【专题】慢速英语（英音）2016-09-26

英语环球 NEWSPlus Radio

This is Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.
Renowned Chinese developer of hybrid rice, Yuan Longping, has expressed his confidence that a hybrid rice yield target projected for 2018 will be met this year.
Yuan said several demonstration plots had showed potential to produce 16 tonnes of rice per hectare.
Yuan made the remarks at a symposium marking the 20th anniversary of China's hybrid rice development.
Known as China's "father of hybrid rice", Yuan started theoretical research 50 years ago and kept setting new records in the average yields of hybrid rice plots.
China's Ministry of Agriculture officially launched its hybrid rice breeding program in 1996. Four years later, the first-phase target of 10 tonnes per hectare was achieved by Yuan's research team. The fourth-phase target of 15 tonnes per ha was hit in 2014.
Currently, farmland under hybrid rice in China has risen to 13 million hectares while that overseas totals more than 5 million hectares.
Around 65 percent of the Chinese population depends on rice as a staple food.
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Tiangong-2, China's first space lab in a real sense, was successfully launched into space on Sept 15. A brain-computer interaction test system installed in the lab will conduct a series of experiments in space.
The research team of the system said brain-computer interaction will eventually be the highest form of human-machine communication. China will conduct the first ever space brain-machine interaction experiments, ahead even of developed countries.
The brain-computer interaction test system in Tiangong-2 boasts 64 national patents. The research team has long been devoted to the research of brain-computer interactions. It previously developed two idiodynamic artificial neuron robotic systems that can help with the rehabilitation of stroke patients.
The brain-computer interaction technology will also help Tiangong-2 astronauts to more easily accomplish their assigned tasks.
For example, brain-computer interaction can transfer the astronauts' thoughts into operations, while at the same time monitoring their neurological function.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
China will challenge the UK's position as second in the world for international study by 2020. That's according to the latest report led by Student.com, the accommodation provider for international students.
The report said a record breaking 397,000 international students went to China in 2015 and China has been the third most popular destination for overseas students ahead of Canada, Germany and France.
The report added that although there has been a slowdown in numbers since 2014, the number of foreign students in China has been growing on average 10 percent year-on-year since 2006.
The report forecasts that at current growth rates, China will overtake the UK to be the second most popular destination for international students, following the United States which is at number one.
The Independent newspaper from the UK also quoted experts confirming that the number of international students studying in China has risen so rapidly; and China will overtake the UK as the second most popular academic destination in the world.
The newspaper noted that the trend is thought to be partly due to a drive by the Chinese government, as well as increasingly higher education standards and scholarship programs for degree-seeking students.
Professor David Goodman leads the China Studies program at the University of Liverpool. He said international students benefit from the exposure to China and its culture, not least because of its growing economy and jobs market.
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As the country passed the revised edition of China's Wild Animal Protection Law which bans random releasing of captive animals into the wild, a similar incident has drawn people's attention lately causing controversy.
The Beijing News reports that a Tibetan woman in southwest China's Sichuan Province released 6,000 goats onto a prairie after she saved them from slaughter houses. It cost her 5 million yuan, roughly 760,000 U.S. dollars, of donated money.
The incident immediately drew great attention after it was exposed on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.
There have been a number of reports recently in China in which captive animals were released randomly into the wild by animal activists or by those following a Buddhist ritual known as "fangsheng" or "releasing life". The religious ritual demonstrates spiritual compassion and piety by releasing captive animals back into nature.
However, experts say an ecosystem has a very delicate balance which could be jeopardized easily by changing the number of certain species or introducing a new species to the area.
China's revised Wild Animal Protection Law is to take effect starting from the year 2017, with added special items to regulate the release of captive animals into the wild.
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After enjoying the fresh service of a new bike-lending initiative Mobike, many users have begun to complain about its flaws.
A Beijing-based newspaper, the Beijing Daily, reports that the major problem is that Mobike's distinctive orange-rimmed bicycles are too heavy and can be challenging for female users. Others include inaccurate GPS positioning, long unlocking time, and unadjustable bike seats.
Mobike started in Shanghai in April and expanded to Beijing on Sept. 1st. To take a ride, a user scans the QR code on the bike, unlocks the smart lock and starts a timer.
