8月30日午间英语新闻：刚开学即停课！美国部分地区新冠病例激增

> COVID hospitalizations in US climb 22% this week
刚开学即停课！美国部分地区新冠病例激增 发现变异株BA.2.86

Weekly new hospitalizations for COVID-19 in the US rose by 12,600 this week, a nearly 22 percent increase, marking a fifth straight week of increasing admissions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.  
根据美国疾病控制与预防中心的数据，美国新冠病毒患者住院人数在8月14日当周激增1.26万人，住院率上升近22%，录得连续第五周上升。

In response, some school districts in the US, which had commenced classes two weeks ago, promptly halted in-person schooling. In Kentucky, due to a significant rise in infections among students and staff, local authorities announced the closure of campuses this week, with students switching to online study.
为应对持续恶化的疫情，美国部分学区刚开学两周，便立即下令停课。在肯塔基州，因学生和教职工感染人数过多，当地政府宣布本周校园关闭，学生们采取线上教学模式。

Based on CDC criteria, nearly 10 million people in the US are currently residing in regions classified as having a “medium” risk of COVID-19 transmission. In Florida,  CDC is strongly urging individuals at high risk to wear masks indoors and in public spaces.
按照疾控中心的标准，当前美国有近1000万人处于新冠病毒“中度风险”地区。疾控中心敦促佛罗里达州的高危人群在室内和公共场所佩戴口罩。

A new coronavirus variant of concern, BA.2.86, is spreading across the country. The variant has undergone complete genomic sequencing, revealing a broad number of mutations. Although it spreads in the same way as other variants, how well this variant spreads remains unknown.
此外，美国本土监测到新的奥密克戎变异株BA.2.86。该毒株已完成基因组测序，确定存在大量突变，传播方式与其他变种相同，但传播力度未知。

BA.2.86 has already been reported in South Africa, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Israel. 
BA.2.86毒株已在南非、丹麦、英国和以色列等国传播。

重点词汇
1、admission
英/ ədˈmɪʃ(ə)n /
美/ ədˈmɪʃ(ə)n /
n.承认，供认；允许进入（加入），进入权；录取，录取人数；入场费；入院治疗（检查）；入场人数；入院病人

2、closure
英/ ˈkləʊʒə(r) /
美/ ˈkloʊʒər /
n.（永久的）关闭，倒闭；（尤指通路、边境的）封锁；（讨论、写作、活动或事件的）结尾；（事件或一段时间的）了结，解脱感；（立法院）辩论终止提付表决；认栽；闭锁物（如帽子、领带）；（夹克等）闭合方式
v.（在立法会议上）终止（辩论，发言）；使终止

3、undergo
英/ ˌʌndəˈɡəʊ /
美/ ˌʌndərˈɡoʊ /
v.经历，经受

> China's service trade maintains rapid growth
我国服务贸易保持较快增长态势

China's service trade maintains its rapid growth momentum with the country's consolidated power status in service trade, China Economic Times reported on Thursday.
《中国经济时报》24日报道，我国服务贸易大国地位持续巩固，服务贸易继续保持较快增长态势。

In the first half of this year, China's total import and export of services reached 3.14 trillion yuan ($430 billion), up 8.5 percent year-on-year. This growth rate is faster than the growth of trade in goods and outpaces the growth of trade in services among the world's major economies.
今年上半年看，我国服务进出口总额3.14万亿元人民币，同比增长8.5%。这个增长速度超过了货物贸易增长速度，也跑赢了全球主要经济体的服务贸易增长。

The reasons behind the rapid growth rate despite downward pressures in the global economy are mainly the policies and measures taken by the Chinese government, said Li Jun, director of the institute of international trade in services under the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
商务部国际贸易经济合作研究院国际服务贸易研究所所长李俊表示，在当前世界经济恢复乏力的背景下，这一增长态势得益于中国政府采取的政策措施。

On one hand, China has opened up its service industry and issued supporting policies for service trade in the past few years. The rapid growth is considered a result of policy effects.
一方面是过去几年服务业开放和服务贸易支持政策持续发力，政策效应不断释放的结果。

On the other hand, it is also closely related to the continuous loosening of border control measures in China's travel sector. These measures include expanding group tour destinations; increasing air routes and flights; and driving cross-border tourism, study abroad and cross-border business activities.
另一方面，与我国旅行领域持续放开边境管制措施，比如扩大团队游目的地、增加航线航班，带动跨境旅游、留学和跨境商务活动等因素密切相关。

In terms of structure, knowledge-intensive service trade grew rapidly, and its proportion continued to increase. In the first half of this year, the import and export of knowledge-intensive services reached 1.36 trillion yuan, up 12.3 percent year-on-year, accounting for 43.5 percent of the total import and export of services, up 1.5 percentage points year-on-year.
从结构来看，知识密集型服务贸易增长较快，占比继续提升。今年上半年，知识密集型服务进出口1.36万亿元，同比增长12.3%，占服务进出口总额的比重达43.5%，同比提升1.5个百分点。

Most of the knowledge-intensive services are digital deliverable services, indicating that the import and export of digital services is an important driving force for the development of service trade and is the future of development direction.
知识密集型服务大多为数字可交付的服务，表明数字服务进出口是带动服务贸易发展的重要动力，也是未来发展方向。

重点词汇
1、consolidated
英/ kənˈsɒlɪdeɪtɪd /
美/ kənˈsɑːlɪdeɪtɪd /
adj.巩固的；统一的；整理过的
v.合并；巩固（consolidate 的过去分词形式）；统一

2、outpace
英/ ˌaʊtˈpeɪs /
美/ ˌaʊtˈpeɪs /
vt.赶过；超过……速度

3、proportion
英/ prəˈpɔːʃ(ə)n /
美/ prəˈpɔːrʃ(ə)n /
n.部分，份额；比例；正确的比例，均衡；大小，程度（proportions）；（事情的）重要性，严重性；等比关系
v.<正式> 使（某物）成比例，使相称；分摊