【2021.04.15晨间英语】

Bobblehead Museum Opens in Wisconsin

威斯康星州新开一家摇头玩偶博物馆

A new museum in the American state of Wisconsin may hold the largest collection of bobbleheads anyone has ever seen.

美国威斯康星州的一家新博物馆可能拥有人们见过的数量最多的摇头玩偶。

Bobbleheads are small figures with abnormally large heads. The heads, which are on springs, move up and down. The figures are usually made to look like famous people -- from sports champions to actors to politicians.
摇头玩偶是一种头部异常大的人偶。它们的头部安装在弹簧上，可以上下移动。这些人偶通常做出来像名人，从体育冠军到演员，再到政治家都有。

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum recently opened in the city of Milwaukee.
这家全美摇头娃娃名人堂暨博物馆最近在密尔沃基市开业。

Phil Sklar and Brad Novak started collecting bobbleheads 16 years ago. Then, four years ago, the two friends decided to do something with their collections. They quit their jobs, began making their own bobbleheads to earn money and searched for bobbleheads at second-hand shops. Then, they decided on a physical place for a museum.
菲尔·斯克拉（Phil Sklar）和布洛克·诺瓦克（Brad Novak）从16年前开始收集摇头玩偶。然后4年前这两位朋友决定用他们的这些藏品来做些什么。他们辞掉了工作，开始自己制作摇头玩偶挣钱，并在二手商店搜购摇头玩偶。然后，他们决定用一处实际场地来开办博物馆。

The two have more than 10,000 bobbleheads. The museum has room to show about 6,500 at one time. They have figures that look like characters from the movies "Star Wars" and "The Wizard of Oz." They have the first-ever football and baseball bobbleheads from the early 1960s. They even have a life-sized bobblehead in their collection.
这两人拥有超过1万个摇头玩偶。这家博物馆一次可以展示大约6500个摇头玩偶。他们的人偶有电影《星球大战》和《绿叶仙踪》中的角色，他们还有上世纪60年代早期的第一代足球和棒球摇头玩偶。他们的藏品中甚至有一个真人大小的摇头娃娃。

And then there are the political bobbleheads. One looks like American President Donald Trump from his days as a television star on "The Apprentice." The figure says "You're fired" with the push of a button.
然后是政治人物的摇头玩偶，其中有一个看起来像是美国总统川普在《学徒》节目中当电视明星那时候。这个人偶按一下按钮就会说“你被解雇了。”

Sklar and Novak are in the process of having their collection recognized as the world's largest by the Guinness Book of World Records. The current record is 2,396, held by Phil Darling. The 40-year-old Canadian has gotten 500 more bobbleheads since that official count in 2015, he says.
斯克拉和诺瓦克正在给他们的收藏品申请收藏数量的吉尼斯世界纪录。目前的纪录是由菲尔·达令（Phil Darling）保持的2396个藏品。他说，这位40岁的加拿大人从2015年官方统计以来又多了500多个摇头玩偶。

Darling says he will be a bit sad not to hold the record anymore. But he says he hopes to one day make it to Milwaukee to see the collection and meet Sklar and Novak.
达令表示，丢掉了这个纪录他会有一点点难过。但他表示希望有一天能够到密尔沃基看看这些收藏，并见一见斯克拉和诺瓦克。

"It's on my bucket list," Darling said.
达令说：“这已经在我的愿望单上了。”

Sklar said he hopes the museum will appeal to bobblehead fans as well as "people looking for something fun to do." Along with the collection itself, the museum also explains how bobbleheads are made and introduces the real people who the bobbleheads represent.
斯克拉表示，他希望这家博物馆能够吸引那些摇头玩偶粉丝以及“找乐子的人们。”除了收藏本身，博物馆还讲解了如何制作摇头玩偶，并介绍了摇头玩偶所代表的真实人物。

Sklar added, "There are so many negative things going on ... we need more places to escape and have a good time and also educate at the same time, so hopefully we will be an asset to the community."
斯克拉补充说：“还有很多负面的东西在持续，我们需要更多空间来逃避和享受美好时光，同时也要接受教育，希望我们能成为社区的财富。”

I'm Ashley Thompson.
我是阿什利·汤普森。

Vietnam’s Economic Hopes Fade as COVID-19 Takes Away Business

新冠肺炎导致越南经济前景黯淡

Vietnamese officials have lowered expectations for their country's normally fast-growing economy in 2020. The officials noted that weakness in the international economy has reduced demand for exports and international travel.

