通勤學英語 15Mins Today

每日跟讀#573: Mushrooms may ’reduce the risk of mild brain decline’

 

Eating mushrooms more than twice a week could prevent memory and language problems occurring in the over-60s, research from Singapore suggests.

 

每週吃兩次以上香菇，或可預防逾60歲時發生的記憶與語言問題，新加坡的研究顯示。

 

A unique antioxidant present in mushrooms could have a protective effect on the brain, the study found. The more mushrooms people ate, the better they performed in tests of thinking and processing speed.

 

香菇有一種獨特的抗氧化物，或許對大腦有保護效果，該研究發現。吃越多香菇的人，他們在思考與處理速度測驗中的表現愈佳。

 

The National University of Singapore study’s findings were based on 663 Chinese adults, aged over 60, whose diet and lifestyle were tracked from 2011 to 2017.

 

新加坡國立大學的這項研究成果，來自於2011年至2017年追蹤663名60歲以上華裔成人的飲食與生活型態。

 

Over the six-year study, the researchers found that eating mushrooms lowered the chances of mild cognitive impairment, so that roughly nine out of 100 people who ate more than two portions（300g）a week were diagnosed, compared with 19 out of 100 among those who ate fewer than one portion.

 

在超過6年的研究期間，研究人員發現，攝取菇類可降低輕度認知障礙的機率，因此100人中約有9人每週吃兩份（300公克）以上香菇者被確診，相較於吃不到一份者，每100人中有19人被診斷出來。

 

Mild cognitive impairment can make people forgetful, affect their memory and cause problems with language, attention and locating objects in spaces - but the changes can be subtle. It is not serious enough to be defined as dementia.

輕度認知障礙會讓人們健忘，影響他們的記憶，並引發語言、注意力及空間物體定位的問題—但這種變化可能是隱約的，並未嚴重到足以被界定為失智。

 

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1280479

 

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Hi guys, and welcome to 15mins.today the home of English Shadowing. This is your host Gavin and today we are doing InTense Episode 4. 

Today is an interesting one because I won't be doing a specific tense. Instead I am going to do some words, and these are a number of verbs that are used only, most of the time, in the simple tenses. So, what it means is they almost never get used in the continuous or progressive tenses, and the reason I'm doing this because I have first-hand experience of some students who use these verbs incorrectly. So, let's get cracking and let's get going with a list. So, the words that I usually use, just with the simple tenses and not with progressive or continuous tenses are:

 

want, need, prefer, have (meaning to process), like, love, hate, belong, see, hear, know, realize, believe, suppose, mean, understand, remember, forget, seem

 

Now of course in English there are always exceptions, but for the most part, these words are not used with these tenses: “I am wanting to do this.” no “I want to do this.” So, without further ado let's do some examples with questions. Okay let's go:

 

跟讀練習:

 

Do you want coffee now? Yes, I want coffee now.

Do you want coffee now? No, I do not want coffee now.

 

Does John belong in this group? Yes, he belongs in this group.

Does John belong in this group? No, he does not belong in this group.

 

Do you realize it is too late? Yes, I realize it is too late.

Do you realize it is too late? No, I do not realize that it is too late.

 

Do you have some tea? Yes, I have some tea.

Do you have some tea? No, I do not have any tea.

 

Do you like chicken? Yes, I like chicken.

Do you like chicken? No, I do not like chicken.

 

What do you mean? What I mean is that, for example, cyan and turquoise are the same color.

 

Does Peter seem happy now? Yes, Peter seems happy now.

Does Peter seem happy now? No, Peter does not seem happy now.

 

Do you forget to eat breakfast? Yes, I forget to eat breakfast sometimes.

Do you forget to eat breakfast? No, I never forget to eat breakfast.

 

Does Mary have a car? Yes, she has a car.

Does Mary have a car? No, she does not have a car.

 

Does this seem like a good idea? Yes, it seems like a good idea.

Does this seem like a good idea? No, it does not seem like a good idea.

 

 

Great, well I hope you enjoyed that. Don't forget to practice and practice and repeat. Have a great day and catch you next time. Thank you guys, bye!

 

更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today

Hi guys, and welcome to 15mins.today the home of English Shadowing. This is your host Gavin and today we are doing InTense Episode 4. 

