>124M passenger trips during holiday
端午預(yù)計發(fā)送旅客1.24億人次

Total passenger trips made during China's Dragon Boat Festival holiday are expected to reach 124 million, according to official data. The average daily passenger trips will likely exceed 41.23 million during the period, up by 52.5 percent year on year, the Ministry of Transport said Monday. The figure was down by 18.8 percent compared with 2019, the data showed. The Dragon Boat Festival holiday extended from Saturday to Monday this year.
中國交通運輸部6月14日披露，今年端午假期三天(6月12日至14日)，全國鐵路、公路、水運、民航預(yù)計發(fā)送旅客1.24億人次，日均或超4123萬人次，比2019年同期日均下降18.8%，比2020年同期日均增長52.5%。

During the three-day holiday, the country's railway sector will likely handle over 31.67 million passenger trips, up by 58.1 percent year on year. The civil aviation sector is expected to see 3.71 million passenger trips, up by 40.1 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
端午假期，鐵路預(yù)計發(fā)送旅客超過3167萬人次，比2020年同期日均增長58.1%；民航預(yù)計發(fā)送旅客371萬人次，比2020年同期日均增長40.1%。

>Over 500 plant species recorded
西沙群島植物有了'身份證'

More than 500 species of plants have been recorded in China's Xisha Islands, it was discovered during a recent campaign to put name tags on the plants. The name-tagging project covers plants on over 10 islands and reefs in the Xisha Islands, including Jinqing Island, Zhaoshu Island, and Ganquan Island, the Hainan Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said.
海南省住房和城鄉(xiāng)建設(shè)廳近日稱，已聯(lián)合相關(guān)部門在西沙群島各島礁啟動開展植物掛牌工作。此次植物掛牌工作覆蓋到晉卿島、趙述島、甘泉島等10多個西沙島礁。目前，西沙群島上的植物種類，已記錄達(dá)500余種。

Since its establishment in 2012, the government of Sansha has introduced a large variety of high-value ornamental plants, which have significantly improved the local ecological and living environment.
三沙市自2012年成立以來，精心引種引進(jìn)大量高價值的園林觀賞植物，全面改善島礁的生態(tài)環(huán)境和人居環(huán)境。

Chen Xiaojing, deputy director of the department, said the name-tagging project is of great importance to the science education of the island’s residents and can help promote the city's landscaping work.
海南省住房和城鄉(xiāng)建設(shè)廳副廳長陳孝京表示，西沙群島島礁植物掛牌活動不僅是對駐島軍民進(jìn)行科普教育的重要舉措，也是三沙市以園林綠化工作助推城市品質(zhì)提升的有益探索。

>Plans for future space exploration
火星采樣返回、木星系探測提上日程

China is making plans for the future development of its space program, including exploring asteroids and the Jovian system, collecting samples from Mars and exploring the polar region of the moon, an official from the China National Space Administration said on Saturday. Xu Hongliang, speaking for the space agency, said at a press conference that in about the year 2025 China plans to launch a probe to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid and explore a comet in one mission.
國家航天局新聞發(fā)言人許洪亮6月12日在新聞發(fā)布會上介紹我國太空項目未來規(guī)劃，表示我國將開展小行星和木星系探測、火星取樣、月球極區(qū)探測等任務(wù)。許洪亮表示，2025年前后，我國將實施近地小行星取樣返回和主帶彗星環(huán)繞探測任務(wù)；

China plans to launch a Mars sample-return mission and a Jovian system exploration mission sometime in about 2030, Xu said.
2030年左右，我國將實施火星取樣返回任務(wù)，還將實施木星系的環(huán)繞探測任務(wù)；

In addition, China plans to launch the Chang'e-6 and Chang'e-7 lunar probes in the coming five years to explore the environment and resources and collect samples from the polar region of the moon, Xu said.
"十四五"時期，我國將發(fā)射嫦娥六號、七號探測器，實施月球極區(qū)環(huán)境與資源勘查、月球極區(qū)采樣返回等任務(wù)；

By the end of 2022, China will have completed the construction of its space station, in which astronauts can stay for prolonged periods to carry out scientific experiments, Xu said.
2022年底，我國將建成長期有人照料的載人空間站，供航天員長期駐留、開展科學(xué)試驗。

>New Southern Ocean recognized
國家地理:四大洋變五大洋

Anyone who thought the world had four oceans will now have to think again, after the National Geographic Society announced it would recognize a new Southern Ocean in Antarctica, bringing the global total to five.
認(rèn)為世界上有四大洋的人要再想想了。美國國家地理學(xué)會宣布，正式認(rèn)定南大洋為一個新的大洋，這樣一來，四大洋就變成五大洋了。

National Geographic said the Southern Ocean consists of the waters surrounding Antarctica, out to 60-degrees south latitude.
美國國家地理學(xué)會稱，南大洋由南極洲周圍海域構(gòu)成，從大陸的海岸線延伸至南緯60度。

National Geographic Society geographer Alex Tait said scientists have long known that the waters surrounding Antarctica form a "distinct ecological region defined, by ocean currents and temperatures".
國家地理學(xué)會的地理學(xué)家亞歷克斯?泰特稱，科學(xué)家很早以前就知道南極洲四周水域組成了一個"由洋流和溫度界定的獨特生態(tài)區(qū)域"。

"We think it's really important from an educational standpoint, as well as from a map-labeling standpoint, to bring attention to the Southern Ocean as a fifth ocean," Tait said. "So when students learn about parts of the ocean world, they learn it's an interconnected ocean, and they learn there are these regions called oceans that are really important, and there's a distinct one in the icy waters around Antarctica."
泰特稱："我們認(rèn)為，站在教育和地圖注記的立場上，將南大洋認(rèn)定為第五大洋真的很重要。這樣，當(dāng)學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)海洋世界的各個部分時，他們會了解到這是一個互聯(lián)互通的海洋，并了解到各個非常重要的大洋，包括環(huán)繞南極洲的這片獨特的冰冷水域。"

Find more audio news on the China Daily app.