BBC新闻讲解附字幕:科学家研制出触觉敏感人造皮肤

BBC News with Kathy Clugston

Cuba has announced plans tolay offhuge numbers of state employees in the biggest shift to the private sector since the revolution in 1959. The Cuban labour federation said half a million jobs would go by March, and the totalredundanciescould exceed a million, one in five of all Cuban workers. James Read reports.

President Raul Castro had already signaled that he wanted to reduce the role of the state to tackle a deep crisis in Cuba's socialist economy, but the scale and speed of the job cuts are much greater than had been expected. A minority of Cubans already work for themselves, and there is athrivingblack economy. But the private sector will have to expand hugely to create enough new jobs. In a country famous for its revolution, this is a dramatic change of course.

Reports from Washington say the US administration is expected to announce an arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth $60 billion. The deal, which would be the largest-ever US arms sale, would include advanced fighter jets and military helicopters. Paul Adams reports from Washington.

The United States and Saudi Arabia had been in negotiations for months, and it seems the fruits of those discussions will be announced in the coming days. Off the record, officials say the deal will include 84 new F-15 fighter jets and around 140 Apache and Black Hawk helicopters.The administration is unlikely toencountermuch opposition to the sale of weaponry to a traditional ally and will probably argue that it's all part of a strategy to bolster friendly Arab governments in the face of growing strategic threats from Iran.

A day before Middle East peace talksresumein Egypt, a group representing Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories has threatened todestabilisethe Israeli government. The Yesha Council said it would withdraw its support for Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition if it continued to prevent the building of new homes in the territories. Naftali Bennett is a spokesman for settlers in Ra'anana in central Israel.

"If Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government decide todepartand weaken this iron wall that we are building under the mountain range of Judea-Samaria, that means they no longer represent the Israeli public, and therefore it's anillegitimategovernment."

A partial moratorium on Israeli settlement building is due to expire in under two weeks. The Palestinians say they willwalk out ofnew peace talks if settlement construction resumes.

The software giant Microsoft is changing the way it operates in Russia in response to reports that the Kremlin is using anti-piracy laws as apretextfor police raids on human rights groups and non-governmental organizations.Microsoft's general counsel Brad Smith said the firm would create a new software licence for Russian NGOs in order to prevent what he described as "nefarious actions takenin the guise ofanti-piracy enforcement". There has been no response yet from the Russian authorities.

World News from the BBC

A Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a transatlantic flight last December has sacked the defence team at his trial in Detroit.The man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, also asked the judge what the legal procedures would be were he to want to plead guilty to some of the charges.James Reynolds reports from Washington.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab appeared in court in Detroit in front of US District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds. Mr Abdulmutallab asked the judge to let him fire his lawyers. He said they were not representing his interests. The judge told him that this would be unwise, but she allowed him to do so. She also ordered the appointment of astandbylawyer who will be able to advise him but not represent him. The defendant is next expected to appear in court in mid-October.

The Muslim cleric behind plans to build an Islamic cultural centre not far from the site of the 9/11 attacks on New York says he's considering all options in the question of its location. Speaking to the US Council on Foreign Relations, the cleric, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, said the centre would promote religious tolerance and do honour to New York.

At least 33 people are reported to have survived when a Venezuelan airliner on an internal flight crashed near the city of Puerto Ordaz. The local governor said 14 bodies had been found, but four people were still listed as missing. The plane, an ATR-42, belonged to Venezuela's state airline Conviasa.

Engineers in the United States say they've created a cheaper and moreversatileform ofartificialskin, which is almost as sensitive as the human kind. The teams at Berkeley and Stanford universities say the new skin could give robots and artificial limbs the ability to detect small changes in texture and temperature. The new materialsconsist ofpressure sensors built into or under flexible rubber sheets, which could be easily wrapped around robotic instruments.

