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每日英語跟讀 Ep.840: About Taiwan - Legendary singer/actress Barbra Streisand lauds Taiwan’s virus control

 

In a tweet on April 5, legendary singer and actress Barbra Streisand praised Taiwan for its handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. “Taiwan, despite being just 100 miles from mainland China with regular flights to and from Wuhan, has successfully staved off the worst of the coronavirus pandemic,” the superstar tweeted.

 

在四月五日的推特中，傳奇歌手、演員芭芭拉史翠珊大讚台灣對於武漢肺炎的爆發處理得宜。這位超級巨星推文說：「儘管台灣距離中國大陸僅約一百英里，與武漢間還有例行往返的班機，但已成功擊退新冠病毒流行病最嚴峻的挑戰。」

 

She pointed out that Taiwan had only five deaths at the time, and that most schools and businesses remained open. Later that day, President Tsai Ing-wen retweeted Streisand’s post, saying that it is encouraging to have one of the world’s most distinctive voices speak up in support of Taiwan’s proactive approach against the outbreak.

 

她指出台灣至當天為止只有五例病死，大多數學校與商家仍正常運作。蔡英文總統隨後在當天亦轉推這則推文並說，世界上最特別的聲音，能發聲力挺台灣主動對抗疫情的方法，這真是令人大受鼓舞。

 

“We are more than willing to share our experiences with friends around the world as well,” the president wrote, followed by hashtag #TaiwanCanHelp — a slogan signifying Taiwan’s willingness to contribute to the world during the pandemic. Fans have suggested that Streisand stage a concert in Taiwan after the crisis, so she can see this beautiful land in person.

 

蔡總統並說：「台灣很樂意與世界各地的朋友分享我們的經驗。」在文末並附上「台灣能夠幫忙」（#TaiwanCanHelp）的標籤——藉此口號表示台灣願為全球防疫盡一己之力。還有歌迷建議史翠珊在疫情平息後來台開唱，親自看看這片美麗的土地。

 

Next Article:

 

COVID-19 outbreak affects hiring outlook: yes123 yes123︰疫情影響徵才 打工族受衝擊

 

Faced with the COVID-19 outbreak, the hiring outlook of Taiwanese enterprises has declined to a low not seen since 2017, according to online job bank yes123. About 21.4 percent of the companies said the epidemic could affect their hiring, and 48 percent said it could hurt their profits, while 9.4 percent said it could boost their business.

 

面對武漢肺炎的爆發，人力銀行「yes123求職網」說，台灣企業徵才前景跌至二○一七年以來新低，有百分之二十一‧四的公司表示招募受影響，百分之四十八表示生意受影響，而百分之九‧四認為，疫情反而能提升業績。

 

The epidemic is having a major impact on domestic demand, and the tourism industry, including hotels and travel agencies, could suffer most. However, online shopping and food delivery may benefit from the rise of the “stay-at-home” economy. Companies that have been affected are being advised to carry out staff training or office renovation during the downturn.

 

疫情對內需影響極大，特別是觀光業，包括飯店和旅行社等，受創最為慘重。然而線上購物及飲食外送業者，可望因這股「宅經濟」興起而獲利。至於受到衝擊的公司，則建議可趁淡季進行員工訓練，或整修辦公室。

 

Meanwhile, job app Chick PT reported that the epidemic is hitting students who work part-time hard. About 10 percent of Taiwanese student part-timers said that they do not dare to go to work due to concerns about infection, while as many as 75 percent of students looking for part-time work are having trouble finding a job in the current semester.

 

此外根據打工APP「小雞上工」調查，疫情對須兼職工作的學生衝擊也不小。有一成學生打工族因擔心被傳染不敢去打工，更有高達百分之七十五的打工族這學期還沒找到工作。

 

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/03/12/2003732506 ; https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/04/17/2003734741

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.839: No Cell Service. No Wi-Fi. Just Childhood

 

Viral dance memes and dance challenges on TikTok largely bypass Green Bank, West Virginia. So do viral sensations like augmented reality filters on Snapchat and Instagram.

 

在美國西維吉尼亞州綠岸鎮，人們看不到短影音應用程式「抖音」大多數的網路爆紅舞步和改編舞步挑戰。這個地方的人也看不到擴增實境濾鏡等在社群軟體Snapchat和Instagram上爆紅的事物。

 

And when a Facebook fad had people all over the globe dumping ice water on their heads a few summers ago, Charity Warder, now a senior at Pocahontas County High School, was late to the game.