The standard cost is one yuan, roughly 10 U.S. cents, per 30 minutes, along with a 300 yuan security deposit. Users can pay with popular mobile payment methods including Alipay and WeChat.
To encourage proper use and parking, Mobike includes a credit system that will increase the fee to 100 yuan per 30 minutes for users with low scores.
Mobike uses a station-free concept for easier use, in comparison with Beijing's public bike rental service, which has a more complicated registration process and requires bikes to be returned to stations.
Experts say Mobike is a good supplement to the public bike rental service.
Mobike now has only 3,000 bikes in the city, but the company said it is increasing the number by hundreds every day. It has more than 10,000 bikes in Shanghai, allowing most riders to find a bike anywhere within a radius of 300 meters.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths 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.
Beijing consumers forked out billions during the Moon Festival holiday, which ran from September 15 to 17.
Retail sales of 60 major commercial companies in the foodstuffs, dining and tourism sectors exceeded 2 billion yuan, roughly 300 million U.S. dollars. The figure represents an increase of more than 6 percent year on year.
According to the Beijing municipal commission of commerce, mooncakes, the seasonal delicacy for the festival, were in less lavish packaging and came in more creative flavors this year.
Daoxiangcun, a Beijing bakery chain, sold more than 27 million mooncakes by Saturday, the last day of the holiday. The company said mooncakes that are made from 3D printing machines sell particularly well.
Popular restaurants in Beijing were heavily booked during the three-day holiday. The turnover of several catering enterprises posted 10 percent growth from last year.
The Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The festival has been celebrated for more than 3,000 years to mark the autumn harvest. It is also an occasion for family gatherings, featuring lanterns, solving riddles and eating mooncakes.
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More than 70 percent of Chinese people believe children and adolescents should have annual physical checkups at professional hospitals, rather than at school health centers. That's according to a Chinese Medical Doctor Association survey.
The survey also shows that almost 70 percent of people believe the checkups organized for students should include psychological consultation.
The survey was based on feedback from 42,000 people in different professions from across China, including white collar workers, medical professionals, government employees, students and migrant rural laborers.
Almost 32,000 of those surveyed said children and adolescents should have checkups at professional hospitals, compared to more than 8,000 saying they should have checkups at school. The rest said they didn't care.
According to health and education regulations, students in China must have physical checkups before they are admitted to a school at a higher level; and all students should have a regular checkup every year when at school. Schools should organize students to have checkups.
A doctor at Beijing Children's Hospital said that in recent years, the number of children suffering diseases including hypertension and obesity increased, and in many cases they were diagnosed at professional hospitals rather than at school health centers.
Experts say the regulations were made decades ago and should be updated to suit the new situation.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
A high-speed railway linking Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province with Xuzhou in eastern Jiangsu Province has opened.
The 360-km line connects high-speed railways in the west with two major north-south lines, helping cut travel times between the west and the east.
The travel time between Xi'an and Shanghai has been cut to six hours from almost 11 hours.
The line has nine stations, and trains run at a speed of up to 300 km per hour in the initial period.
Construction of the line started in 2012, and test operations started in April this year.
With the operation of the new line, China's high-speed railway network has exceeded 20,000 km in total length, the world's longest.
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Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province, is witnessing a boom in interest after the Group of 20 Summit ended on Sept 5 as visitors throng to popular spots.
The park where the G20 evening gala was held has become one of the most popular attractions in the city.
A musical show by a team led by film director Zhang Yimou is staged with the majestic West Lake as its background. It's based on Zhang's "Impression of the West Lake", an astonishing performance that takes place right on the surface of the water, combining music, dance, and light effects all against a natural backdrop.
After the G20 ended, the park was packed with locals and tourists who were eager to see the conference location and the show in person.
Liu Ying is a tourist from Guizhou Province. She said she has seen the videos of the show many times; but only when she came to feel the vibe in real time was she truly impressed.
Many new souvenir sets has become available on the market after the evening gala, echoing its theme of a memorable Hangzhou. The package includes a silk clutch of a size which can hold an iPad, a fan and a fan case, as well as silk handkerchiefs.
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