【专题】慢速英语（美音）2016-08-23

英语环球 NEWSPlus Radio

This is Special English. I'm Ryan Price in Beijing. Here is the news.
Government news conferences must be held within 24 hours of serious major events and incidents to deal with public concerns. That's according to a statement released by the State Council, China's Cabinet.
The statement further specified the responsibility of national and local government agencies in responding to public opinion on government affairs.
The development of the internet in recent years has been changing how people communicate. Social media have the ability to incite and expand public sentiment quickly and often. But, the release said some government officials do not respond to public sentiment quickly and effectively.
It said government agencies must react promptly, if they are to be effective, so news conferences should be held within 24 hours of major emergencies.
Regarding public reaction to smaller government affairs, agencies should respond within 48 hours and keep updating with authoritative information on the latest developments.
When there is notable public opinion on major State Council policies and decisions, the central government agencies directly involved should be the first to respond. Similarly, local government agencies should be the first to address the public's reaction in matters directly related to them.
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Nongovernmental organizations have called on the Chinese government to impose a total ban on the ivory trade in the country within the next two years, and with no expiration date or financial compensation for those who would lose business.
A wildlife trade specialist at the World Wildlife Fund in China said the majority of Chinese consumers would stop buying ivory products if the legal trade channel was shut down. The specialist said it would also leave no room for speculators to operate if the ban on the ivory trade in China were permanent.
The World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC, a nongovernmental organization that monitors the global wildlife trade, are compiling a feasibility report on banning the ivory trade in China, hoping that it will become a technical reference document for the Chinese government.
The head of the China program at TRAFFIC, Zhou Fei, said the African elephant population had dropped from 3 to 5 million, to only 500,000 in recent years.
Zhou said if they don't do anything, African elephants will be functionally extinct within two decades.
At present, the trade and manufacture of registered ivory products is legal in China.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Ryan Price in Beijing.
Chinese biologist Han Chunyu has provided his experimental data to Nature magazine as requested to help peer researchers replicate his work, but the controversy has not gone away.
According to the journal's website, Han has been working to replicate his own work.
The incident now is evolving into a battle between the widely recognized gene editing tool CRISPR and a potentially better substitute, NgAgo, presented by Han, a geneticist at Hebei University of Science and Technology.
Three months ago, Han announced that NgAgo can be used to edit human genes, and an article was published in Nature Biotechnology. However, some researchers in Australia and other countries said they had been unable to replicate Han's work.
In response, the journal initiated an investigation and asked Han to submit his experimental protocols and original data. Further investigations are underway.
A Chinese biology researcher in Beijing, who wants to remain anonymous, told China Daily that Han's updating of his protocol is a good start, and other scientists should allow for more time and be patient.
Han is known for focusing on his research and maintaining a low-key lifestyle. The article about him on Nature's website said he didn't like to travel, and a trip to visit a collaborator in Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province five months ago was the first time the 42-year-old had ever boarded a plane.
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The first national alliance of hospitals providing air ambulance services has taken off, covering vast regions in eight provinces with swift evacuations for people from remote rural areas to clogged city streets.
Air ambulances have become a key supplement in medical emergencies to save lives despite congestion or remote location, leading to the growth of such services in China.
A helicopter took off from Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, and picked up a 58-year-old patient in neighboring Huzhou city who needed an emergency operation. It brought the patient to a landing pad at the hospital in Hangzhou.
The round trip was brief. Within two hours, including flight time, the patient, who had suffered a heart attack, was out of surgery.
The patient, surnamed Ding, said the helicopter was so quick and convenient that it made him feel like this hospital was located in front of his home.
Without the helicopter, it would likely take an ambulance more than two hours just for the return trip, instead of the 30 minutes by air.
Eyeing the huge potential of air emergency services, 14 provincial level hospitals initiated the China Air Emergency Hospital Alliance, which is the largest domestic alliance in the air ambulance service industry.
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With bulbous red noses, colorful curly wigs and exaggerated makeup, a group of 40 medical workers in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, have offered patients something to smile about.
By dispensing hope and humor, the medical clowns lift the mood and inject vitality into the wards.
A medical clown training center, jointly launched by China and Israel, has been established at Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital.
Forty doctors and nurses in Chengdu will learn from the world's leading professional medical clowns this year.
Amir Lati, consul general with the Consulate General of Israel in Chengdu, said Israel is a world leader in medical clowning. In Israel, the profession is a serious business.
Israel set up the world's first clown care course at the University of Haifa in 2006.
When people are entertained, laughing especially, the brain releases more endorphins, which can help relieve pain and produces more leukocytes, which help improve the immune system. Lati said medical clowns have been proven to help the healing process.
The trainee Chinese medical clowns will be taught medical care, psychology, physiotherapy as well as magic performance, puppet shows and acting by the Israeli practitioners.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Ryan Price in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at [e-mail]. That's [e-mail]. Now the news continues.
Officials in Huichang, a county in southern Jiangxi Province are being encouraged to read more books by both Chinese and foreign writers to improve their governing abilities.
The activity was initiated by the county head Cai Xiaowei. The original reading list contained just 12 books, but this year's list contains 23 and covers a wider range of topics.
In addition to traditional best-sellers, including Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the reading list also features a critique of Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution. The book is a strategic initiative related to a manufacturing technology by the German government, and a graphic book to educate people about legal issues.
A number of books about improving governance at the grassroots level, and others related to environmental protection and sustainable development have also been recommended.
The head of the county's finance bureau, Peng Changchun, is one of a large number of officials that have joined the literary trend.
One of the books Peng has read is a collection of essays by D. Gale Johnson, an economist from the United States. The essays feature issues related to China's agricultural sector, the rural area and farmers. Peng said the book objectively displays some real situations in China's rural areas.
Peng is seeking inspiration about how financial resources can be used more efficiently to lift rural areas out of poverty, and how rural residents can become more involved in the governance of their home areas.
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A middle school student in Jiaozhou, Shandong province, whose application was tampered with by a fellow classmate, has got his application restored and has been admitted to Shaanxi Normal University in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province.
The Shandong Provincial Academy of Education, Recruitment and Examination said it has negotiated with the university and decided to accept Chang's application. The university also agreed to enroll the student.
According to The Paper, a Chinese media platform based in Shanghai, local police have confirmed that 19-year-old Chang Sheng, failed to enroll into the university in the first place only because his application was tampered with by a classmate surnamed Guo.
Local police said Guo has been detained for investigation after Chang's family reported the case to the police in July.
Earlier, Chinese media had reported Chang's story, triggering hot discussion online. Chang is from an impoverished farming family. He applied to study physical education at Shaanxi Normal University, and would have been exempt from tuition if enrolled.
Chang said he was not enrolled which was a surprise because his college entrance exam scores met the standard, and the university didn't receive enough applications.
Chang checked his records and found that his application had not been submitted to the correct university.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Ryan Price in Beijing.
A 32-year-old Shanghai woman who fell off a cruise ship that was returning to China from Japan was miraculously saved after floating in the sea for more than 38 hours. She even fell asleep for a while.
The woman, whose name was not disclosed, was traveling with her parents aboard the ship when her companions noticed she was missing. She had gone for a walk on the deck at around 8:30 pm but didn't return. Her parents and more than 100 volunteers searched the boat but failed to find her.
The parents gave up hope. A police officer on the ship told the father that there was no chance of survival if his daughter had fallen from the deck, which is 20 meters above water.
The woman said she fell off the cruise ship while leaning over a 1.4-meter-high rail. She managed to swim and remained drifted in the water until someone saved her. She suffered only minor injuries on her arms.
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（全文见周日微信。）