1
British nurses to hold first ever strike over pay
英国护士将首次因工资问题举行罢工
Tens of thousands of British nurses will go on strike① for the first time over demands for better pay, their trade union said on Wednesday. Nurses at the majority of state-run National Health Service (NHS) employers across Britain have voted to strike, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said, in action that threatens major disruption to an already strained health system. NHS nurses have seen their salaries cut by up to 20% in real terms over the last 10 years. The union is asking for a pay hike of 5% above inflation. Britain has seen a wave of industrial unrest this year across a range of professions as pay hikes fail to keep up with inflation running at 10%. The RCN, which has more than 300,000 members, said industrial action would begin before the end of the year following the first ever strike vote in its 106-year-old history. (CNN)
11月9日，英国护士工会组织英国皇家护理学院（RCN）表示，英国数万名护士将举行首次罢工，要求提高工资。RCN称，英国国家医疗服务体系（NHS）内大多数医院的护士已经投票决定罢工，此举使本就不堪重负的英国卫生系统雪上加霜。过去10年，NHS的护士的实际工资减少了20%。工会要求工资涨幅须比通胀水平高5个百分点。由于工资涨幅未能跟上10%的通胀率，英国今年出现了一波涉及各行各业的罢工浪潮。RCN拥有30多万名会员，在举行了其106年历史上的首次罢工投票后，该组织表示将在今年年底前举行罢工。
【注释】
① strike: [straɪk] n. a period of time when an organized group of employees of a company stops working because of a disagreement over pay or conditions 罢工，罢课，罢市
(Credit: CNN)
2
Record-breaking sale of Microsoft co-founder’s art collection surpasses $1.6 billion
微软联合创始人艺术藏品拍出超16亿美元的创纪录成交额
Art from the private collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen fetched① over $1.6 billion to become the largest single-owner sale in auction history. Spanning 500 years of art history, art from Allen’s collection was offered on Wednesday and Thursday at Christie’s in New York. The auction’s single biggest sale was Seurat’s “Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version),” which fetched over $149.2 million. Cézanne’s oil on canvas “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire,” one of more than 30 views he painted of the French mountain range, sold for almost $137.8 million. A Van Gogh painting, “Verger avec cyprès,” meanwhile fetched almost $117.2 million to become the most expensive work by the artist ever to sell at auction. The two other artworks to attract nine-figure bids were Gauguin’s “Maternité II,” which fetched $105.7 million, and Klimt’s “Birch Forest,” a large-scale landscape that sold for over $104.5 million. (CNN)
已故微软联合创始人保罗•G. 艾伦收藏的一批艺术品以超过16亿美元的价格成交，成为拍卖史上成交额最高的私人收藏拍卖。艾伦收藏的艺术品跨越500年艺术史，于11月9日和10日在纽约佳士得拍卖行拍卖。在此次拍卖中，单笔成交额最高的作品是修拉的《模特们（小版）》，成交价超过1.492亿美元。塞尚的布面油画《圣维克多山》是他描绘法国山脉的30多幅风景画之一，以近1.378亿美元的价格拍出。同时，凡·高的画作《有柏树的果园》以近1.172亿美元的价格成交，刷新了凡·高作品以往的拍卖纪录。另外两幅拍价达到9位数的作品是高更的《母性II》和克林姆特的大幅风景画《白桦林》，分别以1.057亿美元和超1.045亿美元的价格成交。
【注释】
① fetch: [fetʃ] v. to be sold for a particular price 售得，卖得（某价）
(Credit: siennasaintcyr.com)
3
Italy hails ‘exceptional①’ discovery of ancient bronze statues in Tuscany
意大利宣布托斯卡纳出土“罕见”古铜像
