通勤學英語 15Mins Today

Welcome to 15mins.today the home of English Shadowing. I'm your host Gavin and this is InTense Episode 32.

Well guys, in this episode we will be looking at something which is very important, and that is the word “the” which is an article. We call it an article, there are 2 articles “the” which is a specific article and “a or an” which is a non-specific article. And the key here is, when do we not use “the,” and that is what we will be looking at over the next few episodes. So, for this one I'm going to be looking at Holidays, because it is the holiday season. So, in front of the name of Holidays, we do not use the word “the” and as we just passed Christmas and New Year's and New Year's Eve ,if we talk about it like that, we do not put it there in front of those. So, let's look at our examples. Are you ready? Let's go.

Drill Sentences:

Does Jane love Christmas? Yes, she loves Christmas.

Does Jane love Christmas? No, she does not love Christmas.

Is New Year's Day an awesome day? Yes, it is an awesome day.

Is New Year's Day an awesome day? No, it is not an awesome day.

Is Chinese New Year a fantastic holiday? Yes, it is a fantastic holiday.

Is Chinese New Year of fantastic holiday? No, it is not a fantastic holiday.

Do you enjoy Moon Festival? Yes, I enjoy Moon Festival.

Do you enjoy Moon Festival? No, I do not enjoy Moon Festival.

Do Peter and Anna celebrate Easter? Yes, they celebrate Easter.

Do Peter and Anna celebrate Easter? No, they do not celebrate Easter.

Do children enjoy Lantern Festival? Yes, children enjoy Lantern Festival.

Do children enjoy Lantern Festival? No, children do not enjoy Lantern Festival.

Does Hong Kong celebrate Dragonboat Festival? Yes, Hong Kong celebrates Dragonboat Festival.

Does Hong Kong celebrate Dragonboat Festival? No, Hong Kong does not celebrate Dragonboat Festival.

Is Halloween popular with children? Yes, it is very popular with children.

Is Halloween very popular with children? No, it is not very popular with children.

Are America and Canada the only 2 countries to celebrate Thanksgiving? Yes, they are the only 2 countries to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Are America and Canada the only 2 countries to celebrate Thanksgiving? No, they are not the only 2 countries to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Is Arbor Day a public holiday? Yes, Arbor Day is a public holiday.

Is Arbor Day a public holiday? No, it is not a public holiday.

Does John barbecue during Moon Festival? Yes, he barbecues during Moon Festival.

Does John barbecue during Moon Festival? No, he does not barbecue during Moon Festival.

Is Boxing Day very popular? Yes, it is very popular.

Is Boxing Day very popular? No, it is not very popular.

Well there you go guys, some Holidays for you to learn about and remember we do not put “the” in front of a holiday. Take care and catch you next time, bye!

Summary:

The first article is about the US actress being arrested for being part of s scam related to College admissions, which had a link to an episode of the comedy series where her character lied to get her twins admitted to a good kindergarten.

The second article covers how Google spent a ton of cash to create deepfake videos in the hope of helping in the detection of them. Similarly, FB is also spending money to increase detection of them.

Full article: https://www.15mins.today/blog/713-about-usa-lori-loughlin-s-full-house-character-took-part-in-a

Vocabulary and Sample Sentences:

Prestigious adj. : respected/admired or of great quality

1. Is NTU the most prestigious school in Taiwan?

Scrutiny n.: careful and thorough examination

1. Did what your application face thorough scrutiny? 

Algorithm n.: a set of rules that must be followed when solving a problem, like a formula

1. Do you understand Youtube’s algorithm? 

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每日跟讀#756: Taiwan chocolate best bar none

Fu Wan Chocolate, founded by Taiwan’s first certified chocolate taster Warren Hsu, has had a spectacular showing at the “Oscars of the world of chocolate,” the International Chocolate Awards (ICA), winning the best in competition award in the “plain/origin dark bar” category with its Taiwan no. 1 62 percent Ping Tung Chocolate.

