通勤學英語 15Mins Today

Summary:

 

For higher education students, standardized college exams in the US have been upended during the pandemic. In-person SAT exams have been canceled and a number of selective schools have made the exams test optional, at least temporarily. A group of high school students sued the College Entrance Examination Board, claiming its advanced placement tests are unfair to teens trapped at home by the coronavirus pandemic without adequate computers or Internet connections. Students take the AP exams often with the hopes of earning college credit. As many as 20 percent of students were unable to submit their responses through the testing platform in the first three days of the exam.

 

原討論文章：https://www.15mins.today/blog/ep-869-college-tests-called-unfair-to-homebound-tech-poor-students

 

Vocabulary and Sample Sentences:

 

Discriminate v. discrimination – make an unjust distinction in the treatment of different categories of people to things- It would be considered discrimination if the online tests do not allow students with low internet bandwidth to participate.- The AP test discriminated against students who were in remote areas and lack in resources.

 

Unrealistic adj. – not realistic- It is unrealistic to think all students have good internet connectivity- One cannot have unrealistic expectations about Advanced Placement Tests.

 

Upend v. – set or turned upside down- College exams are upended by the pandemic- Kelly upended her lego box, trying to find that one lego figure.

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.908: Ennio Morricone: Maestro of the silver screen

 

Ennio Morricone, arguably the world’s greatest and most prolific composer for the cinema, had originally intended to write “serious” music and saw his film-writing career more as a lucrative sideline.

 

顏尼歐．莫利克奈可說是世界上最偉大也最多產的電影配樂作曲家。不過，他最初想要創作「嚴肅音樂」，而且認為自己的電影配樂創作生涯比較像是一項報酬頗豐的副業。

 

“My real purpose was to write classical music,” said Morricone, who is perhaps best known for his scores to Sergio Leone’s “spaghetti westerns” and who belatedly won an Oscar in 2016 for Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight.” “Since the conservatoire, that was my ambition. Then, of course, you have to live — and you can make money from film music. That’s just how my life went,” he told AFP in an interview in 2016.

 

莫利克奈曾說：「我真正的志業是創作古典音樂。」今日，這位大師最為人所知的成就，或許仍是他為塞吉歐‧李昂尼執導的「義大利式西部片」創作的配樂，以及二○一六年、以昆汀‧塔倫提諾執導的《八惡人》贏得一座遲來的奧斯卡獎。在當年的訪談中，莫利克奈告訴法新社：「從音樂院時期開始，創作古典音樂就是我的抱負。後來，當然，你還是要為五斗米折腰──而我發現自己可以從電影配樂賺到錢。我的人生就是這樣走了過來。」

 

Born in Rome on Nov. 10, 1928, Morricone started composing at the tender age of six, and at just 10 he enrolled in a trumpet school at the prestigious Saint-Cecilia conservatory in Rome. He studied composition, orchestration and the organ and would cite Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Luigi Nono and Aldo Clementi as composers who influenced him.

 

莫利克奈在一九二八年十一月十日生於羅馬，於六歲稚齡開始作曲，年僅十歲即就讀於羅馬聲譽顯赫的聖西西利亞音樂院，主修小號。在音樂院期間，他學習作曲、管弦樂配器，以及管風琴演奏。被問到曾受哪些作曲家的影響時，莫利克奈會舉出卡爾海茵茲‧史塔克豪森、皮耶‧布列茲、路易吉‧諾諾，以及阿爾多‧克萊門蒂等當代作曲家。

 

In fact, Morricone wrote more than 80 “classical” pieces, ranging from solo piano to chamber and orchestral music. Nevertheless, he didn’t mind knowing that he was most famous for film soundtracks, of which he composed more than 500 across a 60-year career. “I was able to compose music freely, and in such different forms, not only because I could rely on technology, but also because it was essential that I change my style for every film. Every movie required it,” he said.

 

事實上，莫利克奈寫下超過八十首「古典音樂」作品，類型涵蓋鋼琴獨奏、室內樂，以及管弦音樂。儘管如此，他並不介意自己最有名的是電影配樂。在六十年生涯中，莫利克奈寫下超過五百部電影配樂。他曾說：「我能夠自由地創作音樂，而且以如此不同的形式呈現，不只是因為我能仰賴科技的幫忙，為每一部電影改變我的風格也是不可或缺的。每一部電影都需要（不同風格的音樂）。」

 

Morricone also made forays into Italian pop song and collaborated with Portuguese Fado star Dulce Pontes and French chanteuse Mireille Mathieu. He played the trumpet in jazz bands in the 1940s before he started ghost writing for film and theater.

 

莫利克奈曾短暫嘗試寫作義大利流行歌曲，合作過的對象還包括葡萄牙法朵音樂明星多切‧邦蒂絲，以及法國國民香頌天后米蕾耶‧瑪蒂厄。一九四○年代，莫利克奈曾在爵士樂團中演奏小號，後來才開始為電影和劇場配樂捉刀。

 

It was in the 1960s that his film-writing career really took off with the scores to his childhood friend Sergio Leone’s westerns, “A Fistful of Dollars,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and “A Few Dollars More.” He continued to collaborate closely with Leone, making eight films together, notably the 1984 gangster epic “Once Upon a Time in America.”