Today is an interesting one because I won't be doing a specific tense. Instead I am going to do some words, and these are a number of verbs that are used only, most of the time, in the simple tenses. So, what it means is they almost never get used in the continuous or progressive tenses, and the reason I'm doing this because I have first-hand experience of some students who use these verbs incorrectly. So, let's get cracking and let's get going with a list. So, the words that I usually use, just with the simple tenses and not with progressive or continuous tenses are:

 

want, need, prefer, have (meaning to process), like, love, hate, belong, see, hear, know, realize, believe, suppose, mean, understand, remember, forget, seem

 

Now of course in English there are always exceptions, but for the most part, these words are not used with these tenses: “I am wanting to do this.” no “I want to do this.” So, without further ado let's do some examples with questions. Okay let's go:

 

跟讀練習:

 

Do you want coffee now? Yes, I want coffee now.

Do you want coffee now? No, I do not want coffee now.

 

Does John belong in this group? Yes, he belongs in this group.

Does John belong in this group? No, he does not belong in this group.

 

Do you realize it is too late? Yes, I realize it is too late.

Do you realize it is too late? No, I do not realize that it is too late.

 

Do you have some tea? Yes, I have some tea.

Do you have some tea? No, I do not have any tea.

 

Do you like chicken? Yes, I like chicken.

Do you like chicken? No, I do not like chicken.

 

What do you mean? What I mean is that, for example, cyan and turquoise are the same color.

 

Does Peter seem happy now? Yes, Peter seems happy now.

Does Peter seem happy now? No, Peter does not seem happy now.

 

Do you forget to eat breakfast? Yes, I forget to eat breakfast sometimes.

Do you forget to eat breakfast? No, I never forget to eat breakfast.

 

Does Mary have a car? Yes, she has a car.

Does Mary have a car? No, she does not have a car.

 

Does this seem like a good idea? Yes, it seems like a good idea.

Does this seem like a good idea? No, it does not seem like a good idea.

 

 

Great, well I hope you enjoyed that. Don't forget to practice and practice and repeat. Have a great day and catch you next time. Thank you guys, bye!

 

更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today

Summary:

 

This article discusses the phenomenon of public wiring on utility poles and hanging off buildings across the world and how in some countries it is very dangerous and very unorganized, creating hairballs of wires.

 

Vocabulary and sample sentences:

 

Hairball- a collection of hair or fur formed in the stomach of animals and even sometimes in humans,

Do cats commonly get hairballs?

Yes, cats do commonly get hairballs.

Are hairballs disgusting?

Yes, hairballs are disgusting.

 

Insouciant - not being worried about anything

Are you an insouciant person?

No, I am not an insouciant person.

Do cats exude an air of insouciance?

Yes, cats do exude an air of insouciance.

 

Hapless - unlucky or unfortunate

Was Peter the hapless victim of fate?

Yes, Peter was the hapless victim of fate.

Is not winning the lottery the hapless fate of most people?

Yes, not winning the lottery is the hapless fate of most people.

 

Gordian knot(tangle)- a very difficult or impossible task or problem

From the legend in which King Gordius tied a very complicated knot and said that whoever undid it would become the ruler of Asia. Alexander the Great cut through the knot with his sword.

Is balancing work and life a Gordian knot?

Yes, balancing work and life is like a Gordian knot.

Is life filled with Gordian knots?

Life is filled with baby Gordian knots.

 

更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today

用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

Summary:

 

This article discusses the phenomenon of public wiring on utility poles and hanging off buildings across the world and how in some countries it is very dangerous and very unorganized, creating hairballs of wires.

 

Vocabulary and sample sentences:

 

Hairball- a collection of hair or fur formed in the stomach of animals and even sometimes in humans,

Do cats commonly get hairballs?

Yes, cats do commonly get hairballs.

Are hairballs disgusting?

Yes, hairballs are disgusting.

 

Insouciant - not being worried about anything

Are you an insouciant person?

No, I am not an insouciant person.

Do cats exude an air of insouciance?

Yes, cats do exude an air of insouciance.

 

Hapless - unlucky or unfortunate

Was Peter the hapless victim of fate?

Yes, Peter was the hapless victim of fate.

Is not winning the lottery the hapless fate of most people?

Yes, not winning the lottery is the hapless fate of most people.

 

Gordian knot(tangle)- a very difficult or impossible task or problem

From the legend in which King Gordius tied a very complicated knot and said that whoever undid it would become the ruler of Asia. Alexander the Great cut through the knot with his sword.

Is balancing work and life a Gordian knot?

Yes, balancing work and life is like a Gordian knot.

Is life filled with Gordian knots?

Life is filled with baby Gordian knots.

 

更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today

用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

每日跟讀#572: Second man cleared of virus invigorates quest for AIDS cure

 

Scientific investigation into the world’s second man cleared of the AIDS virus is zooming in on a gene and a treatment side-effect, as newly-enthused researchers strive to find a cure for the disease that has killed millions.