台灣第一位國際巧克力品鑑師許華仁創立的「福灣巧克力」，在有「巧克力界奧斯卡」之稱的「世界巧克力大賽 」決賽中展現驚人能量，以「台灣一號屏東黑巧克力62%」奪得最大獎「世界最佳黑巧克力」。

Q sweet (premium chocolates & sweets) from Taipei received two bronze awards in the “white chocolate bars with inclusions or pieces” category. Founder Queenie was absolutely delighted, saying that this year was the first time she had entered the competition, and for two of her products to pick up an award in the final was both surprising and exciting. She said, “to be able to come here and compete with the world’s top chocolatiers was a marvelous recognition of my skills, and to become the first person from Taiwan to win the ICA white chocolate bars with inclusions or pieces category has given me huge inspiration on my journey in the world of chocolate.”

來自北市的「Q Sweet精品甜點」拿下「最佳調味白巧克力類」兩個銅牌。品牌創辦人Queenie十分開心地表示，她今年首次參賽，能入圍總決賽兩個品項，又驚又喜，「能和來自全球頂尖的巧克力師競逐技藝，是很大的肯定；而能夠成為台灣首位拿下ICA白巧克力調味類獎項的得獎者，也將激勵我在巧克力之路奮勉不懈。」

Taiwan’s biggest winner in this year’s event, Fu Wan Chocolate, secured five golds, 10 silvers and four bronzes, giving it a total of 18 awards, and all of its entries were created from Taiwanese cocoa beans, which came as quite a surprise to the judges. When ICA chairman Martin Christy was handing out the best in competition plain/origin dark bar chocolate award, he said to the chocolatiers from all over the world present, “you all need to watch out: Taiwan chocolate is on a roll!”

台灣最大贏家「福灣巧克力」此次共摘下五金、十銀、四銅及特別獎，共十八個獎項，且所有參賽作品皆以台灣巧克力豆製作，令評審十分驚豔，ICA主席Martin Christy在頒發「世界最佳黑巧克力」獎項時，對著全球巧克力業者說：「大家要注意囉！台灣巧克力來勢洶洶！」

Collecting the award, Hsu said, “It means a lot to receive an award for the world’s best dark chocolate in Guatemala, the birthplace of the Mayan civilization cacao culture. We will continue to work harder. Thank you, Taiwan!” Fu Wan Chocolate not only uses cocoa beans from Pingtung, it has from its inception worked together with local cocoa farms to produce its very own cocoa bean, to give its own unique local flavor.

許華仁領獎時，特別提到：「在瓜地馬拉這個馬雅可可文明的發源地，能夠拿到世界最佳黑巧克力獎，意義非凡。我們會繼續努力！謝謝台灣！」福灣巧克力不只使用來自屏東的可可豆為原料，更從源頭就與在地可可農合作，獨家發酵法讓新鮮在地的可可豆，展現來自土地的好風味。

The International Chocolate Awards began in 2012, and is judged by experts from all over the world. The entries are first selected from over a dozen regions, including the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Belgium, France and the UK, and the winners from these regions then progress to the world finals. The competition is the world’s largest, most demanding and most stringent contest for appraising the quality of chocolate.

「世界巧克力大賽」始於二○一二年，評審為來自世界各地的業界專家，賽事劃分為美洲、亞太、比利時、法國、英國等十多個區域先進行評選，各區域得獎者才能晉升全球決賽，是巧克力業界公認規模最大、評比標準也最嚴謹的賽事。

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/12/16/2003727603

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每日跟讀#755: Langlang the stray pilgrim finds a home in the mountains

Chiayi City’s Dongnanyu Syuanhuang Temple undertook a pilgrimage to Alishan’s Shoujhen Temple for the sixth consecutive year on Friday, setting off at 10 in the morning. When the group arrived at a 7-11 convenience store in Jhongpu Township in Chiayi County at around 1pm, they were joined by a stray dog, who would keep up with the pilgrims, sometimes lagging behind, sometimes running ahead, but at all times wary of them, keeping its distance and not allowing them to get near or pet it.

