通勤學英語 15Mins Today

通常來說，物以類聚，但是這場疫情已經使加拿大每年遷徙到氣候溫暖區的「雪鳥族」分成兩陣營：待在家鄉過冬，以及不計代價前往佛州者。

Nearly a million Canadians make the annual pilgrimage, fleeing to the southern United States to pass what would otherwise be gray and snowy months with their toes tucked in the sand and ocean breeze in their hair.

每年有將近100萬名加拿大人飛奔到美國南方，享受漫步沙灘、和煦海風吹過髮梢，度過在家鄉會是滿是灰白雪世界的幾個月。

The coronavirus has led a majority to forgo the trip this year － but for those flouting Canada’s repeated calls to stay put, the price tag on winter at the beach has skyrocketed.

新型冠狀病毒導致今年大多數人放棄這趟旅程，但是對那些不顧加拿大一再呼籲不要旅行的人來說，到南方沙灘過冬的代價飛漲。

Each plane ticket costs Can$500 and hauling the vehicle 55 miles across the border sets customers back $1,000.

每張機票要500加幣，把車子運送55英里越過邊境，則要花上1000加幣。

Next Article

Officials in Jasper, an alpine town in Canada’s Alberta province, have put up signs asking motorists to avoid allowing moose to lick the salt off their cars.

加拿大亞伯達省高山小鎮賈斯柏的官員們，已經張貼標語要求駕駛人不得允許駝鹿舔他們車外的鹽。

"They’re obsessed with salt, it’s one of the things they need for the minerals in their body," Jasper National Park spokesman Steve Young told CNN. "They usually get it from salt lakes in the park, but now they realized they can also get road salt that splashes onto cars."

「他們癡迷於鹽，鹽是其中一種牠們身體必需的礦物質」，賈斯柏國家公園發言人史蒂夫．楊告訴美國有線電視新聞網，「他們通常會從公園的湖鹽獲取它（礦物質），但現在他們知道，他們也能從濺在車上的路鹽得到」。

At the Jasper National Park, where people often park on the side of the road in hopes of catching a glimpse of the moose, letting the animals near your car is actually a serious danger.

賈斯柏國家公園內時常有人停車在路邊，希望能得到駝鹿的注意，但讓動物接近你的車，其實是非常危險的。

By allowing moose to lick the salt off your car, they will become habituated with being around cars. That poses a risk to both the animals and the drivers who can accidentally crash into them.

允許駝鹿舔你的車外的鹽，將會讓牠們習慣徘徊於車子旁邊。對動物及可能意外與牠們相撞的駕駛人都構成風險。

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1422097

每日英語跟讀Podcast，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing

Dear 15mins fam 通勤家族，

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K049: A Monster Wind Turbine Is Upending an Industry

Twirling above a strip of land at the mouth of Rotterdam’s harbor is a wind turbine so large it is difficult to photograph. The turning diameter of its rotor is longer than two American football fields end to end. Later models will be taller than any building on the mainland of Western Europe.

鹿特丹港口一處狹長土地上，有座風力發電機在轉動，規模大到難以近距離拍攝，葉片旋轉直徑比兩座美式足球場接起來還長，日後更新版的風機將比西歐大陸上任何建物都高。

Packed with sensors gathering data on wind speeds, electricity output and stresses on its components, the giant whirling machine in the Netherlands is a test model for a new series of giant offshore wind turbines planned by General Electric. When assembled in arrays, the wind machines have the potential to power cities, supplanting the emissions-spewing coal- or natural gas-fired plants that form the backbones of many electric systems today.

這個位於荷蘭的巨型旋轉機器，是奇異公司所規畫新系列巨型離岸風機的測試模型，配備了收集風速、電力輸出及各零件所受應力數據的感應器。這些風機若以陣列布建，具備為城市供電的潛力，取代大量排放廢氣、組成當今許多發電系統骨幹的燃煤或燃氣發電廠。

GE has yet to install one of these machines in ocean water. As a relative newcomer to the offshore wind business, the company faces questions about how quickly and efficiently it can scale up production to build and install hundreds of the turbines.

奇異公司尚未在海上安裝此類機器。奇異在離岸風電業堪稱新兵，面臨的問題是，能多快、多有效地擴大生產規模，以建造並安裝數百座風機。

But already the giant turbines have turned heads in the industry. A top executive at the world’s leading wind farm developer called it a “bit of a leapfrog over the latest technology.” And an analyst said the machine’s size and advance sales had “shaken the industry.”

