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Special English You are listening to Special English.
Here is the news. According to data from China's Ministry of Commerce, the sales revenue of consumer goods After China's policy -backed Trade In programme has surpassed 1 trillion yuan, about US $139 billion.
The US $2024 sales volume of passenger vehicles under the Trade In programme is over 5 .2 million units.
Sales of home appliances exceeded 49 million units, with sales of electric bicycles nearing 900 ,000 units per the data.
In March, the state council released an action plan to initiate large -scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade -ins, nearly 15 years after the last such renewal campaign.
At the end of last year, people in China owned some 336 million civilian automobiles and over 3 billion major household appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners.
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The largest roll -on and roll -off automobile terminal in the Yangtze River Basin has gone into operation at Taisung Port in East China's Jiangsu Province, providing new export channels vehicles for Chinese domestic car brands.
Since its opening, the Haitong terminal has handled three roll -on and roll -off ships loaded with vehicles from 12 Chinese car makers, including SAIC motor, Cherry and BYD.
the vehicles are to be exported to destinations including Mexico, Peru, Guatemala and the Republic of Korea.
Spanning 860 ,000 square metres, the terminal boasts a designed annual through -put of 1 .3 million vehicles, and can accommodate up to 32 ,000 vehicles at once.
It also features five automobile service centres offering services such as warehousing, testing, maintenance, and charging.
According to Dai Chen -Hao, vice -chairman of Hai Tong Taisung Automobile Terminal Company, the terminal will enhance vehicle transport within the Yangtze River Delta and across the Yangtze River basin.
promotion, promoting the coordinated development of automobile production, transportation, and sales, while optimising logistics costs, as Jiangsu's largest automobile export port, Taisung Port exported 437 ,300 vehicles in the first 11 months of this year, marking an increase of 19 .8 percent year -on -year.
These exports have reached 116 countries cities and regions worldwide.
This is Special English In the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou, a squad of special police officers was seen patrolling the vibrant streets with a spherical robot steadily advancing beside them, a scene that immediately became an online sensation, with a diameter of 0 .8 metres.
The 160 -kilogram robot is designed for close -quarters engagements, including anti -terrorist operations.
It is of reaching 30 kilometers per hour in 2 .5 seconds.
The designers behind this robot initially envisioned a machine designed to traverse the surface of Mercury, a planet with extreme temperature variations, due to its Wang Yeo, an associate professor at Zhejiang University, and his collaborators, started with the innovative vision, and they finally brought the spherical robot concept to life with rapid rolling motion and advanced motion control, complete with amphibious and autonomous driving capabilities.
The internal pendulum of the spherical robot, powered by a motor, oscillates around the spheres core in a full range motion, enabling the robot to roll in any specified direction with good balance.
According to one, the spherical robot can roll with minimal friction, eliminating the need for extra stabilisation.
It also offers better energy efficiency than leg robots and is capable capable of operating continuously for ten hours or travelling 120 km.
The spherical robot is distinguished by its sealed design that protects the electronics within, thus enabling it to manoeuvre effortlessly on both land and water.
The team has now established a startup called Rotunbot in Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province and recruited an international team for further development.
The promotional clip that went viral, on video sharing platforms, showcased a scenario where spherical robots, on patrol, identify and lock onto illegal intruders, pursuing and engaging in combat.
that. These robots are shown co -ordinating with each other and using tools like net guns to apprehend suspects.
One noted that in the future this spherical robot holds the potential to evolve into specialized roles, such as explosive ordnance disposal or radiation monitoring robots, taking over tasks in hazardous and adverse environments.
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According to China's Ministry of Education, more than 97 ,000 massive open online courses are currently available in the country, logging 1 .39 billion course participations, both Both figures rank first globally.
It is noted that China's smart platform for higher education has launched 31 ,000 online courses to date, hosted by a total of 78 ,000 lecturers, and has recorded over 93 million visits from users in 183 countries and regions.
In recent years, the Ministry has been pooling efforts to implement a special program, providing more open, online courses for students in the country's less developed western regions, advancing the digital development of higher education.
This is Special English.
Two Emperor's mausoleums in Beijing have recently opened to the public, meaning that 6 out of the 13 tombs belonging to the Ming Dynasty Emperors some four hundred years ago are now accessible to the public.
The two mausoleums belong to Emperor Jiajing and his consorts, as well as Emperor Chong Gen and his consorts.
According to Yuan Jiangyu, vice director of the management centre of the Ming tombs in Changping District, the fortress -shaped Ming Lao Tower in Zhateching's mausoleum was built with exquisite materials.
Its eaves, rafters, and arches resemble wood, but they are actually made of stone.
And the mausoleum of Chongjian, the last emperor, of the Ming dynasty, is the smallest among the Ming tombs.
It was built on the renovation of his concubine's tomb and bears rich historical information.
According to the management centre, all of of the 13 Emperor's Mausoleums are expected to be fully accessible by 2030.
Currently, the mausoleum of Jia Jing can be visited on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by appointment while that of Chong Zhen can be visited on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Each mausoleum has a maximum of 20 appointments per day.
