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2017-06-13 Special EnglishThis is Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. Here is the news.China&`&s new cyber security law, which went into effect recently, is not aimed at limiting foreign companies&`& access to the Chinese market.China&`&s Internet regulator said the law is designed to safeguard China&`&s cyberspace sovereignty, national security, public interest, as well as the rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations.The Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement that it does not restrict foreign companies or their technology and products from entering the Chinese market, nor does it limit the orderly, free flow of data. The document said China is entitled to make laws and rules to regulate its cyberspace sovereignty following international practice.The law was passed in November 2016 at a bimonthly session of the National People&`&s Congress Standing Committee after a third reading.A regulation requiring Internet products and services that may affect national security to undergo a security review will go into effect on the same day as the cyber security law.Reviews focus on whether the products or services are secure and sufficiently managed, and on assessing the risk of an illegal control, disruption or interruption.They also evaluate the risk of providers using their products or services to illegally gather, store, process or make use of user information.This is Special English.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called on Germany to help China-developed large passenger plane the C919 get an airworthiness certificate from the European Union.Li made the call during his talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. He was on an official visit to Germany for an annual meeting between the two heads of government, a mechanism that has been in place since 2004.The twin-engine C919 made a maiden flight on May 5 in Shanghai with five crew members on board but no passengers. The success makes China the fourth jumbo jet producer after the United States, Western Europe and Russia.With a standard range of 4,075 kilometers, the narrow-body jet is comparable with updated Airbus 320 and Boeing&`&s new generation 737 planes, signaling the country&`&s entry into the global aviation market.China has taken pride in developing the homegrown jumbo jet, regarding it as a symbol of national strength.In 2007, the State Council approved plans to develop a large passenger jet. In November 2015, the first C919 jet rolled off assembly lines. More than 200,000 technicians worked on the project.A total of 23 foreign and domestic customers, including China&`&s national carrier Air China, had placed orders for 570 aircraft as of May 5.You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the world would know his decision on the Paris climate agreement over the next few days.Trump tweeted recently that he would be announcing his decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!Citing senior U.S. officials familiar with Trump&`&s plan, several U.S. mainstream media reported that Trump is expected to withdraw from the Paris Accord adopted by 196 nations in 2015.However, CNN quoted U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity as saying that Trump&`&s position on the Paris Accord could still change until he makes his decision public.The Trump administration was initially planning to make a final decision on the Paris Accord early this month. However, the decision was delayed till the G7 meeting in Sicily, Italy.However, Trump left the G7 summit without agreeing to endorse the Paris Accord to cut global carbon emissions, raising eyebrows among leaders of U.S. key allies in the group.This is Special English.U.S. space firm SpaceX has launched supplies to the International Space Station, including an experiment from a Chinese university that will test the effects of space environments on DNA.The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft lifted off on the company&`&s Falcon 9 rocket at 5:07 p.m. local time from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Around 10 minutes later, the rocket&`&s first stage achieved a successful landing at SpaceX&`&s Landing Zone 1, just south of the launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.On this trip, the Dragon will deliver almost 2,700 kilograms of supplies, including solar panels, tools for Earth-observation and equipment to study neutron stars.Among the cargo is a 3.5-kilogram device from the Beijing Institute of Technology that sought to answer questions like this: "Does the space radiation and microgravity cause mutations among antibody-encoding genes and how does it happen."There is a U.S. law in place, known as the Wolf amendment, that bans cooperation between the U.S. space agency NASA and the Chinese government entities, but this deal is purely commercial and therefore considered legal.NASA spokesperson Kathryn Hambleton confirmed to China&`&s Xinhua News Agency that there is a Chinese experiment that is launched on this mission, known as SpaceX CRS-11.You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.China&`&s manned submarine Jiaolong conducted its first dive of the year in the Yap Trench.Jiaolong began diving at 8:43 a.m. local time on a rainy day on 4th of June, reaching a depth of 4,177 meters.A staff member on board said Jiaolong was not afraid of the bad weather, but the rain did make it a bit more difficult for the dive. He said they cannot hear each other clearly due to the rain, so they have to be extra careful during the operation.There will be five dives for Jiaolong in the Yap Trench, and the last dive is planned for June 12.According to scientists on the ship, the dives will focus on research in deep-sea biotic communities and gene resources.Jiaolong completed a series of dives in the Mariana Trench on June 1 and was transferred aboard its support