通勤學英語 15Mins Today

Topic: Maybe This Time, the Bikes Won’t End Up in the River

In 2013, Rome pulled the plug on its bike share program after it ran out of money and cars kept double-parking in front of its bike racks. Last year, a Hong Kong company gave up after many of its green bicycles ended up in the Tiber river. Months later, a Singapore company bailed after Romans stole the yellow bikes and broke them down for parts.

2013年，由於經費用盡，加上老有汽車並排停在單車架前，羅馬終止了單車共享計畫。去年，在旗下許多綠色自行車落得葬身台伯河的下場後，一家香港公司打了退堂鼓。數月後，一家新加坡公司在羅馬人偷走其黃色單車並拆解拿走零件後，也離開了。

Rome has been a bike share wasteland, but Uber says things will be different for the shiny new red bikes it has introduced all over the city.

羅馬一直是單車共享難以生存的荒原，但優步宣稱，它在全市推出的閃亮紅色新單車會讓情況改觀。

“We’ve tested ours on Rome’s cobblestones,” said Michele Biggi, manager of Uber’s Jump electric-bike program in southwestern Europe, who added that previous competitors’ bikes weren’t up to the city’s demands and “could have fallen down with just a gust of wind.”

優步南歐地區Jump電單車計畫經理米歇爾．畢吉說：「我們已在羅馬的鵝卵石街道上做過測試」，並指以前競爭對手的單車未達到城市的要求，「可能光是一陣風吹過就倒下了」。

He has big plans for the Uber bikes, he said, which “will change Rome and give the city a new lifeblood.”

他說，他為優步單車制定宏偉計畫，這「將改變羅馬且給這座城市注入新的生命力」。

Uber and its competitors have already introduced similar pedal-assisted bikes and electric scooters in Paris; London; Lisbon, Portugal; Brussels and other cities that in several cases are overrun with rolling menaces. (Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, has decried “the scooter anarchy.”) But Rome, the first Italian city to get Uber’s electric-bicycle service, is not any other European city.

優步及其競爭對手已在巴黎、倫敦、里斯本、布魯塞爾及其他城市推出類似的助力單車和電動滑板車，而其中有些城市狀況連連。（巴黎市長安妮．伊達戈曾譴責「滑板車無政府狀態」）。然而，第一個獲得優步電動自行車服務的義大利城市羅馬，可不是任何其他歐洲城市。

Rome could be a bike-share dream in one respect: There is no shortage of demand. The city has only two finished subway lines (a third is perennially under construction), and buses come late, fail to show up and occasionally explode.

從某方面來說，羅馬可以成為共享單車的夢幻國度：不乏需求。該市只有兩條完工的地鐵線路（第三條一直在興建中），而公車則會晚點、不出現，偶爾還會爆炸。

Driving on the city’s notoriously clogged streets is a nightmare. Parking is worse.

在這個城市塞到爆的街道上開車有如噩夢一場，找地方停車更會要了老命。

But the obstacles to a bike share program are daunting: Rome’s infamous potholes, its mounds of uncollected trash, double-parked cars, a strong vandal spirit in place since the actual Vandals sacked Rome, and a local resistance to change and physical exertion.

Rome’s embattled mayor, Virginia Raggi, urged Romans to show that the city is civilized after all.

但單車共享計畫遇到的阻礙也令人生畏：羅馬惡名昭彰的路面坑窪、成堆待收的垃圾、並排停放的汽車、自真正的汪達爾人洗劫羅馬以來就一直存在的強烈破壞精神，以及當地人對改變和體力消耗的抗拒。陷入困境的羅馬市長拉吉敦促羅馬市民，以行動證明這座城市畢竟是文明的。

“If we don’t want these bikes to be badly treated, guess who it is up to?” Raggi said at the Uber bikes’ unveiling Oct. 21. “Romans themselves are the first defense against degradation.”

拉吉10月21日在優步單車發布會上說：「如果我們不希望這些單車受到虐待，猜猜要靠誰呢？羅馬人自己是抵禦毀壞的第一道防線。」

The company is introducing a fleet of 2,800 bicycles that can be left practically anywhere, and they seem to be everywhere.

該公司正推出總數2800輛的自行車隊，使用後幾乎隨處皆可停放，而它們也似乎無所不在。

But not all Romans are fans. “Rome Is Gross” a well-known social media feed decrying the city’s degradation, has posted complaints about the high price of the Uber bikes, which cost 50 cents to unlock and then 20 cents for every minute of use. That is about the rate charged by car-sharing services.

但並非所有羅馬人都很喜歡。譴責城市退化的著名社交媒體消息「羅馬讓人噁心」抱怨優步單車收費高昂，解鎖價格為50美分，每用一分鐘收費20美分，這跟汽車共享服務費率差不多。

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/347676/web/#2L-16028705L

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Topic : Bike-promoting Belgian minister finds own cycle stolen

A Belgian minister arrived by bike to a news conference to promote cycling on Tuesday, only to find it had been stolen when he left half an hour later.

週二，比利時一位部長為了推廣騎自行車，騎單車至新聞發佈會現場，半小時後離開，卻發現自己的單車被偷了。

Ben Weyts, minister of mobility for the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders, unveiled a plan to invest 300 million euros （$320 million） in cycle lanes until 2019, as part of a wider program to promote alternative modes of transport.

班．維茨，荷語法蘭德斯區的交通部長，推出一項斥資3億歐元（3億2000萬美元）在2019年前興建自行車專用道的計畫，作為範圍更廣泛的推廣替代性交通模式的一部分。

"We left the bike in racks at the station and locked it," a spokesman for the minister said. "When we got back half an hour later, it was gone."

