通勤學英語 15Mins Today

Vocabulary and Sample Sentences:

Popular adj. – liked, admired, or enjoyed by many people

• The new song by Billie Eilish is very popular amongst millennials.

• Research found that teenagers who drink more than three soft drinks per day were 55 percent more likely to report sleep disturbance than those who only drink one cup per day.

• People of all ages should watch their daily calorie consumption.

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K084: Dutch inventor of audio cassette dies at age 94

Lou Ottens, the Dutch inventor of the cassette tape, died on March 6 at age 94, Philips said.

飛利浦公司表示，卡式磁帶發明人、荷蘭籍的路‧歐騰斯，已於三月六日辭世，享壽九十四歲。

A structural engineer who trained at the prestigious Technical University in Delft, the Netherlands, he joined Philips in 1952 and was head of the Dutch company’s product development department when he began work on an alternative for existing tape recorders with their cumbersome large spools of tape.

歐騰斯為一名結構工程師，出身著名的荷蘭台夫特理工大學，於一九五二年進入荷蘭飛利浦公司。他在飛利浦擔任產品開發部門主管時，開始研發一種新產品，以代替當時使用大而笨重磁帶捲的錄音機。

His goal was simple — make tapes and their players far more portable and easier to use.

他的目標很簡單，那就是把磁帶及其播放器變得更輕巧、更容易使用。

“During the development of the cassette tape, in the early 1960s, he had a wooden block made that fit exactly in his coat pocket,” said Olga Coolen, director of the Philips Museum in the southern Netherlands city of Eindhoven. “This was how big the first compact cassette was to be, making it a lot handier than the bulky tape recorders in use at the time.” The final product created in 1962 later turned into a worldwide hit, with more than 100 billion cassettes sold, many to music fans who would record their own compilations direct from the radio. Its popularity waned with the development of the compact disc, an invention Ottens also helped create as supervisor of a development team, Philips said.

飛利浦博物館館長歐哈‧庫倫表示，「一九六○年代初，在他開發卡式磁帶期間，他做了一個木塊，大小正好可以放進他的大衣口袋」。飛利浦博物館位於荷蘭南部城市安荷芬。「這就是第一個小型卡帶的大小，比當時所使用的笨重錄音機要靈巧得多」。卡式錄音帶於一九六二年開發完成，後來風靡全球，售出逾一千億個，其中許多是賣給樂迷，讓他們可以從收音機直接把音樂錄下來，自製成合輯。飛利浦表示，隨著CD的發展，錄音帶便沒落了。歐騰斯亦為發明CD的開發團隊主管。

The cassette tape’s success stemmed from its simplicity, Ottens said in an interview published by the Philips Museum.

歐騰斯在飛利浦博物館一次採訪中說，卡式磁帶的成功在於其簡單性。

“It was a breakthrough because it was foolproof,” he said, adding that players and recorders could also run on batteries, making them very user-friendly and, ultimately, portable.

他表示：「因為它防呆，所以這是個突破」，並補充道，播放器和錄音機也可以用電池供電，這就讓它非常人性化，終究也讓它便於攜帶。

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/03/22/2003754237

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.K084: Is Remote Work Making Us Paranoid?

The number of people working remotely has skyrocketed since January 2020, with approximately half the U.S. labor force working from home in the early days of the pandemic. Those workers tend to be more educated and wealthier than workers whose jobs cannot be performed remotely, and low-wage workers have been much more likely to lose their jobs during the pandemic.

2020年1月起，遠距工作人數大增，新冠疫情初起時，美國約有半數勞工在家上班，這些勞工論教育程度和財力，往往勝過那些受限於職業性質不能遠距工作的人，而且低薪勞工在疫情期間失業的可能性也大得多。

While some have returned to the office since last spring, a significant number have not. Many estimates of how many office workers projected to work permanently at home, post-pandemic, range from 20% to 30%, up from under 10% before the coronavirus.

儘管去年春天起部分勞工回到職場，卻仍有相當多勞工尚未。疫情過後永久在家工作上班族所占比率，據各種估計從20%到30%不等，比疫情前的不到10%要多。

But millions more Americans communicating completely virtually with their co-workers does not mean our emotional office dynamics have caught up yet to our new videoconference world. Many are feeling a spectrum of new anxieties about their interactions with colleagues.