 

日前全球出現第二例愛滋病患，體內已完全檢驗不到俗稱愛滋病的後天免疫缺乏症候群病毒，讓研究人員重新燃起熱情，力圖找到解藥，治癒這種已奪走數百萬條生命的疾病。對該病例進行研究後，科學家開始聚焦於某個基因和一項療法的副作用上。

 

Known as the “London Patient,” the man had HIV and a type of blood cancer called Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He responded successfully to a bone marrow transplant from a donor with rare genetic resistance to HIV infection. The transplant cleared the man’s cancer and his HIV, but the resistant genes may not be the sole cause of his HIV remission.

 

這起病例被稱為「倫敦病人」，他曾感染人類免疫缺乏病毒（HIV，俗稱愛滋病毒），還患有一種血癌，稱為何杰金氏淋巴瘤。該名病患後來接受骨髓移植，術後反應良好，而捐贈者帶有罕見的基因變異，能夠抵抗愛滋病毒感染，這場骨髓移植遂完全清除他的癌症和愛滋病毒。不過，抗病基因並不完全是使他愛滋病毒感染獲得「緩解」的唯一原因。

 

The London Patient’s case gives fresh hope to scientists and pharmaceutical researchers who have spent decades looking for ways to end AIDS. HIV expert Sharon Lewin said two factors were probably at play in his success story: the genetic resistance and a transplant side-effect that attacks immune cells.

 

科學家和藥學研究人員已花費數十年的心力，尋找終結愛滋病的方法，而「倫敦病人」這個病例帶給他們嶄新的希望。愛滋病毒專家夏倫‧呂因表示，有兩項因素或許在該成功案例中發揮了作用：也就是基因抗病能力，以及移植手術攻擊免疫細胞的副作用。

 

“The new bone marrow is resistant to HIV, and also the new bone marrow is actively eliminating any HIV-infected cells through something called ‘graft versus host’ disease,” said Lewin, co-chair of the International AIDS Society’s cure research advisory board and a researcher at Australia’s Doherty Institute.

 

呂因擔任國際愛滋病學會解藥研究諮詢委員會的副主席，同時也是澳洲杜赫蒂研究院的研究員，她指出：「新骨髓能抵抗愛滋病毒，而它同時也藉由一種稱作『移植物對抗宿主疾病』的方式，主動消滅任何受愛滋病毒感染的細胞。」

 

The London Patient joins the first case of this kind, Timothy Ray Brown — or the “Berlin Patient” — whose HIV was eradicated by a similar transplant treatment in 2007. It involved the destruction of his immune system and transplanted stem cells with a gene mutation called CCR5 that resists HIV.

 

「倫敦病人」是這類情況的第二例，第一例是提莫西‧雷‧布朗──或稱「柏林病人」──他在二○○七年接受一場類似的移植手術，體內的愛滋病毒從此被完全消滅。這個過程包含破壞他的免疫系統，而移植的幹細胞帶有CCR5蛋白質（趨化因子受體5）的基因突變，能夠抵抗愛滋病毒。

 

The AIDS virus uses CCR5 to enter cells, but if the gene is mutated, HIV cannot latch onto cells and infect them. This “graft versus host” effect is akin to a deadly battle of two immune systems, explained Steven Deeks, an HIV expert at the University of California. The incoming transplanted donor-immune cells seek out and destroy all the host’s immune cells — including those in which HIV can hide out, he said.

 

愛滋病毒利用CCR5蛋白質來進入細胞，但是一旦控制該蛋白質的基因產生突變，愛滋病毒就無法佔領細胞，進而感染。加州大學的愛滋病毒專家史蒂芬‧迪克斯解釋說，「移植物對抗宿主」效果近似於兩個免疫系統之間發動你死我活的戰鬥。他表示，經移植來到體內的捐贈者免疫細胞，會找出宿主所有的免疫細胞，並且悉數摧毀──其中包括那些可供愛滋病毒躲藏的細胞。

 

“The transplant resulted in the complete destruction of the old immune system and the construction of a new immune system in which the (HIV) virus can’t replicate (because of the genetic mutation). That is the cure,” Deeks told Reuters. But such transplants are complex, expensive and highly risky to the patients, who would run a risk of dying in the process.