 

而在幾年前夏天，臉書掀起一陣風潮，使全球各地網友紛紛朝自己頭上傾倒冰塊和水時，目前已是波卡洪塔絲縣高中畢業班學生的查瑞蒂．沃爾德，很晚才加入這行列。

 

Sure, Charity has an iPhone, but she uses it mostly as a clock and a calculator. She makes phone calls from a landline, and she rarely texts her friends. Texting and driving? “It’s not a thing here,” she said.

 

查瑞蒂是有支iPhone，但她多半用來當鬧鐘和計算機。她只打固網電話，很少傳簡訊給朋友。邊傳簡訊邊開車？她說：「這裡沒這種事。」

 

When Charity wants to get online at home, she sits at her family’s desktop computer, which has a broadband connection that is so sluggish, it takes minutes to load a YouTube video.

 

查瑞蒂想在家上網時，就坐在全家共用的桌上型電腦前，電腦連接的寬頻網路非常慢，要花上好幾分鐘才能載入一支YouTube影片。

 

Welcome to Green Bank, population 143, where Wi-Fi is both unavailable and banned and where cellphone signals are nonexistent.

 

歡迎來到綠岸這個僅143人的小鎮，這裡既沒無線網路也不准使用，更沒有手機訊號。

 

The near radio silence is a requirement for those living close to the town’s most prominent and demanding resident, the Green Bank Observatory, home to the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope. To protect the sensitive equipment from interference, the federal government in 1958 established the National Radio Quiet Zone, a 13,000-square-mile area near the state’s border with Virginia.

 

綠岸天文台是鎮裡最出名且要求最多的「住戶」，世界最大的全可動射電望遠鏡即設置於此，而幾乎禁絕無線電則為其附近居民必須接受的要求。為了保護這裡的精密設備不受干擾，聯邦政府1958年將西維吉尼亞州靠近維吉尼亞州、約3萬4000平方公里的區域劃為「國家無線電寂靜特區」。

 

The observatory’s telescope “could detect your phone on Saturn in airplane mode,” states a sign outside its science center building, but is rendered much weaker if anyone uses electronics that emit radio waves. For those who live within 10 miles of the observatory, the limitations also include a ban on Bluetooth devices and microwaves, unless they are contained in a metal box, known as a Faraday cage, which blocks electromagnetic fields.

 

綠岸天文台科學中心大樓外的告示牌寫道，這個天文台的望遠鏡很敏銳，「即使手機開飛航模式放在土星上，望遠鏡都偵測得到」，不過若有人使用會發射無線電波的電子產品，望遠鏡偵測能力就會大為減弱。天文台方圓16公里內的居民甚至連藍牙裝置和微波爐都不准使用，除非把這些裝置放在名為「法拉第籠」的金屬籠裡，這種籠子能阻隔電磁場。

 

Nearly 15 million Americans live in sparsely populated communities where there is no broadband internet service at all, a stark digital divide across America between those with access to uber-fast connections and those with none.

 

近1500萬美國人住在全無寬頻網路的人煙稀少地帶，與美國各地得以使用超快網路的人形成強烈對比。

 

But in Green Bank, where the restrictions are mandatory, the quiet zone has in many ways created a time warp in the mountainous region. Phone booths loom near barns and stand guard on rural roads. Paper maps are still common. Here, people are less distracted by the technologies that have come to dominate 21st-century American life.

 

不過，在強制執行這些限制的綠岸，寂靜特區使這多山地帶在許多方面出現時間錯位現象。電話亭赫然出現在穀倉附近，並佇立在鄉間道路旁。紙本地圖仍盛行。這裡的人比較不會為主導21世紀美國人生活的科技而分心。

 

At a time when nearly 60% of American teens say they have been bullied or harassed online, and studies have found links between social media use and teen mental health problems, the digital limitations around Green Bank have created a unique kind of modern childhood, providing a glimpse into what it means to grow up without the constant buzz of texting and social media.

 

近六成美國青少年表示曾遭受網路霸凌和騷擾，而且研究顯示使用社群媒體和青少年出現心理健康問題有關，在這當口，綠岸對數位技術的限制創造出一種獨特的現代童年生活，讓人一窺不在簡訊和社群媒體持續的訊息轟炸下長大，會是什麼樣貌。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/352162/web/

 

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Welcome to 15mins.today the home of English Shadowing. I'm your host Gavin and this is InTense Episode 45. In the previous four episodes we looked at nouns, and today we're going to be looking at another kind of noun. Now this noun covers basically common nouns and proper nouns and it's basically possessive nouns. It's when something belongs to somebody. So, we can recognize them usually quite easily by the fact that they have an apostrophe and an s on(‘s). That tells us whose object it is, who it belongs to. So, it's quite easy to spot them and for example if we say, “It is Mary’s watch.” The Mary with an apostrophe s tells us whose watch it is. So, it is actually a proper noun Mary with an ‘sand that is a possessive noun. The other one is, “The dog’s tail.”Again, now we have a common noun because it's not a capital the dog, but the tail belongs to the dog.