不過，完全在線上與同事溝通的美國人多了幾百萬，並不表示我們情感上的辦公室動力學已經跟上我們新的視訊會議世界。許多人在與同事線上互動時，感受到各種不同層次的新焦慮。

Employees are asking themselves questions like: Is that Slack message unanswered because I’m getting fired, or because my boss is dealing with remote schooling her kid? Did that joke land flat on that video call because it was a bad joke, or am I falling out of favor?

員工紛紛自問諸如以下的問題：即時通訊軟體Slack上的訊息沒人回，是因為我要被炒魷魚了，還是因為主管正忙著陪她的小孩看線上課程？我在視訊通話時講笑話沒人笑，是因為笑話太冷，還是大家不再喜歡我了？

Past research on the topic of organizational and social paranoia shows that working from home may exacerbate uncertainty about status, which can lead to over-processing information and rumination, said Roderick Kramer, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

美國史丹福大學商學研究所組織行為教授克瑞默說，先前針對組織與社交多慮現象的研究顯示，在家工作可能使關於自身地位的不確定感加重，這可能導致對資訊過度解讀和負面反芻思考。

Remote work can contribute to “feeling out of the loop, because you’re missing the kinds of ad hoc conversations that tend to reassure us we’re in good standing,” Kramer said.

克瑞默說，遠距工作可能激起「不屬於圈內的感覺，因為你沒辦法與人臨場對話，這種對話通常能讓我們確定處於好的地位」。

So-called organizational paranoia isn’t always irrational. And there’s even a term for that kind of sensible hypervigilance: prudent paranoia. “Part of paranoia is about self-presentational issues,” Kramer said. And it’s not just in our heads that we are being judged for how we look, and how our homes look, on video chats.

所謂的組織多慮現象並不總是非理性的，甚至有個名詞描述這種合理的過度警覺，叫「明智的多慮」。克瑞默說：「多慮一部分跟自我呈現有關。」別人會在視訊對話時用我們的外表和居家環境來評斷我們，並不只是我們想得太多 。

Jane Marie, 42, who is the owner of the podcast production company Little Everywhere and is a single mother, said she’s worried that she is losing out on business opportunities because of how she comes off on video calls. “I wear the straight bangs across short bob that only eccentric gallery owners in movies have,” she said. “I always worry if I’m meeting new people remotely on Zoom, I won’t get my serious side across — already being a woman is the worst for that.”

42歲的珍．馬力是播客製作公司「小各地」負責人，也是單親媽，她擔心因為在視訊通話時呈現的外表而失去生意機會，「我留直瀏海配鮑伯頭，只有電影中怪怪的畫廊老闆才會留的髮型，我擔心如果這樣在Zoom上遠距會見陌生人，對方會看不到我正經的一面，身為女人已經是最糟糕的了」。

Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5238124

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.K083: About Japan - Dedicated lane signs unveiled for Games

With the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics on the horizon, authorities are fine-tuning road signs to ensure that athletes, coaches, VIPs and other key individuals get to and from venues swiftly.

隨著東京奧運與帕運開幕在即，（日本）當局正微調道路標誌，以確保運動員、教練、貴賓與其他重要人士，能迅速往返各賽事場館。

The National Police Agency unveiled proposed traffic signs to be installed on roads and road surfaces on Games-related routes in Tokyo and Chiba’s Mihama Ward.

警察廳楬櫫了提議要設置在東京以及千葉縣美濱區的奧運相關道路與路面的交通標誌。

Only vehicles transporting athletes, equipment, food or beverages, Games-related individuals and media will be allowed to use roads with "dedicated lane" signs, on three sections covering about 4.3 kilometers.

只有載送運動員、設備、食物或飲料、奧運相關人士以及媒體的車輛，獲准使用在3個區間、總長約4.3公里、寫有「專用線道」標誌的道路。

Seven "priority lane" sections covering about 19.8 km can be used by all motorists. However, ordinary motorists will be required to give way to vehicles with stickers designating priority status by switching into a normal lane.

7區間、總長約19.8公里的「優先線道」，則是所有駕駛人都能使用。但若遇到貼有優先貼紙的車輛時，一般駕駛人就必須讓道，改用一般線道。

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Cartoon dog pitches COVID vaccines to skeptical Japanese public 漫畫狗向心有疑慮的日本大眾推銷武漢肺炎疫苗

As Japan gears up for a COVID-19 vaccination drive, a cartoon dog chatbot is doing its bit to reassure a vaccine-skeptical population and answer any questions they might have.