 

直到一九六○年代，莫利克奈為孩提時代好友李昂尼執導的西部片創作配樂，他的電影配樂生涯才真正起飛。這些西部片包括《荒野大鏢客》、《黃昏三鏢客》，以及《黃昏雙鏢客》。他持續和李昂尼密切合作，兩人總共一起完成八部電影，最受注目的包括一九八四年的犯罪史詩電影《四海兄弟》。

 

Morricone also worked with Italian screen legends Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini and later with the likes of Pedro Almodovar, Bernardo Bertolucci, Brian De Palma and Oliver Stone.

 

莫利克奈也和義大利影壇傳奇費德里柯‧費里尼和皮耶‧保羅‧帕索里尼共事過。後來合作的導演還包括佩德羅‧阿莫多瓦、貝納多貝‧托魯奇、布萊恩‧狄帕瑪以及奧立佛‧史東。

 

Morricone received no fewer than six Oscar nominations for best film soundtrack. He did not hide his disappointment when his soaring score for Roland Joffe’s epic “The Mission” was trumped at the 1986 Oscars by the jazz soundtrack for Bertrand Tavernier’s “Round Midnight.” It remains one of the most controversial decisions in the Academy’s history and Morricone told Britain’s the Guardian that he had felt robbed.

 

莫利克奈獲奧斯卡獎提名最佳原創配樂獎多達六次。一九八六年，他為羅蘭‧約菲的史詩電影《教會》譜下的動人作品獲奧斯卡提名，奪獎似乎勢在必得，大獎卻在最後一刻被貝特朗‧塔維涅《午夜時分》的爵士配樂抱走。當天，莫利克奈的失望表露無遺。那年這個獎項至今仍是奧斯卡歷史上最受爭議的決定之一，莫利克奈向英國《衛報》表示，他當時覺得自己好像被搶了。

 

In 2007, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented him with a lifetime achievement award. But it was not until 2016 that he was finally awarded an Oscar for his score to Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight.” In an interview with AFP, he said he had initially been wary that he would be expected simply to rehash the work he did for Leone. But Tarantino’s “beautiful and interesting” script convinced him in the end. “I wanted it to have its own sounds. I didn’t want the music to be the leftovers of what I did for Leone.”

 

二○○七年，美國電影藝術與科學學會將奧斯卡終身成就獎頒給莫利克奈。只是，一直到二○一六年，莫利克奈才以他為塔倫提諾的《八惡人》創作的配樂，獲得一座奧斯卡最佳原創配樂獎。在接受法新社訪問時，莫利克奈表示他最初抱著戒慎恐懼的心情，以為會被期待老調重彈，單純再做一部像當年為李昂尼寫的西部片配樂。最後，是塔倫提諾「美麗而有趣」的劇本說服了他。「我希望這部電影擁有自己的聲音，我不想要讓這部配樂成為我為李昂尼創作後剩下的殘羹敗餚。」

 

Morricone was considered a fine conductor, too, even if he rejected the title. “The problem is that I am not a real conductor, I do not direct the music of other composers,” he said.

 

莫利克奈被視為一位好指揮家，就算他本人拒絕接受這個頭銜。他說：「問題在於，我並不是一位真正的指揮，我沒有指揮過其他作曲家的作品。」

 

Morricone said his success lay in evoking thought patterns. “I tried to create a way to write music with a lot of pauses, made up of almost monosyllables, or three syllables put together, and then a pause, a bit like a thought that comes and goes and repeats itself in a different way,” he said.

 

莫利克奈表示，他的成功在於用音樂喚起思緒般的片段。他指出：「我試著創造出一種運用很多休止的作曲方式，音樂幾乎完全以單音節構成，或是三個音節組合在一起，然後暫停下來，有點像是一片思緒來了又離開，以不同的方式自我重複。」

 

He insisted he had no secret recipe other than being true to himself. “I have always wanted to change, but at the end I remain myself.”

 

莫利克奈堅持說，除了做真實的自己，他沒有什麼創作的秘密。「我一直都想要改變，但是最後還是當自己。」他這麼說。

 

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/07/12/2003739752

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.907: Rebranding is beneficial to China Airlines. Here’s why

 

台灣的立法院於7月22日表決通過建議將台灣最大的國際航空公司之一：「中華航空公司」 (China Airlines) 的英文名稱更名。這樣的提議，立即引發了各種疑問：這樣做的成本是否過高？中華航空公司是否會因此喪失航權？

 

Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan voted on Wednesday to work towards renaming China Airlines, one of the national air carriers. Such a proposal immediately prompted various questions: Would doing so be prohibitively expensive? Would the airline lose aviation rights as a result of the act?

