通勤學英語 15Mins Today

Welcome to 15mins.today the home of English Shadowing. I am your host Gavin and this is In-Tense Episode 13. Now in this episode today we will be looking at the past perfect tense and we use this tense for something that has finished at some point in the past but it finished before something else happened.

 

So basically something finished, that's what we use it for and then something followed that event for example, “I had walked to the cafe and then I came home.” Great, so don't forget we use it for something that finished in the past, but it has been followed by something else. So let's do our questions.

 

Drill sentences:

 

Had Jane sent the email before she went home? Yes, she had sent the email before she went home.

Had Jane sent the email before she went home? No, she had not sent the email before she went home.

Had the conference finished before lunch? Yes, it had finished before lunch.

Had the conference finished before lunch? No, it had not finished before lunch.

Had you attended the meeting before you came here? Yes, I had attended the meeting before I came here.

Had you attended the meeting before you came here? No, I had not attended the meeting before I came here.

Had Peter completed the report before Monday? Yes, he had completed the report before Monday.

Had Peter completed the report before Monday? No, he had not completed the report before Monday.

Had you ever stayed at a hotel in Japan? Yes, I had stayed at a hotel in Japan.

Had you ever stayed at a hotel in Japan? No, I had never stayed at a hotel in Japan.

Had John and Jane booked the tickets before they left? Yes, they had booked the tickets before they left.

Had John and Jane booked the tickets before they left? No, they had not booked the tickets before they left.

Had you visited the museum before you came here? Yes, I had visited the museum before I came here.

Had you visited the museum before you came here? No, I had not visited the museum before I came here.

Had Jeff rebooted the computer and then left? Yes, he had rebooted the computer and then left. Had Jeff rebooted the computer and then left? No, he had not rebooted the computer and then left.

Had Anna backed up the files before lunch? Yes, she had backed up the files before lunch.

Had Anna backed up the files before lunch? No, she had not backed up the files before lunch.

Had you updated the drivers when they were available? Yes, I had updated the drivers when they were available.

Had you updated the drivers when they were available? No, I had not updated the drivers when they were available.

 

Well guys, that's it. I hope you can keep practicing until you get them right. If you want to, go online to find some other examples and practice makes perfect! Catch you next time, bye!

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Summary:

Thailand celebrates their traditional New Year’s Festival with a water splashing frenzy, so if you attend, leave your phone at home, unless it is waterproof! Nobody is spared as it is considered a blessing to be sprayed.

Full article: https://www.15mins.today/blog/589-spray-and-pray-thais-celebrate-songkran

 

Symbolize: to be a symbol of something

Does the color red symbolize good luck in Chinese culture?

Do pigs symbolize filth and greed in Western culture?

Conjure: clever tricks as in magic tricks / to make something appear as a picture in your mind

Does the name Warren Buffet conjure the idea of wealth to you?

Do people conjure an idea of paradise when they think of Mauritius?

Ritual: series of actions that are performed in the same way, especially religious ones

Is the Japanese tea ritual very old?

Did the monk bless you by cleansing you with the water ritual?

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每日跟讀#622: Amazon now selling e-books in traditional Chinese

 

Amazon officially launched the traditional Chinese Kindle e-book platform on May 24. Now users have access to over 20,000 e-books in traditional Chinese through the Kindle app or Kindle-reader devices.

 

亞馬遜五月二十四日正式推出繁體中文Kindle電子書市，使用者可透過應用程式或Kindle閱讀器，購買已上架的兩萬多本繁體中文書籍。

 

Of the 40,000 books published per year in Taiwan, with its population of 23 million, only 3 percent are electronic books. Amazon has previously announced its plan to move into Taiwan and enter the traditional Chinese e-book market.

 

台灣兩千三百萬人口每年出版量可達四萬本，但電子書市占率只有約百分之三。亞馬遜之前就宣布要進軍台灣，競逐繁體中文電子書市場。

 

Over a year ago, Amazon’s Beijing team, including its operational and technical department members, visited Taiwan to assess its market potential. They found that despite impressive publishing volumes, Taiwan’s market was too small, and exploiting its potential would present a challenge.