越南官员在2020年降低了对本国通常快速增长的经济的期望。这些官员指出，国际经济的疲软减少了对出口和国际旅行的需求。

Vietnam's $260 billion economy has grown 6 percent or more each year since 2012 because of an increase in manufactured exports. Vietnamese officials say the economy will grow just 2 percent in 2020. That is down from an earlier target of 2.5 percent. The Asian Development Bank estimates that the economy will expand at a rate of just 1.8 percent this year.
自2012年以来，规模达2600亿美元的越南经济以每年不低于6%的速度增长，原因是制造品出口的增长。越南官员表示，2020年越南经济将仅增长2%。这低于了早先设定的2.5%的目标。亚洲开发银行估计，今年该国的经济增长将只有1.8%。

Experts say measures taken around the world to contain COVID-19 have reduced orders to Vietnamese factories that make shoes, clothing and furniture.
专家表示，世界范围内采取的遏制新冠肺炎的措施使得越南制造鞋、成衣和家具的工厂的订单减少。

Stay-at-home rules in Western countries are keeping people away from physical stores. Business closures in those countries have left people out of work and less likely to buy non-essential goods.
西方国家的居家规定使人们远离实体商店。这些国家的企业停业使得人们失业，购买非必需品的可能性降低。

Frederick Burke is a partner with the law office Baker McKenzie in Ho Chi Minh City. He told VOA, "The rule is that those light industrial goods are weak, the exports orders are down and there's reports of a lot of unemployment in the factory sector in the [Vietnamese] provinces."
弗雷德里克·伯克是胡志明市贝克·麦肯齐律师事务所的合伙人。他对美国之音表示：“规律是轻工业产品需求疲软，出口订单下降，有报道称越南各省的工厂部门存在大量失业。”

Vietnamese factories that make electronic products still get orders from companies that sell overseas to people working or studying at home. However, most factories that make non-essential goods are failing, Burke said.
伯克表示，越南电子产品制造工厂仍然获得了一些公司的订单，这些公司向在家工作或学习的海外人士出售产品。然而，大多数生产非必需品的工厂都要倒闭。

For example, one Vietnamese factory operated by a Taiwan-based company dismissed 150 workers earlier this year. That information comes from the nonprofit Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.
例如，一家中国台湾公司经营的越南工厂今年年初解雇了150名工人。该信息来自于非营利性商业和人权资源中心。

Vietnam has closed its borders to limit the spread of COVID-19. The border closure is stopping investors from making trips that would help them expand. They would normally travel to Vietnam from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan to search for new places to manufacture goods.
越南已经关闭边境以控制新冠肺炎扩散。边境关闭使得投资者无法进行本来有助于他们扩大业务的差旅活动。他们通常会从日本、新加坡、韩国和中国台湾前往越南，寻找制造产品的新地方。

Jack Nguyen is a partner with Mazars, a business advisory service, in Ho Chi Minh City. He said that Vietnam's tourism industry has also been badly affected by the restrictions on travel. Foreign tourism usually makes up 6 percent of the Vietnamese economy.
杰克·阮是胡志明市Mazars企业咨询公司的合伙人。他说，越南的旅游业也受到旅行限制的严重影响。涉外旅游通常占到越南经济的6%。

"Things will only pick up only when the borders are open and there's no quarantine requirements," Nguyen said. "Who knows when that's going to be."
阮先生表示：“只有边境开放并且不要求隔离，事情才会出现转机。谁也不知道要等到什么时候。”