 

航空業的複雜程度超乎想像，故難以提供此細微議題絕對明確的答案。雖然，把台灣的國籍航空「中華航空公司China Airlines」更改英文名字，會有非常大的爭議，但讓我們暫時撇開政治上的兩極化角度，而從商業的角度分析，什麼才是對中華航空公司最有利的。

 

The airline industry is unimaginably complex, so there is no definite answer to such a nuanced topic. While the issue of renaming Taiwan’s national airline is inherently controversial, let us move away from political polarization and analyze what is best for China Airlines, from a business perspective.

 

品牌重塑的成本 | The Cost of Rebranding

 

首先，如果中華航空公司想重塑品牌形象，彰顯其隸屬於台灣國籍航空的品牌辨識度，一定會產生相對的成本。

 

Firstly, if China Airlines were to rebrand itself to reflect a more Taiwanese identity, it is undeniable that the airline would incur costs.

 

這是因為航空公司的標誌無所不在：從登機櫃檯到貴賓室，甚至是乘客在機上所使用的餐巾紙上都能看見。因此，對於中華航空公司來說，重新彩繪噴漆飛機機身並全面重塑品牌，勢必需要投入相當的資金支出。

 

This is because airlines logos appear everywhere: from check-in counters, lounges, to even the napkins passengers use onboard. So yes, it would be a significant investment for China Airlines to repaint their planes to rebrand across their network.

 

但是，考量一家航空公司的將來的利潤及是否賺錢，未來營業收入成長的重要性，和考量成本支出，是一樣重要的。從長遠來看，如果航空公司能夠在未來吸引到比現在更多的乘客，這項品牌重塑計畫就值得。

 

However, an airline’s profitability is as much determined by revenue than it is affected by costs. In the long term, if an airline is able to attract more customers than now, such rebranding efforts would pay off.

 

更改中華航空公司的英文名稱「China」可解決過往的一些問題。例如，許多英語系國家的人認為「China」一詞帶有負面含義，且他們聽到「China Airlines」時，也無法將其與台灣連結在一起。

 

Rebranding China Airlines could address previous issues. For example, many people in English-speaking countries believe the word “China” has negative connotations, and they don’t associate the airline with Taiwan when they hear about “China” Airlines.

 

此外，中華航空 (China Airlines) 經常被與中國政府擁有的中國國際航空(Air China)混淆。近年來，因為名字上的混淆，全球大多數人無法區分這兩家航空公司。因此，與中國國際航空相關的飛安意外事故和客服事件，皆損害了台灣國籍航空公司的聲譽。

 

In addition, China Airlines is often confused with Air China, which is owned by the Chinese government. In recent years, safety and service incidents associated with Air China have damaged the Taiwanese airline’s reputation, as the majority of the world simply cannot tell the two carriers apart, largely due to the confusing naming.

 

另一方面，中華航空的主要競爭對手「長榮航空」是一家提供高標準飛行安全和高品質服務的台灣國籍航空公司。如果中華航空的英文更名動作，能夠改善中華航空過去行銷上的困難，那麼英文更名所帶來的好處，可能遠超過潛在的成本。

 

On the other hand, CAL’s main competitor, EVA Air, is well known as a Taiwanese company offering high standards of flight safety and service. If China Airlines can change a name that has made marketing difficult in the past, the benefits of rebranding could outweigh the potential costs.

 

航權 | Aviation Rights

 

從中華航空的角度來看，另一個令人關注的領域是航權。航權，意指賦予航空公司進入、飛越或降落在另一個國家領空的權利。

 

The second area of concern from China Airlines’ perspective would be aviation rights, which grants airlines the privilege to enter, fly over, or land in another country’s airspace.

 

航權對任何一家航空公司的運營都是極為重要的，是航空公司與監管機構經過數十年談判的結果。有些人表示，中華航空可能會因為英文名稱「China」的更名而失去這些權利，但其實非常重要的一點是，航空公司的形象更名並不需要包含更改其法定名稱。

 

Such rights, critical to any airline’s operations, are as a result of decades of negotiations between airline companies and regulatory agencies. Some have indicated the possibility of China Airlines losing these rights because of a name change, but it is important to understand that rebranding does not have to include changing the legal name.

 

舉例而言，以阿姆斯特丹作為基地的歐洲大型航空公司是以 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines（荷蘭皇家航空）做為形象名稱，但此航空公司註冊的法定名稱則為Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij。

 

For instance, the major European airline based in Amsterdam is branded as KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, but the three letters KLM stand for its registered legal name, Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij.

 

以類似的方式，中華航空也許可以在英文名稱上更名為「CAL Formosa Airlines」，並同時維持其法定名稱「中華航空」，以避免損及航權。

 

In a similar fashion, China Airlines could perhaps rebrand as “CAL Formosa Airlines,” while retaining its formal name, to avoid compromising its aviation rights.