 

亞馬遜一年多前從美國帶著北京團隊，營運、技術部門一行人來台考察，但即使台灣出版產量驚人，由於市場太小，要賣給誰、怎麼賣，一直是個大問題。

 

Although Taiwanese account for 90 percent of the sales of e-books published in Taiwan, readers of traditional Chinese books can be found all around the world. Amazon’s breaking into the traditional Chinese e-book publishing gives it access not only to Taiwan’s market, but also to consumers of traditional Chinese readers worldwide. The new platform will enable e-books to reach places paper-based books previously did not, so publications in traditional Chinese can now be distributed in large volumes throughout the globe.

 

台灣電子書有百分之九十的購買者都在台灣，但閱讀繁體中文書的人散落世界各地。亞馬遜繁體中文書上架，不只是看上台灣市場，而是看上全球閱讀繁中書籍的市場。以前實體書無法到達之處，透過電子書平台皆可觸及，未來繁體中文書可大量輸出到其他國家。

 

With the clear potential for growth in the e-book market, many book-selling platforms have embraced e-books over the past two years. Reading this trend, publishers will be encouraged to increase publication of e-books, making the e-book market more vibrant.

 

未來電子書的成長趨勢明顯，這兩年很多購書平台走向電子書。隨著閱讀型態改變，出版商出電子書的意願也將提高，電子書市場變成一個熱絡的市場。

 

Chinese-language books form an important sector for global publishing, and Amazon is one of the world’s leading e-commerce companies. Domestic e-book platform operators are optimistic about Amazon’s breaking into Taiwan’s e-book market as, with the clear upward trend in e-book sales, increasing numbers of Taiwanese books can be sold to the global Chinese-reading market through Amazon’s platform.

 

華文是全球出版重要的一環，亞馬遜是全球最重要的電商之一，對於亞馬遜電子書進軍台灣，國內電子書平台業者皆樂觀以待，認為電子書成長趨勢明顯，透過亞馬遜的平台，台灣書可以賣到全球中文閱讀市場。

 

In addition to e-book content, many major e-book platforms have also developed their own reading devices, such as the Amazon Kindle and Rakuten Kobo from overseas companies. Taiwanese e-book company Readmoo has also developed its own reader MooInk, which is optimized for reading in Chinese.

 

除了電子書內容，許多主要電子書平台也開發出各自的閱讀器，例如飄洋過海來台的亞馬遜Kindle和樂天Kobo，以及台灣本土的讀墨Readmoo專為繁體中文閱讀而生的mooInk電子書閱讀器。

 

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每日跟讀#621: Eiffel Tower climber in custody after daring ascent

 

Rescuers successfully talked down a man who scaled the upper heights of the Eiffel Tower on Monday, and handed him over to police.

 

救難人員週一成功把攀登艾菲爾鐵塔上層的一名男子勸誘到地面上，並把他交給警方。

 

Television channels ran live shots as rescuers perched on the 324-metre tower’s wrought-iron struts, just below the highest viewing platform, tried to persuade the unknown man to give himself up.

 

就在最高觀景台下面，救難人員停在這座高324公尺的鐵塔鍛鐵支柱上，試圖說服這位陌生男子放棄時，電視頻道實況轉播。

 

The tower’s operator said he had entered the monument normally before climbing over the safety fencing on the second level and clambering up the outside of the tower.

 

鐵塔管理員表示，爬越第二層的安全護欄並在塔外向上攀爬以前，他正常進入這座紀念塔。

 

"At 21:30, Paris firefighters succeeded in reasoning with the individual and he is now in the hands of the competent authorities," the operator said.

 

管理員說：「在21時30分，巴黎消防隊員成功說服這個人，而他目前在相關當局手上。」

 

Police cordoned off several streets closest to the tower as crowds of onlookers gazed up at the perilous operation which began mid-afternoon.

 

圍觀群眾盯著這起下午3點左右開始的危險行動時，警方封鎖最靠近鐵塔的幾條街。

 

The Eiffel Tower will re-open on Tuesday.

 

艾菲爾鐵塔將於週二重新開放。

 

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每日跟讀#620: Suffering Through the Deep Freeze of a Hot Summer

 

It’s summertime for half the world. On these, the hottest days of the year, office workers huddle under blankets. Complaints trend on Twitter with posts like, “I could preserve dead bodies in the office it’s so cold in here.” And style bloggers offer advice for layered looks for coming in and out of the cold.