「我們把單車停在停車架上，還上了鎖，」該位部長的發言人說。「當我們半小時後回來，車就沒了。」

While Belgium is a country obsessed with cycling as a sport, cars are the main method of commuting to work, leading to some of the worst road congestion in Europe.

比利時仍堅信騎自行車是一種運動，汽車還是通勤上班的主要工具，使得比國的交通壅塞情況在歐洲數一數二。

The minister had to call his driver to pick him up from the station in Halle, just south of Brussels, the spokesman said, and hoped police would discover the bicycle thief with the help of security camera footage.

發言人說，部長只好打電話給他的司機，要司機到位於布魯塞爾南部的哈勒自行車站接人，自行車只能指望警方透過監視器影像的協助找出小偷。

Source article: http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/paper/1079689

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Topic: Bicycle helmets can prevent injury and death

While riding a bicycle in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District on Oct. 15, author Chen Ro-jinn was hit from behind by a scooter courier. Chen was alive when paramedics arrived but she was unconscious and had a fractured skull. After being taken to hospital, she died of her injuries on Monday last week at the age of 57.

作家陳柔縉十月十五日在新北市淡水區騎腳踏車時，遭後方騎機車的外送員追撞。救護人員抵達時，陳柔縉仍有生命跡象，但意識不清、頭部骨折，送醫急救後仍於上週一傷重不治，享年五十七歲。

At present, Taiwan has no legal requirement for bicyclists to wear helmets, but the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Health Promotion Administration (HPA) has in the past called, as well as mandatory wearing of helmets by motorcycle and scooter riders, for cyclists to also take safety seriously and put on a cycle helmet when riding on the road.

目前國內法規並未要求騎自行車須戴安全帽，但衛生福利部國民健康署過去即曾呼籲，除了機車族強制戴安全帽外，單車族更應重視安全，配戴單車專用安全帽才上路。

The HPA says people often wrongly believe that because bicycles are human-powered they must be safer than motor vehicles. What they fail to consider is that bicycles and motorized vehicles do not have separate lanes, and bicycles lack protective structures, making cyclists prone to physical injury in the event of a crash, especially during rush hour.

國健署強調，一般人常誤認自行車是人力車，要比機動車輛來得安全；殊不知自行車與機動車未分道行駛，及缺乏保護裝置，導致自行車騎士在車禍時，易發生身體創傷，尤以上下班尖峰時間最為常見。

According to a 2016 study by Taipei Medical University, the number of bicycle accidents in Taiwan grew from 7,213 in 2005 to 14,874 in 2013, and the proportion of bicycle accident deaths among all traffic accident deaths grew from 3.55 percent to 6.74 percent. The likelihood of an accident resulting in death, coma or disability was 2.4 times higher for those who did not wear a helmet while cycling than for those who did. 20.7 percent of those who did not wear helmets were in moderate to severe condition when they were admitted to hospital, compared to 2.3 percent of those who wore helmets. Those wore helmets stayed for fewer days in hospital than those who did not.

根據台北醫學大學二○一六年的研究發現，二○○五年至二○一三年，台灣腳踏車事故從七千二百一十三件成長到一萬四千八百七十四件，腳踏車事故死亡佔交通事故死亡率也從百分之三點五五提升到百分之六點七四。而騎乘腳踏車未戴安全帽者預後結果為死亡、植物人、殘障狀態為有戴安全帽者二點四倍。未戴安全帽者有百分之二十點七入院時嚴重度為中重度，戴安全帽者為百分之二點三。配戴安全帽者住院天數也比未配戴安全帽者短。

There are geographical and age differences in bicycle accidents. In urban areas, more accidents occur during commuting periods, whereas in rural areas the accident rate is higher in the afternoon. The number of bicycle accident patients with moderate to severe head trauma is about 3.2 times higher among those aged 65 years or older than those under 18 years old.

腳踏車意外事故也有地域性及年齡差異，都市較多是在上下班通勤時段發生事故，鄉鎮則是下午時段較高；腳踏車事故頭部外傷病人年齡六十五歲以上，嚴重程度為中重度的人數，高於十八歲以下病人約三點二倍。

The HPA says that the number of deaths due to head trauma in motorcycle accidents in Taiwan fell sharply after the 1997 passage of a law mandating wearing a helmet when riding motorcycles and scooters. In contrast, in recent years, with the trend of saving energy and reducing carbon emissions, more and more people are riding bicycles, but most of them have not gotten into the habit of wearing helmets, so when an accident happens it can easily cause irreparable damage and regret.

國健署指出，自一九九七年立法強制騎乘機車須戴安全帽之後，國內因機車肇事頭部外傷死亡人數急遽減少；反而近年來在節能減碳的風潮下，騎自行車的人越來越多，卻大多未養成戴安全帽的習慣；一旦發生事故，容易造成無可彌補的遺憾。Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/10/26/2003766749

主題: 換句話說系列 – 朋友跟好吃還有什麼說法? Other ways to say friend and tasty

Other Ways to Say “Friend”

• Buddy

We were great buddies and did many things together.

• Chum

They were old school/college chums.

• Mate (British)

We've been mates since our school days.

• Pal

It's my old pal Pete!

• BFF (best friend(s) forever)

I fell in love with my BFF's brother.

• Bestie

One of my besties bought me this hat.

• Acquaintance

Mr. Hunter is an old business acquaintance from my years in banking.

Other Ways to Say “Tasty”

• Appetizing

That dish looks very appetizing.