 

政治考量 | Political Considerations

 

 

最後，儘管航空公司傾向於不碰觸政治議題，但像中華航空這樣的公司也必須考慮維持其現有飛航市場，尤其是中國。

 

Finally, while airlines tend to stay out of politics, companies such as China Airlines also have to consider its ability to continue flying into existing markets, particularly China.

 

對於更改中華航空的英文名稱中的「China」字眼一事，持批評意見者表達了對可能激怒北京共產黨的擔憂，並推測中國政府將禁止中華航空飛入中國領空。

 

Critics of the idea to rename China Airlines have voiced concerns about angering the Communist Party in Beijing, and have speculated that the Chinese government would ban CAL from flying into Chinese airspace.

 

儘管這種情況確實是不利且不能被排除的，但中華航空可以選擇改成更具政治中立性的名稱來降低此風險。

 

While such a situation would indeed be unfavorable, and the possibility of occurrence cannot be ruled out, CAL could minimize risk by choosing a more politically neutral name.

 

例如，通過使用「Formosa」或「Taipei」等字眼，航空公司可以避開中國與台灣的爭議，並在最不具爭議的情況下繼續為現有的乘客提供服務。

 

For example, by utilizing words such as “Formosa” or “Taipei”, the airline could stay out of the Taiwan-China debate and continue serving its existing passengers with minimal controversy.

 

總結來說，即使不將中華航空的英文名稱China Airlines更改為「Taiwan Airlines」，該公司也可以通過將「China」從其英文名稱中刪除，來回應人們建議改名的聲音，並同時避免名字所引起的混淆和爭議。

 

At the end of the day, even without changing China Airlines’ name to “Taiwan Airlines”, the company can respond to the voices of the people by removing “China” from its name and avoid confusion and controversy altogether.

 

Source article: https://chinapost.nownews.com/20200725-1578334

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.906: Reconsidering the past, one statue at a time

 

The boiling anger that exploded in the days after George Floyd gasped his final breaths is now fueling a national movement to topple perceived symbols of racism and oppression in the United States, as protests over police brutality against African Americans expand to include demands for a more honest accounting of all American history.

 

在喬治．佛洛伊德掙扎嚥下人生最後幾口氣之後，美國民眾的怒火四處爆發，如今正激起全國性運動，要推翻美國境內具有種族歧視和壓迫意涵的象徵。反對警察對非裔美國人施暴的抗議已擴大其訴求，要求對美國全部歷史做更誠實的敘述。

 

In Portland, Oregon, demonstrators protesting against police killings turned their ire to Thomas Jefferson, toppling a statue of the Founding Father who also enslaved more than 600 people.

 

在奧勒岡州的波特蘭，抗議警察殺人的示威者將憤怒轉向湯瑪斯．傑佛遜，推倒這位曾蓄養600多名奴隸的開國之父的雕像。

 

In Richmond, Virginia, a statue of Italian navigator and colonizer Christopher Columbus was spray-painted, set on fire and thrown into a lake.

 

在維吉尼亞州的里奇蒙，義大利探險家兼殖民者克里斯多福．哥倫布的雕像被噴漆、縱火且推入湖中。

 

And in Albuquerque, New Mexico, tensions over a statue of Juan de Oñate, a 16th-century colonial governor exiled from New Mexico over cruel treatment of Native Americans, erupted in street skirmishes and a blast of gunfire before the monument was removed.

 

在新墨西哥州的阿布奎基，胡安．德．奧納特的雕像引發緊張，這位16世紀的殖民地州長因殘酷對待美國原住民，自新墨西哥流亡。在雕像被移除之前，曾發生街頭小規模衝突和一波槍火。

 

Across the country, monuments criticized as symbols of historical oppression have been defaced and brought down at warp speed in recent days. The movement initially set its sights on Confederate symbols and examples of racism against African Americans but has since exploded into a broader cultural moment, forcing a reckoning over such issues as European colonization and the oppression of Native Americans.

 

在全國各地，這些被批評為歷史上壓迫象徵的紀念物，近日以極快的速度被毀損及拆下。這波運動起初聚焦於南方邦聯象徵和歧視非裔美國人的典型事例，但之後爆發為更廣泛的文化事件，促成對歐洲人殖民和壓迫美國原住民等等議題的清算。

 

In New Mexico, it has surfaced generations-old tensions among indigenous, Hispanic and Anglo residents and brought 400 years of turbulent history bubbling to the surface.

 

在新墨西哥，原住民、西語裔和盎格魯白人居民間，數個世代之久的緊張關係因而浮上檯面，400年來紛亂不安的歷史也沸騰起來。

 

“We’re at this inflection point,” said Keegan King, a member of Acoma Pueblo, which endured a massacre of 800 or more people directed by Oñate, the brutal Spanish conquistador. The Black Lives Matter movement, he said, had encouraged people to examine the history around them, and not all of it was merely written in books.