隨著日本準備施打武漢肺炎疫苗，一個以漫畫狗為造型的聊天機器人，也將盡一份自己的心力，讓對疫苗心有疑慮的民眾安心，以及解答民眾的任何問題。

The dog, a Shiba-inu known as Corowa-kun － from the Japanese words for "coronavirus" and "vaccine" － wears a white doctor’s coat and the app named for him gives automated answers to medical questions.

這隻名叫「Corowa君」—此名稱由日文的「新冠病毒」與「疫苗」組成—的柴犬身穿醫師白袍，以他命名的app會對醫療問題提供自動化回覆。

Trust in vaccines in Japan is among the lowest in the world, a study by the Lancet medical journal showed. Only half the population want to take a COVID-19 vaccine, a poll by national broadcaster NHK found last month.

醫學期刊《刺胳針》的一項研究顯示，日本對疫苗的信賴排名全球後段班；日本放送協會上月的一份調查發現，只有半數民眾想打武漢肺炎疫苗。

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1410929 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1433585

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.K082: About Central Asia - Turkmenistan erects giant gilded dog monument

A huge gilded statue of a dog has been unveiled on a busy traffic circle in the capital of Turkmenistan by the country’s longtime leader, who has also written an ode to the local breed and gifted one to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

一座巨大的鍍金狗雕塑在土庫曼首都一處交通繁忙的圓環由該國長年領導者揭幕，他曾為這個當地品種寫頌歌，並送了一頭給俄羅斯總統佛拉迪米爾．普廷。

The statue, with a screen showing Turkmenistan’s beloved Alabai dogs in action wrapped around the pedestal, joins another on a different major junction, also coated in gold, of President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov himself, seated on a horse.

這座雕像的底座上包覆著螢幕，顯示土庫曼熱愛的阿拉拜犬的活動，加入另一處重要路口一樣是鍍金的另一座雕塑陣容，後者是總統庫爾班古力．別爾德穆哈梅多夫本人坐在一匹馬上。

Dogs and horses are sources of national pride in the isolated desert nation, where they are widely used by the many traditional herders among the population of six million.

狗和馬是這個與世隔絕的沙漠國家的民族自豪感來源，牠們被600萬人口中許多傳統牧民廣泛使用。

The large, stocky breed is known as wolf crusher for its prowess in guarding sheep and goats and is also used to guard homes and for dog fights, a popular entertainment in Turkmenistan.

這種體型龐大、結實的犬種因牠保衛綿羊和山羊的高超本領，被稱為碎狼機，也被用在保護住家及土庫曼流行的鬥犬娛樂中。

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Kazakhstan abolishes death penalty 哈薩克廢除死刑

Kazakhstan abolished the death penalty, making permanent a nearly two-decade freeze on capital punishment in the authoritarian Central Asian country, a notice on the presidential website said Saturday.

週六在哈薩克總統府網站的一份公告說，該國廢除了死刑，使得在這個中亞專制國家被凍結執行將近20年的極刑正式告終。

The notice said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had signed off on parliamentary ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights － a document that commits signatories to the abolition of capital punishment.

公告說，總統托卡耶夫已經簽署國會認可的「公民權利及政治權利國際公約第二任擇議定書」，這是讓締約國承諾廢除死刑的文件。

Executions were paused in Kazakhstan from 2003 but courts continued to sentence convicts to death in exceptional circumstances, including for crimes deemed acts of terror.

哈薩克自2003年起暫停執行死刑，但是法院仍繼續對特殊案例做出死刑判決，包括犯下恐怖主義罪行。

Ruslan Kulekbayev was among the convicts set to be executed if the moratorium were lifted. Kulekbayev will now serve a life sentence in jail instead.

若暫停死刑令解除，將被處決的受刑人中包括庫勒巴耶夫。現在，庫勒巴耶夫將改服終身監禁。

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1414082 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1429590

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KKBox 2020年十大Podcast風雲榜 (唯一語言學習Podcast)

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.K081: Taiwan Pokémon-themed convenience store wins praise from overseas fans

全台唯一7-11「寶可夢主題店」在1月底於板橋府中正式開幕。 主題店由日本寶可夢公司親自操刀設計，一開幕就吸引大批寶可夢迷前往朝聖，除了吸引國內媒體粉絲關注外，新加坡媒體也特別報導寶可夢門市。

The only 7-Eleven “Pokemon-themed Store” in Taiwan was officially opened in Banqiao District, New Taipei City, at the end of January. The store, designed by the Japanese Pokémon company, has attracted many Pokémon fans since its opening. In addition to domestic fans, Singaporean media also reported on the Pokémon store.