Experts say a COVID-19 outbreak earlier in Danang, followed by the start of the school year, has reduced travel within Vietnam. Some of the country's hotels are up for sale as a result, Nguyen noted.
专家表示，岘港之前的新冠肺炎爆发是在开学之后，这减少了越南的国内出行。阮先生提到，结果就是该国的一些酒店挂牌转让。

The Ministry of Planning and Investment says it could take as long as four years for the world economy to recover from the effects of COVID-19. The ministry set a 2021 growth target of 6 percent to 6.5 percent, down from an earlier goal of 7 percent.
越南规划和投资部表示，世界经济可能需要长达四年时间才能从新冠肺炎的影响中恢复过来。该部门将2021年的增长目标定为6%到6.5%，低于先前7%的目标。

However, foreign investors in the country are not looking elsewhere. Frederick Burke said that those investors believe Vietnam's economy will survive the effects of the coronavirus health crisis.
然而，该国的外国投资者不考虑其它地方。伯克表示，那些投资者认为越南经济将在新冠病毒健康危机的影响下熬过来。

Ralf Matthaes is founder of the Infocus Mekong Research group in Ho Chi Minh City. He says Vietnam's government "has proven to the world thus far that it can protect its borders from the invasion of a pandemic and create a desirable atmosphere for investment." He added that that is something most other Asian nations cannot say.
拉尔夫·马特斯是胡志明市Infocus Mekong研究组织的创始人。他说，越南政府“迄今为止已经向世界证明，它可以保护其边境不受这场大流行的侵袭，并创造理想的投资氛围。”他还说，这是大多数其它亚洲国家无法承诺的。

I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。

Tesla Says It Will Accept Bitcoins for Car Payment

特斯拉公司宣称将接受比特币购买汽车

American carmaker Tesla said on Monday that it had invested around $1.5 billion in bitcoin, an internet-based form of money.

美国汽车制造商特斯拉公司周一称其在比特币上已经投资了大约15亿美元，比特币是一种基于互联网的货币。

The company is expected to begin accepting the digital currency as payment for its cars and other products in the near future. The announcement from one of the best-known American car companies sent the price of bitcoin up more than 10 percent.
预计该公司将在不久的将来开始接受数字货币购买其汽车和其它产品。这家美国最著名汽车厂商的公告使得比特币价格上涨了10%以上。

Tesla chief Elon Musk is a supporter of the digital currency. In recent weeks, Musk used the social media website Twitter to praise bitcoin. Musk said a week ago that bitcoin was “on the verge” of being more widely accepted by investors. Last December, he asked if it was possible to do large business deals in the currency.
特斯拉公司总裁埃隆·马斯克是数字货币的支持者。最近几周，马斯克通过社交媒体网站推特网赞扬了比特币。马斯克在一周前表示，比特币即将被投资者广泛接受。去年12月，他询问是否有可能使用该货币进行大型交易。

Eric Turner is a vice president of market intelligence at the research company Messari. He says more companies will use bitcoin now since “Tesla has made the first move.”
埃里克·特纳是梅萨里研究公司的市场情报副总裁。他说，自从特斯拉迈出第一步以来，现在有更多公司将使用比特币。

He told Reuters, “One of the largest companies in the world now owns Bitcoin and by extension, every investor that owns Tesla (or even just an S&P 500 fund) has exposure to it as well.”
他对路透社表示：“世界上的一家大型公司（指特斯拉）现在持有比特币，由此可以推论，持有特斯拉公司股票，甚至只是持有标普500指数基金的每位投资者也都沾上了比特币。”

The value of a Bitcoin has reached record highs in recent months. The currency has also gained support from major financial companies this year. The financial services company Blackrock recently permitted some of its funds to invest in the currency. However, government-run central banks around the world do not support the digital currency.
近几个月来，比特币的价值达到了历史新高。这种货币今年也获得了主要金融公司的支持。金融服务公司黑石集团最近允许旗下部分基金投资比特币。但是，世界各地政府运营的央行不支持这种数字货币。