Archaeologists in Italy have uncovered more than two dozen beautifully preserved bronze statues dating back to ancient Roman times in thermal baths in Tuscany, the Italian Ministry of Culture said Tuesday. Depicting Hygieia, Apollo and other Greco-Roman gods, the figures are said to be around 2,300 years old. One expert said the find could “rewrite history”. Most of the statues—which were found submerged beneath the baths alongside around 6,000 bronze, silver and gold coins—date to between the 2nd Century BC and the 1st Century AD. The Italian Ministry of Culture said that the era marked a period of “great transformation in ancient Tuscany” as the area transitioned from Etruscan to Roman rule. The statues will be taken to a restoration laboratory in nearby Grosseto, before eventually being put on display in a new museum in San Casciano. Massimo Osanna, director general of Italy’s state museums, said the discovery was the most important since the Riace Bronzes and “certainly one of the most significant bronze finds ever made in the history of the ancient Mediterranean”. (Reuters & BBC)
意大利文化部11月8日表示，考古学家在该国托斯卡纳区温泉地带发掘出20多尊保存完好的青铜雕像，其历史可追溯至古罗马时代。这些雕像展现的是健康女神许革亚、太阳神阿波罗及其他希腊罗马神灵，据信大约刻于2300年前。某专家表示，这一发现可能会“改写历史”。大部分雕像都掩埋在温泉泥中，随之出土的还有约6000枚铜币、银币和金币，均可追溯至公元前2世纪到公元1世纪之间。意大利文化部表示，这一时期标志着“古托斯卡纳的巨大转变”，当时，托斯卡纳的统治权从伊特鲁里亚人过渡到罗马人手中。这些雕像将被带到格罗塞托附近的修复实验室进行修复，随后会在圣卡夏诺的新博物馆展出。意大利文化部博物馆司司长马西莫·奥桑纳表示，这是自里亚切青铜武士像以来最重要的发现，“当然也是古地中海历史上最重要的青铜器发现之一”。
【注释】
① exceptional: [ɪkˈsepʃən(ə)l] adj. unusual; not typical 罕见的；不寻常的；例外的
(Credit: Reuters)
4
Liu brothers move closer to potential China switch
匈牙利奥运冠军刘氏兄弟有望入籍中国
Hungary’s short-track speed skating stars Sandor Liu Shaolin and Liu Shaoang could be representing China in the future after the Olympic champions lodged applications to change their nationality. The Hungarian National Skating Association (MOKSZ) on Tuesday posted a statement on its website confirming that the Liu brothers had officially filed the applications. Under the guidance of Zhang Jing, their longtime mentor, the Liu brothers led the Hungarian men’s team to its first short-track Olympic gold medal when they triumphed in the 5,000m relay final at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games in South Korea. Liu Shaoang, the younger of the brothers, continued his golden momentum① by winning the men’s 500m title at the Beijing Winter Olympics in February. Born in Budapest to a Chinese father and a Hungarian mother, the Liu brothers are expected to skate under the Chinese flag should their applications be approved. Zhang returned to serve as head coach of the Chinese national squad in August and she is currently overseas working with Team China as it competes in the International Skating Union’s World Cup series. Both Zhang and the Chinese skating association have yet to respond to the news about the Liu brothers. (China Daily)
匈牙利短道速滑奥运冠军刘少林和刘少昂申请变更国籍，未来有可能代表中国参赛。匈牙利国家滑冰协会11月8日在其网站上发布了一份声明，证实刘氏兄弟已正式提交申请。在教练张晶的长期指导下，刘氏兄弟带领匈牙利男子代表队在2018年韩国平昌冬奥会5000米接力决赛中获得了首枚短道速滑奥运金牌。弟弟刘少昂再创佳绩，在今年2月的北京冬奥会上获得了男子500米冠军。刘少林和刘少昂出生于布达佩斯，父亲是中国人，母亲是匈牙利人。如果申请获得批准，他们有望为中国速滑助力。今年8月，张晶回国出任中国国家队主教练，目前正带领中国队在国外参加国际滑冰联盟的世界杯系列赛。张晶和中国滑冰协会尚未对刘氏兄弟的消息做出回应。
【注释】
① momentum: [məˈmentəm] n. the ability to keep increasing or developing 推进力；动力；势头
(Credit: AFP)
5
Female governors will break a record in 2023