 

「我們正處於這個轉折點上。」阿科馬普韋布羅成員吉干．金恩說，這個部落曾經歷由殘暴西班牙征服者奧納特主導的一場屠殺，有800多人死亡。他說，「黑人的命也是命」運動鼓勵民眾檢視他們周遭的歷史，而並非所有事都只寫在書裡。

 

“These pieces of systemic racism took the form of monuments and statues and parks,” King said.

 

「這些系統性種族歧視的片段，以紀念物、雕像和公園的形式存在。」金恩說。

 

The debate over how to represent the uncomfortable parts of American history has been going on for decades, but the traction for knocking down monuments seen in recent days raises new questions about whether it will result in a fundamental shift in how history is taught to new generations.

 

關於該如何呈現美國歷史上這些令人不舒服的部分，已爭論數十年，但是近日所見拆毀雕像大行其道，卻引發了新的問題：就如何將歷史教授給新世代而言，這是否會導致根本性的改變。

 

“It is a turning point insofar as there are a lot of people now who are invested in telling the story that historians have been laying down for decades,” said Julian Maxwell Hayter, a historian and associate professor at the University of Richmond.

 

「這是個轉捩點，因為有許多人現在投注心力於訴說被歷史學家擱置幾十年的故事。」歷史學家、里奇蒙大學副教授朱利安．麥斯威爾．海特說。

 

He said that statues removed from parks and street corners could be teaching points if they are placed in museums, side-by-side with documents and first-person accounts from the era.

 

他說，從公園和街角移除的雕像可以成為授課重點，如果它們改放到博物館，和那個時代的文件及第一手陳述並列。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/354879/web/

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.905: Bright feathers, bright brains: hummingbirds ‘can order numerically’

 

Hummingbirds are not only bright in appearance but also in brain, it would seem, with new research suggesting the tiny creatures are able to understand a numerical concept of order.

 

蜂鳥不只外表光鮮亮麗，腦袋似乎也很靈光──新研究顯示，這種體型嬌小的鳥類能夠理解「順序」的數字概念。

 

While hummingbirds have previously been found to visit flowers in particular sequences when foraging, researchers say the new study suggests this process could be based on the concept of “first”, “second” and so on, rather than features such as specific flower location or nearby landmarks.

 

先前的研究曾發現，蜂鳥在覓食時會以特別的先後次序拜訪花朵。研究人員表示，這份新研究指出，蜂鳥採集花蜜的過程可能是根據「第一朵」、「第二朵」這樣以此類推的概念，而不是仰賴特定花朵位置或附近地標等地理特徵。

 

However, it does not mean that hummingbirds can count. “Counting has a more anthropocentric connotation,” said Dr Maria Tello-Ramos of the University of St Andrews, a co-author of the study. “This is more like ordering things in a sequence. We cannot say [the hummingbirds] were counting, ‘One, two, three, four,’ but that they knew that [the] fourth [flower] was different from the third flower that they encountered,” she said.

 

儘管如此，這不代表蜂鳥會算數。這篇研究的共同作者、蘇格蘭聖安德魯大學的瑪麗亞‧特羅─哈摩斯指出：「『計算』這個概念帶有以人類為中心的含義。」她表示：「在蜂鳥身上發現的現象比較像是用一組順序排列物件。我們不能說[蜂鳥]正在算數，『一、二、三、四』，但是牠們知道第四[朵花]跟路上遇到的第三朵是不同的。」

 

Tello-Ramos added that such a skill could help hummingbirds attach information to their foraging sequence, such as that the second flower has run out of nectar, meaning they know to skip it — even if it looks unchanged — and move on to the next in the sequence.

 

特羅─哈摩斯補充說：「像這樣的能力可以幫助蜂鳥，在覓食順序中加入資訊，例如第二朵花已經沒有蜜了，代表牠們知道要跳過這朵花──就算花看起來沒有改變──然後繼續往前，飛往順序中的下一朵。」

 

Some other animals that have undergone training, including rats, monkeys, bees and parrots, have previously been found able to grasp that items in a sequence can take a particular order based on an abstract numerical concept. However, the team behind the new research said their study was the first time such a capability had been shown in a wild, free-living vertebrate.

 

受過訓練的其他動物，包括老鼠、猴子、蜜蜂，以及鸚鵡，先前都被發現能夠根據抽象的數字概念，理解一連串物件具有特定順序。不過，這份新研究背後的團隊指出，他們的研究是首次發現這種能力出現在獨立生存的野生脊椎動物身上。

 

Writing in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Tello-Ramos and colleagues reported how they made their discovery by presenting nine male rufous hummingbirds with a row of 10 identical fake flowers on sticks spaced 20cm apart, with each flower constructed from a foam disk with a tube in the center.

 

在刊登於英國期刊《皇家學會報告生物科學版》的這篇論文中，特羅─哈摩斯和她的同事解釋獲得這項發現的過程：她們為九隻公的紅褐色蜂鳥準備一排十朵、一模一樣的假花，每朵插在間隔二十公分的枝條上。這些花是用裁成圓盤狀的泡綿做成，中間有一根管子。

 

To train the hummingbirds, the team filled the inner tube of the first fake flower in the row with a sugary solution. Once each hummingbird visited this flower four times in succession, the flowers were shuffled — to take account of any subtle differences between them — and the first flower in this new row was filled with a sugary solution.

