赔付7.25亿美元天价和解费

Facebook's parent company Meta has initiated a new wave of massive layoffs. The company laid off 4,000 employees on Wednesday, with more expected in May, according to Vox.com.
据美国媒体报道，社交媒体“脸书”母公司Meta开启新一轮大规模裁员。公司周三（4月19日）裁员4000人，预计更多裁员将在5月进行。

In March, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta planned to cut 11,000 jobs in the coming months. In November, Meta had let go 11,000 employees, approximately 13 percent of its workforce.
公司CEO马克·扎克伯格曾在3月表示，Meta计划在今年春季裁员1.1万人。去年11月，Meta已经裁掉了1.1万个工作岗位，大约13%的员工。

Meta's investment in the Metaverse has resulted in declining revenue and a decrease in user engagement. Additionally, the company must pay a $725 million settlement this year.
自押注“元宇宙”概念失策后，Meta面临着口碑滑坡、用户流失、收入下滑的困境。公司还将在今年赔付一笔7.25亿美元的巨额和解费用。

The 2018 revelation that data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica had obtained data from up to 87 million Facebook users through a personality-quiz app prompted a class action lawsuit against Meta.
2018年有爆料称，英国数据挖掘企业“剑桥分析”通过一款性格测试应用，获取了8700万脸谱网用户的数据，引发对脸谱网的集体诉讼。

Plaintiffs alleged that Facebook had granted third parties access to users’ content and information without their consent and failed to monitor how it was being used.
原告称，脸谱网在未经用户同意的情况下，允许第三方访问用户数据且未能充分监控第三方如何使用这些数据。

In December, Facebook agreed to settle the case by paying a total of $725 million to Facebook users who had signed up between 2007 and 2022. That was the largest privacy class action settlement in US history.
2022年12月，脸谱网同意就此案达成和解，并向2007年至2022年使用过脸谱网的用户支付7.25亿美元的和解费。这创下了美国数据隐私类集体诉讼的最高赔偿。

重点词汇：

1、approximately
英/ əˈprɒksɪmətli /
美/ əˈprɑːksɪmətli /
adv.大约，大概

2、revelation
英/ ˌrevəˈleɪʃ(ə)n /
美/ ˌrevəˈleɪʃ(ə)n /
n.被揭示的真相，被揭露的内情；揭露，披露；出乎意料的事物，令人惊喜的发现；（上帝的）启示，默示；《启示录》

3、plaintiff
英/ ˈpleɪntɪf /
美/ ˈpleɪntɪf /
n.<法律>原告，起诉人

> Global temperature could see new record soon
准备好了吗？今年全球气温或将创新高

The global average temperature could set a new record in 2023 or 2024, boosted by climate change and the anticipated return of the El Nino weather phenomenon, Reuters reported on Thursday.
据路透社周四（4月20日）报道，受气候变化和可能出现的厄尔尼诺天气现象的推动，全球平均气温可能在2023年或2024创下新的记录。

After three years of the La Nina weather phenomenon, global temperatures have generally dropped slightly, the report said.
报道称，在拉尼娜天气现象持续三年后，全球气温普遍略有下降。

The world could be heading for record temperatures as the El Nino weather phenomenon returns later this year, and temperatures rise rapidly in many parts of the world.
今年晚些时候，厄尔尼诺天气现象可能回归，世界多地的气温可能会快速上升，全球可能将面临创纪录的气温。

El Nino is a naturally occurring phenomenon characterized by the abnormal warming of sea surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. On average, it occurs every two to seven years and can last up to 18 months.
联合国粮食及农业组织称，厄尔尼诺是一种自然现象，其特征是赤道太平洋中东部海域海面水温异常增高。该现象一般每隔2至7年出现一次，持续时间可长达18个月。

During El Nino episodes, normal patterns of tropical precipitation and atmospheric circulation are disrupted, triggeringextreme climate events around the globe, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.  
在厄尔尼诺期间，热带降水和大气环流的正常规律被打乱，在全球范围引发极端气候事件。

Friedrich Otto, a senior lecturer at Imperial College London in the UK, said the warmer temperatures caused by El Nino could exacerbate the impacts of climate change that countries are already experiencing, including severe heat waves, droughts and wildfires.
英国伦敦帝国理工学院的高级讲师弗里德里克·奥托指出，厄尔尼诺导致的气温升高，可能会加剧各国已经经历的气候变化影响，包括严重的热浪、干旱和野火。

Human pollution and massive greenhouse gas emissions are likely to make the world hotter, the report said.
报道称，人类对环境的污染及大量温室气体的排放，可能使全球变得越来越热。

重点词汇：
1、anticipated
英/ ænˈtɪsɪpeɪtɪd /
美/ ænˈtɪsɪpeɪtɪd /
adj.受期待的，让人期盼的
v.预期，预料；期待，盼望；先于…做，抢先…做（anticipate 的过去式和过去分词）

2、abnormal
英/ æbˈnɔːm(ə)l /
美/ æbˈnɔːrm(ə)l /
adj.反常的，异常的，变态的；不规则的

3、precipitation
英/ prɪˌsɪpɪˈteɪʃ(ə)n /
美/ prɪˌsɪpɪˈteɪʃ(ə)n /
n.降水（如雨，雪，冰雹）；沉淀，淀析；仓促，鲁莽，轻率；坠落