美国女州长数量将创历史新高
The US will have a record number of female governors in 2023. Still, the record-setting number—12—will represent a small fraction of the top executives across the 50 states. The previous record of nine female governors serving concurrently was set in 2004. Even before Election Day, 2022 had set a record for the number of all-female gubernatorial① matchups. Those five states were Arizona, Alabama, Iowa, Michigan and Oregon. Before this year, there had only been four woman-versus-woman gubernatorial matchups in all of history. In total, 25 women were nominated for governor by the two major parties in 2022, a historical record. Sixteen of them were Democrats and nine were Republicans. Democrat Becca Balint will be the first woman elected to Congress from Vermont, winning election to the state’s at-large district. With Balint’s win, Vermont will lose its distinction as the only US state never to have sent a woman to Congress. (CNN)
2023年，美国女州长的数量将创新高，达到12人。即便破了纪录，她们在50个州长中仍然只占少数。之前的纪录是在2004年，当时有9名女性同时担任州长。就在2022年选举日之前，只有女性参与州长竞选的州数便已打破纪录，共有5个州，分别是亚利桑那州、阿拉巴马州、艾奥瓦州、密歇根州和俄勒冈州。2022年之前，美国历史上只有4次女性对女性的州长竞选。2022年，两大政党提名的州长候选人中共有25名女性，在这一历史性记录中，16位是民主党人，9位是共和党人。民主党人贝卡·巴林特将赢得佛蒙特州唯一一个众议院席位，成为该州首位当选国会议员的女性。巴林特获胜意味着美国所有50个州都至少有一位女性国会议员。
【注释】
① gubernatorial: [ˌɡuːbənəˈtɔːriəlˈ] adj. connected with the job of state governor in the US （美国）州长的，州长职位的
(Credit: CNN)
6
Confirmed! A 2014 meteor is Earth’s 1st known interstellar visitor
实锤！2014年的一颗流星是地球已知的第一个星际访客
Astronomers have confirmed that a suspicious space rock that hit Earth in 2014 came from another star system, predating the famous interstellar visitor ‘Oumuamua by three years. The results were published in the Astrophysical Journal on November 2, 2022. Researchers found the meteor in the catalog of NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies in 2019. At that time, however, some of the data about the rock’s trajectory① were kept secret by the U.S. Department of Defence (DoD). But in March this year, the DoD released a statement confirming the measurements, allowing scientists to complete their calculation of the mysterious rock’s origin. The researchers believe that interstellar space rocks might hit Earth’s atmosphere about once per decade. Analyzing those meteors, the researchers suggest in the paper, could provide new insights into the chemistry of distant star systems. The researchers also suggest that such a high frequency of interstellar visitors throughout Earth’s history could mean that the seeds of life that had sprouted on our planet in the past 3.5 billion years may have come from another star system. (SPACE.com)
天文学家现已证实，2014年撞击地球的一块可疑太空岩石来自另一个恒星系统，比著名的星际访客“奥陌陌”早3年。这一研究成果于2022年11月2日发表在《天体物理学杂志》上。2019年，研究人员在美国国家航空航天局近地天体研究中心的目录中发现了这颗流星。然而，当时美国国防部并未公开流星轨迹的某些数据。但在今年3月，美国国防部发表了一份声明，确认了测量结果，科学家得以完成对这块神秘岩石来处的估测。研究人员认为，星际岩石可能每10年撞击地球大气层一次。他们在论文中指出，分析这些流星可以为研究遥远恒星系统的化学性质提供新的见解。研究人员还认为，地球历史上如此频繁地出现星际访客可能意味着，过去35亿年间在地球上生根发芽的生命种子或许来自另一个恒星系统。
【注释】
① trajectory: [trəˈdʒektəri] n. the curved path of sth that has been fired, hit or thrown into the air （射体在空中的）轨道，弹道，轨迹
(Credit: SPACE.com)
北京化工大学
高侨、韩璐、朱玥璿 编译
刘静翾、王拓 朗读
张菊 审订