嘉義市東南嶽玄隍殿今年連續第六年徒步上山到阿里山受鎮宮謁祖會香，週五上午十點出發，大約下午一點抵達嘉義縣中埔鄉頂六統一超商時，突然有一隻流浪狗加入會香隊伍、跟前跟後，但仍保有「浪浪」警覺性，不讓香客撫摸。

The little stray kept on like this, trotting along with the pilgrims as if it were an emissary of the gods, but after walking over 10km along the mountain road in this way, the pilgrims noticed that the dog, whom they’d nicknamed “Langlang” by this point, was showing signs of tiredness. They swept Langlang up and put him on the back of the truck accompanying the pilgrimage, giving him the chance to rest up and catch his breath. As night fell and the temperature dropped, people cobbled together a reflective coat that would keep Langlang warm.

宛如「神命」般，這隻黑色流浪狗就這樣跟著進香隊伍一路前進，走了大約十幾公里的山路後，有信眾發現「浪浪」出現體力不支現象，趕緊將牠抱上隨行卡車，讓牠休息喘口氣，由於入夜山上氣溫降到個位數，大家還幫牠穿上反光背心保暖。

Perhaps because he was now well-rested and his stomach full, Langlang’s strength returned. Having been treated kindly by the temple pilgrims, Langlang was now quite content to let them pet him and carry him along with them, and in no time Langlang had officially become accepted as part of the pilgrimage group. By the time the group arrived at their destination at midday on Saturday, he was a paid-up member of the team.

可能休息、吃飯後體力恢復，並感受東南嶽玄隍殿信眾的善意，「浪浪」願意讓信眾們撫摸、抱著，於是「浪浪」正式成了會香隊的成員，於週六中午十二點抵達目的地受鎮宮，也乖乖著夾在上香人群中。

According to Wu Tien-chieh, the director of the Dongnanyu Syuanhuang Temple, the pilgrims had marched up the mountain, taking turns to carry the temple deity, and during the entire 160km journey there and back they had not stopped to rest once, with the exception of the time spent at the Shoujhen Temple and times to eat meals. Everyone in the pilgrimage had shown real devotion and commitment, Wu said, and nobody flagged at all. This year, he said, over 70 people had attended, 20 more than the 50 or so who had gone along the previous year, and this year they had the addition of a canine pilgrim, Langlang.

東南嶽玄隍殿總執事吳典杰表示，東南嶽玄隍殿信眾們輪流背著玄天上帝神像朝山，來回一百六十公里，全程除了在受鎮宮會香、用餐外，都沒有停下腳步，不眠不休，考驗著成員的毅力與耐力，但大家不以為苦，今年有七十多人參與，比去年的五十多人增加二十人，另加一隻「浪浪」。

The group returned on Sunday, and somebody had already decided they would adopt Langlang, the dog who joined them on their trek up the mountain.

謁祖會香預計週日中午返回東南嶽玄隍殿，已經有信眾預約認養跟著大家朝山的「浪浪」。

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/12/25/2003728115

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每日跟讀#754: See you later, trotting alligators: many crocodiles can gallop

Crocodiles have never had a friendly reputation, but they may just have become even scarier. Veterinary scientists have discovered that a surprising number of species are capable of galloping when they reach their top speeds.

鱷魚從來不曾被人認為友善，不過它們可能比你想像的還要可怕。獸醫科學家近日發現，當鱷魚達到最快速度時，能夠像馬一樣奔馳的種類多到驚人。

Previously it was thought that only a couple of crocodile species were able to use this horse-like gait, but the latest observations show that the ability extends to eight different species. Alligators and caimans, by contrast, can manage only a trot.