 

半個地球都在過夏天。在一年中最熱的日子裡，辦公室職員們蜷縮窩在毯子下。推特的熱門貼文抱怨像是：「辦公室冷到快可以當太平間了。」時尚部落客提供洋蔥式穿法的建議，讓大家適應室內外溫差。

 

Why are America and so many other places so over air-conditioned? It seems absurd when you consider the money and energy wasted. Architects, engineers and energy experts sigh with exasperation when asked for an explanation. They tick off a number of reasons – probably the most vexing is cultural.

 

為何美國和這麼多其他地方如此把冷氣用過了頭？顧及浪費掉的金錢和能源，這似乎很荒唐。被問到這個問題時，建築師、工程師和能源專家的嘆息帶有惱怒。他們列舉很多原因，或許最惱人的就是文化。

 

“Being able to make people feel cold in the summer is a sign of power and prestige,” said Richard de Dear, director of the Indoor Environmental Quality Laboratory at University of Sydney, Australia, where excessive air-conditioning is as prevalent as it is in the United States. He said the problem is even worse in parts of the Middle East and Asia.

 

「能讓人在夏天覺得涼快是權力與特權的象徵，」澳洲雪梨大學室內環境品質實驗室主任李察．迪．迪爾說，澳洲過度使用空調像美國一樣普遍，中東與亞洲部分地區更嚴重。

 

Commercial real estate brokers and building managers say tenants specify so-called chilling capacity in their lease agreements so they are guaranteed cold cachet. Luxury stores are kept colder than more down-market ones.

 

商用不動產仲介商和大廈管理人員說，房客會在租約中明列冷卻能力條款，確保冷氣夠冷。精品業者會把冷氣開得比平價商場更冷。

 

There’s also the misconception that colder temperatures make workers more productive when, in fact, research shows the opposite. Studies have shown people work less and make more mistakes when the air temperature is 20 to 22 degrees Celsius versus 23 to 24 degrees. Some research indicates feeling cold can take a psychological toll, making people untrusting.

 

還有一種誤解，認為較低溫度能讓員工更具生產力，其實研究顯示恰好相反，氣溫低到攝氏20至22度時，比在23至24度時工作效率更低，更易犯錯。有些研究顯示寒冷會增加心理負擔，讓人缺乏信任感。

 

The problem is compounded by building managers who, surveys indicate, typically don’t adjust the temperature higher in summertime when people wear lighter clothes.

 

研究還顯示，夏天人們穿著較輕薄，大廈管理員通常不會調高溫度，這讓問題變得更複雜。

 

Air-conditioning systems are also usually designed for worst-case scenarios – full occupancy on the hottest day of the year. As part of that calculation, designers might have factored in older computers and less energy-efficient lighting that radiate much more warmth than the machines and bulbs used today. And, engineers say, they might add a 20 percent upward correction, just to be on the safe side.

 

空調系統通常針對最惡劣情況設計：一年最熱的一天，住房全滿。設計師在計算時或許得考慮較舊型電腦、效能沒那麼高的燈具，發熱比現在的機器和燈泡高。工程師說，為安全起見設計時會增加20%校正值。

 

“It’s analogous to a high-tune car where you have to keep your foot on gas to keep it from stalling out,” said Edward Arens, a professor of architecture at the University of California, Berkeley.

 

柏克萊加州大學建築系教授愛德華．艾倫斯說：「有點像調校到高馬力輸出的車子，得把腳放在油門上才不會熄火。」

 

Paradoxically, another reason for aggressive air-conditioning is energy-efficient building construction. Better sealing and insulation keeps air-conditioning from entering. So cool air is often kept blasting to meet mandated air quality standards for levels of carbon dioxide that build up in the absence of outside air. The cool air also controls humidity, which can lead to mold.

 

弔詭的是，節能建築也是空調開很凶的原因。節能建築密閉和隔熱性較佳，阻擋了新鮮空氣入內。少了外來空氣，為達到二氧化碳濃度的室內空氣品質標準，冷氣常得開得很強。冷空氣還能控制會導致發霉的濕度。

 

While architects like Mr. Arens point the finger at engineers for designing air-conditioning systems with too much capacity, engineers point the finger back at architects who often have an aesthetic aversion to thermostats.

 

艾倫斯等建築師指責工程師把空調性能設計得太強，工程師則反批建築師通常從美學角度出發，討厭恆溫器。

 

“Architects try to convince mechanical engineers to hide sensors so they don’t mess up their beautiful design,” said Jon Seller, general manager of Optegy, an energy management consulting firm based in Hong Kong that specializes in air-conditioning systems. As a result, he said, sensors wind up in out-of-the-way places like air inlets on the ceiling, where, because heat rises, they provide less than accurate readings.