The price of bitcoin has gone up and down wildly since it was created in 2009 by a mysterious developer or group going by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto. In 2017, for example, the price went from $975 on March 25 to more than $20,000 on December 17. A year later, it was worth less than $4,000.
自从2009年一位神秘开发者或组织以中本聪的名义创造比特币以来，其价格一直在疯狂上涨和下跌。例如，2017年，比特币价格从3月25日的975美元涨到了12月17日的2万美元以上。一年之后，它的价值还不到4000美元。

During the pandemic, bitcoin was trading at less than $11,000 in October of 2020. The price increased to more than $40,000 on January 8, 2021 and dropped to $30,000 three days later. Bitcoin was valued at more than $43,000 after Tesla’s announcement Monday.
在大流行期间，比特币在2020年10月的交易价格不到1.1万美元。2021年1月8日价格涨到了超过4万美元，并在3天后跌到了3万美元。特斯拉周一发出公告之后，比特币价格超过了4.3万美元。

Tesla said in a document sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) early Monday that its $1.5 billion investment in digital currency and other “alternative” holdings may grow.
特斯拉周一早些时候在发给美国证券交易委员会的一份文件中表示，该公司在数字货币或其它替代资产方面的15亿美元投资可能会增长。

Neil Wilson is a market expert for Markets.com. He said of Tesla’s Elon Musk, “He’s now putting his money (shareholders’) where his mouth is.” He warned, “But given his recent comments – and adding #Bitcoin to his Twitter bio on January 29th – it also raises a real question about possible market manipulation.”
尼尔·威尔逊是Markets.com的市场专家。他谈到特斯拉公司的马斯克时表示：“他现在把自己以及股东的钱挂在嘴里。”他警告说：“但鉴于他最近的言论，以及他1月29日在推特网简介中添加了比特币的标签，这也引发了可能存在市场操纵的疑问。”

In 2018, Musk was fined $20 million by the SEC for charges of wrongdoing related to his use of social media. Recently, Musk was involved in driving up the share prices of U.S. video game seller GameStop.
2018年，马斯克因为使用社交媒体不当被美国证券交易委员会罚款2000万美元。最近，马斯克卷入了抬高美国视频游戏销售商GameStop公司股价的活动。

While more companies have used the technology behind bitcoin, known as blockchain, the actual uses of bitcoin have not changed very much. Some businesses, such as Overstock.com, have accepted payments in bitcoin. Still, its popularity is low compared with normal currencies.
尽管越来越多公司采用了比特币背后的区块链技术，但是比特币的实际用途并没有太大变化。Overstock.com之类的一些公司已经接受了比特币支付。不过与普通货币相比，其受欢迎程度较低。

Many individuals and businesses will not accept bitcoins for payments. But that could change if others follow Tesla and begin accepting the digital currency.
许多个人和企业不接受比特币支付。但是，如果其它人追随特斯拉公司开始接受数字货币，这种情况就可能会发生改变。

I’m Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。

US Economy Shrinks at Sharpest Rate Since Great Depression

美国经济录得大衰退以来最严重萎缩

The United States economy shrank at a yearly rate of 32.9 percent between April and June of this year. It is the worst quarterly contraction in the economy ever recorded.

今年4到6月，美国经济的萎缩速度按年化计算达到了32.9%。这是美国经济有史以来最严重的季度萎缩。

The contraction came as the coronavirus pandemic pushed struggling businesses to close for a second time in many parts of the country. The closures have left millions of Americans out of work.
这次萎缩发生在新冠病毒大流行迫使美国许多地区陷入困境的企业再次关闭之际。企业关闭已经导致数百万人失业。

The U.S. Commerce Department released the economic numbers Thursday. Its estimate of the contraction in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the worst since the government began keeping such records in 1947.
美国商务部周四公布了这组经济数据。该部门估计，这次国民生产总值的萎缩是自美国政府1947年开始统计此类数据以来最糟糕的一次。

The decrease comes after a 5 percent drop in economic activity during the first three months of the year. That is when the economy officially entered a recession, ending 11 years of growth, the longest on record in the country.
这次萎缩发生在今年首季度经济活动下降5%之后。当时美国经济结束了该国有记录以来最长的连续11年的增长，正式进入衰退。

