BEC translation exercise 2

Forest fires are a regular feature of Chile's hot, arid summers.
智利夏天炙热、干燥，常发生森林火灾。
A nearly decade-long drought combined with historically high temperatures have created tinder-like conditions in the nation's central regions.
持续了近十年的干旱，加上历史性的高温使该国中部地区一引即燃。
According to official figures, the fires have so far consumed over 580,000 hectares.
根据官方数据，目前大火已经吞噬了超过58万公顷的土地。

A Super Bowl advertisement for digital home assistant caused problems for many who already owned the device.
超级碗上，一则数字家庭助理的广告给许多已经拥有该设备的用户造成了麻烦。

Voice-activated personal assistants are growing in popularity, with online retailing giant Amazon also fielding a similar device called Echo.
声控私人助理越来越受欢迎，在线零售巨头亚马逊也正将一款叫“回声”的类似设备投入市场。

Twitter says it is stepping up efforts to prevent abuse and harassment on its microblogging platform.
推特称，它正加强力度，在其微博平台预防侮辱和骚扰。

The rideshare service Uber has asked an expert from NASA, the American space agency, to help the company develop cars that can fly.
拼车服务提供商优步请求美国宇航局的一位专家帮助他们开发飞行汽车。

Last October, Uber announced plans to use flying vehicles in the future to avoid traffic in and around cities.
优步于去年十月宣布，计划未来利用飞行车辆避开城市内外车流量。
Uber said its flying vehicles would be much quieter, cost less to operate and produce less pollution than helicopters.

优步表示，其飞行车辆会比直升机更安静，更省钱，造成的污染更少。

Beyoncé delivered a performance that was an ode to motherhood with her baby bump featured prominently.
碧昂丝挺着大肚子演唱了一首赞美母爱的歌曲。
The battle for the top awards was expected to be between two of the most successful women in pop -- Beyoncé and Adele.
两位流行乐界最成功的女士，碧昂丝和阿黛尔，将争夺多项大奖。
A new study concludes that a tiny minority of so-called superspreaders was likely responsible for the lethal Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
一项新研究显示，一小群被称为“超级传染者”的人很有可能是西非埃博拉致命疫情流行的罪魁祸首。

One reason for the large increase is that many immigrants are refugees from Africa.
非裔移民数量大幅增长的原因之一是其中多数是非洲难民。

As they do each year on the third Monday in January, Americans are celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
每年一月第三个星期一，美国人都会纪念马丁·路德·金。

Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to march Monday in parades and demonstrations in hundreds of U.S. cities and towns.
周一，数万人将会在美国数百个城市和乡村参加游行。
Former U.S. astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the surface of the moon, died Monday at age 82.
美国前宇航员尤金·塞尔南于周一去世，享年82岁，他是最后一位登上月球的人。

Just before leaving the moon as the last man to walk on it, Cernan said man would return there one day with peace and hope.

作为最后一个踏上月球的人，塞尔南在离开月球前称，人类终有一天会带着和平与希望重返月球。

Cernan said he is not proud to be the last man to walk on the moon because of a fading interest in space travel.
塞尔南表示他并不以最后一个登月者的身份自豪，因为人们对太空旅行的兴趣越来越小。

The United States Senate has taken the first step toward ending President Barack Obama's healthcare program.

美国参议院开始着手废止奥巴马总统的医保项目。
Senate Democrats are no longer able to block or delay future votes on Obamacare by making a long speech or series of speeches.
民主党参议员将不再能通过冗长的演讲来阻止或推迟未来针对奥巴马法案的投票。

More than half of survey respondents think the current overall system is unfair and offers little hope for the future.
超过一半的被调查者认为目前整体社会系统不公，并对未来不抱希望。

Flashing a two-finger peace sign is very common among Japanese when posing for a photo.
日本人拍照时经常摆出V字形手势。