儒琴今日英语单词选自日常用语，欧美报刊文章, 以及英语原文小说。每天坚持学习今日英语单词，有助于阅读和理解当今欧美主流媒体的新闻时事报道和英语文学作品；增强日常英语交流能力。
儒琴今日英语单词 Word of the Day
spot check
noun [ C ]
a quick examination of a few members of a group instead of the whole group
抽查
Hong Kong customs officials are carrying out a large scale city-wide special operation to crack down on stores selling fake surgical masks amid the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.
Officers with the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department have conducted spot checks on almost 200 stores across the city, including pharmacies, chain stores, and other shops that sell the face masks.
asymptomatic
adjective /ˌeɪ.sɪmp.təˈmæt.ɪk/ medical specialized
showing no symptoms of a particular disease
无症状的
The spread to Tibet, a remote and mountainous region, will renew concerns about how easily the virus is transmitted, particularly when people are asymptomatic.
All travelers, including tourists, entering Tibet are now required to register with authorities and be quarantined for 14 days.
pathogen
noun [ C ]/ˈpæθ.ə.dʒən/
any small organism, such as a virus or a bacterium that can cause disease
病原体
The death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus now stands at 80, with almost 2,800 cases confirmed across China, as the country initiates emergency procedures to try and rein in the pathogen‘s global spread.
–CNN Jan 27, 2020
go south
informal ( NORTH AMERICAN)
fall in value, deteriorate, or fail.
价值下降、恶化或失败
The Arizona State University student was supposed to spend the semester studying abroad at East China Normal University until the Wuhan corona(virus) prompted the university to shut down.
“We got here before the outbreak, and it went south really quick,” she told CNN. “I think things unfolded a lot faster than we thought that they would.
— CNN Jan 30, 2020
stack up
— phrasal verb with stack verb
informal (COMPARE)
to compare with another thing of a similar type
（和类似事物）相比，比较
But while the Wuhan coronavirus and SARS are caused by a similar virus, they’re not exactly the same. Here’s how the two stack up.
Origin: Both the SARS and Wuhan outbreaks started in China — and both are believed to have originated from wild animal markets.
Cases in China overtake SARS: It has taken less than two months to infect around 75% of the number infected by SARS over a nine month period. In China, the number of confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus has already exceeded the number infected by SARS in 2002 and 2003.
— CNN Jan 30， 2020
genome
noun [ C ] biology specialized /ˈdʒiː.nəʊm/ us
the complete set of genetic material of a human, animal, plant, or other living thing
基因组，染色体组
One of the biggest differences between SARS and this current outbreak is how fast it was reported and how soon scientists were able to identify it. China informed the World Health Organization about the new virus on December 31, 2019, about three weeks after the first case was detected. The virus behind the outbreak was identified on January 7. Beijing was also able to identify the genome and informed other countries about it. Still, there are concerns that the scale of the problem may be far worse than the official figures let on.
— CNN Jan 30, 2020
waiver
noun [ C ] /ˈweɪ.vər/
an agreement that you do not have to pay or obey something
免支付协议；弃权声明书
Many US airlines have offered waivers on change fees or the option to cancel for credit on a future flight. Travelers with upcoming plans should check with their airlines and look for advisories posted on carriers’ websites.
