Trade Battle over Dumping 等

Recently， the US Commerce Department concluded Chinese producers were dumping pipes used by the oil and gas industry and would collect duties of up to 99 percent.

China criticized Washington for raising anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made steel pipes. The decision violated the commitments by the US and other major economies to avoid protectionism when in the global economic crisis.“China resolutely opposes use of such protectionist practices， and will take measures to protect the interests of its industry，” ministry spokesman Yao Jian said.

Shortly afterwards， China announced it was beginning an anti-dumping investigation of imported US cars. It was acting on a complaint by Chinese carmakers. Meanwhile， China’s major steel works have asked the Commerce Ministry to start an anti-dumping investigation of US and European-made hot rolled and stainless steel， which was being sold at improperly low prices and caused injury to the Chinese market.

Facing this situation， both governments have repeatedly stressed the importance of stable relations and senior leaders have avoided public comments about the trade fights. They are limiting the fights to diplomatic channels， obviously hoping to prevent a trade war that could damage wide-ranging cooperation on issues such as the global economic crisis and climate change.

Question: What do the underlined words “such protectionist practices” refer to?

Answer:

Smaller and More Efficient

Nuclear Battery

While scientists are finding ways to make batteries more powerful， problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri(MU) researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller， lighter and more efficient.

“The radioisotope battery can provide power density that is six orders of magnitude higher than chemical batteries，” said Jae Kwon， assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU.

Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery， currently the size and thickness of a penny， intended to power various micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS).

“People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous，” he said. “However， nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices， such as pace-makers， space satellites and underwater systems.”

His innovation is not only in the battery’s size， but also in its semiconductor. This battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid one. In the future， they hope to increase the battery’s power， make its size even smaller and try with various other materials.

Question: What is special of this innovative nuclear battery?

A. Its liquid semiconductor.B. Its solid semiconductor.

C. Its small size.D. Both A and C.

The Pianist

The Pianist is a 2002 film adapted from the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman. The film told the story that Szpilman played the last live music heard over Polish radio airwaves before Nazi artillery hit. During the brutal occupation， he was deported but remained in the ruined Warsaw Ghetto. There， he struggled to stay alive. Finally， he picked up his artistic gifts， and confronted his fears， with aid from the unlikeliest source—a German officer who helped him hide in the final days of the war.

The film won the Palme d’Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival， and the Academy Awards for Best Director， Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. The greatest achievement of the film is that it portrays all of the horror and insanity of the Holocaust without ever losing a sense of hope. Despite facing unimaginable cruelty and hardship， most of the Jewish characters in the film never lose their humanity.

·Idiom·

★have work cut out 左右為難，難以定奪

—All of you did such a good job. Our celebrity judge has her work cut out for her.

★rain check 改日再約

—Do you want to have a cup of tea?

—I have got to be somewhere， but， rain check?

★take one’s side 支持某人，站在某人這一邊

—I had a fight with Jenny.

—What can I do to help?

—I want you to take my side and agree that Jenny was wrong.

Prove That the Sun of All the Angles of a Triangle Is 180.

Do you remember how your math teacher taught you to prove that the sum of all the angles of a triangle is 180°? Yes， of course， you do. But it is interesting to prove it in the following way.

Cut a triangle out of a piece of paper. If you fold over the corners， as shown in the picture， you can easily make the three angles fit together to form a 180°angle at the base of the triangle.

閱讀中，你遇到“攔路虎”了嗎?請(qǐng)參考:

dumping 傾銷US Commerce Department 美國(guó)商務(wù)部

anti-dumping 反傾銷violate 違犯commitment 承諾

protectionism 貿(mào)易保護(hù)主義 resolutely 堅(jiān)決地 complaint 抱怨

Commerce Ministry商務(wù)部hot rolled and stainless steel 熱軋不銹鋼

diplomatic channels 外交渠道radioisotope 放射性同位素

six orders of magnitude 六個(gè)數(shù)量級(jí)

micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) 微機(jī)電系統(tǒng)

pace-maker 心臟起搏器innovation 創(chuàng)新 semiconductor 半導(dǎo)體

adapt 改編autobiography 自傳

Jewish-Polish 波蘭籍猶太人 airwaves 電波Nazi 納粹的

artillery 炮火 brutal 野蠻的 occupation 占領(lǐng)

Warsaw Ghetto 華沙猶太人區(qū)unlikely 不可能的

the Palme d’Or 金棕櫚獎(jiǎng)Cannes Film Festival 戛納電影節(jié)

the Academy Awards 奧斯卡金像獎(jiǎng)screenplay 電影劇本

portray 描繪 insanity 瘋狂

the Holocaust (“二戰(zhàn)”期間納粹對(duì)猶太人的)大屠殺 cruelty殘酷

triangle 三角形fold over 折疊

Keys

Trade Battle over Dumping: They refer to“Washington’s raising anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made steel pipes”.

Smaller and More Efficient Nuclear Battery: D