人們之前以為，只有少數幾種鱷魚擁有這種像馬般奔馳的步態，然而最新的觀察結果顯示，這種能力出現在多達八種鱷魚身上。相較之下，短吻鱷和凱門鱷頂多只能小跑步。

Since the gait is shared across many species, the researchers believe galloping may have first emerged in crocodiles’ ancient land-dwelling ancestors, called crocodylomorphs, which were cat-sized creatures with long legs.

正因為這種步態同時出現在許多鱷魚種類中，研究人員遂推論「奔馳」的技能可能最初來自於鱷魚的古老陸棲祖先「鱷形超目」。鱷形超目底下的物種大小像貓，且四肢細長。

John Hutchinson, a specialist in evolutionary biomechanics at the Royal Veterinary College, London, who led the study, said a surprising finding was that despite the different gaits and sizes, almost all the species studied had a top speed of about 18km per hour. “We suspect that bounding and galloping give small crocodiles better acceleration and maneuverability, especially useful for escaping from danger,” he said. “It seems like alligators and caimans stand their ground rather than run away with an extreme gait.”

倫敦皇家獸醫學院的演化生物力學專家約翰‧哈欽森是這篇研究的主持人。他表示，讓人驚訝的發現在於，儘管步伐和體型大小互有差異，但幾乎所有被研究的鱷魚種類最快時速都能達到將近十八公里。哈欽森教授說：「我們猜想，跳躍和奔馳的動作給予小型鱷魚更好的加速能力和機動性，對於逃離危險特別有用。」他補充指出：「看起來短吻鱷和凱門鱷比較傾向於堅守原處，而不是一溜煙地飛快逃跑。」

The researchers found that bigger crocodiles were less likely to gallop, the largest galloping species being a Cuban crocodile, typically measuring more than 2m long. “That’s as big as crocs can get and still bound and gallop,” said Hutchinson. “The Cuban crocs are incredibly active on land and incredibly athletic. This species is notorious for being really aggressive.”

研究人員發現，較大型的鱷魚比較不太可能奔馳，而在會奔跑的鱷魚種類中，體型最大的是古巴鱷，體長通常超過兩公尺。哈欽森說：「那也就是還能跳能跑的鱷魚可以長到的最大尺寸了。」他補充說：「古巴鱷在陸地上的活躍程度讓人難以置信，而且行動敏捷到有點誇張。這種鱷魚攻擊性很強，因此惡名昭彰。」

Other, smaller species, were more likely to gallop into the water to escape rather than to chase prey. Hutchinson said galloping appears to have emerged multiple times in evolution in different species, as an energetically efficient way to get around. Some toads and spiders gallop, he said.

其他較小的鱷魚種類比較可能會一路奔馳到水裡逃命，而不會死命追趕獵物。哈欽森指出，奔馳的行為似乎在演化史中多次出現於不同物種身上，是一種能量上較有效率的逃跑方式。他表示，有些種類的蟾蜍和蜘蛛也會奔馳。

The scientists carried out the study at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida, US, where they recorded videos of 42 individuals from 15 species. The creatures were placed at the end of a runway and coaxed to run to the other end. “Every animal it took a different motivation,” said Hutchinson. “Some of them wouldn’t go at all. The caimans and alligators tended to just sit there and hiss and fight.” The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

科學家在美國佛羅里達州的聖奧古斯丁鱷魚農場動物園進行這項研究，他們對十五種鱷魚，共四十二隻個體進行錄影。研究人員將這些動物放在一條跑道的末端，然後哄騙它們跑向另一端。哈欽森指出：「每一隻個體都需要不同的動機。」他表示：「有些鱷魚就是完全不想走。凱門鱷和短吻鱷則比較傾向於坐在原地發出嘶嘶聲互相挑釁，然後打成一團。」這項研究發表於期刊《科學報告》。

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/12/22/2003727949

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