• Flavourful

OMG! The sauce is so flavourful!

• Delicious

The cheese is soft and white and quite delicious.

• Mouthwatering

Look at those mouthwatering desserts.

• Yummy

I think I'll have some more of that yummy chocolate cake.

• Palatable

The meal was barely palatable.

• Juicy

She bit into the juicy orange.

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1. 你與你同學在小學最喜歡吃的零食

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K255: Turning Pay Walls Into Welcome Mats

You had to pay to get in.

你得買票才能進場。

Roughly 250 people paid $15 or $20 apiece to attend a party hosted by the staff of Defector, a subscription website started a year ago by journalists who had quit (or were fired from) the sports news site Deadspin after refusing to heed a request from their bosses that they “stick to sports.”

大約有250人，每人繳交15或20美元，參加由訂閱網站「叛逃者」員工主辦的派對。「叛逃者」創立於一年前，創辦人是運動新聞網站「死亡旋轉」記者，他們因為拒絕遵守老闆指示「堅守體育運動，不對政治或文化發表意見」，而辭職或被解雇。

The party guests were accustomed to paying. They were Defector subscribers, for the most part, meaning they had paid $79 for a year’s subscription, allowing them to get past a strict paywall to read articles like “What 1993 Video Game Tony La Russa Taught Me About Baseball” and “Please, I Am Begging You, Stop Putting the Giants in Primetime.”

這場派對的賓客已習慣付費。他們是「叛逃者」的訂戶，在大多數情況下，這意味著他們繳交79美元訂閱一年，得以穿越嚴密的付費牆讀到文章，如「1993年電玩遊戲拉魯沙教我棒球的事」和「拜託，求你別在黃金時段播放職棒舊金山巨人隊的比賽」。

In charging for access to its website, Defector differs from its predecessor, Deadspin, which belongs to a digital-media generation that gives readers free access and tries to make money by selling ads.

「叛逃者」要讀者付費觀看，與前身「死亡旋轉」不同。「死亡旋轉」屬於讓讀者免費觀看並企圖透過賣廣告賺錢的數位媒體世代。

It remains a challenge for online publications to persuade readers to pay, and it’s perhaps more difficult to get them to pay again after the initial subscription. Defector is optimistic that it will hang on to its fan base as it heads into its second year.

線上出版品要說服讀者付費仍是挑戰，要讀者捧場一次之後再度掏錢也許更困難。邁入創站第二年的「叛逃者」對於守住粉絲群表示樂觀。

Print newspapers charged readers for a century, and readers never questioned the idea that they would have to pay for journalism. The first generations of online-only news sites, eager to build their audiences by pulling readers away from old habits, offered up their work free of charge.

印刷報紙向讀者收費100年了，讀者不曾質疑要看新聞必須要付費的觀念。第一代純線上新聞網站渴望把讀者拉離舊習慣來培養自己的閱聽群，所以才免費提供作品。

Defector and digital newsletter platform Substack are part of a wider shift, one made possible by readers who have come to see paying for journalism as the right thing to do, rather than an annoyance.

「叛逃者」和數位電子報平台Substack則是更大轉變的一部分。讀者把為看新聞付費視為理所當然，而非令人不悅，讓轉變能成為可能。

The Daily Memphian, a nonprofit news site in Memphis, Tennessee, is also part of the wave, with readers contributing the bulk of its revenue. It started in 2018 in response to the shrinking of the local newspaper, The Commercial Appeal. Nearly 17,000 subscribers pay $99 per year (or $12.99 per month) for The Memphian, and they have renewed their subscriptions at a rate of 90%, said Eric Barnes, the publication’s CEO. Ad sales, sponsorships and donations cover the rest of a $5 million annual budget that supports a newsroom of 38.

美國田納西州最大城曼非斯的非營利新聞網站「每日曼非斯報」，也是這波改變浪潮的一波，其營收多數來自讀者訂閱。這個網站是因應當地「商業呼聲報」縮編，在2018年創立。網站執行長巴恩斯說，近1萬7000名訂戶每年付99美元（或每月12.99美元），續訂率高達九成。網站每年需要500萬美元預算來支撐共38人的新聞部，除了訂閱收入以外，其餘由廣告收入、贊助和捐款支應。

“People paid for news for decades,” Barnes said. “Why can’t they pay for it now?”

巴恩斯說：「人們已經花錢看新聞看了幾十年了，為何現在不能？」Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5837132

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K254: The Revolt of the American Worker

All happy economies are alike; each unhappy economy is unhappy in its own way.

所有幸福的經濟體都是一樣的，而每一個不幸的經濟體則有著自己的不快樂。

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the economy’s problems were all about inadequate demand. The housing boom had gone bust; consumers weren’t spending enough to fill the gap; the Obama stimulus, designed to boost demand, was too small and short-lived.

2008年金融危機之後，經濟問題全是需求不足。房市榮景已經破滅，消費者支出不足以填補缺口。旨在提振需求的歐巴馬刺激計畫，規模太小且太短暫。

In 2021, by contrast, many of our problems seem to be about inadequate supply. Goods can’t reach consumers because ports are clogged; a shortage of semiconductor chips has crimped auto production; many employers report that they’re having a hard time finding workers.

相較之下，我們在2021年的許多問題似乎是供應不足。貨物因為港口堵塞無法到達消費者手中，半導體晶片短缺抑制汽車生產，許多雇主則通報稱招工困難。

Much of this is probably transitory, although supply-chain disruptions will clearly last for a while. But something more fundamental and lasting may be happening in the labor market. Long-suffering American workers, who have been underpaid and overworked for years, may have hit their breaking point.