然而這種巨型風機已在業界引起轟動。全球頂尖風場開發商的一位高管稱其為「超越最新技術的一次飛躍」。一位分析師表示，這款機器的尺寸與預售量「撼動了整個產業」。

The prototype is the first of a generation of new machines that are about a third more powerful than the largest already in commercial service. As such, it is changing the business calculations of wind equipment makers, developers and investors.

這是新世代風機的第一個原型機，新世代風機功能比已在商業運轉的最大風機還要強三分之一左右。因此，它正在改變風力設備製造商、開發商與投資人的盤算。

The GE machines will have a generating capacity that would have been almost unimaginable a decade ago. A single one will be able to turn out 13 megawatts of power, enough to light up a town of roughly 12,000 homes.

奇異的風機將具有十年前幾乎無法想像的發電能力，一座就能產生13百萬瓦電力，足夠點亮約有1.2萬戶家庭的小鎮。

The turbine is capable of producing as much thrust as the four engines of a Boeing 747 jet, according to GE, and will be deployed at sea, where developers have learned that they can plant larger and more numerous turbines than on land to capture breezes that are stronger and more reliable.

奇異表示，這種風機能產生相當於波音747飛機四具引擎的推力，將部署在海上，開發商已經知道在海上能安裝比陸上更大也更多的風機，以捕捉更強也更可靠的風。

The race to build bigger turbines has moved faster than many industry figures foresaw. GE’s Haliade-X generates almost 30 times more electricity than the first offshore machines installed off Denmark in 1991.

建造更大風機的競賽步調比許多業內人士預測的要快。奇異的Haliade-X風機，發電量幾乎是1991年安裝於丹麥近海的第一座離岸風機的30倍。

In coming years, customers are likely to demand even bigger machines, industry executives say. On the other hand, they predict that turbines will reach a point at which greater size no longer makes economic sense.

業界高層表示，未來幾年顧客很可能要求更大的機器。另一方面，他們預測，風機遲早會來到再大就不合經濟效益的時刻。

Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5180307

每日英語跟讀Podcast，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K048: British hospitals use blockchain to track COVID-19 vaccines

Two British hospitals are using blockchain technology to keep tabs on the storage and supply of temperature-sensitive COVID-19 vaccines, the companies behind the initiative said on Tuesday, in one of the first such initiatives in the world.

英國有兩家醫院正以區塊鏈技術來監控武漢肺炎（新型冠狀病毒病，COVID-19）疫苗儲存與供應的動態，這些疫苗對溫度極其敏感。負責該計畫的公司上週二表示，這是此新做法的全球首例之一。

Two hospitals, in central England’s Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick, are expanding their use of a distributed ledger, an offshoot of blockchain, from tracking vaccines and chemotherapy drugs to monitoring fridges storing COVID-19 vaccines.

這兩家分別位於英格蘭中部埃文河畔史特拉福及華威的醫院，將分散式帳本（區塊鏈的一種）技術的應用範圍擴大，從追蹤疫苗及化療藥物之動向，到監視儲存武漢肺炎疫苗的冰箱。

The technology will bolster record-keeping and data-sharing across supply chains, said Everyware, which monitors vaccines and other treatments for Britain’s National Health Service.

Everyware發布聲明表示，這項技術將加強整個供應鏈的紀錄保存與數據共享。Everyware為英國國民保健署監控疫苗及其它藥物之動向。

Logistical hurdles are a significant risk to the speedy distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, but have resulted in booming business for companies selling technology for monitoring shipments from factory freezer to shots in the arm.

物流的障礙對快速配送武漢肺炎疫苗構成了威脅，但提供監控技術的公司卻因此大發利市──它們監控疫苗的運送，從藥廠冷凍庫開始，直到注射入手臂。

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s shot, for example, must be shipped and stored at ultra-cold temperatures or on dry ice, and can only last for up to five days at standard fridge temperatures. Other vaccines, such as Moderna Inc’s, do not need such cold storage and are therefore easier to deliver.

舉例來說，輝瑞公司及德國生物新技術公司所生產的疫苗，其運輸和儲存都必須處於超冷溫度或置於乾冰上，而且在標準冰箱溫度下最多只能保存五天。其他疫苗，例如莫德納公司所生產的疫苗，則不需要這樣的冷藏，因此更易於運送。

Firms from finance to commodities have invested millions of dollars to develop blockchain, a digital ledger that allows secure and real-time recording of data, in the hope of radical cost cuts and efficiency gains.