 

Ok, so let's look at the examples and again it's easy to recognize them they'll have an apostrophe s. Just be aware that sometimes when we have plurals as in dogs’ bones, we say the dogs’ bones, there the apostrophe goes after the s, so dogs and then apostrophe bones. Whereas when it's a singular like dog’s tail, dog apostrophe S tailand of course when we have something like teeth or men the men's clothes so there men is plural but apostrophe S, because it doesn't have an S on. Okay, it is a little bit crazy but again I will underline the possessive nouns in our questions. Okay, let's look at the examples.

 

Is that Jane’s key? Yes, it is Jane's key.

Is that Jane's key? No, it is not Jane's key.

 

Is the car's window up? Yes, the car's window is up.

Is the car's window up? No, the car's window is not up.

 

Is that the cat's toy? Yes, that is the cat's toy.

Is that the cat's toy? No, it is not the cat's toy.

 

Is that John's sandwich? Yes, it is John's sandwich.

Is that John's sandwich? No, it is not John's sandwich.

 

Are the mice’s tails long? Yes, the mice’s tails are long.

Are the mice’s tails long? No, the mice’s tails are not long.

 

Are the singers’ voices beautiful? Yes, the singers' voices are beautiful.

Are the singers’ voices beautiful? No, the singers’ voices are not beautiful.

 

Is Peter’s watch accurate? Yes, Peter's watch is accurate.

Is Peter’s watch accurate? No, Peter’s watch is not accurate.

 

Is Mary’s hair beautiful? Yes, Mary’s hair is beautiful.

Is Mary’s hair beautiful? No, Mary’s hair is not beautiful.

 

Are the children's toys clean? Yes, the children's toys are clean.

Are the children's toys clean? No, the children's toys are not clean.

 

Is that your pen’s cap? Yes, it is my pen’s cap.

Is that your pen’s cap? No, it is not my pen’s cap.

 

Is she Peter's friend? Yes, she is Peter's friend.

Is she Peter's friend? No, she is not Peter's friend.

 

Are the couches’ legs unstable? Yes, the couches’ legs are unstable.

Are the couches’ legs unstable? No, the couches’ legs are not unstable.

 

Well there you go guys; I hope that helps. Keep practicing, and remember, we can spot possessive nouns by the fact that have an apostrophe and an S on, or sometimes S and an apostrophe after that. Good, catch you in the next one, bye!

 

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精選詞彙播客 Vocab Ep.054: Your home away from home 出外也可以靠home爸home媽

 

In recent years, people are opting to travel to experience the different lifestyles around the world. One of the most authentic ways is not to stay in a hotel or guesthouse, but to homestay. When travelling to Peru, Brain and Constance decided to homestay with Marie, a 65 year old widower and his son, Jonathon. Every evening, Brain and Constance would come home and be greeted and share their experience during the day with Marie and Jonathon like a family. Homestay was originally an alternative for backpackers or exchange students, now it is what people are looking for. A intimate, locally driven, nongeneric experience. For luxury tour planners, they are now including homestays as part of the local experience. In countries like Cuba, where lodging is limited, homestay is the best option.

 

討論原文章: https://www.15mins.today/blog/ep-793-their-home-is-yours

 

Vocabulary and Sample Sentences:

 

Host mother / host family n. – the family hosting travelers at their home

 

The host mother would prepare breakfast every morning for the travelers as if they were her children.

 

Living with a host family would give you an insider’s look at the local culture and lifestyle.

 

Intimate adj. – closely acquainted / familiar

 

Peter and Amy had an intimate relationship, but no one knew for sure whether they were dating or not.

 

Even if you want to be intimate with your girlfriend or boyfriend, it is better to practice social distancing during the outbreak

 

 

 

Itinerary n. – a planned route or journey

 

My five-day itinerary includes three nights’ stay in a homestay and one night’s stay in Four Seasons.

 

The travel agency will send us the itinerary next week to confirm our trip to North Korea.

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.838: When tracking the virus means tracking your citizens

 

Apple and Google on Friday unveiled a rare partnership to add technology to their smartphone platforms that will alert users if they have come into contact with a person with COVID-19. Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android — the operating systems used in iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices, among others — are used by about 3 billion people around the globe.

 

蘋果和谷歌兩大公司上週五破天荒宣布一項合作，將在他們的智慧手機平台新增技術，如果用戶接觸了武漢肺炎患者，便會發出警示。蘋果的iOS和Google的安卓（iPhone和三星Galaxy手機等使用的操作系統）在全球約有三十億人使用。

 

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, some democracies around the world have used technology to avoid having to impose draconian mass quarantines that were common earlier this year in China. That’s reassuring — and it’s also worrying, because the very strategies that can help fight a plague can also be abused once it’s over.