 

專長空調系統的香港能源管理顧問公司Optegy總經理瓊．謝勒說，「建築師試圖說服機械工程師把恆溫器藏起來，以免破壞他們的美麗設計，」如此一來，恆溫器都裝在邊邊角角，如天花板上的通氣口，這些位置溫度較高，提供的讀數往往不準。

 

Computer scientists have developed a smartphone app that making people the thermostats. Users can tell the app, called Comfy, whether they are hot, cold or just right. It learns trends and tells the system when and where to throttle up or throttle back the cooling. The developers claim Comfy-equipped buildings realize savings of up to 25 percent in cooling costs.

 

電腦科學家開發出一款智慧型手機應用程式，把人們自己變成恆溫器。用戶可以告訴這個Comfy程式自己覺得太熱、太冷還是剛好。程式記住整體趨勢後，通知空調系統何時何處提高或減弱冷氣。開發者表示配備Comfy的建築最多能省25%冷氣費。

 

“We have a lot of data that people are most comfortable if they have some measure of control,” said Gwelen Paliaga, head of a committee that develops standards for thermal comfort for the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers.

 

「我們有很多數據顯示，人們如果對溫度能有一定程度的控制，會覺得最舒服，」桂倫．帕里亞加表示。他主持的委員會替「美國暖氣、冷藏與空調工程師協會」制定人體舒適溫度的標準。

 

Of course, for fresh air and comfort, engineers and architects tend to agree the most effective control is being able to open and close the windows. No app required.

 

當然，為了呼吸新鮮空氣和舒適考量，工程師和建築師大概都同意，最有效的控制辦法還是開關窗戶。無需應用程式。

 

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每日跟讀#619: Researchers ‘reboot’ pig brains hours after animals died

 

The brains of decapitated pigs can be partially revived several hours after the animal has died, researchers have revealed, with some of the functions of cells booted back up when an oxygen-rich fluid is circulated through the organ.

 

研究人員近日指出，宰殺後的豬隻大腦在死亡數個小時之後，仍然可以被「部分復甦」──藉由一種富含氧氣的液體在器官中進行循環，死亡豬隻的腦細胞部分功能被重新啟動。

 

The scientists stress that the brains do not show any signs of consciousness — for example, there was no sign that different parts of the brain were sending signals to each other — and that it does not change the definition of death. “This is not a living brain. But it is a cellularly active brain,” said Prof Nenad Sestan from Yale University, who led the research.

 

科學家強調，實驗中的大腦並未顯示任何具有意識的徵兆──舉例而言，大腦不同部位並沒有出現互相傳遞訊號的跡象──而這項實驗也並未改變死亡的定義。耶魯大學的內納德‧塞斯坦教授是這篇研究的主持人，他表示：「這並不代表它是一個活的大腦，但確實是一個就細胞層面而言仍在活動中的大腦。」

 

A number of studies have suggested brain cells might not inevitably die after blood stops circulating. Writing in the journal Nature, researchers in the US reported how they sought to examine this further by taking brains from 32 pigs that had been killed in a slaughterhouse. Four hours after their deaths the arteries of the pig brains were hooked up to a sophisticated system dubbed BrainEx, which pumped an oxygenated synthetic blood through the organ. This fluid contained a host of nutrients as well as other substances to tackle processes that lead to cell death, and the circulation was continued for six hours.

 

曾有多份研究指出，在血液停止循環後，大腦細胞可能不會必然死亡。在期刊《自然》這次刊出的報告中，美國的研究人員解釋他們如何藉由三十二頭豬在屠宰廠被宰殺後留下的大腦，試圖進一步檢驗這個現象。在豬隻死亡四個小時後，豬的大腦動脈被接上一個稱為「BrainEx」的複雜系統，它會把加入氧氣的人工合成血液灌注到器官中。液體內含有許多營養物和其他物質，能夠阻撓導致細胞死亡的過程，並在大腦中持續循環六個小時。

 

At that point, the team found the circulating fluid successfully flowed through blood vessels in the brain, including tiny capillaries, and that the blood vessels were able to dilate in response to a drug, while the brain as a whole consumed oxygen and glucose from the fluid and released carbon dioxide back into it at similar rates to an intact brain.