從金融公司到日用品公司，有許企業已投資數百萬美元來發展區塊鏈。區塊鏈是一種數位帳本，可以安全、即時地記錄數據，以期大幅度削減成本並提高效率。

Blockchain originated from Bitcoin, and it was created for the sake of Bitcoin — Bitcoin being blockchain’s first application. A blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, that are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp and transaction data. By design, a blockchain is resistant to modification of its data.

區塊鏈的起源為「比特幣」，為了比特幣而產生了區塊鏈──比特幣為區塊鏈的第一個應用。區塊鏈為以密碼學串接並保護內容的串連文字紀錄（又稱區塊）。每一個區塊包含了前一個區塊的加密雜湊、相應時間戳記以及交易資料，這樣的設計使得區塊內容具有難以篡改的特性。

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/01/25/2003751156

通勤學英語15mins.Today榮獲

• Apple Podcast 2020年十大熱門節目

每週Vocab精選詞彙Podcast，就在https://www.15mins.today/vocab

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K047: A Fresh Take on a 1934 ‘Murder’

A gruesome murder has been committed on a train in the middle of the night. Only 13 occupants of the carriage could have committed the dastardly deed. Was it a) the Russian princess; b) the American widow; c) the English governess; or d) the Hungarian count? Or any of the nine other multinational posh people and their servants rubbing shoulders on the luxury locomotive, snowbound in the middle of Eastern Europe, with a brilliant Belgian detective inconveniently in their midst?

一宗可怕的謀殺案在夜半的火車上發生。只有13名旅客可能犯下這惡行。是ａ）俄羅斯公主；ｂ）美國寡婦；ｃ）英國女家教；或ｄ）匈牙利伯爵呢？抑或是其他9位來自各國的紳士淑女和他們的僕人，眾人在受困東歐中部大雪的豪華火車車廂裡摩肩擦踵，這其中還碰巧有個厲害的比利時偵探？

Chances are this sounds familiar. It’s the setup for one of the most famous detective stories in the world: Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel “Murder on the Orient Express,” which has sold millions of copies. It was made into a sumptuous 1974 movie, directed by Sidney Lumet with the starriest of casts (Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman!). It has been adapted for television, stage and radio. There is a Japanese television version and a computer game.

這聽起來或許耳熟能詳。這是全球最著名偵探小說之一的場景：阿嘉莎．克莉絲蒂1934年的小說「東方快車謀殺案」，銷售數以百萬本計。導演薛尼·盧梅1974年翻拍成豪華版電影，有最耀眼的明星陣容（洛琳·白考兒、史恩·康納萊、英格麗·褒曼！），另並改編成電視劇、舞台劇和廣播劇，且有日本電視劇版本和一款電玩遊戲。

All this meant that Kenneth Branagh, the director and star of the new film version, which opened in the United States on Friday with the starriest of casts (Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench!), had his own mystery to solve. How do you reinvent one of the world’s best-loved whodunits for a new era? Branagh’s solution was to modify, and sometimes entirely change, character and plot details in ways that may dismay purists but that he felt would give the piece a more contemporary resonance.

這意味最新版本電影的導演兼主角肯尼斯·布萊納必須拿出一套解開謎團的獨到功夫，新片11月11日在美國上映，仍然有最耀眼的卡司（強尼·戴普、蜜雪兒·菲佛、潘妮洛普·克魯茲、茱蒂·丹契！）你要如何在新的世代詮釋最受世人喜愛的偵探小說呢？布萊納的方法是把角色與劇情細節進行修飾，時而甚至完全予以改變，這麼做或許會令純粹主義者沮喪，他卻覺得更能讓作品引起當代人的共鳴。

“There is always the thorny issue of who will know the plot and how can we divert them,” Branagh said in a telephone interview. “We knew we had to get people’s attention for a recalibrated character in Poirot,” Christie’s idiosyncratic Belgian detective.

布萊納接受電話訪問時說：「總會碰到有些人已經知道劇情，你該如何轉移他們的注意力，讓他們覺得有趣的棘手問題。我們知道，我們必須吸引人們注意經過修改的角色白羅（克莉絲蒂創造的怪異的比利時偵探）。」

To that end, Branagh and the scriptwriter, Michael Green, begin the movie with a showdown at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, as the detective solves another mystery. “I wanted to embrace the exotic and worldly side of Christie, to come into the big, hot open skies and find a new Poirot, our ticket for an exotic adventure,” Branagh said.

為達此目的，布萊納與編劇麥可·格林以偵探在耶路撒冷西牆解開一個對決謎團的方式，揭開電影序幕。布萊納說：「我想擁抱克莉絲蒂奇異與入世的一面，進入那既大又熱的開放天空，找到一個新的白羅，這是我們奇異冒險的門票。」

With an opening that has Poirot tripping up an escaping villain in a positively James Bond-esque manner, Branagh immediately established the detective as a far more dashing man of action than the novel’s small hero “muffled up to the ears of whom nothing was visible but a pink-tipped nose and the two points of an upward curled mustache.”