 

自冠狀病毒大流行爆發以來，世界各地一些民主國家已運用科技，以避免實施像中國今年年初所實施的那種嚴苛的大規模隔離。這令人寬心——卻也令人憂心，因為一旦疫情結束，這些可幫助打擊瘟疫的戰略也可能會被濫用。

 

Consider Taiwan, where an “electronic fence” allows local police to make regular phone calls to everyone who is home under quarantine; if the citizen doesn’t answer or the phone is out of power, police come to the home within 15 minutes. In South Korea, the government constantly updates a Web site that tracks the movements of people who have been infected, and issues alerts to the mobile phones of people in the geographic vicinity of an infected citizen. The Israeli government gained access to an archive of phone data to map the movements of infected people, then alerted those who had been in contact with them to self-isolate.

 

以台灣為例，台灣採用「電子圍籬」技術，讓當地的警察可以定時打電話給每位居家隔離者。若電話沒人接或沒電，警察在十五分鐘內就會到他們家去。在南韓，政府有追蹤染疫者動向之網站，會不斷更新，並對染疫民眾附近的人發出手機警示。以色列政府可以調出電話數據檔案，以便將染疫者的活動在地圖上定位出來，然後提醒與其接觸的人進行自我隔離。

 

Invoking these powers is reasonable during a pandemic. Once the outbreak is over, however, this kind of power can and probably will be abused. What’s to stop a corrupt (or merely unscrupulous) leader from using such technologies to learn or even publicize the location of political opponents or dissidents?

 

在疾病大流行期間訴諸這些權力是合理的。然而，疫情一旦結束，這種權力很可能會被濫用。怎樣阻止腐敗的（或只是不道德的）領導人使用此種技術來得知甚至公開政敵或異議人士的所在位置？

 

“This is a genuine emergency and that justifies a lot of things that would not normally be justified,” says Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “But we have to make sure that these temporary powers do not become permanent in a way that hurts everybody else.” The good news is that the pandemic is not an endless war. Once there is a treatment or a vaccine, there will be a clear end date to the state of emergency.

 

「美國公民自由聯盟」高級政策分析師傑伊‧史丹利說：「這是真正的緊急情況，它使許多通常是不合理的事有了正當性」。「但我們必須確保這些臨時權力不會變成傷害其他人的永久權力」。

好消息是，這場疾病大流行不會是一場無休止的戰爭。一旦有了治療方法或疫苗，緊急狀態就會有明確的結束日期。

 

Stanley says it’s crucial to set up strict rules beforehand. Any location data, for example, should only be used by public health authorities for public health purposes. The programs should be temporary and the data should be deleted after the crisis ends.

 

史丹利表示，事先訂定嚴格的規範至關重要。例如，任何位址資訊僅應由公共衛生主管機關用於公共衛生目的。此應為臨時程序，這些資訊在危機結束後應予以刪除。

 

Along these lines, Freedom House released a set of principles on March 24 for protecting civil and human rights in the fight against COVID-19. It says any surveillance programs that use new technology to fight the spread of the disease should be “subject to independent oversight, and ‘firewalled’ from other commercial and governmental uses such as law enforcement and enforcement of immigration policies.”

 

同理，人權組織「自由之家」在三月二十四日發布了一套原則，以便在對抗武漢肺炎期間保障公民權與人權。自由之家表示，任何使用新技術來對抗疾病傳播的監視程序都應「受到獨立監督，且不能作為其他商業及政府之用途，例如執法及移民政策之執行」。

 

In the middle of a crisis, all of this might seem theoretical. The most essential tasks for democratic leaders are providing for the public’s safety and working to revive the economy. Yet it’s also important to remember that the state rarely relinquishes powers it amasses in a crisis.

 

在危機之中，這些似乎都是理論上的。民主國家之領導者最重要的任務是確保公眾安全，並努力振興經濟。但同樣重要的是要記住，國家很少放棄它在危機中所集聚的權力。

 

After 9/11, the FBI was given broad new powers to demand data from private businesses. A dozen years later, both the ACLU and the Justice Department’s inspector general found that the use of that extraordinary power had become routine and unchecked. As Americans grapple with the current pandemic, they must be vigilant that their government not repeat the same mistake.