 

為了訓練這些蜂鳥，研究團隊把含糖溶液注入第一朵假花裡面的管子。等到每隻蜂鳥都連續拜訪過這朵花四次以後，研究人員考量到假花之間可能具有細微差異，遂調換花朵順序，再把含糖溶液注入重新排列後的第一朵假花。

 

The training was repeated with the sweet treat in the second, third and finally the fourth flower. The team found all the hummingbirds learned to fly to the correct flower, with the one containing the sugar visited significantly more than would be expected by chance during the training.

 

研究人員隨後重複這項訓練，改將甜美的糖液分別注入第二朵、第三朵，最後是第四朵花。團隊發現，受測蜂鳥全數都知道要飛往正確的花朵。內含糖水的那朵花，被蜂鳥拜訪的次數顯著多於訓練過程中可以預期的巧合。

 

To check that the birds were not simply learning which flower to pick by its distance along the row, the team presented the birds with a row of randomly spaced fake flowers. The results show that the birds had a clear preference for flying straight to the flower containing the sugary solution.

 

為了確認蜂鳥不是單純以距離選擇一整排裡面的某一朵花，研究團隊也在實驗中以亂數安排假花之間的距離。結果顯示：蜂鳥有明顯的偏好，會直接飛向含有糖溶液的那朵假花。

 

Tello-Ramos said the findings added a numerical concept of order to a growing list of information that hummingbirds use to get by, including location and flower color. “If the information is relevant, the humming bird will use it,” she said.

 

特羅─哈摩斯表示，這項發現將「順序的數字概念」加入蜂鳥賴以為生的資訊清單中，這個清單目前仍在不斷增加，其中也包括位置和花朵顏色的訊息。她表示：「如果這項資訊是有意義的，蜂鳥就會運用它。」

 

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/07/19/2003740147

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.904: How Marathon runners from India adapt to COVID-19?

 

社交隔離政策考驗運動員的應變能力，一群來自印度的馬拉松選手們在疫情下展現十足韌性，透過改變跑步環境克服無法外出的挑戰。

 

Marathon runners in India have built their resilience not only in pacing but also through adapting to various running environments in the midst of the lockdown.

 

專業長跑運動員Praveen Sharma在疫情爆發後只能待在自己小小的公寓裡，他於是選擇到稍大一點、約30～35平方公尺的頂樓平台跑步。不過，頂樓崎嶇的地形使他在每個拐角處都要急轉彎，因此增加了運動傷害的風險。久而久之，他發現：「利用8字形跑法能保持臀部平衡，並降低受傷的機率」。

 

When confined to compact apartments, professional long-distance runners like Praveen Sharma turned towards his roof terrace, a mere 30-35 meters per loop. Such an improvisation, however, has increased the risk for injuries, as the rugged shape of the terrace forces Praveen to make sharp turns at every corner. Over time, he finds that utilizing the “8-shape running routine has prevented an imbalance with his hips, decreasing chances of injuries”.

 

50歲的電信從業人員Sudhir Agawal則採取不同的策略，他將自己的客廳和家庭辦公室改造成一條環形27公尺的臨時跑道。為了模擬出最好的訓練環境，他還設置了補水站，讓他能邊跑邊拿水，不用中途停下來。這種方法讓他跑出了往年馬拉松的兩倍距離。

 

Sudhir Agawal, a 50-year-old telecom professional sought out a different method: he transformed his living room and home office into a makeshift track with a loop of 27 meters. In order to simulate the most optimized training environment, he sets up water stations to grab water on the go without stopping. This method has allowed him to run double the number of marathons in previous years.

 

Jyotsana Rawat面臨的則是一個全新的挑戰。對她來說，場地和空間都不是問題，反而是單調的跑步形式和無休止的繞圈子，大大地影響她跑步的動力。作為一個喜歡邊跑步邊看風景的人，這無疑是項挑戰。不過，她也明白己別無選擇，因此也努力適應這種新的跑步方式。

 

Jyotsana Rawat faces a novel challenge. For her, land and space is not a problem. Facing the monotonous running routine and endless circles have impacted her running morale. As someone who enjoys running because of the scenery, this has proven to be an especially difficult challenge for her. However, she understands that there are “no other options” and has adapted to this new way of running.

 

對於這三位專業人士來說，跑步早已成為他們生活中不可或缺的一部分，就連病毒也無法扼殺他們對跑步的熱情與動力。

 

For these three professionals, running has long been an integral part of their identities. The virus has done little to stifle their passions and motivation for running.

 

Source article: https://chinapost.nownews.com/20200723-1573126

 

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Welcome to 15mins.today, the home of English Shadowing, I am your host Gavin, and this is InTense Episode 55. Well guys, we are busy with adjectives, and in the first 2 in this series we did common adjectives and proper adjectives, and so today we are going on to number three.

