2月20日英语：科技助伦勃朗画作正名

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TOEFL, GRE tests canceled

3月托福GRE雅思全停考

All TOEFL and GRE tests in the Chinese mainland in March will be canceled due to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak, test administrators said on Monday. 

17日，托福和GRE考试主办机构美国教育考试服务中心(ETS)称，受新冠病毒疫情的影响，决定取消中国大陆地区三月份所有托福和GRE考试。

After consultation with the National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA) under the Ministry of Education, ETS, administrator of the two tests, decided to further cancel all tests in March and will return fees to test takers' accounts. 

ETS表示，经与中国教育部考试中心商讨，决定取消三月份所有托福和GRE考试，考费将全额退还至考生个人报名账户。

Test takers originally scheduled for February and March testing will be able to register for a later date at no charge, ETS said. 

所有原定于二月和三月考试的考生可以免费转考至其他月份。

ETS is currently working with NEEA to accommodate impacted test takers, including adding test dates in April and May, it said. British Council, administrator of IELTS, announced on Friday it decided to cancel all IELTS tests in the Chinese mainland in March. 

目前ETS正与中国教育部考试中心采取在四、五月份增加新的考试日期等措施，以满足受影响的考生的转考需求。雅思考试主办机构英国文化教育协会14日也已宣布取消大陆地区三月份所有雅思考试。

ETS and British Council announced last month they would cancel all TOEFL, GRE and IELTS tests in the Chinese mainland in February.

上个月，ETS和英国文化教育协会宣布取消了二月份大陆地区所有托福、GRE和雅思考试。

重点词汇：

1、consultation

英 /ˌkɒnslˈteɪʃn/ 美 /ˌkɑːnslˈteɪʃn/

n. 咨询；磋商；[临床] 会诊；讨论会

Passengers begin to leave cruise

'钻石公主'乘客开始下船

Passengers began disembarking on Wednesday from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship after spending two weeks in quarantine off Yokohama, near Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK reported.

据公共广播公司日本放送协会(NHK)报道，"钻石公主"号邮轮上的乘客19日起开始下船，这艘邮轮因有乘客感染新冠病毒而在东京附近的横滨港检验隔离两周。

Around 500 people were expected to disembark on Wednesday with the entire process to be completed by Friday, NHK said. The Diamond Princess, operated by Carnival Corp, has been quarantined in Yokohama since Feb 3 after a man, who disembarked in Hong Kong before it travelled to Japan, was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.

报道称，19日将有约500名乘客下船，21日所有乘客全部撤离。嘉年华公司运营的"钻石公主"号邮轮在抵达日本前，一名在香港下船的男性乘客确诊感染新冠病毒，因此该邮轮自2月3日以来一直在横滨港检验隔离。

More than 540 people have been infected with the virus on the liner, which originally carried some 3,700 passengers and crew. Many of those infected have been transferred to hospitals.

邮轮上原有乘客和船员约3700人，其中已有超过540人被确诊感染新冠病毒。许多感染者已经被转移至医院。

重点词汇：

1、disembark

英 /ˌdɪsɪmˈbɑːk/ 美 /ˌdɪsɪmˈbɑːrk/

vt. 使……登陆；使……上岸

vi. 登陆，下车；上岸

2、quarantine

英 /ˈkwɒrəntiːn/ 美 /ˈkwɔːrəntiːn/

n. 检疫隔离期；隔离；检疫；检疫区，隔离区

v. 对（动物或人）进行检疫隔离

SpaceX unveils tourism flight

SpaceX将送4人进入太空

SpaceX is planning to send up to four private citizens into space to take a trip around the Earth sometime at the end of 2021 or in early 2022. 

美国太空探索技术公司(SpaceX)计划在2021年底或2022年初某个时间，将最多4名普通公民送入太空进行绕地旅行。

The spaceflight company announced an agreement on Tuesday with Space Adventures, a space tourism business that has helped seven different private citizens take trips to (and from) the International Space Station aboard Russia's Soyuz rocket and spacecraft. 

18日，SpaceX宣布已与太空旅游公司太空探险公司达成协议。后者此前已经协助七位不同公民搭乘俄罗斯联盟号火箭和宇宙飞船往返国际空间站。

The new tourists would be carried on SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule. The Crew Dragon fliers would launch from the Kennedy Space Center, but will not visit the space station. Instead, they will soar to a record high orbit, enjoying a view of Earth that has not been seen since NASA's Gemini and Apollo astronauts. The cost of a ticket is not yet known.