新加坡媒體mothership於2月1日報導，位在府中捷運站附近的7-11「寶可夢門市」除了販售一般商品外，還有販售寶可夢相關商品。

The Singapore-based media “Mothership” reported on Feb. 1 that the 7-11 “Pokemon Store” located near the Fuzhong Station sells general merchandise and Pokemon related goods.

報導指出，當你來到店門口外，就會看到梁柱上印有皮卡丘、噴火龍、拉普拉斯圖案，歡迎你的蒞臨。

According to the article, Gigantamax versions of Pikachu, Charizard, and Lapras on the entrance pillars will welcome customers who visit the store.

設計團隊將店面打造成「寶可夢道館」，顧客到此還能玩寶可夢卡牌遊戲。

The design team turned the store into a “Pokémon Gym” where customers can also play Pokémon trading card game.

報導指出，牆面上印有808隻寶可夢，其中包含各代經典角色；就連店內椅子上也印有各種「寶貝球」，包括超級球、掌門球、高級球、精靈球。

808 Pokémon are printed on the wall, including the classic characters of each generation, the report said, adding that even the chairs in the store feature various “balls” printed on them, including standard Poké Ball, the Great Ball, the Ultra Ball and the Master Ball.

內文提到，主題店面甚至還設有最熱門的角色扮演機台遊戲Pokémon Ga-Olé及Switch機台，供顧客暢玩。

Among other highlights, the theme store even offers the most popular console game, “Pokémon Ga-Olé” and a Switch console for customers to play.

更值得一提的是，店內有賣Switch的實體機與遊戲片。當然，店內也有販售寶可夢相關商品，包括娃娃、包包、文具用品等等。

What’s more? The store sells Nintendo Switch consoles and the Pokémon games. Also, various Pokémon merchandises are found in the store, including stuffed toys, bags, and stationery.

媒體報導提到，這不是台灣超商首次開設特色主題店面。日前，台北史努比特色店開幕也引發不少話題，主題店面內部處處看得到史努比漫畫相關人物，陳列販售周邊商品。

The report noted that this is not the first time that Taiwan’s convenience stores have opened special theme stores. Previously, a Snoopy-themed store opened in Taipei, attracting much attention. The store, which is filled with Snoopy characters, sells Snoopy merchandise.

Source article: https://chinapost.nownews.com/20210202-2079634

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Topic: Dark hair was common among Vikings, genetic study confirms

They may have had a reputation for trade, braids and fearsome raids, but the Vikings were far from a single group of flaxen-haired, sea-faring Scandinavians. A genetic study of Viking-age human remains has not only confirmed that Vikings from different parts of Scandinavia set sail for different parts of the world, but has revealed that dark hair was more common among Vikings than Danes today.

維京人或許以貿易、髮辮，以及讓人聞風喪膽的燒殺擄掠聞名，但是他們並非全部來自單一群體，不只是一群亞麻色頭髮、經年航海的斯堪地那維亞人。近日一項維京時代人類遺骸的基因研究，證實維京人從斯堪地那維亞半島的不同地區揚帆航向世界各地，更透露維京人頭髮多為深色，跟今日的丹麥人相比更為普遍。

What’s more, while some were born Vikings, others adopted the culture — or perhaps had it thrust upon them. “Vikings were not restricted to blond Scandinavians,” said Eske Willerslev, a co-author of the research from the University of Cambridge and the University of Copenhagen.

更重要的是，儘管有些北歐人天生就是維京人，其他族群也會吸收維京文化──或是可能被迫接受。該研究由英國劍橋大學和丹麥哥本哈根大學合作，共同作者之一艾斯克‧威勒斯列夫指出：「維京人並非僅限於金髮碧眼的斯堪地那維亞人。」

Writing in the journal Nature, Willerslev and colleagues report how they sequenced the genomes of 442 humans who lived across Europe between about 2,400BC and 1,600AD, with the majority from the Viking age — a period that stretched from around 750AD to 1050AD. The study also drew on existing data from more than 1,000 ancient individuals from non-Viking times, and 3,855 people living today.