It is expected that the reception capacity will gradually expand based on the number of reservations and the progress of tomb repairs.
You're Listening to Special English Have you ever wondered where Chinese names come from?
Like most names from the rest of the world, a Chinese name is usually composed of a family name and a given name, but unlike names from most Western countries, the family name comes before the given name.
Chinese family names, or surnames, have a history of over three years, prior to the Warring States period, that is, the fifth century BC, only the ruling families and the aristocratic elite had surnames.
Historically, there was a difference between ancestral clan names and branch lineage names.
But the distinction between the two began to blur by the Warring States period.
Later, during the Qin dynasty, some 2 ,200 years ago, name usage was standardized commoners started to acquire surnames with the development and evolution of the following two millennia there have been more than 24 ,000 family names found in historical records or even more yet Yet currently there are around 6 ,000 family names in use.
A significant proportion of Chinese people use only a relatively small number of these surnames.
An official report in 2020 lists the most commonly used surnames as Wang and Li, followed by Zhang, Liu, and Chen, making up more than 30 % of the total population in China.
you are probably wondering, is there any meaning behind these family names?
The formation of family names was quite complicated, taking a long time to develop, before it became systematic.
Initially, the earlier ones mostly came from the village where one lived or the name of the tribe one belonged to in ancient times.
They also came from feudal titles, official positions as well as some additional titles endowed by the royal court.
For example, one of the most popular family names, Jung, has a legend about its origin.
A man named Hui, was the inventor of the bow and arrow, which was regarded as an important ancient weapon.
So, to recognize his contribution, the Yellow Emperor awarded him a title related to the Bow which later developed into the character of Jiang as it has the meaning of Long Bow.
Jiang Hui consequently became the the ancestor of the Jiang family.
In terms of how it's spoken, many Chinese people can recite several lines, like a tongue twister taken from an ancient book called, A Hundred Family Surnames or, By Jia Xing.
But don't be fooled by its name.
name. The book, actually, lists over 400 names popular at the time of its compilation, which was during the Northern Song Dynasty, about a thousand years ago.
There is another interesting word in Chinese which is, Bai Xing literally translated as 100 surnames.
This word boasts quite a long history.
Historical records show that it was used even before the Warring States period.
as I mentioned before, prior to the Warring States period, only the ruling families and the aristocratic elite had surnames.
So, in those days, Bai Xing referred to nobles peoples and aristocrats with certain social status.
After the Warring States period, as family names among commoners became more usual, the meaning of this word evolved, along with its use and even went to the opposite of its original meaning.
Today, Chinese people always use bai xin or Lao bai xin — old hundred names—to describe ordinary people, the commoners.
This is Special English.
That is the end of this edition of Special English.
To recap, I'm going to read two of the news items again at normal speed.
please listen carefully.
According to data from China's Ministry of Commerce, the sales revenue of consumer goods under China's policy -backed trade -in programme has surpassed 1 trillion yuan, about USD 139 billion.
The 2024 sales volume of passenger vehicles under the trade -in programme is over 5 .2 million units.
Sales of home appliances exceeded 49 million units with sales of electric bicycles nearing 900 ,000 units per the data.
In March, the State Council released an action plan to initiate large -scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade -ins nearly 15 years after the last such a renewal campaign.
At the end of last year, people in China owned some 336 million civilian automobiles and over 3 billion major household appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners.
You're listening to Special English In the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou, a squad of special police officers were seen patrolling the vibrant streets with a spherical robot steadily advancing beside them – a scene that immediately became an online sensation.
With a diameter of 0 .8m, the 160kg robot is designed for close -quarters engagements, including anti -terrorist operations.
It is capable of reaching 30 kilometres per hour in 2 .5 seconds.
The designers behind this robot initially envisioned a machine designed to traverse the surface of Mercury, a planet with extreme temperature variations due to its proximity to the sun.
In 2017, Wang You, an associate professor at Zhejiang University and his collaborators, started with the innovative vision, and they finally brought the spherical robot concept to life with rapid rolling motion and advanced motion control, complete with amphibious and autonomous driving capabilities.
The internal pendulum of the spherical robot, powered by a motor, oscillates around the sphere's core in a full -range motion, enabling the robot to roll in any specified direction with good balance.
According to Wang, the spherical robot can roll with minimal friction, eliminating the need for extra stabilisation.
It also offers better energy efficiency than leg robots, and is capable of operating continuously for 10 hours or travelling 120 kilometres.
The in, thus enabling it to manoeuvre effortlessly on both land and water.
The team has now established a start -up, called Rotenbot, in Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province, and recruited an international team for further development.
A promotional clip that went viral on video -sharing platforms showcased a scenario where spherical robots on patrol identify and lock onto illegal intruders pursuing and engaging in combat.
These robots are shown coordinating with each other and using tools like net guns to apprehend suspects.
One noted that in the future this spherical robot holds the potential to evolve into specialised roles such as explosive passive ordnance disposal, or radiation monitoring robots, taking over tasks in hazardous and adverse environments.
That is the end of today's programme.
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