這個開場讓白羅以絕對詹姆士·龐德的方式逼逃犯露出馬腳，布萊納也立刻將這位偵探塑造成遠比原著中小號英雄瀟灑的行動派男子漢；原著中的小號英雄「衣服直蓋到耳朵，除了一個粉紅鼻子，以及上捲的兩綹髭鬚，什麼都看不見」。

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/320990/web/

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K046: Cold snap devastates fish farms in Yunlin County

Despite the temperature rising to a high of 23 degrees Celsius on Jan. 3, the cold snap continues to inflict heavy losses on Yunlin County’s milkfish farming industry. As of Jan. 3, the bitter weather had frozen to death or inflicted frostbite on more than 190,000 milkfish on the county’s fish farms, which accounts for 50 percent of the farms’ milkfish population.

雲林縣一月三日氣溫回升，高溫來到二十三度，但這波寒流仍重創養殖虱目魚，截至三日凍斃、凍傷已逾十九萬尾，超過養殖總數五成。

Yunlin County Agriculture Department Deputy Director Tsai Keng-yu said that, as of 4pm on Jan. 3, cold-damage data provided by the relevant public bodies showed that Taisi Township was the worst affected, with 700 hectares of farm affected and 140,000 fish dead or injured, or approximately 60 percent of fish population lost. About 300 hectares of fish farms in Sihhu, Kouhu and Mailiao townships had been damaged, which equates to about 50,000 fish, or 30 percent of the local farms’ fish stocks. The entire county had lost 190,000 fish, but the death toll could rise further as some fish farmers had not yet finished dredging their ponds.

雲林縣府農業處副處長蔡耿宇表示，根據各公所三日下午四點為止回報寒害統計，台西鄉受害最嚴重、約有七百公頃，凍死傷約十四萬尾，損失逾六成；四湖、口湖與麥寮三鄉受害面積約三百公頃，約有五萬尾，損害約三成多，總計全縣已超過十九萬尾，由於部分業者還未打撈完畢，災情可能還會增加。

A fish farmer surnamed Ting from Taisi Township said he was breeding approximately 1,500 milkfish on his fish farm and had been raising them for over one year. Ting said the cold snap had almost completely wiped out his fish. Furthermore, because milkfish are “working fish” reared within a clam pond polyculture, and are therefore not the fish farms’ primary breed species, it will be difficult to quantify the extent of the losses. However, what is certain is that without the assistance of the milkfish chomping through algae and other surface growth, farm owners would have to regularly carry out manual dredging of their ponds. As well as significantly increasing their workload, this could also result in a reduction of the water quality, which might kill the clams and cause more than NT$1 million in losses.

台西鄉丁姓養殖業者說，他的養殖魚塭養了約一千五百多尾虱目魚，已經養超過一年，這波寒流幾乎全軍覆沒。由於虱目魚是文蛤池混養的工作魚，並非主要養殖物，很難說損失多少，但少了虱目魚協助吃食塭池藻類苔鮮，業者必須常常下魚塭撈藻類，增加不少工作量，也可能造成水質變壞文蛤死亡，屆時損失將超過百萬元。

Another fish farmer, surnamed Yao, said that he had turned his fish pond’s waterwheel up to full speed during the cold weather, which, in addition to groundwater percolation, meant that only a little over 100 of his fish perished. However, Yao said that those fish lucky enough to survive were a ghost of their former selves, exhibiting much-reduced energy levels. “If we get another cold snap, they might not be able to survive. All I can do is wait and pray,” said Yao.

姚姓養殖業者說，這波寒流他魚塭水車全開，加上引灌地下水，只有死掉一百多尾，但僥倖逃過寒害的魚，活動力已大不如前，若再有寒流低溫，恐怕熬不過，只能「挫咧等」。

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/01/10/2003750262

通勤學英語15mins.Today榮獲

• Apple Podcast 2020年十大熱門節目

每日英語跟讀Podcast，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing

Hello 通勤家族，歡迎收聽Look Back Sunday回顧星期天，在這個節目John老師會彙整過去不同國家與主題的熱門跟讀文章，讓你可以在十五分鐘內吸收最精華的世界時事趣聞！我們這週聽聽泰國的趣聞，Let's get right to it!