這種狀況大部分可能是暫時性的，儘管供應鏈中斷顯然將會持續一段時間。不過，勞動市場可能會發生一些更重大與持久的事情。多年來低薪過勞、長期受苦的美國勞工，恐已經瀕臨忍耐極限。

About those supply-chain issues: It’s important to realize that more goods are reaching Americans than ever before. The problem is that despite increased deliveries, the system isn’t managing to keep up with extraordinary demand.

至於這些供應鏈問題，重要的是要了解，到達美國民眾手中的商品多過以往任何時候。問題在於，儘管交貨量增加，但整個系統仍無法滿足異常的需求。

Earlier in the pandemic, people compensated for the loss of many services by buying stuff instead. People who couldn’t eat out remodeled their kitchens. People who couldn’t go to gyms bought home exercise equipment.

疫情初期，人們藉由購買東西來彌補失去許多服務。無法外出用餐的人重新裝潢了他們的廚房，不能去健身房的人們則購買了家用健身器材。

But things will improve. As COVID-19 subsides and life gradually returns to normal, consumers will buy more services and less stuff, reducing the pressure on ports, trucking and railroads.

但情況將有所改善。隨著新冠疫情消退與生活逐漸恢復正常，消費者將購買更多服務與更少商品，進而減輕港口、卡車運輸與鐵路的壓力。

The labor situation, by contrast, looks like a genuine reduction in supply. Total employment is still 5 million below its pre-pandemic peak. Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector is still down

more than 9%. Yet everything we see suggests a very tight labor market.

相較之下，勞動市場的情形看來確實是供給減少。總就業人數仍比疫情前高峰少500萬。休閒餐旅業就業率仍減少超過9%。我們看到的一切均顯示勞動市場非常吃緊。

It seems quite possible that the pandemic, by upending many Americans’ lives, also caused some of them to reconsider their life choices. Not everyone can afford to quit a hated job, but a significant number of workers seem ready to accept the risk of trying something different — retiring earlier despite the monetary cost, looking for a less unpleasant job in a different industry, and so on.

這場疫情顛覆許多美國人生活，似乎也很可能促使他們當中一些人重新思考人生選擇。不是所有人都能承擔得起辭掉討厭的工作，但相當多的人似乎準備承擔風險嘗試不同事物，像是不顧金錢成本提早退休，或在不同產業找一份較不討厭的工作等等。

And although this new choosiness by workers who feel empowered is making consumers’ and business owners’ lives more difficult, let’s be clear: Overall, it’s a good thing. American workers are insisting on a better deal, and it’s in the nation’s interest that they get it.

自覺有權這樣做的勞工們這種新的挑剔情形，雖然讓消費者跟企業主的生活更艱難，但我們要知道，整體來說這是一件好事。美國勞工堅持更好的待遇，讓他們得到符合國家利益。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5853765

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K253: Face It, Facebook Won’t Change Unless Advertisers Demand It

Facebook has endured one of the most punishing stretches of corporate coverage in recent memory, exposing its immense power and blithe disregard for its deleterious impacts.

臉書遭受近期對企業最嚴酷的連篇累牘報導，暴露出臉書手握大權且毫不在乎自己對人們的危害。

But none of it really matters.

但這些統統無關緊要。

One overarching theme of the coverage, prompted by the meting out of tens of thousands of pages of internal documents by the whistleblower and former employee Frances Haugen, is that Facebook’s business priorities trump user privacy and safety. Facebook, Haugen told the Senate last month, knows how to remedy many of its problems “but won’t make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people.”

這些報導依據吹哨人、臉書前員工郝根洩露的數萬頁內部文件而發，最重要主題是臉書讓商業利益凌駕用戶隱私與安全。郝根上月告訴美國聯邦參議院，臉書知道如何修補許多問題，「卻不肯做出必要改變，因為他們把天文數字的利潤看得比民眾重要」。

The Washington Post last week detailed how Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, often overruled researchers’ concerns and suggestions in pursuit of growth. And The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on Haugen’s trove, demonstrated how Facebook continued to pursue younger users despite evidence that Instagram negatively affected the mental health of teenagers and worsened some teen girls’ body image issues.

華盛頓郵報上個月詳細報導，臉書執行長祖克柏經常為了追求公司成長，不顧研究人員的憂慮和建言。率先披露郝根文件的華爾街日報則展示，儘管證據顯示臉書旗下社群軟體Instagram有損青少年心理健康，並使一些青少女對自己體態評價較低的問題惡化，臉書仍持續追求年輕用戶。

The coverage — including documentation that Facebook largely neglected regions outside the United States that are more susceptible to real-world harm from social media posts, among other ills — presents a chilling portrait of a company willing to let its website be overrun by hateful rhetoric, dangerous misinformation and propaganda in pursuit of the almighty buck.

文件還顯示，臉書在很大程度上未能監管美國以外地區，這些地區用戶比美國用戶更容易因為社群媒體貼文，而面臨在真實世界受害等問題。這些報導刻劃出臉書令人心寒的形象，就是為了追求萬能的金錢，寧可讓自家網站充斥仇恨言論、危險的錯誤資訊和宣傳內容。

Facebook, of course, denies this, noting an investment of $13 billion and 40,000 employees “to do one job: keep people safe on Facebook.”

臉書當然否認，說已投入130億美元和4萬名員工「就做一件事：讓人們安全上臉書」。

Why doesn’t this spiraling public relations crisis matter? Facebook simply hasn’t been compelled to change its behavior. If pure profit, rather than safety or the dissemination of correct information, is the company’s goal, it is a roaring success.

