News Plus慢速英语:脸谱网为博拉疫情捐款 新加坡引进超级计算机

This is NEWS Plus Special English.

这里是NEWS Plus慢速英语。

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife are donating 25 million US dollars to the CDC Foundation to help address the Ebola epidemic.

脸谱网首席执行官马克·扎克伯格和他的妻子宣布向美国疾病控制和预防中心捐款2500万美元，以帮助控制埃博拉疫情。

The money will be used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Ebola response effort in the world where Ebola is a threat. 

美国疾病控制和预防中心及埃博拉预防和反应小组将有权使用这笔善款。其中，埃博拉预防和反应小组是致力于在全球范围内为遭受埃博拉病毒威胁的地区提供服务的机构。

The grant follows a 9 million-dollar donation made by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen last month. Zuckerberg and his wife are making the grant from their fund at the nonprofit Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

这是继微软创始人之一保罗·艾伦后，捐赠的第一笔善款。上月，保罗·艾伦捐赠了900万美元。扎克伯格和他的妻子宣布将从硅谷社区基金会拨出这笔善款，该基金会是个非营利性组织。

Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page that people need to get Ebola under control in the near term so that it doesn't spread further and become a long term global health crisis. He believes the grant is the quickest way to empower the CDC and the experts in this field to prevent this outcome.

扎克伯格在其脸谱网的个人主页上写道：应在短期内控制住埃博拉疫情，以防止埃博拉病毒进一步传播，成为全球性的长期健康危机。他相信拨款能够使疾病控制和预防中心及相关领域专家有足够的资金阻止疫病的爆发，且这是最快的方式。

The World Health Organization has said that West Africa could see up to 10,000 new Ebola cases a week within two months. It confirmed that the death rate in the current outbreak is 70 percent. 

日前，世界卫生组织称，西非两个月内每周新增埃博拉病例达10,000个.同时，世界卫生组织证实说，当前疫情的死亡率为70%。

The disease has killed more than 4,000 people, almost all of them in West Africa. The WHO has called the outbreak "the most severe and acute health emergency seen in modern times".

该病毒已致4,000人死亡，几乎所有死去的人都来自西非。世界卫生组织称该疫情为：“近代见过的最严重、最紧急的卫生突发事件。”

You are listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Yun Feng in Beijing.

您现在收听的是NEWS Plus慢速英语，我是云峰，我在北京为您播报。

The Singapore government is working with IBM to adopt a supercomputer system that can answer personalized questions on government policies and services, in a bid to boost efficiency in government consultation.
 新加坡政府正与美国国际商用机器公司（IBM）合作，准备引进超计算机系统，该系统能够就政府的政策和服务这类个性化问题进行解答。其目的是为了提高政府的磋商效率。

This is the first time any government works with IBM on its cognitive computing system called Watson, a supercomputer that can process and analyze large amounts of data, to come up with solutions to solve problems.

新加坡政府是与IBM公司就其认知型计算机系统“沃森”合作的第一个政府，“沃森”是台超级计算机，能够计算并分析大量数据，提供解决问题的方法。

The system was named after IBM's first CEO and industrialist Thomas J. Watson, and is capable of answering questions posed directly in natural language, which is different from traditional way of using computer codes.

该系统得名于IBM公司的第一位首席执行官兼实业家托马斯·J·沃森，它能够直接回答自然语言提出的问题，这和使用计算机代码的传统方式不同。

Singapore will first use Watson to deal with consultations in areas such as income tax, employment and work pass, and workplace health and safety. The pilot project will go live next year, and will answer enquiries about the above areas based on its analysis.

新加坡将首次使用“沃森”处理咨询事宜，这些事宜涉及的领域包括所得税、就业和工作证，以及工作场地的安全与卫生等。该试点项目将于明年启动，届时，“沃森”将根据自己的分析，解答人们对上述领域的疑问。

Singapore hopes the collaboration with IBM will bring about a transformative change in how the government can better interact with citizens and address their needs.

新加坡希望，与IBM公司的合作能够带来翻天覆地的变化——政府可以更好的与公民互动，并解决他们的需求。