 

此時，研究團隊發現循環的液體順利流經大腦中的血管──包括極細的微血管──而血管也能夠對某種藥物產生擴張反應，大腦整體則會消耗液體中的氧氣和葡萄糖，並釋出二氧化碳回到液體中，速率近似於正常大腦。

 

What is more, the cells showed certain functions, including the release of various immune-response substances when triggered. After tissues were removed from the brains and flushed of the BrainEx fluid the researchers found individual neurons were still able to function.

 

此外，細胞更開始出現某些功能，例如在受到刺激時會釋放出多種免疫反應物質。研究人員移除部分腦組織、並且沖洗掉「BrainEx」液體後，發現單獨的神經元仍然能夠運作。

 

The team said that while the BrainEx fluid was circulating, they monitored the brains to check for any signs of organized electrical activity that might suggest consciousness. “That monitoring didn’t show any kind of organized global electrical activity,” said Dr Stephen Latham, a bioethicist and co-author of the study.

 

研究團隊表示，當「BrainEx」液體正在循環時，他們有偵測大腦，檢查是否有任何可能代表意識的組織性帶電活動跡象。生物倫理學家史蒂芬‧拉譚姆博士是這份研究的共同作者，他指出：「監測過程中並未顯示出任何組織性的整體帶電活動」。

 

But, he said, the team had been ready for signs of consciousness. “Had that appeared they would have lowered the temperature of the brain and used anesthesia to stop that kind of activity,” said Latham, adding that at present there are no ethics committees set up for such an eventuality, and it remained unclear in any case if the technique could ever restore consciousness.

 

不過，他也表示，研究團隊已做好準備，面對隨時出現意識的徵兆。拉譚姆博士說：「如果有類似跡象出現，研究人員就會降低腦部溫度，並且用麻醉藥物阻止這類活動。」但他也補充說，目前並沒有為這種可能性成立任何倫理委員會，而且無論如何，該技術是否能夠恢復意識仍然在未定之天。

 

The team said the approach could provide a new way to study the brain, and even help in the development and testing of new therapies for stroke and other conditions in which bloodflow to parts of the brain is blocked, causing cells to die.

 

研究團隊表示，這個方法可望提供新的大腦研究方式，甚至有助於開發和測試新療法，治療中風和其他因為大腦部分血流受阻而導致細胞死亡的相關疾病。

 

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每日跟讀#618: S. Korea, Finland to collaborate on 6G network

 

On June 9, Moon Jae-in and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto agreed that the two nations will cooperate to develop next-generation telecom technologies.

 

6月9日，（南韓總統）文在寅和芬蘭總統紹利．尼尼斯托同意，韓、芬兩國將合作發展下一代電信技術。

 

"Korea, which was the first country to commercialize 5G mobile services, and Finland which is spearheading 6G research are perfect partners," Moon added.

 

文在寅補充說，「韓國是第一個使第5代行動通訊技術商業化的國家，而芬蘭目前是（全球）第6代行動通訊技術的先驅，兩者是完美的（合作）夥伴」。

 

According to the MOU, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute（ETRI）and the University of Oulu in Finland will jointly run research and development projects for 6G. The university plans to invest $25.4 million for the world’s first R&D project for 6G over eight years from March 2018.

 

根據（國營）「韓國電子通信研究院」與芬蘭（公立）「奧盧大學」簽署的諒解備忘錄，該研究院及大學將共同運作6G的研究發展計畫。該大學計畫自2018年3月起，投注2540萬美元、為期8年，用於全球第一個6G研發計畫。

 

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Welcome to 15 minutes. Today the home of English shadowing I'm your host Gavin and this is In-Tense episode 12.

 

In today's episode we will be looking at the "Past Perfect Continuous", what a mouthful, or "Past Perfect Progressive". Now previously we had looked at the present perfect progressive which was used for something that happened in the past and is still happening up until the present, now the Past Perfect Continuous is used for something that started in the past and actually finished at a certain point in the past.

 So I can give an example - he had been doing the work for 6 weeks until he left. So there is our example, now what are we listening for? We look for ahead a "been" and an "ing" and that is the past perfect continuous / progressive tense. Well, without further ado, let's try and do some questions.

 

Had Jane been attending the meeting until now? Yes, she had been attending the meeting until now.

Had Jane been attending the meeting until now? No, she had not been attending the meeting until now.

 

Had the conference been finishing on time until last month? Yes, it had been finishing on time until last month.

