【系统提升】学地道英文 观时代步伐

 【系统提升】学地道英文 观时代步伐 讲座课程简介：

1. 棕榈滩是美国佛罗里达州东南部的旅游城镇，位于大西洋和沃思湖之间的狭长坝滩上，有桥梁与隔湖的西棕榈滩相连通。1894年建设了通西棕榈滩铁路，随之又兴建了众多饭店宾馆。各种设施的逐步完善和发展，使棕榈滩一跃成为美国东南沿海的重要旅游胜地和全美最豪华的冬季避寒游览点。许多富商和名流慕名前来休假，因此棕榈滩又被人们称之为美国的里维埃拉 (法国蔚蓝海岸)，设有棕榈滩大学。为了保持旅游职能和防止环境污染，城区实行严格的区划方案，禁止发展制造业；

2. 棕榈滩每年流动着全球四分之一的财富。这里没有人疯狂的工作，只有洁白的细沙滩和一幢幢个性极强的私人别墅。棕榈滩的人各个神清气爽，这里的生活是大多数人望尘莫及的。棕榈滩就是全球财富人群的聚集地；

3. 4月6日，川普与习近平在川普位于佛罗里达州海滨的马阿拉歌 (Mar-a-Lago) 庄园进行首次会晤，就众多国际议题展开讨论。

Spar-A-Lago: Trump Meets Xi Donald Trump's summit today and tomorrow with China's president is his most important meeting yet with another head of state. Xi Jinping is travelling to Mar-a-Lago, a Trump-owned resort, amid heightened tensions over trade and how to handle North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Mr Trump threatened during the election campaign to tax imports from China by as much as 45% and to designate it a currency manipulator. On North Korea, he wants China, the reclusive country's main trading partner, to apply more pressure. The two leaders might be able to find a common approach to Pyongyang, but on trade Mr Trump will have to backpedal on his promises or risk a trade war. He has also talked tough on China's claims in the South China Sea. The president may be prone to exaggeration, but his recent tweet that the upcoming meeting with Mr Xi "will be a very difficult one" looks anything but.

spar: vi. 角力 summit: n. 峰会 resort: n. 度假地 heightened tension: 紧张局势 tax: vt. 征税 designate: vt. 认定 currency manipulator: 汇率操控者 backpedal: vi. 缓和 prone to: 倾向于 exaggeration: n. 夸张 upcoming: adj. 即将到来的?

1. 尼尔·戈萨奇 (Neil Gorsuch) 毕业哥伦比亚大学和哈佛法学院，且获得过牛津大学的法理学博士学位，现任美国最高法院大法官；

2. 2017年1月31日，美国总统特朗普提名尼尔·戈萨奇为美国最高法院大法官。根据现行规定，被提名的美国联邦最高法院大法官，需要得到全部100名参议员中，五分之三的多数支持 (也就是说需要至少60票) 才能走马上任。4月7日，国会参议院以54票赞成、45票反对的结果通过了特朗普对尼尔·戈萨奇出任美国最高法院大法官的提名。戈萨奇也将接替去年2月逝世的保守派大法官斯卡利亚 (Antonin Scalia) 之位。至此，立场保守的戈萨奇将打破目前美国联邦最高法院大法官保守派与自由派各占四席的格局，使得最高法院再现由保守派主导而向右倾斜的局面；

3. 戈萨奇上任后，可立即参与六起重大案件的审议，其中包括攸关政教分离的密苏里州教堂拒绝州府资助案、科罗拉多州一面包店拒绝为同性恋制作婚礼蛋糕、宪法第二修正案是否允许加州持枪人在公共场合隐藏持枪、北卡罗来纳州针对非洲裔选民的投票改革、一墨西哥少年在边境另一侧被巡逻队员射杀，以及晚些时候将对特朗普禁止六个穆斯林国家公民入境的旅行禁令所举办的听证会。据悉，戈萨奇今后还将在裁决美国社会重大争议问题上发挥重要作用，其中包括堕胎、枪支管控、死刑、总统权力、环保法规和宗教权等。

New Justice: America's Top Court Neil Gorsuch joins his eight colleagues today—72 hours after becoming America's 113th Supreme Court justice—in a private conference to decide whether to hear several cases next autumn. The list includes a dispute involving a police officer who shot an unarmed man in the back, and a gun-rights case asking how much discretion states have when issuing concealed-carry permits. Another case pits Jack Phillips, a Christian baker, against Colorado's public-accommodations law barring businesses from turning people away because of their sexual orientation. Based on his faith-friendly decade at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Mr Gorsuch will probably be sympathetic to Mr Phillips, who says creating a cake for a gay wedding would violate his religious liberty and freedom of speech. The Supreme Court has reviewed fewer cases since Justice Antonin Scalia's death last year. With the bench back to nine, the pace should accelerate: it takes five votes to win a case, but only four to hear one.

justice: n. 大法官 colleague: n. 同事 Supreme Court: 最高法院 hear case: 审理案件 dispute: n. 争论 unarmed: adj. 非武装的 discretion: n. 自由决定 concealed-carry permit: 隐藏武器携带许可 bar: vt. 禁止 sexual orientation: 性取向 accelerate: vi. 加速 judicial review: 司法回顾 constitution: n. 宪法 amendment: n. 修正案

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