 

九一一恐怖攻擊發生後，美國聯邦調查局獲得了新的、廣泛的權力，可以要求私人企業提供資訊。十幾年後，美國公民自由聯盟和司法部總監察長都發現，這種非常時期權力的使用已成為常態，且沒有受到約束。美國人在與當前的病毒大流行奮力搏鬥之同時，也必須保持警覺，確保政府不會重蹈覆轍。

 

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/04/14/2003734545

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.837: About EU - The EU’s new center point after Brexit：a field in Bavaria

 

Now that the European Union includes one less country, its geographical center has shifted to the southeast — landing in a nondescript field in Bavaria：Gadheim, a village of 80 people near the German city of Wuerzburg.

 

現在歐盟成員少了一國，其地理中心已向東南移，坐落在巴伐利亞一處平凡無奇的田野：加德海姆，一個人口80人、靠近德國符茲堡的村莊。

 

The honor of being the center of Europe stems from calculations by France’s national cartographic institute, IGN, which places the point at 9 degrees, 54 minutes, 7 seconds east and 49 degrees, 50 minutes, 35 seconds north.

 

做為歐盟中心的榮耀，來自法國國家地理測量研究所「法國國家地理研究院」（IGN）的計算，定為東經9度54分7秒和北緯49度50分35秒的點。

 

Gadheim takes over from a spot in another northern Bavarian municipality, Westerngrund, which is 56 kilometers to the northwest.

 

加德海姆取代西北方56公里、另一座巴伐利亞北方城市威斯滕格隆德的地位。

 

Goetz said he first heard of IGN’s calculation on a local radio station in March 2017. "At first, I thought it was an April fool’s joke, an early one. But it turned out very quickly that it was really the case,’’ he said.

 

（維茨赫海姆鎮長）戈茨說，他2017年3月初次在一個地方廣播電台上聽到IGN計算結果。「起初我以為那是提早來的愚人節玩笑。但是，很快發現真的是這樣」，他說。

 

Next Article:

 

Cats to be put on leashes to protect wildlife? EU says No 給貓咪繫上繩子保護野生動物？歐盟說不

 

Put domestic cats on a leash to better protect threatened birds and the environment? The European Union says that would deny mankind’s furry friend its unalienable right to roam.

 

給家貓繫上繩子來加強保護受威脅的鳥類和環境？歐盟說，這麼做會使這個人類的毛朋友無法享有自由散步的不可剝奪權利。

 

The EU’s executive said that it is ``a strong defender of free movement rights _ including of cats’’ and ``categorically’’ denied it would ever force cats to be kept indoors or on a leash, as one scientific study suggests.

 

歐盟行政單位說，該組織「堅定捍衛自由移動的權利─包括貓的」，「明確地」拒絕依照一份科學研究所說，強制將貓限制在室內，或者拴繩子。

 

Tilburg University scientists wrote in Oxford’s Journal of Environmental Law that free-ranging domestic cats ``impact biodiversity through predation, disturbance, competition, disease and hybridization,’’ and added that the predatory impact is worse than often assumed.

 

堤爾堡大學科學家在牛津大學出版社出版的「環境法期刊」撰文指稱，自由四處活動的家貓，「因掠食、干擾、競爭、疾病和雜交等因素，影響生物多樣性」，還說這種掠奪性的影響，比通常所認為的還嚴重。

 

They argued that EU laws and directives could effectively force owners to keep them indoors or on a leash outdoors.

 

研究者主張，歐盟法規應該有效地強制飼主將貓限制在室內，或者在戶外繫上繩子。

 

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1366071 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1349838

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.836: Astronomers spot ‘missing link’ black hole — not too big and not too small

 

Scientists have detected a mid-size black hole — considered the “missing link” in the understanding of these celestial brutes — eviscerating an unfortunate star that strayed too close. Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and two X-ray observatories, the researchers determined that this black hole is more than 50,000 times the mass of our sun and located 740 million light years from Earth in a dwarf galaxy, one containing far fewer stars than our Milky Way. Black holes are extraordinarily dense objects possessing gravitational pulls so powerful that not even light can escape.

 

中型黑洞被認為是了解這類天體暴力分子所需的「關鍵環節」，科學家近日觀測到一個中型黑洞，正在撕裂一顆遊蕩到太靠近黑洞的不幸恆星。研究人員藉由哈伯太空望遠鏡和兩座X射線天文台提供的資料，判定這個黑洞質量超過太陽五萬倍，距離地球七億四千萬光年，座落在一個恆星數量遠少於我們銀河系的矮星系中。黑洞是極高密度的星體，其引力強到連光線都無法逃脫。

 

This is one of the few “intermediate-mass” black holes ever identified, being far smaller than the supermassive black holes that reside at the center of large galaxies but far larger than so-called stellar-mass black holes formed by the collapse of massive individual stars. “We confirmed that an object that we discovered originally back in 2010 is indeed an intermediate-mass black hole that ripped apart and swallowed a passing star,” said University of Toulouse astrophysicist Natalie Webb, a co-author of the study published this week in Astrophysical Journal Letters. The star was probably roughly a third the mass of the sun, Webb said.