Had the conference been finishing on time until last month? No, it had not been finishing on time until last month.

 

Had you been attending the meeting? Yes, I had been attending the meeting.

Had you been attending the meeting? No, I had not been attending the meeting.

 

Had Peter been completing the report until recently? Yes, he had been completing the report until recently.

Had Peter been completing the report until recently? No, he had not been completing the report until recently.

 

Had you been staying at a hotel until today? Yes, I had been staying in a hotel until today.

Had you been staying in a hotel until today? No, I had not been staying at a hotel until today.

 

Had John and Jane been booking the tickets recently? Yes, they had been booking the tickets recently.

Had John and Jane been booking the tickets recently? No, they had not been booking the tickets recently.

 

Had you been visiting the museum until it closed? Yes, I had been visiting the museum until it closed.

Had you been visiting the museum until it closed? No, I had not been visiting the museum until it closed.

 

Had Jeff been rebooting the computers? Yes, he had been rebooting the computers.

Had Jeff been rebooting the computers? No, he had not been rebooting the computers.

 

Had Anna being backing up the files until she left? Yes, she had been backing up the files until she left.

Had Anna been backing up the files until she left? No, she had not been backing up the files until she left.

 

Had you been updating the drivers up till yesterday? Yes, I had been updating the drivers up till yesterday.

Had you been updating the drivers up till yesterday? No, I had not been updating the drivers until yesterday.

 

Great guys! Now that is a very interesting tense because it is quite a mouthful too. Try and remember everything and I'll be honest with you it's not a tense I tend to use a lot, but it is there so practice, do the questions, do the answers, and please note if it doesn't have a yesterday or last weekend or until it is implied that the because we use the stems we know that action has been finished whoever that person is doesn't do it anymore. So keep practicing, ask the question to the answer and repeat until you are correct. Great job guys, and catch you next time bye bye.

 

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Summary:

 Now that we have more and more accounts online and offline, information and identity security again need an upgrade. Banks are working towards phasing passwords out and opting for biometric security measures such as fingerprint, retina and facial scans for password.

 

Full article: https://www.15mins.today/blog/583-goodbye-password-banks-opt-to-scan-fingers-and-faces-instead

 

 

 

Vocabulary and sample sentences:

 

Biometrics (biometry)- the application of statistical analysis to biological data.

I changed my lock to a biometric fingerprint lock.Apple iphone has opted for a biometric system

 

Log in / log out

You need to log in with your email and password

You need to log out by clicking this button

 

Verification n. Verify v. – process of ensuring validity

You need some documents to verify your identity

Your biometric system will verify your fingerprint

When you open a bank account, you need to verify your identity.

 

Short-lived adj. – something that did not last long

My dream of becoming a straight A student was short-lived.

VCD technology in South Africa was short-lived.

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每日跟讀#617: Chinese couples can’t afford a second child

 

Before her son was born, Chen Huijuan was happy to splash out on skincare products, clothing and socializing with friends. Now, she even hesitates to buy a new dress.

 

兒子出生前，陳惠娟（譯音）樂於在護膚保養品、衣服以及與友人社交上花大錢。現在，她連買件新洋裝都猶豫再三。

 

Living in Suzhou in eastern Jiangsu province, Chen earns $730 (5,000 yuan) a month as a high school teacher, while her husband makes $2,500 (16,000 yuan) a month working for the sales department of an American company in neighboring Shanghai.

 

住在江蘇省東部的蘇州的陳惠娟是高中老師，月薪730美元（人民幣5000元），她老公任職於鄰近上海市的一家美商公司的營業部，月薪2500美元（人民幣16000元）。

 

Raising their 2-year-old, Xiyan, swallows at least a third of the family’s annual income. Comparatively, in the US it costs a similarly positioned family a fifth of their income to raise a child.

 

養育2歲大的兒子熙彥（譯音）至少吃掉這個家庭3分之1的年收入。相較之下，在美國，類似經濟處境的家庭養1個小孩，只要花5分之1的年收入。

 

Chen’s financial struggle mirrors the difficulties facing millions of other middle-class families across China, and is a major reason why the ruling Communist Party is struggling to boost the country’s birth rate.

 

陳惠娟的財務困境，反映出中國各地千百萬的其他中產階級家庭所面臨的困境，也是執政的中國共產黨努力想辦法要提升生育率的主要原因。

 

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