 

They're called compound adjectives. Now, interestingly enough, it is sort of easy to recognize them. Usually not always, because what they are, they are words that are made up of more than one word. So normally you would see like what they call a hyphen or a dash in between them, a minus, if you are confused. So, it is a word that consists of two words that are joined together by a little dash, minus, hyphen and that then is an adjective. So, something like a far-off country.

 

So, far off, 2 words that you know, make up one with a hyphen and they describe a country or ready-made if you buy some pancakes ready-made pancake mix there you go. So that describes the pancake mix. Anyway, so that's it, it is quite easy to spot them, and they have a hyphen. Usually, not always some words not, like teenage, one word, “A teenage person.” There are no hyphens, but most of the ones I've seen thus far have a hyphen, so easy to recognize. And again, I will reiterate this every time, it is not important that you recognize that, oh, this is a compound adjective. As long as you can recognize an adjective. So, without further ado, let’s us look at our examples.

 

Was it a last-minute plan? No, it was not a last-minute plan.

 

Is it a full-length movie? Yes, it is a full-length movie.

Is it a full-length movie? No, it is not a full-length movie.

 

Do you have any short-term plans? Yes, I have some short-term plans.

Do you have any short-term plans? No, I don't have any short-term plans.

 

Do they sell high-quality products? Yes, they sell high-quality products.

Do they sell high-quality products? No, they do not sell high-quality products.

 

Is the bread gluten-free? Yes, the bread is gluten-free.

Is the bread gluten-free? No, the bread is not gluten-free.

 

Is the company world-famous? Yes, the company is world-famous.

Is the company world-famous? No, the company is not world-famous.

 

Is the music old-fashioned? Yes, the music is old-fashioned.

Is the music old-fashioned? No, the music is not old-fashioned.

 

Was your happiness short-lived? Yes, my happiness was short-lived.

Was your happiness short-lived? No, my happiness was not short- lived.

 

Is it a family-friendly movie? Yes, it is a family-friendly movie.

Is it a family-friendly movie? No, it is not a family-friendly movie.

 

Well, there you go guys. There are our examples, as per usual. I will underline the hyphenated words in the transcript, and you will be able to see them, Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, as we say, I hope you found it useful. Keep practicing, keep repeating and I'll catch you in the next one. Bye, bye!

 

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【職場英文即戰力- 從聽懂關鍵字到完勝簡報】- 台科大副教授黃玟君老師

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Summary:

The first article discusses how FB will compensate moderators in the US for emotional stress and PTSD from viewing disturbing images and videos. The second article talks about a restaurant that filled social distancing table seats with well-dressed mannequins to improve the atmosphere and have a laugh.

 

原文章討論: https://www.15mins.today/blog/ep-865-about-the-us-facebook-will-pay-52-million-to-employees-who

 

Vocabulary and Sample Sentences:

 

Moderator n.: a person responsible for preventing offensive material from being published on a website

Is being a moderator for YouTube difficult?

Is AI a big threat to moderators?

PTSD n.: post-traumatic stress disorder > mental and emotional problems resulting from shocking experiences

Is war the main reason for PTSD?

Is PTSD subjective?

Uncanny adj.: strange and difficult to explain

Are UFO’s uncanny? 

Was his behavior uncanny?

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-------------------

每日英語跟讀 Ep.903: Alleviate dry eyes with massage and good nutrition

If you are an office worker who sits in front of a computer screen all day, and after work swipes away on your mobile phone, plays on a Nintendo Switch or other electronic devices, you are at risk of “diseases of affluence,” including tired and sore eyes. To avoid dry eye syndrome, in addition to resting your eyes, you can use eye massage techniques and eat nutritious foods to alleviate the symptoms.

上班時常常看電腦螢幕工作，下班又滑手機、玩switch等3C用品，現代文明病「眼睛疲勞、痠痛」，就這樣無聲無息進入生活。如果想擺脫眼睛乾澀的症狀，除了讓眼睛多休息，跟著眼科醫生教學的眼部按摩法減緩不適，營養師也分享對眼睛乾澀有幫助的食物。

Smartphone addicts and office workers glued to screens all day often go for long periods without blinking; this can lead to tiredness, dry eye syndrome and sore eyes. According to ophthalmologist Wang Meng-chi, getting a good night’s sleep and using a steam eye mask can help. However, Wang also recommends massaging acupressure points around the eye area, including the eyebrows, between and at the tips of the eyebrows, the temples, below the eye sockets and the corners of the eyes near the bridge of the nose. Wang advises massaging each of these areas in turn to relieve discomfort.