在這篇刊登於《自然》期刊的研究中，威勒斯列夫和他的同事闡述他們如何定序四百四十二人的基因體。這些研究對象來自歐洲各地，大約生活在西元前兩千四百年到西元一千六百年間，其中大多數人屬於維京時代──也就是橫跨西元七百五十年到一千零五十年之間的時期。該研究也運用現有的基因資料，其中包括超過一千名並非生活在維京時代的古老人類，以及三千八百五十五名現代人。

Among their results the team found that from the iron age, southern European genes entered Denmark and then spread north, while — to a lesser extent — genes from Asia entered Sweden. “Vikings are, genetically, not purely Scandinavian,” said Willerslev. However, the team found Viking age Scandinavians were not a uniform population, but clustered into three main groups — a finding that suggests Vikings from different parts of Scandinavia did not mix very much.

在他們的研究結果中，團隊發現南歐的基因在鐵器時代進入丹麥，而後往北傳播，也有少部分來自亞洲的基因進入瑞典。威勒斯列夫指出：「維京人，從基因上來說，並非純然是斯堪地那維亞人。」另外，團隊發現維京時代的斯堪地那維亞人並非種族齊一的人口，而是由三個主要族群組成──這項發現顯示：來自斯堪地那維亞不同地區的維京人並未充分融合。

The team found these groups roughly map on to present-day Scandinavian countries, although Vikings from south-west Sweden were genetically similar to their peers in Denmark. Genetic diversity was greatest in coastal regions. Further analysis confirmed the long-standing view that most Vikings in England came from Denmark, as reflected in place names and historical records, while the Baltic region was dominated by Swedish Vikings, and Vikings from Norway ventured to Ireland, Iceland, Greenland and the Isle of Man.

團隊表示，這些族群的分布範圍大約和今日的北歐三國疆界疊合，不過瑞典西南部的維京人在基因上和丹麥維京人較為相近。基因多樣性則在沿岸地區最為顯著。進一步的分析更證實一項存在已久的學界看法：英國大多數的維京人來自丹麥，正如同地名和歷史紀錄反映出的情況，而巴爾幹地區是由瑞典維京人統治，至於挪威的維京人則冒險前往愛爾蘭、冰島、格陵蘭以及今日的英屬曼島。

However, the team says remains from Russia revealed some Vikings from Denmark also travelled east. The study also revealed raids were likely a local affair: the team found four brothers and another relative died in Salme, Estonia, in about 750AD, in what is thought could have been a raid, with others in the party likely to have been from the same part of Sweden.

不過，團隊指出，來自俄國的遺骸顯示，丹麥的維京人也曾往東方旅行。研究也透露維京人的劫掠可能只是「地方事件」：團隊發現，有四名兄弟和一名親戚，大約在西元七百五十年死於愛沙尼亞的薩爾梅，看起來是一場劫掠的結果，其他參與者可能也來自瑞典的同一個地區。

In addition, the team found two individuals from Orkney, who were buried with Viking swords, had no Scandinavian genetic ancestry. “[Being a Viking] is not a pure ethnic phenomenon, it is a lifestyle that you can adopt whether you are non-Scandinavian or Scandinavian,” said Willerslev, adding that genetic influences from abroad both before and during the Viking age might help explain why genetic variants for dark hair were relatively common among Vikings.

此外，團隊還發現兩名奧克尼群島的個體，遺骸旁有維京劍陪葬，但是這兩人沒有斯堪地那維亞的基因世系。「（身為維京人）並不是單純的人種學現象，無論你是不是斯堪地那維亞人，都可以採取這種生活方式，」威勒斯列夫補充表示，來自國外、在維京時代之前，以及該時代期間的基因影響，也許可以解釋為什麼深色頭髮的基因變異在維京人當中相對普遍。

Steve Ashby, an expert in Viking-age archaeology from the University of York, said the study confirmed what had been suspected about movement and trade in the Viking age, but also brought fresh detail. “The evidence for gene flow with southern Europe and Asia is striking, and sits well with recent research that argues for large-scale connectivity in this period,” he said. “[The study] also provides new information about levels of contact and isolation within Scandinavia itself, and offers an interesting insight into the composition of raiding parties.”

英國約克大學的維京時代考古學專家史蒂夫‧阿什比指出，這項研究證實了先前科學家對於維京時代遷徙和貿易活動的猜測，並且帶來新的細節。「（維京人與）南歐以及亞洲基因流動的證據相當驚人，也吻合近年研究主張這段時期大規模的人類交流情況。」阿什比表示：「（這項研究）傳達新的資訊，透露斯堪地那維亞半島內部交流和隔離的程度，並且提供有趣的見解，讓我們一窺強盜集團的組成。」

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/09/27/2003744127

Next Article

Topic: In Norway, Electric and Hybrid Cars Outsell Conventional Models

Sales of electric and hybrid cars in Norway outpaced those running on fossil fuels last year, cementing the country’s position as a global leader in the push to restrict vehicle emissions.