The record-setting contraction resulted from a collapse in consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of economic activity. Restaurants, stores, and theaters closed, while Americans stopped traveling. People did not spend as much money because there was nowhere to spend it.
这次创纪录的萎缩是由于消费者支出下降而造成的，这项支出约占经济活动的70%。餐馆、商店和剧院关闭，同时美国人民停止出行。人们没有花那么多钱，是因为没地方消费。

The drop in GDP shows the "unprecedented hit to the economy from the pandemic,"said economist Andrew Hunter. He added that "it will take years" for the economy to recover. Hunter works for Capital Economics, an economic research service based in London.
经济学家安德鲁·亨特表示，国民生产总值的下降表明“大流行给经济造成了了前所未有的打击。”他还表示，经济复苏需要数年时间。亨特就职于凯投宏观，这是伦敦的一家经济研究服务机构。

So great was the contraction that many experts expect economic activity to rise sharply during the current quarter. Some predict the economy will grow as much as 17 percent, or higher, between now and the end of September.
这次萎缩如此严重，以至于很多专家预计本季度的经济活动将会急剧上升。一些人预测从现在到9月底，美国经济将增长17%或更高。

Yet with the rate of confirmed coronavirus cases rising in many states, more businesses are being forced to either cancel their reopening, or close down again. In addition, the U.S. Senate is considering a proposal to cut government aid to the unemployed. So, it is possible the economy could get even worse in the months to come.
然而，随着许多州新冠病毒确诊病例的上升，许多企业被迫取消重新开放或再次关闭。此外，美国参议院正在审议一项削减政府对失业者援助的提案。因此，未来几个月经济可能会变得更糟。

In addition to consumer spending, business investment dropped 27 percent and housing fell 38.7 percent between April and June.
除了消费者支出，4到6月的商业投资下降了27%，住房下降了38.7%。

State and local governments have been hurt by the loss of tax money and job losses. State and local government spending decreased by a yearly rate of 5.6 percent.
州政府和地方政府遭受了税收和就业岗位减少的重击。州政府和地方政府的支出按年化下降了5.6%。

But total government spending was up 2.7 percent because of federal efforts to ease the pain of the recession. Federal spending has risen 17.4 percent, mostly for more than $2 trillion in a coronavirus aid plan. Congress sent many Americans $1,200, gave loans to many businesses and increased unemployment aid.
但是由于联邦政府为缓解经济衰退的痛苦而采取的措施，政府总支出增长了2.7%。联邦支出增长了17.4%，其中大部分用于新冠病毒援助计划中的超2万亿美元支出。美国国会向许多美国人发放了1200美元的援助，为许多企业提供了贷款，并提高了失业援助。

Congressional leaders and the Trump administration are talking about more aid for people and businesses to fight the recession.
国会领导人和川普政府正在商讨为个人和企业提供更多援助以对抗经济衰退。

In a separate report Thursday, the Labor Department said requests for unemployment aid increased 12,000 to 1.434 million in the week ending July 25. Nearly 30.2 million jobless Americans are receiving unemployment aid.
在周四的另一份报告中，美国劳工部表示，截至7月25日这周，申请失业救济的人数增加了1.2万人，达到了143.4万人。近3020万美国失业者正在领取失业援助。

President Trump has urged states to reopen businesses. But there are worries that the virus remains a threat to workers and consumers at service industry jobs that often require face-to-face contact.
川普总统督促各州重新开放企业。但是令人担忧的是，该病毒仍然威胁着服务行业的员工和消费者，该行业通常需要面对面接触。

Many economists say the economy cannot fully recover until the coronavirus is defeated. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the virus has been endangering a small economic recovery. For that reason, he said, the U.S. central bank plans to keep interest rates near zero well into the future.
许多经济学家表示，除非击败新冠病毒，否则经济无法完全恢复。美联储主席鲍威尔周三表示，该病毒一直在危及经济的小幅复苏。他说，出于这个原因，美国央行计划在未来很长时间内维持利率接近于零的水平。

I'm Susan Shand.
我是苏珊·尚德。

COVID-19 Leaves Nearly 1 Million Vietnamese Unemployed

新冠肺炎导致近百万越南人失业

Vietnam has reported big success in limiting the spread of COVID-19 inside the country. But the worldwide pandemic has left nearly 1 million Vietnamese unemployed.