BBC News

古巴政府宣布解雇大量政府职员，这是自1959年革命以来私营部门最大的变革。古巴劳工联盟表示，截止到三月份，将裁掉50万个工作岗位，总共的裁员人数将超过100万，大约占古巴所有劳工人数的五分之一。James Read报道。

古巴总统罗尔·卡斯特罗已经表示，为了应对古巴社会主义经济深刻的危机，他希望削减政府的作用。但是，裁员的规模和速度远远超出他的预期。少数古巴人已经自谋生路，非法经济逐渐繁荣起来。但是，私营部门必须急速扩张来创造足够的新岗位。在因革命而著称的国家，这当然是一次巨大的变革。

来自华盛顿的报道称，预期美国政府将宣布与沙特阿拉伯达成价值600亿美元的武器协议。该协议是美国有史以来最大的武器销售记录，将包括高级战斗机和军用直升机。Paul Adams在华盛顿报道。

美国和沙特阿拉伯已经进行了几个月的谈判，似乎未来几天即将宣布谈判结果。官员称，这次交易打破了历史记录，包括84架新的F15战斗机和大约150架阿帕契直升机和黑鹰直升机。向传统的盟国出售如此大量的武器，美国政府估计不可能遭遇反对，而且可能会辩称，这是帮助友好的阿拉伯政府提高应对来自伊朗不断增长的战略威胁的策略的一部分。

中东和平对话在埃及重新开始前一天，代表被占领的巴勒斯坦领土上的犹太人定居者的组织威胁称将动摇以色列政府。耶沙委员会表示，如果以色列继续阻止在西岸建筑定居点，他们将撤出对内塔尼亚胡右翼联盟的支持。Naftali Bennett是以色列中部Ra'anana定居者发言人。

“如果内塔尼亚胡政府决定放弃和削弱我们在朱迪亚-撒马利亚山区建筑起来的铜墙铁壁，这意味着他们不再代表以色列公众，因此，这就是非法的政府。”

不到两周之后，以色列定居点的部分冻结将到期。巴勒斯坦人表示，如果定居点的建设重新恢复，他们将退出新的和谈。

有报道称，克里姆林宫以反盗版法为借口，使警方得以袭击人权组织和非政府组织，软件巨头微软公司改变了在俄罗斯的运营方式。微软首席法律顾问布拉德·史密斯(Brad Smith)表示，该公司将为俄罗斯非政府组织开发一种新的软件通行证，以避免他所说的“以反盗版为掩护的不法行为”。目前，俄罗斯当局还没有任何回应。

BBC世界新闻。

被指控去年12月份在跨大西洋航班上实施爆炸的尼日利亚男子在底特律的审判中解雇了自己的辩护团队。阿卜杜勒穆塔拉布还向法官咨询，如果他希望对某些指控请求无罪需要怎样的司法程序。James Reynolds在华盛顿报道。

阿卜杜勒穆塔拉布在底特律法庭上接受了美国州地方法院法官Nancy Edmunds的审判。法官告诉他，这是非常不明智的，但是她允许他这么做。她还下令备用律师为他提供建议，而不是代表他。预期，被告下次将于12月中旬出庭。

筹备在纽约9.11袭击遗址附近建立伊斯兰文化中心的穆斯林牧师说，他正在考虑选址的所有选择。在美国外交关系委员会发表讲话时，伊玛目Feisal Abdul Rauf说，该中心将促进宗教包容，并体现对纽约的尊重。

据报道，委内瑞拉一架国内航班在奥达斯港坠毁，至少33人幸存。当地官员称，目前已发现了14具尸体，但是仍有4人失踪。该飞机的机型是ATR-42，属于委内瑞拉国家航空Conviasa公司。

美国工程师称，他们研制出了价格更加低廉，用途更加广泛的人造皮肤，几乎和人类的皮肤一样敏感。伯克利大学和斯坦福大学的研究团队表示，这种新的人造皮肤可以赋予机器人和假肢感知材质和温度细微变化的能力。这种新的材料内含有置于橡胶皮内部或下面的压力传感器，可以轻松地裹在机器设备周围。

1.redundancy n.过多,过剩,多余

例句：Redundancy notices have been sent to 200 workers.

200 名工人接到了裁员通知。

2.thriving adj.兴旺的, 旺盛的, 繁荣的, 欣欣向荣的

例句：With the establishment of major new markets, the economy is thriving.

随着重大新市场的建立，经济越来越兴旺。

3.encounter vt.遇见,邂逅,会战

例句：On their way home they encountered another gentleman.