Norway, a major oil exporter, would seem an unlikely champion of newer, cleaner-running vehicles. But the country offers generous incentives that make electric cars cheaper to buy, and provides additional benefits once the vehicles are on the road.

去年，挪威的電動車和油電混合車的銷量超越使用化石燃料的汽車，奠定了挪威推動車輛減排全球領導者的地位。

挪威是個石油出口大國，似乎不太會是更新型態、更乾淨車輛的倡導國。然而挪威卻提供大方的獎勵，讓消費者購買電動車時價格更親民，車輛一旦上路，還有額外的好康。

Countries around the world have ramped up their promotion of hybrid and electric cars. As China tries to improve air quality and dominate new vehicle technology, the government there wants 1 in 5 cars sold to run on alternative fuels by 2025. France and Britain plan to end the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars by 2040.

Norway is ahead of the rest of the world. About 52 percent of the new cars sold in the country last year ran on new forms of fuel, according the data released by Norway’s Road Traffic Advisory Board, OFV. The share of diesel cars, which were once considered more environmentally friendly but are now in the spotlight for their noxious emissions, fell sharply.

世界各國紛紛對電動車和油電車的推廣加大力度。在中國試圖改善空氣品質，主宰新型車輛技術之際，政府希望2025年前當地售出的汽車有五分之一使用替代燃料。法國和英國計畫在2040年前停售汽、柴油車輛。

挪威目前在世上居於最領先地位。根據挪威道路交通諮詢委員會（OFV）發布的資料，去年該國銷售的新車，約52％使用新型燃料。柴油車的占比劇降。柴油車一度被認為更環保，如今卻因排放有害氣體而成眾矢之的。

“This trend will only increase,” Oyvind Solberg Thorsen, OFV’s director, said in a statement. “This is good for both road safety and the environment.”

Although electric vehicles make up just a small portion of the global market now, automakers — including those, like Tesla, that produce only electric models, and giants like Volkswagen — have bet billions of dollars that such vehicles will soon be as cheap and ubiquitous as conventional cars. Investments in charging stations and other technology connected to electric vehicles are also increasing.

OFV執行長歐文德．梭伯格．索爾森發表聲明說：「這種趨勢只會加快。這對道路安全和環境有好處。」

儘管電動車現今僅占全球市場的一小部分，汽車製造商─包括像特斯拉那種只生產電動車的，以及像福斯汽車這樣的巨擘，都已在這種汽車賭上數十億美元，認為它很快就會和傳統汽車一樣便宜以及無所不在。和電動車相關的充電站以及其他技術的投資也日益增多。

General Motors and Ford Motor have said they will shift their focus to electric models, while carmakers like Volvo have moved to phase out the internal combustion engine entirely. Joining the fray are entrepreneurs like James Dyson who have their own plans to build electric vehicles.

As the market grows, makers of electric cars are facing difficulties. Tesla has lagged in its production of the Model 3, its first mass-market offering. And a slump in overall car sales in the United States could put a crimp in the expansion of electric vehicles.

Norway, which wants to phase out diesel and gasoline cars by 2025, offers a counterexample.

The country’s embrace of electric cars has been hastened by hefty government subsidies and tax breaks that make the technology more affordable.

通用汽車和福特汽車都已表示，他們將把重點轉向電動車，而像富豪汽車這些汽車製造商則開始逐步徹底淘汰內燃機汽車。加入戰局的還有像詹姆斯．戴森這樣的企業家，他們也各有打造電動車的計畫。

隨市場增長，電動車製造商也面臨困境。特斯拉的第一個大眾市場車款特斯拉三型電動車的生產進度落後。美國整體汽車銷量下滑，也可能成為電動車擴張的一道障礙。 冀望2025年前逐步淘汰柴油和汽油車的挪威，則是一個反例。

這個國家擁抱電動車的速度，因政府提供大量補貼和減稅而加快，政府的政策讓這項技術變得更買得起。

Source:https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/323758/web/

Next Article

Topic: Babies wanted: Nordic countries crying for kids

"Norway needs more children! I don’t think I need to tell anyone how this is done," Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg said cheekily, but she was raising a real concern.