此次新的一批太空游客将乘坐SpaceX旗下的龙飞船太空舱。搭乘龙飞船的游客们将从肯尼迪航天中心升空，但不会前往国际空间站，而是飞向一个史上最高的轨道，欣赏除美国宇航局双子座号和阿波罗号的宇航员外无人目睹过的地球景观。此次飞行的票价尚不清楚。

重点词汇：

flier

英 /ˈflaɪə(r)/ 美 /ˈflaɪər/

n. 飞行员；快车；飞行物；（美）广告传单

Knockoff is the real thing

科技助伦勃朗画作正名

Thanks to modern technology and some expert detective work, a nearly 400-year-old painting that had long been attributed to an unknown artist in Rembrandt's workshop has been judged to have been a work of the Dutch master himself. 

多亏现代科技和一些专家进行的鉴定工作，近日，一幅有近400年历史、一直被认为是荷兰绘画大师伦勃朗画室中一位不知名艺术家创作的画作被证实出自伦勃朗之手。伦勃朗是历史上最重要和最受尊敬的艺术家之一。

For decades, the Allentown Art Museum displayed an oil-on-oak panel painting called "Portrait of a Young Woman" and credited it to "Studio of Rembrandt." 

数十年来，阿伦敦美术馆里一直展出一幅名为"年轻女子肖像"、署名"伦勃朗画室"的橡木板面油画。

Two years ago, the painting was sent to New York University for conservation and cleaning. Conservators began removing layers of overpainting and dark, thick varnish that had been added over centuries - and they began to suspect Rembrandt himself was responsible for the original, delicate brushwork underneath. 

两年前，该画被送到纽约大学进行养护清洁。保管员在移除了油画上覆盖了几个世纪的颜料和又黑又厚的清漆后，开始怀疑画中原始、精致的笔触出自伦勃朗本人之手。

Conservators used a variety of tools, including X-ray, infrared and electron microscopy, to bolster the case that it was the work of one of the most important and revered artists in history. The scientific analysis "showed brushwork, and a liveliness to that brushwork, that is quite consistent with other works by Rembrandt," said Shan Kuang, a conservator at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts.

保管员使用X射线、红外线和电子显微镜等各种鉴定工具进行鉴定，以提供证据证明这是伦勃朗的作品。纽约大学美术学院的保管员关珊(音译)说，科学分析显示这幅画作的绘画风格及其生动活泼的笔法，和伦勃朗其他作品极其一致。

Outside experts who examined the 1632 painting concurred with the NYU assessment that it's an authentic Rembrandt. The painting will go on public display again starting June 7.

外界专家也都认同纽约大学的评估结果，认为这幅1632年的画作确是伦勃朗的真迹。该画将于6月7日再次向公众展出。

重点词汇：

1、varnish

英 /ˈvɑːnɪʃ/ 美 /ˈvɑːrnɪʃ/

n. 亮光漆，清漆；虚饰；光泽面

vt. 装饰，粉饰；在…上涂清漆；使…有光泽

2、conservator

英 /kənˈsɜːvətə(r)/ 美 /kənˈsɜːrvətər/

n. 保护者；管理员

3、microscopy

英 /maɪˈkrɒskəpi/ 美 /maɪˈkrɑːskəpi/

n. 显微镜检查；显微镜使用；显微镜学

4、brushwork

英 /ˈbrʌʃwɜːk/ 美 /ˈbrʌʃwɜːrk/

n. 绘画；笔法；画法；书法

5、Knockoff 
英 /'nɒkɒf/  美 /'nɔkɔf/
n. （贵重品的）廉价仿制品

Hi everyone, here are words you should know from today's news.

No.1  consultation

After consultation with the National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA) under the Ministry of Education, ETS, administrator of the two tests, decided to further cancel all tests in March and will return fees to test takers' accounts. 

No.2  disembark

Passengers began disembarking on Wednesday from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship after spending two weeks in quarantine off Yokohama, near Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK reported.

No.3  flier

The new tourists would be carried on SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule. The Crew Dragon fliers would launch from the Kennedy Space Center, but will not visit the space station. Instead, they will soar to a record high orbit, enjoying a view of Earth that has not been seen since NASA's Gemini and Apollo astronauts. The cost of a ticket is not yet known.

No.4  knockoff

Knockoff is the real thing

No.5  varnish

Two years ago, the painting was sent to New York University for conservation and cleaning. Conservators began removing layers of overpainting and dark, thick varnish that had been added over centuries - and they began to suspect Rembrandt himself was responsible for the original, delicate brushwork underneath. 

No.6  conservator

Conservators used a variety of tools, including X-ray, infrared and electron microscopy, to bolster the case that it was the work of one of the most important and revered artists in history.

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