這個急遽惡化的公關危機怎會不重要？臉書只是還沒被逼著改變。如果臉書的目標只是獲利，而不是用戶安全或讓正確資訊傳播，那麼臉書已取得巨大成功。

Advertisers are sticking by Zuckerberg. In Facebook’s third quarter, ad sales jumped 33% from the same period the year before, to $28.3 billion, helping push profits up 17% to $9.2 billion.

廣告主一直支持祖克柏。臉書今年第三季廣告營收比去年同期激增33%，達283億美元，使淨利年增17%達92億美元。

Until advertisers start paring back their spending on Facebook, Congress, Haugen and the press are but bumps in the road. Why would Pfizer or Nike walk away? Facebook is where their buyers are, and it’s where Pfizer can ensure that drug marketing will be seen by 40-something rheumatoid arthritis sufferers.

除非廣告主開始大砍臉書廣告費，否則國會、郝根和媒體都只是路上的小顛簸。憑什麼輝瑞和耐吉要離開臉書？臉書是客戶所在地，而且輝瑞可以確定藥品廣告能精準投放給40多歲類風濕性關節炎患者看到。

Facebook has demonstrated it won’t address its systemic problems until forced to do so. Now, it appears, only advertisers can make the status quo unprofitable and unsustainable.

臉書已顯示，除非被逼，否則不會主動解決系統性問題。現在看來，唯有廣告主能使現狀無利可圖且無以為繼。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5870564

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K252: About COVID - 疫情期間降低的出生率或許已經好轉

While there has been a decline in births in the U.S. during the pandemic, a new report released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests the drop may have turned a corner last March as births started rebounding.

儘管美國的出生率在疫情大流行期間一度降低，但美國人口調查與統計局週二發表的一份新報告顯示，出生率的降低問題或許已經好轉，因為3月出生率開始反彈。

"This trend suggests that some people who postponed having babies last year had them this year," said Anne Morse, a Census Bureau demographer in the report.

「這股趨勢意味著，一些去年延後生小孩的人，今年有了寶寶」，美國人口調查與統計局人口學家安妮．摩斯在報告中說。

"The winter decrease in births may have been prompted by couples who consciously chose to delay having children amid the uncertainty of the pandemic. It may also have been influenced by stress or limited physical interaction with a sexual partner."

「冬季出生率降低，或許是由於夫妻在疫情的不確定中，自覺地選擇延後生孩子所造成，或許也受到壓力，或者與性伴侶身體上親密互動受限的影響」。

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Topic: Covid to continue till 2022: WHO世衛：Covid疫情將持續至2022年

The Covid pandemic will "go on for a year longer than it needs to" because poorer countries are not getting the vaccines they need, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

世界衛生組織（WHO）稱，由於貧窮國家無法獲得所需的疫苗，冠狀病毒病（Covid ）大流行將「不可避免地延長1年」。

Dr Bruce Aylward, senior leader at the WHO, said it meant the Covid crisis could "easily drag on deep into 2022".

世衛組織高層領導人布魯斯‧艾爾沃德博士表示，這意味著Covid危機可能「很容易拖延到2022年」。

Less than 5% of Africa’s population have been vaccinated, compared to 40% on most other continents.

非洲只有不到5％人口接種疫苗，其他大多數大陸的比例為40％。

Dr Aylward appealed to wealthy countries to give up their places in the queue for vaccines in order that pharmaceutical companies can prioritise the lowest-income countries instead.

艾爾沃德博士博士呼籲富裕國家放棄他們在疫苗隊列中的位置，讓製藥公司可以優先向最貧窮國家供應疫苗。

The People’s Vaccine - an alliance of charities - has released new figures suggesting just one in seven of the doses promised by pharmaceutical companies and wealthy countries are actually reaching their destinations in poorer countries.

慈善機構聯盟「人民的疫苗」發佈的新數據顯示，製藥公司和富裕國家承諾捐贈的疫苗，只有7分之1真正送達貧困國家的目的地。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1479693 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1482013

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K251: What is COP26 and why does it matter?

COP26 opened yesterday, with more than 120 world leaders gathered in Glasgow, UK. They will depart after a few days, leaving the complex negotiations to their representatives — mainly environment ministers or similarly senior officials. The talks are scheduled to end on Nov. 12.

第二十六屆聯合國氣候變化大會於昨日揭幕，世界一百二十多位領導人現正齊聚英國格拉斯哥與會。他們將於數日後離開，後續複雜的談判則交由其代表進行，主要是環境部長或相關的高級官員。會議訂於十一月十二日結束。

For almost three decades, world governments have met nearly every year to forge a global response to the climate emergency. Under the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), every country on Earth is treaty-bound to “avoid dangerous climate change” and find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally in an equitable way.

近三十年來，世界各國政府幾乎每年都舉行會議，以制定因應氣候緊急狀態的全球措施。根據一九九二年「聯合國氣候變化綱要公約」（UNFCCC），地球上每個國家都受條約約束，以「避免危險的氣候變化」，且各國應以公平的方式設法減少全球的溫室氣體排放。

“COP” stands for “conference of the parties” under the UNFCCC, and the annual meetings have swung between fractious and soporific, interspersed with moments of high drama and the occasional triumph (the Paris agreement in 2015) and disaster (Copenhagen in 2009).