「挪威需要更多小孩！我想我不用告訴所有人該怎麼做吧？」儘管挪威總理索柏格語帶戲謔，卻點出嚴重的問題。

The Nordic countries were long a bastion of strong fertility rates on an Old Continent that is rapidly getting older. But they are now experiencing a decline that threatens their welfare model, which is funded by taxpayers.

在快速高齡化的「舊大陸」（歐洲），北歐國家向來是高生育率的堡壘，但如今也面臨生育率下滑的問題，對透過全民納稅來維繫的社會福利制度構成威脅。

In Norway, Finland and Iceland, birth rates dropped to historic lows in 2017, with 1.49 to 1.71 children born per woman. Just a few years earlier, their birth rates hovered close to the 2.1 level required for their populations to remain stable.

在挪威、芬蘭及冰島，生育率在2017年降至歷史新低，平均每位女性生育1.49至1.71名兒女。再早幾年，這三國的生育率還徘徊在接近維持人口穩定所需的2.1人。

The Nordic region boasts a wealth of family-friendly initiatives, such as flexible working hours, a vast network of affordable daycares and generous parental leave systems.

北歐地區以擁有充裕的家庭友善計畫而自豪，像是彈性工時、範圍廣泛且索價低廉的日間照護網絡，以及慷慨的育嬰假機制。

When all that is still not enough to encourage people to have more children, immigration can be a lifeline － or a threat, depending on the point of view.

要是這些仍不足以鼓勵民眾多多生養小孩，移民可以是一線生機，但也可能是威脅，端看以什麼觀點視之。

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1285655

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Summary

The Pestalozzi Foundation Kindergarten is the coolest kindergarten in the world. The kindergarten is situated within the FC St.Pauli’s soccer stadium. The idea came a few year ago, when the football club was renovating its stadium and they realized they had extra space to spare. The St Pauli quarter in Hamburg is a traditionally working-class area that is facing an aging community. Therefore, having the kindergarten in the stadium to serve the community helped the football club to maintain its root in the community.

原跟讀文章: https://www.15mins.today/blog/ep-k028-welcome-to-the-world-s-coolest-kindergarten

Vocabulary and Sample Sentences:

Preschool n. / Kindergarten n. – nursery schools for kids ages 2-4 ; Kindergarten runs from 3-5

• When Joey becomes 3, I will send him to kindergarten in our neighbourhood.

Vantage point n. – a place or position with a good view

• On match days, parents clamor to reserve a spot to watch from the prime vantage point of the kindergarten’s deck.

Perks n. – benefits or advantages

• If your child attends Pestalozzi Foundation Kindergarten, your perks are to watch the football games for free on match days.

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通勤學英語15mins.Today榮獲

• Apple Podcast 2020年十大熱門節目

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.K080: Unilever to remove ‘normal’ from beauty products packaging

Consumer goods conglomerate Unilever said Tuesday last week that it will no longer use the word “normal” to advertise and package its beauty and personal care products and that it will ban excessive photoshopping of models as part of its inclusivity policy. The company, which owns skincare brands like Dove and Simple and haircare brands like TreSemme and TIGI, said the word “normal” will be removed from the packaging of at least 200 products within a year.

消費品集團「聯合利華」（Unilever）上週二表示，其美妝與身體清潔產品之廣告及包裝，將不再使用「正常」一詞，亦將禁止對模特兒照片進行過多的修圖，以貫徹該公司之包容性政策。聯合利華旗下有「多芬」（Dove）與「清妍」（Simple）等護膚品牌，以及TreSemme與TIGI等護髮品牌。該公司表示，將在一年內，把旗下至少兩百種產品包裝上的「正常」一詞刪除。

It also said it will increase the number of advertisements featuring people from diverse groups, and that it will not “digitally alter a person’s body shape, size, proportion or skin color” in its brand advertising. Many skincare and hair products use phrases such as “for normal skin” or “normal hair,” and Unilever says its global research suggests that using “normal” as a descriptor “makes most people feel excluded.” Sunny Jain, who leads Unilever’s beauty and personal care division, said the company wanted to tackle “harmful norms and stereotypes” and shape a “far more inclusive definition of beauty.” “We know that removing ‘normal’ from our products and packaging will not fix the problem alone, but it is an important step forward,” Jain said in a statement.