在回家的途中他们遇见另一个绅士。

4.resume vt.vi.重新开始; 重新获得；重新占用；恢复，重返

例句：We'll stop now and resume at two o'clock.

我们现在停下来, 到两点再干。

5.destabilise vt.破坏政府的稳定

6.depart vi.离开; 出发; 开出

例句：He departed early in the morning.

他一大早就离开了。

7.illegitimate adj.法律不容的,非法的

8.pretext n.借口; 托辞

例句：He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.

他借口头疼而不去上学。

9.standby adj.随时准备行动；处于待命状态

例句：The emergency services were put on standby after a bomb warning.

接到炸弹警报后，各紧急救助部门进入待命状态。

10.versatile adj.有多种学问、技能或职业的; 多才多艺的

例句：A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.

多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。

11.artificial adj.人造的, 人工的, 假的

例句：The new dam will form a large artificial lake behind it.

新筑的水坝将会在后面形成一个人工湖。

1.Cuba has announced plans to lay off huge numbers of state employees in the biggest shift to the private sector since the revolution in 1959.

lay off暂时解雇,裁员

例句：The factory has laid off workers because of the drop in sales.

那个工厂由于销量下降而暂时解雇了工人。

The work force has been laid off.

工人们被辞退了。

2. The Palestinians say they will walk out of new peace talks if settlement construction resumes.

walk out of辞去

例句：His impulse was to walk out of the meeting hall, but he restrained himself.

他简直想走出会场去，但他克制住了自己。

3.Microsoft's general counsel Brad Smith said the firm would create a new software licence for Russian NGOs in order to prevent what he described as "nefarious actions taken in the guise of anti-piracy enforcement".

in the guise of假借,以...为幌子

例句：They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.

他们假装成视察员进了学校。

4.The new materials consist of pressure sensors built into or under flexible rubber sheets, which could be easily wrapped around robotic instruments.

consist of由…组成，由...构成

例句：The book consists of nineteen chapters.

全书共分19章。

The entire world consists of matter.

整个世界都是由物质组成的。

1.The administration is unlikely to encounter much opposition to the sale of weaponry to a traditional ally and will probably argue that it's all part of a strategy to bolster friendly Arab governments in the face of growing strategic threats from Iran.

参考翻译：向传统的盟国出售如此大量的武器，美国政府估计不可能遭遇反对，而且可能会辩称，这是帮助友好的阿拉伯政府提高应对来自伊朗不断增长的战略威胁的策略的一部分。

结构分析：这句话的主语是The administration，谓语是两个并列的成分，有and连接，分别是is unlikely to encounter much opposition和will probably argue，后面的that引导的是宾语从句，辩解的内容。in the face of，面临……，做状语。

2.The software giant Microsoft is changing the way it operates in Russia in response to reports that the Kremlin is using anti-piracy laws as a pretext for police raids on human rights groups and non-governmental organizations.

参考翻译：有报道称，克里姆林宫以反盗版法为借口，使警方得以袭击人权组织和非政府组织，软件巨头微软公司改变了在俄罗斯的运营方式。

结构分析：这句话的主干是前面部分：The software giant Microsoft is changing the way it operates.in response to表示目的，that the Kremlin is using是reports的同位语。

3.The man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, also asked the judge what the legal procedures would be were he to want to plead guilty to some of the charges.

参考翻译：阿卜杜勒穆塔拉布还向法官咨询，如果他希望对某些指控请求无罪需要怎样的司法程序。

语法学习：虚拟语气，倒装

虚拟条件句的从句部分含有were， should， 或had时， 可省略if，再把were， should或had 移到从句的句首，实行倒装。例如：

Were they here now， they could help us. =If they were here now， they could help us.他们现在在的话，就会帮助我们了。

Had you come earlier， you would have met him. =If you had come earlier， you would have met him.你来得早一点，就碰到他了。

Should it rain， the crops would be saved. =Were it to rain， the crops would be saved.假如下雨，庄稼就有救了。

注意：在虚拟语气的从句中，动词'be'的过去时态一律用"were"，不用was，即在从句中be用were代替。例如：

If I were you， I would go to look for him. 如果我是你，就会去找他。

If he were here， everything would be all right. 如果他在这儿，一切都会好的。