「COP」意為UNFCCC的「締約方會議」。其每年所舉辦的會議，有時劍拔弩張，有時令人昏昏欲睡，偶爾穿插戲劇性的時刻，有時獲致成功（例如二○一五年通過的巴黎協定），有時徹底失敗（如二○○九年在哥本哈根舉行的會議）。

Why do we need a COP — don’t we already have the Paris agreement? Yes — under the landmark Paris agreement, signed in 2015, nations committed to holding global temperature rises to “well below” 2°C above pre-industrial levels, while “pursuing efforts” to limit heating to 1.5°C. Those goals are legally binding and enshrined in the treaty.

為什麼我們需要UNFCCC締約方會議——不是已經有巴黎協定了嗎？是的——根據二○一五年所簽署的具有里程碑意義的巴黎協定，各國承諾將全球暖化控制在「遠低於」工業化前水平的攝氏兩度，同時「繼續努力」將暖化限制在攝氏一點五度以內。這些目標具有法律約束力，且已載入條約。

To meet those goals, countries also agreed on non-binding national targets to cut — known as “nationally determined contributions,” or NDCs. Everyone knew at Paris that the NDCs were inadequate, so the French built into the accord a “ratchet mechanism” by which countries would have to return to the table every five years with fresh commitments.

為了實現這些目標，各國還商定了不具約束力的國家減碳目標—稱為「國家自定貢獻」或NDC。在巴黎商議協定時，大家都知道NDC是不夠的，因此主辦會議的法國在協議中設立了「不倒退機制」，據此，各國必須每五年更新目標，重啟談判。Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/11/01/2003767085

Topic: Why the Philippines Is a Hoops Haven

Go to any street corner in the Philippines. Any village. Any beach. Even a church. You’re likely to see a basketball jersey.

在菲律賓隨便去到哪個街角，哪個村落，哪個海灘，甚至哪個教堂，你應該都會看到籃球衣。

“It’s often described as a religion,” Carlo Roy Singson, managing director of NBA Philippines, said in an interview.

美國國家籃球協會（NBA）菲律賓分會總監辛松受訪時說：「大家常說，籃球就是菲律賓人的宗教。」

Indeed, basketball is ingrained in Filipino culture and has been for more than a century.

The sport’s permeation of a country of about 105 million began in the late 1800s, when Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States in 1898 after the Spanish-American War.

的確，籃球在菲律賓文化扎根已超過一個世紀。 籃球於19世紀末傳入這個目前有一億零五百萬人口的國家，終至遍布每個角落。1898年西班牙在美西戰爭中戰敗，把菲律賓割讓給美國。

A large facet of the introduction of the fledgling game was Christian missionaries, who were part of the YMCA, or Young Men’s Christian Association. The game’s inventor, Dr. James Naismith, conceived of the sport at what was then known as the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.

籃球這個新興運動傳入菲律賓，很大一部分是靠基督教傳教士，這些傳教士是基督教國際社會服務團體「基督教青年會」（YMCA）的成員。籃球發明人奈史密斯博士就是在美國麻州春田市當時名為「國際YMCA訓練學校」的地方，想出籃球這種運動。

To take a round object and throw it into a peach hoop, as Naismith pictured it, could be a character-building endeavor. Soon after he invented it, missionaries began spreading it around the world, particularly in the Far East and the Philippines, in U.S.-controlled areas — a kind of sports imperialism.

奈史密斯設想，拿起一個球形物並將它丟進一個桃木筐，這種努力過程可以培養品格。在他發明籃球後不久，傳教士開始把這種運動傳布到世界各地，尤其是美國控制的遠東地區和菲律賓，算是一種運動殖民。

The NBA and its players, recognizing the sport’s popularity in the Philippines, have invested time there in recent years. In 2013, the Houston Rockets and the Indiana Pacers played a preseason game there. According to a spokesman for the league, the NBA’s Facebook page has 7.3 million followers from the Philippines, the largest of any country outside of the United States.

NBA及其運動員認識到籃球在菲律賓大受歡迎，近年在菲律賓投入許多時間。2013年，休士頓火箭隊和印第安納溜馬隊在菲律賓打了場季前賽。根據NBA發言人的說法，NBA臉書專頁有730萬名粉絲來自菲律賓，菲律賓是美國之外最大的粉絲來源國。

This all began in the early 1900s, when basketball was introduced into schools in the Philippines. In 1913, the first Far Eastern Championship Games — an early version of what is now known as the Asian Games — took place in Manila, featuring several East Asian countries taking part in Olympics-style competitions, including basketball.

這一切全始於20世紀初，當時籃球傳入菲律賓各級學校。1913年，亞洲運動會前身、第一屆遠東運動會在馬尼拉舉行，幾個東亞國家參與奧運式的競賽，包括籃球。

It was the first of 10 biennial events, before disagreements between the countries disbanded the games. The Philippines won gold in nine of them.

遠東運動會兩年一次，總共辦過十次，後來因為各國意見不合而停辦。菲律賓在其中九次贏得籃球金牌。

The country’s population took to the sport en masse. In 1936, its national team made the Olympics and finished fifth. At the 1954 FIBA World Championship, the Philippines won a bronze medal, the best finish for an Asian country.

菲律賓舉國上下都愛上籃球。1936年，菲律賓國家隊打進奧運並拿下第五名。在1954年世界杯男籃錦標賽中，菲律賓贏得銅牌，寫下亞洲國家最佳成績。

Two decades later, in 1975, the Philippine Basketball Association, Asia’s first basketball league, was created. These games kept the sport at the forefront of Filipino culture and helped grow interest throughout the 20th century.