該公司並表示，將在廣告中呈現較多樣的族群，且不會「在其品牌的廣告中，以數位方式改變人的身體形狀、大小、比例或膚色」。許多護膚品和護髮產品使用「正常膚質適用」、「正常髮質適用」這類詞彙，聯合利華表示，該公司在全球所做的研究顯示，使用「正常」一詞作為描述語，「會使大多數人感到被排斥」。聯合利華美妝與身體清潔產品部門主管桑尼‧詹恩表示，該公司希望去除「有害的標準與刻板印象」，並塑造「對『美』更具包容性的定義」。「我們知道，光是把我們產品和包裝上的『正常』字樣去除，並不會解決此問題，但這是向前邁進的重要一步」，詹恩在一份聲明中說道。

The company renamed its skin-lightening brand in India last year from Fair & Lovely to Glow & Lovely after facing anger from customers who said Unilever was perpetuating negative stereotypes about darker skin tones.

聯合利華在印度的亮膚品牌Fair&Lovely（白晰可人）激起了消費者的憤怒，說這讓深膚色的負面刻板印象更加根深蒂固，去年該公司便將之改名為Glow&Lovely（煥采可人）。

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/03/15/2003753829

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.K079: About Middle East -Egypt unearths ’world’s oldest’ mass-production brewery

A high-production brewery believed to be more than 5,000 years old has been uncovered by a team of archaeologists at a funerary site in southern Egypt, the tourism ministry said Saturday.

埃及旅遊部週六表示，一支考古團隊在埃及南部一處墓地發現一座據信有5000多年歷史、生產規模龐大的啤酒廠。

The site containing several "units" consisting of about 40 earthenware pots arranged in two rows was uncovered at North Abydos, Sohag, by a joint Egyptian-American team, the ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page.

該部在「臉書」專頁發表聲明說，埃及與美國的聯合考古團隊在索哈省北阿拜多斯遺址發現好幾個釀酒「單位」，各由約40個排成2排的陶甕組成。

The brewery likely dates back to the era of King Narmer, it quoted the secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziry, as saying, adding it believed the find to "be the oldest high-production brewery in the world."

聲明引述埃及古蹟最高委員會秘書長瓦奇瑞表示，這座啤酒廠的年代很可能追溯至納爾邁國王時期，因此據信為「世上最古老的高產量啤酒廠」。

Narmer, who ruled more than 5,000 years ago, founded the First Dynasty and unified Upper and Lower Egypt.

納爾邁統治時期距今5000多年，他創立第一王朝，統一上下埃及。

British archaeologists first discovered the existence of the brewery at the beginning of the 20th century but its location was never precisely determined, the statement said.

聲明指出，英國考古學家在20世紀初期率先發現這座啤酒廠的存在，卻從未精準確認其位置。

The joint Egyptian-American team "was able to re-locate and uncover its contents", it said.

聲明說，如今埃及與美國的聯合考古團隊「成功重新找到它的位置，並發現內部組成」。

Next Article:

Israeli girl makes a splash with her pet snake 以色列女孩和她的寵物蛇一炮而紅

Eight-year-old Inbar likes to cool off in her small backyard pool in Israel with her favourite swimming buddy - her pet python.

8歲的英芭喜歡在她位於以色列的後院小池裡，和她最愛的泳伴─她的寵物蟒─清涼一下。

The 11-foot yellow serpent, named Belle, is one of her family’s many pets, living happily together on an animal sanctuary in an agricultural community in southern Israel.

這隻11英尺長的黃色蟒蛇名叫貝兒，是她家中眾多寵物之一，一起快樂生活在以色列南部一處農業社區的一間動物庇護所。

She was named after Belle, the female character in Walt Disney’s popular animated film Beauty and the Beast, who dons a yellow ball gown in a famous dance scene in the movie.

牠的名字來自華特‧迪士尼受歡迎的動畫電影《美女與野獸》女主角貝兒，她在電影中一個知名舞蹈場景穿了一件黃色的舞會禮服。

Inbar said Belle is good company during a coronavirus lockdown that has kept schools closed over the past few weeks.

英芭說，貝兒在學校過去幾週關閉的冠狀病毒限制行動期間是個好夥伴。

"It helps me pass the time because I really like to hang out with snakes and sometimes I help snakes shed (their skin) and I help them to be happy during coronavirus," Inbar said.

英芭說，「牠幫我打發時間，因為我真的喜歡跟蛇玩，有時我幫蛇脫皮，我幫牠們在冠狀病毒期間開開心心。」

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1434177 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1408126

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