8月13日午间英语新闻: 游泳运动员在夏天比赛为何要穿羽绒服？

> Why do swimmers wear down jackets at the Olympics?
游泳运动员在夏天比赛为何要穿羽绒服？

The Chinese swimming team has won a total of 12 medals in Paris including 2 golds, 3 silvers, and 7 bronzes. Chinese swimming prodigy Pan Zhanle made a splash at the Paris Olympics after snatching gold in the men's 100m freestyle and smashing his own world record. But eagle-eyed viewers noticed something peculiar: swimmers entered the venue sporting a down jacket.
中国游泳队以2金3银7铜的成绩，结束了巴黎奥运会的征程。其中，潘展乐勇夺男子100米自由泳金牌，并打破了自己保持的世界纪录，一鸣惊人。眼尖的观众发现了一件奇怪的事情：游泳运动员们都会穿着一件羽绒服进入会场。

Social media in China buzzed with curiosity, with posts on Weibo, one of the country's most popular platforms, exceeding 10 million views on the topic.
国内的社交媒体上掀起了好奇的热潮，微博上关于这一话题的帖子浏览量超过了1000万次。

Why do swimmers wear down jackets before competition? The main reason is to keep warm, as muscles can stiffen up in cold temperatures. In colder environments, the body initiates a series of reactions to keep the internal organs and brain warm.
游泳运动员赛前为什么要穿羽绒服？最主要的原因是为了保暖。因为温度低了肌肉会发僵。在较冷的环境里，身体会产生一系列反应来保证内脏、大脑这些关键器官的温度。


During this process, muscles contract uncontrollably to generate heat. Before we feel the tremors, muscle stiffness has already set in.
在此过程中，肌肉会不受控地收缩，以便产生热量。在我们能感受到颤抖之前，肌肉的僵硬已经发生了。

British news outlet The Independent cites a study in 2018 from the European Journal of Sport Science that found that “competitive swimmers who wore warm clothing prior to their race performed about 0.6 percent better than those who did not”.
英国《独立报》援引《欧洲体育科学杂志》早前的一项研究发现，“穿保暖外套的时候，比没有穿外套保暖时的成绩要快约0.6％。”

> China's foreign trade up 6.2% in first 7 months
今年前7个月我国货物贸易进出口增长6.2%

China's total goods imports and exports expanded 6.2 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of this year to 24.83 trillion yuan ($3.46 trillion), data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday.
8月7日，海关总署发布数据显示，2024年前7个月，我国货物贸易进出口总值24.83万亿元，同比增长6.2%。

The country's exports rose 6.7 percent year-on-year to 14.26 trillion yuan during the period, while imports climbed 5.4 percent to 10.57 trillion yuan, according to the administration.
其中，出口14.26万亿元，同比增长6.7%；进口10.57万亿元，同比增长5.4%。

In the first seven months, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations remained China's largest trade partner. China's trade with ASEAN economies climbed 10.5 percent year-on-year to 3.92 trillion yuan, accounting for 15.8 percent of the country's total trade value, the administration said.
海关总署数据显示，前7个月，东盟为我国第一大贸易伙伴，我国与东盟贸易总值为3.92万亿元，同比增长10.5%，占我国外贸总值的15.8%。

In the January-July period, China's trade with the European Union crawled up 0.4 percent from a year earlier, while the country's trade with the United States climbed 4.1 percent year-on-year, the data showed.
数据显示，1-7月，我国与欧盟贸易总值同比增长0.4%，与美国贸易总值同比增长4.1%。

During the same period, China's trade with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative amounted to 11.72 trillion yuan, which witnessed a year-on-year increase of 7.1 percent, according to the data.
数据显示，同期，我国对共建“一带一路”国家和地区合计进出口11.72万亿元，同比增长7.1%。

China saw steady export growth of such mechanical and electrical products as data processing devices, cell phones and automobiles during this period, which rose 8.3 percent to 8.41 trillion yuan and accounted for 59 percent of the country's total exports. In particular, exports of automobiles totaled 462.86 billion yuan, up 20.7 percent year-on-year.
前7个月，我国出口机电产品（包括数据处理设备、手机和汽车等）8.41万亿元，增长8.3%，占我出口总值的59%。其中，汽车出口4628.6亿元，同比增长20.7%。
重点词汇：
prodigy
英/ ˈprɒdədʒi /                                                        
美/ ˈprɑːdədʒi /                                                        
n.（尤指年幼的）奇才，神童；奇迹，奇观；奇事，异兆
stiff
英/ stɪf /                                                        
美/ stɪf /                                                        
adj.（肌肉或关节）酸痛的，僵硬的；不易弯曲的，硬的；艰难的，严厉的；无礼的，生硬的；（酒）烈性的；稠的，难搅拌的；难移动的，不顺滑的；昂贵的；（风）强劲的，猛烈的；过于正式的
tremor
英/ ˈtremə(r) /                                                        
美/ ˈtremər /                                                        
n.（身体或声音的）颤抖，战栗；兴奋，害怕；轻微地震，小地震；波动，风波
v.震颤，颤抖，战栗


Word of the day 丨people-centered new-type urbanization strategy
每日一词丨以人为本的新型城镇化战略

A five-year action plan on people-centered new-type urbanization unveiled by the State Council aims to lift the urbanization rate of permanent residents to nearly 70 percent within five years.
国务院印发的《深入实施以人为本的新型城镇化战略五年行动计划》（以下简称《行动计划》）提出，经过5年的努力，将常住人口城镇化率提升至接近70%。

【知识点】
党的十八大以来，我国新型城镇化建设取得重大进展。常住人口城镇化率从2012年的53.10%提高至2023年的66.16%，城镇基本公共服务覆盖范围显著扩大，城市群一体化发展明显加快，一批现代化都市圈逐步培育，人民生活品质不断提升。

国务院近日印发的《行动计划》对未来5年推进新型城镇化建设的总体要求、重点任务、政策措施和组织实施等作出部署。新型城镇化战略坚持以人为本，把推进农业转移人口市民化作为新型城镇化首要任务，坚持人民城市人民建、人民城市为人民，充分尊重人的意愿，调动和发挥好人的积极性主动性创造性，促进人的全面发展和社会公平正义，使全体居民共享现代化发展成果。《行动计划》部署了4项重大行动，分别为新一轮农业转移人口市民化行动、潜力地区城镇化水平提升行动、现代化都市圈培育行动、城市更新和安全韧性提升行动。

《行动计划》提出，经过5年的努力，农业转移人口落户城市渠道进一步畅通，常住地提供基本公共服务制度进一步健全，协调推进潜力地区新型工业化城镇化明显加快，培育形成一批辐射带动力强的现代化都市圈，城市安全韧性短板得到有效补齐，常住人口城镇化率提升至接近70%。 

【相关词汇】
现代化都市圈
modern metropolitan areas

农业农村现代化
modernization of agriculture and rural areas