Topic: Spray and pray - Thais celebrate Songkran

Thailand’s traditional New Year, as known as Songkran, is celebrated on April 13 to 15 every year. It is a time when people splash or spray one another with water, to symbolize washing away the old and welcoming the new. The word Songkran derives from the Sanskrit word for “passage” or “cross over,” representing moving into a new year. Songkran is also celebrated in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.

「宋干」一詞來自梵文，有「通過、跨越」的意思，代表進入新的一年。除了泰國，緬甸、柬埔寨和寮國也都會慶祝宋干節。

Known by the Taiwanese as the “splashing festival,” Songkran conjures up images of street water fights, with participants using water pistols or buckets. It originated from a traditional Buddhist ritual, and the water represents purification and blessing.

被台灣人稱為「潑水節」的宋干節，最出名的景象就是大家在街上拿水槍或水桶打水仗。潑水的起源是佛教傳統儀式，因為水代表淨化和祝福。

Songkran is about more than water fights. Traditionally, Thais also go to Buddhist temples to donate money or goods to the temple or monks during the festival, and the monks sprinkle holy water, symbolizing blessings, on them. People also bathe statues of the Buddha by pouring water over them. Thais will also sprinkle water in the hands of family elders, symbolizing respect and the receipt of the elders’ blessings.

不過宋干節可不是只有狂潑水而已。泰國人傳統上會在這幾天到佛寺裡奉獻金錢或物品給寺方或僧

侶，僧侶們再以聖水灑向民眾，象徵祝福之意，民眾也會以水淋佛像，稱為「浴佛」。此外，泰國人也會把水輕灑在家族長輩手中，象徵尊敬並獲得長輩的祝福。

Miss Songkran beauty contests are also held throughout Thailand, as a way to preserve traditional Thai costumes. There are around 700,000 migrant workers in Taiwan. Of these, just over 60,000 are from Thailand.

此外，為了要保存傳統的泰式服飾，泰國各地也會舉辦宋干小姐選美比賽。

在台灣，來台的移工人數已達到七十多萬人，其中來自泰國的移工有六萬人。

In order to make Thai workers in Taiwan feel at home, Songkran was celebrated on Sunday at the ASEAN Square in Taichung, organized by the Ministry of Labor and the Taichung government. There will be another Songkran celebration held this coming Sunday at City Hall Square in New Taipei City.

為了讓在台灣的泰籍移工一解鄉愁，勞動部與地方政府合作舉辦潑水節活動，十四日已於台中東協廣場舉行，二十一日則將在新北市政府市民廣場舉辦。

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/04/17/2003713497

Next Article

Topic: The Price of Recycling Old Laptops: Toxic Fumes in Thailand’s Lungs

婦女們蹲伏在一間燈光昏暗的工廠的地上，整理被現代世界棄置的一些內容物：電池、電路板和成綑的電線。

Crouched on the ground in a dimly lit factory, women picked through the discarded innards of the modern world: batteries, circuit boards and bundles of wires.

她們或者用鐵鎚，或者徒手，拆解這些被稱作有害電子廢棄物或電子垃圾的廢品，再由男性工人鏟進一台鏗鏘作響的機器，以回收有用的金屬。有些男工用碎布包住臉來隔擋煙塵。

They broke down the scrap — known as hazardous electronic-waste, or e-waste — with hammers and raw hands. Men, some with faces wrapped in rags to repel the fumes, shoveled the refuse into a clanking machine that salvages usable metal.

當他們賣力工作之時，煙霧飄散至鄰近的村莊和工廠，居民對煙霧中有什麼物質一無所知—塑膠？金屬？誰知道！他們只知道聞起來很臭，讓人惡心。

As they toiled, smoke spewed over nearby villages and farms. Residents have no idea what is in the smoke — plastic, metal, who knows? All they know is that it stinks and they feel sick.

這間名為「新天空金屬」的工廠，是東南亞正蓬勃發展的電子垃圾業的一部分，是在中國大陸決定停止接收毒害其土地人民的全球電子垃圾後，應運而生。泰國特別成為這項產業的中心，過程中社運人士大力阻擋，政府則在公共安全與可觀的收益之間謀取平衡。

The factory, New Sky Metal, is part of a thriving e-waste industry across Southeast Asia, born of China’s decision to stop accepting the world’s electronic refuse, which was poisoning its land and people. Thailand in particular has become a center of the industry even as activists push back and its government wrestles to balance competing interests of public safety with the profits to be made from the lucrative trade.

去年泰國禁止外國電子垃圾進口，然而環境監控人員和產業專家說，新工廠仍然在國內各地開設，處理成噸的電子垃圾。

Last year, Thailand banned the import of foreign e-waste. Yet new factories are opening across the country, and tons of e-waste are being processed, environmental monitors and industry experts said.