低頭族、上班族久看螢幕，眼睛時常會忘記眨眼，造成疲勞、乾澀或痠痛的症狀，眼科醫師王孟祺說：「充足的睡眠、熱敷可以幫助減緩痠痛。」並教學如何按摩眼部穴道，包括眉頭、眉心、眉毛尾端、太陽穴、眼眶下緣中間，還有內眼角的位置，輪流按壓這些部位，可以減緩眼睛不適。

In addition to massaging the eye area, nutritionist Kao Min-min also recommends eating certain foods, such as seasonal watermelon, which contains 90 percent water, and vegetables such as gherkin, cucumber and winter melon to relieve dry eye syndrome. Kao also recommends eating deep-sea fish such as salmon, tuna, Pacific saury and mackerel, which are rich in fish oils and can reduce inflammation, one to three times a week. Vegetable oil-containing foods such as nuts are also beneficial to eye health, Kao adds.

除了眼部按摩方法能舒緩疲勞症狀，營養師高敏敏也分享幾個對眼睛乾澀有幫助的食物，像是現在夏天當季的西瓜有百分之九十的含水量，蔬菜的話像是小黃瓜、大黃瓜、冬瓜。油脂的部分，建議大家一周可以吃一至三次的深海魚，包含鮭魚、鮪魚、秋刀魚、鯖魚，裡面的魚油可以降發炎。植物性的油脂，如堅果，對眼睛也有益處。

Kao says a lack of vitamin A can increase the severity of dry eye syndrome so, in addition to taking in more oil-rich foods, she recommends supplementing the diet with starchy foods such as sweet potato or pumpkin, vegetables such as red and yellow peppers, fruits such as papaya, watermelon or cantaloupe melon and berry fruits such as blueberries. All of these foods contain anthocyanin, says Kao, which has antioxidant properties and is excellent at reducing inflammation. 

除了油脂的攝取，高敏敏也補充：「維生素A的低下，有可能會讓眼睛的乾澀更加嚴重，所以可以補充像是澱粉類的地瓜、南瓜，蔬菜類的紅椒、黃椒，或者是木瓜、西瓜、哈密瓜以及藍莓等莓果類，這些含有花青素的食材，對於抗氧化能力、降低發炎的反應也很強。」

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/07/15/2003739918

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.902: About the US - 20-year-old Tennessee dog believed to be oldest-ever golden retriever

A 20-year-old golden retriever in Tennessee is being hailed as the longest-living dog of her breed after becoming the first on record to surpass the milestone age.

（美國）田納西州一隻20歲黃金獵犬，是有紀錄以來首隻跨越此年齡里程碑的黃金獵犬，被稱為該品種的最長壽犬。

The Golden Heart Golden Retrievers Rescue said August, known affectionately as Augie, is believed to be the oldest-ever golden retriever at an age of 20 years and 61 days － and counting.

黃金獵犬救援團體「黃金之心」說，通常會被親暱地喊作「小奧」的奧古斯特，據信以20歲又61天的年齡，成為歷來最年長的黃金獵犬，而且紀錄還在延續。

The rescue said Augie, who was adopted at the age of 14, celebrated her 20th birthday April 24, becoming the first golden retriever known to have reached a third decade of life. The breed has an average lifespan of 10 to 12 years.

該團體說，14歲時被領養的小奧，在4月24日歡度20歲生日，是目前所知第一隻活到第3個10年的黃金獵犬。該犬種平均壽命為10到12年。

Augie remains remarkably healthy for her advanced age.

年歲已高的小奧仍健康絕佳。

Next Article

NASA’s ’smell of space’ has been converted into a perfume NASA的太空味道已經變成一款香水

The smell of space that NASA created to prepare astronauts for their missions beyond Earth’s atmosphere is being turned into a perfume.

太空的味道由美國國家航太總署（NASA）創造，用來為太空人準備他們首次離開地球大氣層的任務，將被變成一款香水。

As the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign organized by Matt Richmond, the scent of space, created decades ago by NASA to ready astronauts for their missions, is being converted into a perfume － Eau de Space － that will be mass produced.

一項由馬特．李奇蒙德發起、成功的Kickstarter群眾募資，數十年前由航太總署創造，用於幫助太空人準備任務的太空香味，將被變成一款「太空香水」量產。

According to Richmond, this smell has been off limits to everyone but astronauts for years, but "Through sheer determination, grit, a lot of luck, and a couple of Freedom of Information Act （FOIA） requests, we got it out."

李奇蒙德指出，這款香味過去數年被禁止給予太空人以外的人，但「透過堅毅的決心、毅力、一些運氣，與幾個資訊自由法的要求，我們得到它了」。

Expert perfumers helped create this fragrance to ensure that it accurately replicates the real deal. When struggling to describe to CNN what this space scent smells like, Richmond said that "Astronauts describe the smell as a mix of gunpowder, seared steak, raspberries and rum."

專業調香師協助創造這款香水，以確保它精確地複製真正的味道。在努力向美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）描述這款太空香味聞起來像什麼時，李奇蒙德說，「太空人描述這種味道是火藥、烤牛排、覆盆莓與萊姆酒的混合。」

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1386264 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1386722

 

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