越南在控制国内新冠肺炎传播方面报告了巨大的成功。但是这次全球大流行已经使近100万越南人失业。

About 900,000 people are currently unemployed. Another 18 million are underemployed. Those numbers come from the country's General Statistics Office report for the first half of 2020.
目前大约有90万人失业。另有1800万人未充分就业。这些数字出自于越南国家统计局2020年上半年的报告。

The record jobless rate comes even though Vietnam is the most populous nation in the world to report zero COVID-19 deaths. Vietnam is also one of the few countries worldwide to see its economy grow this year.
即使越南是全球报告新冠肺炎零死亡率的国家中人口最多的一个，其失业率仍然创下了历史新高。越南还是今年全球经济中增长最快的少数几个国家之一。

Experts say the huge job losses were mainly caused by the shrinking demand for its products from nations hit hard by the virus.
专家表示，大量就业岗位的减少主要是受到病毒沉重打击的国家对其产品的需求减少。

The most affected areas have been in Vietnam's cities. In the second quarter of 2020, unemployment in cities hit a 10-year high of 4.46 percent. During the same period two years earlier, the unemployment rate in cities was 3.09 percent.
受影响最严重的地区是越南的城市。在2020年第二季度，城市失业率达到了10年最高的4.46%。在两年前的同一时期，城市失业率只有3.09%。

The rise also marks a change from the first quarter of 2020, when the International Labor Organization office in Hanoi said employment levels "remained unaffected by the crisis" of COVID-19.
失业率攀升也标志着2020年第一季度以来的变化，当时国际劳工组织驻河内办事处表示，就业水平“不受新冠肺炎危机的影响。”

"The complicated and unpredictable COVID-19 pandemic caused growth in most industries and sectors to slow down," the General Statistics Office said in a statement. "Unemployment and underemployment have increased greatly."
越南国家统计局在声明中表示：“新冠肺炎大流行情况复杂并且不可预测，它导致大多数行业和部门增长放缓，失业和未充分就业已经大幅攀升。”

Such high jobless numbers are almost unheard of in Vietnam. The country historically reports continually rising trade growth, which fuels major factory and construction activity across the country.
如此高的失业数字在越南几乎闻所未闻。该国过去一直报告贸易持续增长，这推动了全国的重要工厂和建筑活动。

In answer to COVID-19, the country introduced a $2.7 billion relief fund that includes aid to workers.
为了应对新冠肺炎，该国推出了27亿美元的救援基金，其中包括对工人的援助。

Vietnam is in the process of approving labor unions independent of the Communist Party. The move is part of a promise related to a new European Union trade deal.
越南正在批准独立于越共的工会。此举是与欧盟新贸易协定相关承诺的一部分。

Vietnam depends heavily on exports to drive its economy, especially to the United States and the European Union. But consumer demand in both places dropped as the pandemic grew.
越南在很大程度上依靠出口来推动其经济发展，尤其是依靠欧洲和美国。但是随着大流行的蔓延，欧美的消费者需求都有所下降。

However, there is still more investment going to Vietnam compared to most other nations.
然而，与其它大多数国家相比，越南仍然吸引了更多投资。

More Vietnamese are flying within the country compared to last year. The increase has come following a campaign to replace the loss of foreign visitors with local travelers. And, hotels like the Anam on Vietnam's south-central coast say they have increased anti-virus safety measures to help bring more local visitors.
与去年相比，更多越南人在国内飞行。这一增长发生在越南发起一项以当地游客取代外国游客的运动之后。越南中南部海岸的Anam之类的酒店表示，他们已经增强了反病毒措施，以帮助吸引更多的本地游客。

I'm Bryan Lynn.
我是布莱恩·琳恩。