 

目前為止，科學家辨識出的「中等質量」黑洞為數不多，這次發現的黑洞就是其中一例，它們遠小於位在大型星系中心的超大質量黑洞，卻遠大於大型恆星坍塌後形成的「恆星質量黑洞」。法國土魯斯大學的天體物理學家娜塔莉‧韋伯指出：「我們最初在二○一○年發現的一顆天體，現在可以證實它確實是一個中等質量黑洞。它撕裂並吞噬了一顆從旁邊經過的恆星。」該研究本週發表於《天文物理期刊通訊》，韋伯為共同作者之一。她表示，被撕裂的那顆恆星質量約為太陽的三分之一。

 

Webb said scientists have searched for intermediate-mass black holes for four decades and fewer than 10 good examples are known, though large numbers may exist. “So finding a new one is very significant. Also, a black hole swallowing a star happens on average only once every 10,000 years or so in any particular galaxy so these are rare occurrences,” Webb added.

 

韋伯指出，科學家四十年來苦尋中等質量黑洞，然而目前所知足以作為範例的卻不到十個。儘管如此，這類黑洞仍可能大量存在於宇宙間。她補充說：「因此，發現一個新的中等質量黑洞具有相當大的意義。另外，在任何一個星系裡面，黑洞吞噬恆星的現象平均一萬年才會發生一次，所以這也是很稀有的事件。」

 

The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way is 4 million times the mass of the sun and located 26,000 light years from Earth. The closest stellar-mass black star is about 6,000 light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 9.5 trillion kilometers. Webb called intermediate-mass black holes the “missing link” in understanding the range of black holes.

 

位於銀河系中心的超大質量黑洞，其質量是太陽的四百萬倍，距離地球兩萬六千光年，最靠近地球的恆星質量黑洞距離約六千光年。「光年」指的是光（在宇宙真空中）運行一年的距離，約為九點五兆公里。韋伯認為，中等質量黑洞是了解各種黑洞類型的「關鍵環節」。

 

Scientists know how stellar-mass black holes — roughly three to 100 times the mass of our sun — form. They do not know how intermediate-mass black holes form but suspect that supermassive black holes arise from their mid-size brethren. “Without finding such objects, it was impossible to validate this theory,” Webb said.

 

科學家已知恆星質量黑洞如何形成，其質量約為太陽的三到一百倍不等。中等質量黑洞形成的原因至今仍然不明，但是科學家懷疑超大質量黑洞就是源自於這類中型黑洞。韋伯表示：「如果沒有發現這類天體，科學家就沒有辦法證實這項理論。」

 

Intermediate-mass black holes have remained elusive. “The best explanation is that they are mostly in an environment that is devoid of gas, leaving the black holes with no material to consume and thus little radiation to emit — which in turn makes them extremely difficult to spot,” said University of New Hampshire astronomer and study lead author Lin Dacheng.

 

中等質量黑洞目前仍然難以掌握。這份研究的主要作者、新罕布夏大學的天文學家林大成指出：「最佳的解釋是，中等質量黑洞大多存在於缺乏氣體的環境中，使得黑洞沒有物質可以吞噬，導致散發出來的輻射很少──也因此讓它們極度難以發現。」

 

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/04/12/2003734435

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.835: Radical Changes Urged for Huge E.U. Farm Program

 

Europe’s $65-billion-a-year farm program needs to change radically if it is to protect the environment and support small farmers, a group of European scientists said in a paper published in the journal “People and Nature” .

 

一群歐洲科學家在「人類與自然」期刊發表文章指出，如果歐盟想保護環境並支持小農，歐盟每年耗資650億美元的農業政策必須大幅改變。

 

The 21 authors of the paper said a planned overhaul of Europe’s farm policy is inadequate. They said policymakers must stop paying farmers based on the acres they cultivate and instead reward environmentally friendly practices such as organic farming or agroforestry. The scientists also asked the European Union to cut off subsidies that encourage livestock farming, which is linked to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.

 

這篇文章的21名作者指出，歐盟計畫採取的農業政策改革並不恰當，決策者應停止以種植面積為基準付錢給農民，而應鼓勵對環境友善的作法，如有機農業和混農林業。這群科學家還要求歐盟取消鼓勵畜牧的補貼，畜牧與溫室氣體排放增加有關。

 

“Billions of euros of taxpayers’ money are about to be poured down the drain,” the scientists said in a statement.