「電子垃圾必須有去處。」以反對將垃圾傾倒至窮國為訴求的「巴塞爾行動網路」執行長吉姆．帕其特說，「中國就是把整個作業搬到東南亞。」

“E-waste has to go somewhere,” said Jim Puckett, executive director of the Basel Action Network, which campaigns against trash dumping in poor countries, “and the Chinese are simply moving their entire operations to Southeast Asia.”

他說：「賺錢的唯一方法，是用便宜、非法的勞力處理極為龐大的數量，而且大肆汙染環境。」

“The only way to make money is to get huge volume with cheap, illegal labor and pollute the hell out of the environment,” he added.

根據聯合國的統計，全球每年製造出5000萬噸電子垃圾，消費者習慣了丟掉前一年的機型，入手新款式。 回收這些小電器的觀念聽起來道德高尚：科技便利的無限循環。

Each year, 50 million tons of e-waste are produced globally, according to the United Nations, as consumers grow accustomed to throwing away last year’s model and acquiring the next new thing.The notion of recycling these gadgets sounds virtuous: an infinite loop of technological utility.

但是，從廢棄的手機、電腦和電視中採集微量的金銀銅之類貴金屬，其實是骯髒且危險的工作。

But it is dirty and dangerous work to extract the tiny quantities of precious metals — like gold, silver and copper — from castoff phones, computers and televisions.

曾經有許多年，中國大陸大量接收世界各地的電子廢棄物。然後在2018年，北京對外來電子垃圾關閉了大門。泰國和其他東南亞國家看到了機會，因為它們環境法律執行寬鬆，勞動力剝削容易，而且商界和政府間關係緊密。

For years, China took in much of the world’s electronic refuse. Then in 2018, Beijing closed its borders to foreign e-waste. Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia — with their lax enforcement of environmental laws, easily exploited labor force and cozy nexus between business and government — saw an opportunity.

「每一片電路板和每一條電線都能讓你賺不少錢，特別是毋須考慮環境或勞工時。」環境監督組織「泰國生態警示復甦」領導人潘重．沙也譚說。

“Every circuit and every cable is very lucrative, especially if there is no concern for the environment or for workers,” said Penchom Saetang, head of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand, an environmental watchdog.

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/349813/web/

Next Article

Topic: About Thailand - Thailand’s pet groomer reopens as new coronavirus cases slow

Chewy and Miley, both two-year-old Schnauzer dogs, are getting their hair cut at a groomer in Bangkok for the first time since the new coronavirus outbreak began in Thailand in January.

都是2歲的雪納瑞楚伊和麥莉，從新型冠狀病毒1月開始在泰國爆發以來，第1次在曼谷讓美容師剪毛。

Pet grooming shops are among a handful of businesses that the Thai government allowed to reopen this week, following the decline in the number of new coronavirus cases.

冠狀病毒新增病例數下降後，寵物美容店成了泰國政府允許本週恢復營業的少數商業活動之一。

Extra precautionary measures that accompanied the reopening to prevent a new round of outbreak mean that the owners of Chewy and Miley are no longer allowed inside the shop.

用來防止新一波爆發的額外預防措施隨重新開業上路，意謂著楚伊和麥莉的主人不再獲准進入店裡。

Instead, they have to make an appointment and pick a hairstyle for their dogs in advance. They then drop off their pooches in a sterilised basket behind a plastic barrier in front of the shop. None of the dogs’ personal accessories are allowed into the shop.

取而代之，他們必須預約並先幫愛犬挑個髮型。然後，他們把狗狗放在店舖前方一道塑膠柵欄後面一個消毒過的籃子裡。狗狗自己的配件都不准進店裡。

“Instead of being able to groom more than 10 dogs during the whole day, we can only take about five in order for us to practise social distancing,” said Sukhum Nuangjanpat, the owner of Modern Dog Grooming and School shop.

「摩登狗狗美容與學校」商店老闆蘇坤．努恩姜峇說，「不再是一整天可幫超過10隻狗理毛，我們為了執行社交距離，大概只能接5隻。」

Next Article

Clawing back normality: Bangkok cat cafe reopens after virus shutdown 回到常態：曼谷貓咖啡廳在因病毒歇業後重新開放

As Thailand’s capital cautiously reopens many restaurants shuttered over coronavirus fears, the feline “employees” of the Caturday Cafe are back at work.