20年後，1975年，菲律賓職業籃球聯賽開打，是亞洲第一個職業籃球聯賽。這些比賽讓籃球處在菲律賓文化的重要位置，並在整個20世紀激發菲律賓人對籃球的興趣。

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/341713/web/#2L-15029994L

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About Philippines - Sinking feeling: Philippine cities facing ’slow-motion disaster’

When Mary Ann San Jose moved to Sitio Pariahan more than two decades ago, she could walk to the local chapel. Today, reaching it requires a swim.

當瑪莉．安．聖荷西20多年前搬到西堤歐帕里翰時，她還能走路到當地的禮拜堂，如今卻得游泳才能到達。

The main culprit is catastrophic subsidence caused by groundwater being pumped out from below, often via unregulated wells for homes, factories, and farms catering to a booming population and growing economy.

主因是抽取地下水造成的災難性地層下陷，通常是經由未受管制的家庭、工廠和農田水井抽取，目的是應付人口暴增及經濟成長所需。

The steady sinking of coastal towns in the northern Philippines has caused Manila Bay’s water to pour inland and displace thousands, posing a greater threat than rising sea levels due to climate change.

菲國北部沿海城鎮持續下陷，讓馬尼拉灣的海水湧向內陸，造成數千人無家可歸，威脅更甚於氣候變遷所引發的海平面上升。

The provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan have sunk between four and six centimeters annually since 2003, according to satellite monitoring. By comparison, the UN estimates average sea level rise globally is about three millimeters per year.

衛星觀測顯示，從2003年起，班巴加省和布拉坎省每年地層下陷達4到6公分。相較之下，聯合國估測，全球海平面平均每年上升約3公釐。

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Topic: Philippines’ Duterte pestered again as gecko stalls speech 菲律賓杜特蒂又被糾纏 因壁虎打斷演說

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte just keeps getting bugged during his public speeches.

菲律賓總統羅德里戈．杜特蒂公開演講時，一直被打擾。

A noisy gecko was the latest wildlife contributor to an address by Duterte, interrupting the leader on Thursday evening just as he launched another tirade at human rights groups critical of his bloody war on drugs.

一隻喋喋不休的壁虎，是供稿給杜特蒂演講的最新野生生物，週四晚間就在他發表另一段長篇大論斥責批評他嗜血反毒戰的人權團體時，打斷這名領袖。

The reptile’s persistence caused laughter in the crowd of mostly soldiers, causing Duterte stop mid-sentence, turn to his left and pause for a while to see what the off-camera commotion was.

這隻爬行動物的堅持不懈，引發以軍人為主的群眾大笑，導致杜特蒂話說一半停了下來，向左轉暫停片刻，看看是什麼造成鏡頭外騷動。

"You brought a gecko here?" he asked an official sitting behind him, drawing laughs.

他問一名坐在他後面的官員，「你把一隻壁虎帶來這邊？」引來笑聲。

While activists accuse Duterte of cowing his opponents into silence, reptiles and insects have no qualms about pestering him during his often hours-long, televised addresses.

雖然社會運動人士指控杜特蒂恐嚇反對者噤聲，但爬行動物和昆蟲對在他往往長達數小時的電視演說加以糾纏一事，毫無不安之意。

A big cockroach crawled up his shoulder and down his shirt during a speech in May when he was lambasting an opposition party ahead of a national election. He joked the cockroach was its supporter.

在5月一場全國大選前的演說上，當他正在痛批一個反對黨時，一隻大蟑螂爬上他的肩膀再爬下襯衫。他打趣說，這隻蟑螂是對方的支持者。

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1321064 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1313926

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Topic: Philippines store rolls out ingenious face masks for bubble tea lovers

珍珠奶茶在國際舞台上幾乎與台灣劃上等號，在台灣時常能看到人手一杯手搖飲。然而礙於疫情，戴著口罩要喝飲料變得麻煩許多，一間菲律賓飲料店為了解決這個問題，最近推出了一款讓人無需脫口罩就能吸到珍奶的超神口罩。

In recent years, bubble tea has become synonymous with Taiwan among members and friends of the foreign community, and many locals can often be seen drinking hand-shaken beverages wherever they go.

With the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent requirements of wearing face masks in crowded areas, however, drinking soft drinks has become a bit of a hassle.

To solve this problem, a beverage store in the Philippines recently released a new line of face masks that you won’t need to take off to enjoy a sip from your favorite drink.

此店Gallontea將口罩命名為「吸吸罩」(Sippy Mask) ，表面看起來與一般布口罩差不多，但是口罩的嘴巴邊卻有一個小開口，上面附著一個蓋子讓喜愛喝珍奶的人可以邊喝邊防疫。

The “Sippy Mask” released by Gallontea looks like an ordinary cloth face mask, but if you look closely, you’ll find that there is a small opening near the mouth, with a small-cap for bubble-tea lovers to enjoy a safe drink.

店家也特別在官網上表示，只要消費有達1,000披索（約新台幣605.56元）就會贈送此口罩。而雖然口罩預購期已於昨日截止，目前也只在菲律賓販售，然而因為銷量不賴，期望未來有機會進軍台灣；不過大家需特別注意，喝完飲料要再將開口關上，才不會白帶口罩。

On their official Instagram page, Gallontea announced that customers can receive a free face mask with a minimum purchase of 1,000 pesos (US$20.59).

Although the pre-order time was only till Aug. 18 and the masks are currently only being sold in the Philippines, with the way it’s selling out, many people have expressed hope that customers will see this ingenious invention on Taiwan racks very soon.

However, users of the face masks should be mindful of closing the opening once they’ve taken a sip from the drinks or else the act of wearing face masks would be rendered useless.