 

A new Green Deal plans to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Last month, the European Commission outlined plans to make the deal legally binding for all member states.

 

這些科學家說：「數以十億歐元計的納稅錢都要白白浪費了。」歐盟新政策「綠色新政」打算在2050年前，使歐洲成為第一個溫室氣體淨零排放的大陸。歐盟執委會3月提出計畫草案，要讓綠色新政對所有成員國具法律約束力。

 

But the package will not reform farming because it has adopted old policies and repackaged them as climate-friendly measures, the scientists said.

 

不過，前述科學家指出，「綠色新政」這套政策並不能改革農業，因為只是把舊政策重新包裝成不破壞氣候的措施。

 

“The climate measures are unjustifiable. There is nothing in there,” said Guy Pe’er, a German conservation biologist and the leading author of the paper.

 

前述論文第一作者、德國保育生物學家裴爾說：「這些氣候措施站不住腳，根本沒內容。」

 

Pe’er has collected signatures from more than 3,600 scientists and researchers on his website supporting the paper’s findings.

 

裴爾的網站已取得3600多名科學家和研究人員連署，支持這篇論文的研究結果。

 

The scientists said that Europe’s farm policy has sidelined small farmers and supported practices that have led to global warming, soil erosion, land degradation and the loss of biodiversity. Subsidy programs that could have curbed the damage have been paltry and underfunded.

 

論文作者群指出，歐盟農業政策排擠小農，還鼓勵一些導致全球暖化、土壤侵蝕、土地退化和生物多樣性減少的行為。能減少這些損害的補貼方案為數不多，而且資金不足。

 

Last year, a New York Times investigation showed the disconnect between Europe’s green image and its farm policy, which has caused lasting environmental damage and left visible pockmarks across Europe. Decaying algae release deadly gas on some beaches in France. Farm runoff has helped expand dead zones in the Baltic Sea. And farmland emissions of greenhouse gas are on the rise.

 

紐約時報去年的調查顯示，歐盟的環保形象與農業政策不一致，歐盟農業政策導致環境長期遭受破壞，並在歐洲各地留下明顯傷痕。腐爛的水藻在法國一些海灘釋出致命氣體。農場的化學藥劑和動物排泄物流進河流和湖泊，導致波羅的海溶解氧氣很少的「海洋死區」擴大。此外，農田排放的溫室氣體愈來愈多。

 

The farm subsidies program accounts for nearly 40% of Europe’s budget, making it one of the biggest in the world. It is riddled with corruption and self-dealing, especially in Eastern and Central Europe, where leaders have diverted money to underwrite their governments or companies, the Times investigation found. Attempts to change the system or make it more accountable have failed partly because its biggest beneficiaries are in charge of setting policy.

 

農業補貼方案用掉歐盟近四成預算，是全球規模最大農業補貼方案之一。紐約時報調查發現，這類方案充斥貪腐與私益交易，尤其在東歐與中歐，領導階層挪用這筆錢充實國庫或自己公司的金庫。改變這個體系或使這個體系的責任歸屬更加明確的努力都失敗了，部分原因在於體系的最大受益者正是政策制定者。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/351877/web/

 

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每日英語跟讀 Ep.834: About Malaysia - Malaysia supermarket creates grocery shopping guide for clueless husbands

 

Malaysia’s movement control order（MCO）states that only the "head of the household" should be allowed to leave the house to purchase necessities, and although it didn’t state whether the person should be male or female, the husbands probably took it upon themselves to accomplish "mission grocery shopping".

 

馬來西亞的行動管制令（MCO）指出，只有「一家之主」被允許出門採購必需品，雖然管制令並未明說這個人應該是男性還是女性，但是丈夫們較有可能承擔這項「買東西任務」。

 

In hilarious posts shared by Malaysians Cheanu Chew and Muzaffar Rahman on Facebook, they observed many men looking clueless in supermarket aisles while glued to their phones. These "remote shoppers", as Chew called them, were presumably receiving instructions from their wives to ensure that they got the grocery list right.

 

馬來西亞人Cheanu Chew與Muzaffar Rahman在「臉書」發布的一則滑稽貼文中指出，他們觀察到許多看起來毫無頭緒的男性，在超市走廊上黏著手機不放。被Chew稱為「遙控購物者」的人們，想必正在接收妻子的指示，確保他們買對採購清單上的物品。

 

Now, supermarket chain Tesco in Malaysia has come to the rescue, with an ingenious hack to put all their troubles to rest. The shopping guide "for husbands" provides pictures of basic ingredients with captions, and also breaks it down to the nitty-gritty.