隨著泰國首都謹慎恢復許多先前在冠狀病毒恐懼下關閉的餐廳營業，「貓週末咖啡廳」的貓「員工們」返回工作崗位了。

The few dozen friendly cats typically lounge around the cafe, breaking up naptime to saunter over to human customers for snuggles and belly rubs.

幾十隻親切貓咪通常在咖啡廳周圍閒晃，午睡時間結束就漫步走向人類顧客，討抱抱或摸肚肚。

The friendly furballs give some much-needed outside contact for Thais who have mostly been confined to home during weeks of semi-lockdown with most non-essential businesses closed.

這些友善的小毛球提供給好幾週以來大多關在家的泰國人，一些亟需的外在接觸，那段期間半封城，多數非必須商業活動不營業。

Like other businesses across Thailand, the cafe has new rules aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. Before entering, customers must have their temperature checked and wash their hands, and once inside must wear a mask at all times.

如同泰國其他商店，這間咖啡廳有新規則來遏制病毒擴散。入店之前，顧客必須檢查體溫和清洗雙手，一旦進門就必須一直戴著口罩。

As an extra precaution, the cats have dry baths, their fur brushed and eyes cleaned every day.

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1373101 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1371500

•  Apple Podcast 2020年十大熱門節目

每週Vocab精選詞彙Podcast，就在https://www.15mins.today/vocab

用email訂閱就可以收到通勤學英語節目更新通知。

Summary:

When it comes to language use, many people may hear someone catching a “cold” instead of “I’m got flu”. Is there a difference between the two? And where does the word “flu” come from? According to Taiwan CDC, colds cause respiratory tract symptoms such as sore throat, sneezing, runny nose, and sometimes accompanied by fever. An influenza on the other hand, affect the whole body. Flu viruses are categorized into types A to D, with type A and B flu resulting in seasonal outbreaks. In short, if you have fever, aches and fatigue, it is probably the flu.

原跟讀文章: https://www.15mins.today/blog/ep-1006-how-does-influenza-differ-from-a-common-cold

Vocabulary and Sample Sentences:

Difference n. a point in which people or things are not the same

• The difference between a cold and a flu is the type of virus that cause the symptoms.

Symptom n. a physical or mental feature that is regarded as a condition of disease.

• The symptoms of flu include fever, aches, and fatigue.

Accompany v. go somewhere together, occur at the same time

• Flu is often accompanied by fever.

通勤學英語15mins.Today獎項

• Apple Podcast 2020年十大熱門節目

每日英語跟讀Podcast，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K045: T.S. Eliot’s Estate Donates ‘Cats’ Royalties to Brontë Museum

勃朗特牧師博物館暫時可以繼續開放，這部分得益於英國一位備受尊敬詩人遺產管理會的捐贈，以及一些跳舞的貓。

The estate of T.S. Eliot has gifted the struggling museum, which reopened in late August after being closed since March, 20,000 pounds (or approximately $26,000) this month. The donation was first reported by the BBC.

這家陷入困境的博物館於今年3月關閉，直至8月底才重新開放。艾略特的遺產管理會本月向該館捐贈了2萬英鎊（約2.6萬美元），英國廣播公司最先報導了這項捐贈消息。

The parsonage, located in Haworth, said it was facing a loss of expected income of more than 500,000 pounds because of the coronavirus pandemic.

這座位於哈沃斯的博物館表示，由于新冠病毒大流行，預計收入將減少50多萬英鎊。

There is a connection between Eliot and the Brontës: The “Bradford millionaire” who appears in the Eliot poem “The Waste Land” is thought to be Sir James Roberts, a Yorkshire philanthropist who was also a customer at the bank where Eliot worked. Roberts donated Haworth Parsonage — once the home of the Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne — to the Brontë Society, which operates the museum, in 1928. Roberts knew the family as a child.

艾略特與勃朗特家族有些關連：艾略特詩歌《荒原》中出現的人物「布拉德福百萬富翁」，被認為是約克郡慈善家詹姆士．羅伯茲爵士，他同時也是艾略特任職銀行的客戶。1928年，羅伯茲將曾是勃朗特三姐妹夏綠蒂、艾蜜莉與安妮故居的哈沃斯牧師寓所，捐給經營著這座博物館的勃朗特協會。羅伯茲從小就認識這一家人。

But the Eliot estate’s gift didn’t come with any fanfare: Rebecca Yorke, the head of communications and marketing at the Brontë Society, said she discovered the donation when it showed up on the museum’s crowdfunding campaign page with a message of support. “Realizing that it was from the T.S. Eliot estate was a very special moment,” she said.

