UK first to OK Moderna's updated COVID-19 shot against Omicron
英国批准莫德纳新冠疫苗加强针
British drug regulators have become the first in the world to approve an updated version of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine that includes protection against the Omicron variant. In a statement on Monday, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had given the green light to Moderna's combination "bivalent" vaccine, which will be used as an adult booster shot and will be offered to people aged 50 and over starting in the fall. Each dose of the booster shot will target both the original COVID-19 virus that was first detected in 2020, and the Omicron BA.1 variant that was first picked up in November 2021. On Friday, Germany's health minister said the European Medicines Agency might clear tweaked COVID-19 boosters next month.
英国药品监管机构已成为世界首个批准莫德纳公司新冠疫苗的更新版本的国家机构，该疫苗包括对奥密克戎变体的对抗保护。英国药品和保健品管理局（MHRA）在当地时间8月15日（周一）的一份声明中表示，它已经为莫德纳公司的“二价”组合疫苗开了绿灯，该疫苗将被用作成人加强针，并将从今年秋季开始提供给50岁及以上人群。加强针将针对2020年首次发现的原始新冠病毒和2021年11月首次发现的奥密克戎BA.1变种。上周五（8月12日），德国卫生部长说，欧洲药品管理局可能在下个月批准经过调整的新冠加强针。
重点词汇：
tweak
英/twiːk/
美/twiːk/
v.扭，拧；稍稍调整（机器、系统等）；轻微拉伤，轻微扭伤
n.扭，拧；微调，稍微调整；轻微的拉伤（或扭伤）
Biden signs Inflation Reduction Act into law
美国总统拜登签署《2022年通胀削减法案》
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, a scaled-down version of the massive "Build Back Better" package he and many Democrats envisioned last year. Touting it as a "historic bill," Biden said at the White House that it will lower costs for American families, combat the climate crisis, reduce the deficit, and finally make the largest corporations pay their fair share in taxes. The bill includes a roughly $400 billion investment in fighting climate change, measures to make prescription drugs more affordable, and a 15-percent minimum tax on most corporations that make more than $1 billion per year. The legislation would generate nearly $300 billion in net revenue over a decade. Democrats had been eager to push through their domestic policy ambitions before the mid-term elections, but Republicans strongly opposed the bill, arguing that tax increases would impose burdens on US businesses and workers and hurt the economy.
当地时间8月16日（周二）， 美国总统拜登签署了《2022年通胀削减法案》（Inflation Reduction Act），这是他和许多民主党人去年设想的大规模 "重建美好未来 "（Build Back Better）方案的缩减版。拜登在白宫表示，这项“历史性的立法”将降低美国家庭的成本，应对气候危机，减少赤字，并最终使大型公司支付公平份额的税款。该法案包括一项大约4000亿美元的投资，以应对气候变化，采取措施使处方药更实惠，以及对年收入超过10亿美元的大多数公司征收15%的最低税。该立法将在十年内产生近3000亿美元的净收入。民主党人一直渴望在中期选举前推动他们追求的国内政策目标，但共和党人强烈反对该法案，认为增税将给美国企业和工人带来负担，并损害经济。
重点词汇：
1.envision
英/ɪnˈvɪʒ(ə)n/
美/ɪnˈvɪʒ(ə)n/
v.想象，预想
2.tout
英/taʊt/
美/taʊt/
vt.兜售；招徕
vi.兜售；招徕顾客；拉选票
n.侦查者；兜售者
Water may have been brought to Earth by asteroids
地球上的水或来自含水小行星
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) published a research report in Nature Astronomy on Monday, suggesting that the Earth’s water may have been brought by asteroids. In order to study the origin of life and the universe, Japan launched the asteroid probe Hayabusa 2 in 2014. In 2018, it arrived at asteroid Ryugu, and successfully collected rock samples from it. The recovery capsule returned to Earth in 2020. The researchers studied eight particles from Ryugu and found phyllosilicates, which are formed by chemical reaction between non-aqueous silicate minerals and liquid water, indicating that liquid and frozen water were both present.
日本宇宙航空研究开发机构JAXA于8月15日（周一）在《自然·天文学》发表研究报告，认为地球上的水或许是由小行星带来。为研究生命和宇宙起源，日本于2014年发射小行星探测器“隼鸟2号”，2018年抵达小行星“龙宫”，并成功采集了其岩石样本，“隼鸟2号”回收舱于2020年返回地球。报告中提到，研究人员通过研究8颗“龙宫”沙粒，发现其中均存在页硅酸盐，它是通过非含水硅酸盐矿物和液态水的化学反应形成，表明“龙宫”上或存在过液态水和冰冻水。
重点词汇：
1.asteroid
英/ˈæstərɔɪd/
美/ˈæstərɔɪd/
n.小行星；海星
adj.星状的；类似海星的
2.phyllosilicate
英/ˌfɪləʊˈsɪlɪkeɪt/
美/fɪləˈsɪlɪkeɪt/
n.[矿物] 页硅酸盐，[土壤] 层状硅酸盐
3.silicate
英/ˈsɪlɪkeɪt/
美/ˈsɪlɪkeɪt/
n.[矿物] 硅酸盐
New Zealand tourism minister makes pitch to rich travelers
新西兰旅游部长：欢迎富人，拒绝穷游
New Zealand’s tourism minister has again expressed his aversion to budget travelers, saying the country will not seek to attract those who “travel around our country on $10 a day eating two-minute noodles”. Stuart Nash said the country would continue to focus on “high quality” big spenders, despite one expert saying such visitors typically had a much higher environmental footprint and didn’t necessarily contribute more to the economy. At an announcement last Wednesday about plans to bolster the tourism workforce as the country’s borders reopened, Nash said it would continue to focus on “big spender” visitors. “In terms of targeting our marketing spin, it is unashamedly going to be at…high-quality tourists,” he said.
新西兰旅游部长近日再次表达了他对穷游游客的反感。他声称新西兰不希望吸引那些“每天只花10美元，吃着方便面游遍我们国家的游客”。斯图尔特·纳什表示新西兰会继续公然招徕那些“高质量”的挥金如土的富人游客，尽管一位专家指出，这类游客通常产生的碳足迹高得多，而且他们不一定会对新西兰经济做出更大贡献。随着新西兰国境重新开放，纳什在8月10日宣布将增加旅游业从业人员，并表示新西兰会继续招徕“大手笔”游客。他说：“我们的营销策略会毫不掩饰地……面向高质量游客。”
重点词汇：
aversion
英/əˈvɜːʃ(ə)n/
美/əˈvɜːrʒn/
n.厌恶，憎恶；讨厌的人（或东西）