 

現在，馬來西亞的連鎖超市Tesco投入救援，巧妙地解決他們的麻煩。「給丈夫」的商品指南提供基本商品的圖片與名稱，並將其細分。

 

Next Article:

 

Three elephants found poisoned in Malaysia 馬來西亞發現三頭大象被毒死

 

Three elephants were poisoned to death near a palm oil plantation in Malaysia, officials said Friday, in the latest case of the endangered creatures being killed near human settlements.

 

馬來西亞官員週五說，三頭大象在棕櫚油園附近被毒死，是這種瀕危生物在人類墾地附近被殺害的最新一起案例。

 

Local police in southern Johor state found the animal carcasses and alerted wildlife officers on Tuesday, Wildlife and National Parks Department director-general Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim told AFP.

 

野生生物及國家公園保護局局長阿卜杜勒．卡迪爾．阿布．哈希姆告訴法新社，南部柔佛州當地警方發現動物屍體，週二通報野生生物官員。

 

The dead animals are believed to be part of a herd of 30 elephants from the nearby forest reserve.

 

這些死去的動物據信是來自附近森林保護區的一群30隻大象的部分成員。

 

"We conducted a post-mortem on the three female elephants aged between 18 and 22, and it revealed they were poisoned," Abdul Kadir said.

 

阿卜杜勒．卡迪爾說，「我們對這三頭年齡介於18至22歲的母象進行驗屍，結果顯示牠們遭下毒。」

 

"I am shocked and saddened by this incident. If this trend continues, all our wild elephants will be wiped out."

 

「我為這起事件感到震驚悲痛。如果這股趨勢持續，我們所有野生大象將消失殆盡。」

 

Electric fences used to keep elephants away from village crops were not functioning and allowed the creatures to trespass on plantations, Abdul Kadir said.

 

阿卜杜勒．卡迪爾說，用來避免大象靠近村落作物的電籬笆未起作用，使這些生物得以侵入棕櫚油園。

 

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1296139 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1365803

 

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Welcome to 15mins.today the home of English Shadowing and this is InTense Episode 44.

 

Guys, it is our last episode of nouns! And in this episode we will be looking at collective nouns. So to recap, thus far we have seen common nouns, the most common cats and dogs, proper nouns, easy to spot because they have a capital in front of the name, and then compound nouns, words that are put together to make one thing.

 

Good, now the last one would be collective nouns, and they are what we use to name groups of people or things, a herd, a family, an audience, the crowd. Those are all collective nouns. Now some of these are very difficult, because especially specific ones, about certain animals, because here's the interesting thing, we have a herd of buffalo, but a flock of sheep. Those are things unfortunately many people struggle with and the only way you can get past learning them would be to just say, a lot of sheep or a group of sheep, which is sort of okay, but it's actually a flock of sheep. So, let's look at some examples and I again will underline the collective nouns in the transcript. Let's go!

 

Drill Sentences:

 

Did the audience enjoy the show? Yes, the audience enjoyed the show.

Did the audience enjoy the show? No, the audience did not enjoy the show.

 

Do you have a large family? Yes, I have a large family.

Do you have a large family? No, I do not have a large family.

 

Does the choir sing beautifully? Yes, the choir sings beautifully.

Does the choir sing beautifully? No, the choir does not sing beautifully.

 

Do your staff work hard? Yes, my staff work very hard.

Do your staff work hard? No, my staff do not work hard.

 

Is the album full of pictures? Yes, the album is full of pictures.

Is the album full of pictures? No, the album is not full of pictures.

 

Is the pile of leaves very tall? Yes, the pile of leaves is very tall.

Is the pile of leaves very tall? No, the pile of leaves is not very tall.

 

Is the crowd happy? Yes, the crowd is happy.

Is the crowd happy? No, the crowd is not happy.

 

Will the committee make the decision? Yes, the committee will make the decision.

Will the committee make the decision? No, the committee will not make the decision.

 

Is the herd of elephants easy to see? Yes, the herd of elephants is easy to see.

Is the herd of elephants easy to see? No, the herd of elephants is not easy to see.

 

Did he order the whole set? Yes, he ordered the whole set.

Did he order the whole set? No, he did not order the whole set.

 

Is he in a band? Yes, he is in a band.

Is he in a band? No, he is not in a band.

 

Is the team doing well? Yes, the team is doing well.

Is the team doing well? No, the team is not doing well.

 

Is the pride of lions under the tree? Yes, the pride of lions is under the tree.

Is the pride of lions under the tree? No, the pride of lions is not under the tree.

 

Well there you go guys! Again, if you are interested, you can just Google examples of collective nouns and you can get lists and lists. Again, the trickiest part would be for certain animals, because each group of animals has his own unique word to describe it. Ok, so practice, repeat and I'll catch you in the next episode, bye!

 

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