ship to the Yap Trench afterward.The Mariana and Yap trenches are located in the west Pacific Ocean. The Yap Trench has a depth of 8,527 meters, and the Mariana Trench, the deepest known point of Earth&`&s oceans, has a depth of 11,034 meters.Named after a mythical dragon, Jiaolong reached its deepest point of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench in June 2012. This is Special English.A network of remote sensing satellite ground stations that cover all of China&`&s territory and 70 percent of Asia has passed its final acceptance examination.The network is headquartered in Beijing and features three ground stations in a suburb in Beijing, Kashgar in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Sanya in Hainan Province, respectively.According to the examination committee, it will be used to support various remote-sensing systems, especially for the western part of the country and the South China Sea. The project began in 2007. You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to crienglish.com. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. Now the news continues.India has launched its heaviest rocket, along with a satellite, that is believed to be able to send humans into space in the future.The home-made rocket, named Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle or Mark III, lifted off from the southern spaceport in Andhra Pradesh state at 5:28 p.m. local time.State-owned Indian Space Research Organisation said the communication satellite that the rocket carried weighs more than three tonnes.The countdown for the launch of the 640-tonne rocket began Sunday.In another development, India has successfully test fired its first all weather tracked-chassis Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile.India&`&s state-run broadcaster All India Radio said the missile was launched from a mobile launcher in the Integrated Test Range off Odisha coast at Chandipur at around 12:39 p.m. local time.The broadcaster reported that the test was carried out for validating various parameters of the sophisticated weapon system to further strengthen its air defence system. This is Special English.The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation has raised concerns that meadows and pastures are becoming increasingly endangered in Germany and has released a new red list to German press agencies.The new red list of endangered biotypes, serves as a handbook for future conservation plans and is an update from the previous 2006 red list.Federal Minister for the Environment Barbara Hendrick from the Social Democratic Party of Germany, presented the findings that indicated almost two-thirds of the 863 species present in habitats in Germany are under severe threat from intensive agriculture, among other causes. The threat has particularly worsened in pastures or grasslands; meadows are also under increasing pressure.The Federal Office for Nature Conservation has reported some positive developments in coastal regions as well as next to rivers and streams which are benefiting from restoration or environmental protection plans as well as better sewage treatment plants. However, figures are much less positive for groundwater due to high nitrogen pollution caused by fertilizers from intensive farming. Many stagnant water volumes are also affected.There are many types of natural habitats in Germany including 46 types of water environments. You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.A study on young female mice reveals how puberty hormones might trigger changes in neural communication in the frontal cortices and impede some aspects of flexible youthful learning.Scientists have found that the onset of puberty hits something like a "switch" in the brain&`&s frontal cortex that can reduce flexibility in some forms of learning.The study was led by Linda Wilbrecht, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley, and the senior author of the study published in the journal Current Biology.The changes occurred in a region of the frontal brain that is associated with learning, attention and behavioral regulation.Overall, children have been found to have greater brain flexibility or "plasticity" than adults, enabling them to more easily master multiple languages and other elementary scholastic pursuits.While they continue to learn after puberty, their cognitive focus in adolescence is often redirected to peer relationships and more social learning.The study noted that if hormonal changes start as early as the second or third grade, when children are tasked with learning basic skills, a shift in brain function could be problematic.Puberty onset is occurring earlier and earlier in girls in modern urban settings, driven by such factors as stress and the obesity epidemic, and has been associated with worse outcomes in terms of school and mental health.This is Special English.America&`&s first Nutella Cafe opened recently in downtown Chicago, with more than 400 customers lining for their favorite treat.This is the first standalone Nutella Cafe owned by parent company Ferrero. Its menu items include grilled baguettes, fresh-roasted hazelnut, gelato and some Italian specialties.Nutella&`&s head of marketing in North America says there&`&s an incredible dining culture in this city, and Nutella is all about the idea of sharing good food with friends and family; and they thought that Chicago would be the perfect place to do that.The first 400 people in line were let in this two-level cafe and they received special Nutella Cafe Chicago jars, along with croissants. Some Nutella fans even arrived as early as 5 a.m. for the opening of the door.Nutella was created in Italy and debuted in the United States in 1983. The spread is available in about 160 countries.That is the end of this edition of Special English. To freshen up your memory, I&`&m going to read one of the news items again at normal speed. Please listen carefully.(全文见周日微信