Source article: https://chinapost.nownews.com/20200819-1696789

Dear通勤家族，想要提升英語力，保持朗讀與跟讀習慣不能少！

朗讀可以幫助你熟悉文章與句型以外，還可以點出你不熟悉，掌握不好的單字與句型喔。

還想聽/參與些什麼樣的英文應用相關的主題呢？歡迎來信[email protected]

主題: 短文朗讀挑戰 Read-out-loud challenge

魷魚遊戲

Squid Game is a South Korean survival drama television series on Netflix created by Hwang Dong-hyuk. The series revolves around a contest where 456 players in deep financial debt put their lives at risk to play a series of children's games for the chance to win a ₩45.6 billion prize. Hwang had conceived of the idea based on his own economic struggles early in life as well as the class disparity in South Korea.

《魷魚遊戲》是韓國在 Netflix 上由黃東賢創作的一部生存影集。該影集圍繞一個競賽，由456名深陷財務債務的玩家冒著生命危險玩一系列韓國兒童遊戲，最終為贏得456億美元的獎金。黃的劇本是根據自己的經濟困境以及韓國的階級差距來構思這個劇本的。

007：生死交戰

Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

龐德已經離開情報局，正在牙買加享受寧靜的生活。當他的老朋友、來自中央情報局的費利克斯·萊特來尋求幫助時，他的平靜是短暫的。這個營救被綁架的科學家的任務遠比預想的要危險，導致龐德跟上了一個神秘惡棍帶著危險的新技術的蹤跡。

Source adapted from Wikipedia

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K250: Exclusive ‘cafe’ opens 3,858m above sea level on Yushan’s north peak

Situated 3,858m above sea level, the Central Weather Bureau’s Yushan Weather Station has the twin distinctions of being the highest weather station in northeast Asia and the highest-altitude building in Taiwan. A hiker who recently climbed the north peak was both astonished and delighted to discover a small cafe called “3,858 Cafe” inside the weather station. After making enquiries, the hiker discovered that it was built from discarded materials by workers at the station.

位於海拔三千八百五十八公尺的中央氣象局玉山氣象站，不但是東北亞最高的氣象站，也是全台海拔最高的建築物，最近山友攀登至此，赫見氣象站內竟有一座「3858咖啡吧」，莫不覺得又驚又喜，進一步探詢，始知是氣象站工作人員利用廢棄材料打造而成的。

Yushan Weather Station was constructed 78 years ago, in 1943. After the 921 Earthquake struck the nation on Sept. 21, 1999, major advanced earthquake detection equipment began to be installed at the station, followed by the installation of a satellite Internet connection, which greatly improved the problem of interrupted telecommunications signals to the station. In addition to monitoring alpine weather and providing real-time, accurate weather-related data, the station is also responsible for assisting with air search and rescue by providing cloud cover, visibility and other meteorological data.

玉山氣象站建於西元一九四三年，迄今已有七十八年歷史，一九九九年九二一大地震後，開始裝設高科技強震儀，之後又架設衛星網路，大幅改善訊號中斷問題，除了監測高山氣象並提供即時、準確的氣象相關資料以外，也肩負協助空難救援時的雲量及能見度等資訊。

An observer surnamed Hsieh who has worked at the station for more than two decades says that the harsh alpine climate, along with scarce water and a limited electricity supply, has imbued a spirit of “taking hardship in one’s stride” in fellow employees, and an ethos of persevering in the job. Hsieh says that wooden crates used to transport the electricity generators and large batteries required by the station, once dismantled, cannot be disposed of willy-nilly. They therefore got creative and pieced together the discarded materials to create a simple cafe, which has become a little paradise for colleagues when taking a break during gaps in their work, says Hsieh. An occasional cup of coffee accompanied by a cookie helps workers at the station to stay fresh and stave off hunger, while the improvised cafe not only helps to relieve stress, but has also eliminated the bother of lugging large pieces of waste material down the mountain, adds Hsieh.

在氣象站工作二十多年的謝姓觀測員表示，高山氣候嚴寒，且缺水又缺電，但站內同仁都秉持「吃苦當作吃補」的精神，堅守崗位，惟因氣象站所須的發電機、大型電池等木製包裝拆卸後，又不能隨意亂丟，同仁遂發揮創意，將廢棄材料東拼西湊打造出簡易的「咖啡吧」，也成為彼此工作空檔休息的小樂園，時不時喝個咖啡提神或吃個餅乾充飢，不但可達到紓壓效果，也免去大型廢棄物搬運下山處理的困擾。

Cafe 3,858 was completed a little over a month ago, and news of its existence quickly spread by word of mouth among Taiwan’s hiking community. It soon became an unusual photo op and social media “check in” location for hikers climbing Yushan’s north peak. With increasing numbers of hikers attracted to visit the cafe, staff at the weather station have announced that the high-altitude cafe is not open to the public. Use of the cafe is reserved for employees on account of the large amount of meteorological equipment installed at the station, and to provide a brief moment of bliss during their grueling sojourns at the isolated outpost. Staff say they hope that hikers will abide by the rule of “entry by invitation only” to avoid impacting on their work and to maintain cordial relations.

在此前提下，氣象站人員配合海拔高度將咖啡吧取名叫作「3858咖啡吧」，完工迄今已一個多月，也意外成為山友拍照、打卡的熱點，且口耳相傳下，有愈來愈多的山友慕名而來，因此，氣象站人員特別聲明，站內有諸多氣象監測相關設施，此高山咖啡吧只提供氣象站員工本身「苦中作樂」的小確幸，並不對外營業，也希望山友能遵守「非請勿入」原則，避免影響氣象工作及和氣。Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/11/07/2003767434