艾略特遺產會做此捐贈毫未聲張：勃朗特協會公關行銷主管芮貝卡．約克說，她是在博物館的群眾集資活動頁面發現了這筆捐贈，還附有打氣的話語。 她說：「知道它來自艾略特的遺產管理會，那一刻非比尋常。」

Yorke said the Eliot estate told the organization that the donation was possible thanks to the success of the Tony-winning Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats,” which is based on Eliot’s playful 1939 poetry collection “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.”

約克表示，艾略特遺產會告訴該協會，有能力提供這筆捐款，還多虧曾獲東尼獎的安德魯．洛伊．韋伯音樂劇《貓》大獲成功。這部音樂劇改編自艾略特1939年幽默詩集《老負鼠的貓經》。

The parsonage houses the largest collection of Brontë manuscripts and personal possessions in the world and attracts more than 70,000 visitors each year. “Jane Eyre,” by Charlotte Brontë, and “Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Brontë, were both written there.

這座博物館收藏世上最多勃朗特手稿跟私人物品，每年吸引逾7萬訪客。夏綠蒂的《簡愛》與艾蜜莉的《咆嘯山莊》都是在這兒寫的。

The museum has been hard hit by the pandemic because more than 70% of the Brontë Society’s income comes from admissions, events and retail, according to its website. The typically busy spring and summer months normally sustain it through the slower winter season.

博物館的網站上說，博物館受疫情重創，因為勃朗特協會7成以上收入來自門票、活動與紀念品零售。一般情況下，人氣較旺的春季和夏季通常能幫它撐過較淡的冬季。

The museum has furloughed a majority of its staff and applied for grants and emergency funds, but it still faces an end-of-year deficit of 100,000 pounds.

博物館已讓大部分員工休無薪假，並申請補助款與應急金，但仍面臨年底將出現的10萬英鎊赤字。

Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/4891641

每日英語跟讀Podcast，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing

用email訂閱就可以收到通勤學英語節目更新通知。

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K044: About Australia - Kangaroos can learn to communicate with humans, researchers say

Kangaroos can learn to communicate with humans similar to how domesticated dogs do, by using their gaze to "point" and ask for help, researchers said in a study published on Wednesday.

研究人員在週三發表的一份研究中說，和被馴化的狗類似，袋鼠可以學習和人類溝通，利用凝視來「指向」並尋求協助。

The study involved 11 kangaroos that lived in captivity but had not been domesticated. Ten of the 11 marsupials intently gazed at researchers when they were unable to open a box with food, according to the report. Nine alternately looked at the human and at the container, as a way of pointing or gesturing toward the object.

這份研究涉及11隻圈養但未經馴化的袋鼠。根據這份報告，這11隻有袋動物的其中10隻，在打不開一個裝有食物的盒子時，專注凝視研究人員。9隻交替看著人和容器，做為指向或是朝該物體示意的一種方法。

"We interpreted this as a deliberate form of communication, a request for help," Alan McElligott, the Irish researcher who led the study, told Reuters in a call.

主導這起研究的愛爾蘭研究人員亞倫‧麥克利戈特在電話中告訴路透，「我們將之解釋為一種刻意的溝通形式，是一種求助。」

The findings challenge the notion that only domesticated animals such as dogs, horses or goats communicate with humans.

這項發現挑戰了只有諸如狗、馬或山羊這類被馴化的動物會和人類溝通的觀念。

Next Article

一名澳洲民眾大衛．泰特回到位於昆士蘭州萊西溪市的家時，驚訝地發現一大片天花板躺在廚房餐桌上。泰特說：「我知道沒下雨，所以我四處張望尋找事發原因。」

He soon found two culprits, non-venomous carpet pythons 2.8 meters and 2.5 meters long, that had slithered into a bedroom and living room. The snakes have an estimated combined weight of 45 kilograms.

他很快發現2隻罪魁禍首，各為2.8公尺及2.5公尺的無毒地毯蟒爬進了臥室和客廳。這2隻蟒蛇合計重達45公斤。

Snake catcher Steven Brown was called to remove the two snakes. "I would assume that it was two males fighting over a female that was nearby in the roof," he said. He suspected the female could still be in the ceiling or nearby.

捕蛇專家史蒂芬．布朗被叫來抓2隻蟒蛇。他說：「我想是2隻公蟒為了待在天花板附近的1隻母蟒在打架。」他懷疑，那隻母蟒或許還待在天花板或附近一帶。

The males were returned to the wild, but the suspected third snake hasn’t been found.

2隻公蟒被野放，疑似還在屋內的第3隻蟒蛇下落不明。

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1422528 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1420019