 

迪克斯向路透表示：「移植手術導致舊的免疫系統完全遭到摧毀，同時又建立起新的免疫系統，愛滋病毒（由於基因突變）無法於其中複製，這就是解方。」然而，像這樣的移植手術既複雜又所費不貲，對病人而言又具高度風險，病人很可能在過程中喪命。

 

Some research teams in the US and elsewhere are developing gene-editing techniques to edit CCR5 cells outside of the body and reintroduce the edited cells back to patients. Specialists said this method has its limits, because it only edits some cells and leaves native wild type cells untouched in the body where HIV can still hide.

 

美國和其他國家的研究團隊目前正在研發基因編輯技術，試圖在體外編輯CCR5細胞，再將編輯後的細胞重新引入病人體內。專家認為，這個方法仍有其侷限性，因為它只會編輯某些細胞，體內原生的野生型細胞則不受影響，愛滋病毒仍可躲藏其中。

 

Other avenues are also being explored. Dan Barouch, a vaccine researcher at the Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, is working with the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences to develop what’s known as a “kick and kill” treatment. The idea is to use an initial drug to flush out HIV that is hiding from the immune system and then use standard antiretrovirals to kill the newly-exposed virus. Animal studies have shown hope, but it has not yet been proven in people.

 

科學家也在探索其它途徑。疫苗研究學家丹‧巴魯克，服務於隸屬哈佛大學的波士頓貝斯以色列女執事醫療中心，目前正在和藥廠 吉利德科學公司合作，研發所謂的「踢出並殺死」療法。其概念是使用一種初期藥物，把躲在免疫系統裡的愛滋病毒通通趕出來，然後再用正規的抗反轉錄病毒藥物，殺死新暴露出來的病毒。該療法已在動物實驗中展現可能性，但目前還未於人體證實。

 

“All HIV cure approaches in general are in their infancy,” he said in a telephone interview. Rare cases of remission, such as the London and Berlin patients “provide a lot of enthusiasm and motivation” for research teams and show that a cure can be achieved, he said, “but we still have a long way to go.”

 

在電話訪談中，巴魯克指出：「目前所有治癒愛滋病毒的方法，基本上都還在發展初期。」像倫敦病人和柏林病人這類罕見的「緩解」病例，對研究團隊而言「確實激發許多研究熱忱和動力」，而且顯示愛滋病解藥是可能達成的，他說，「但是我們還有很長的一段路要走。」

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/03/17/2003711614/2

 

更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing

 

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每日跟讀#572: Second man cleared of virus invigorates quest for AIDS cure

 

Scientific investigation into the world’s second man cleared of the AIDS virus is zooming in on a gene and a treatment side-effect, as newly-enthused researchers strive to find a cure for the disease that has killed millions.

 

日前全球出現第二例愛滋病患，體內已完全檢驗不到俗稱愛滋病的後天免疫缺乏症候群病毒，讓研究人員重新燃起熱情，力圖找到解藥，治癒這種已奪走數百萬條生命的疾病。對該病例進行研究後，科學家開始聚焦於某個基因和一項療法的副作用上。

 

Known as the “London Patient,” the man had HIV and a type of blood cancer called Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He responded successfully to a bone marrow transplant from a donor with rare genetic resistance to HIV infection. The transplant cleared the man’s cancer and his HIV, but the resistant genes may not be the sole cause of his HIV remission.

 

這起病例被稱為「倫敦病人」，他曾感染人類免疫缺乏病毒（HIV，俗稱愛滋病毒），還患有一種血癌，稱為何杰金氏淋巴瘤。該名病患後來接受骨髓移植，術後反應良好，而捐贈者帶有罕見的基因變異，能夠抵抗愛滋病毒感染，這場骨髓移植遂完全清除他的癌症和愛滋病毒。不過，抗病基因並不完全是使他愛滋病毒感染獲得「緩解」的唯一原因。

 

The London Patient’s case gives fresh hope to scientists and pharmaceutical researchers who have spent decades looking for ways to end AIDS. HIV expert Sharon Lewin said two factors were probably at play in his success story: the genetic resistance and a transplant side-effect that attacks immune cells.

 

科學家和藥學研究人員已花費數十年的心力，尋找終結愛滋病的方法，而「倫敦病人」這個病例帶給他們嶄新的希望。愛滋病毒專家夏倫‧呂因表示，有兩項因素或許在該成功案例中發揮了作用：也就是基因抗病能力，以及移植手術攻擊免疫細胞的副作用。

 

“The new bone marrow is resistant to HIV, and also the new bone marrow is actively eliminating any HIV-infected cells through something called ‘graft versus host’ disease,” said Lewin, co-chair of the International AIDS Society’s cure research advisory board and a researcher at Australia’s Doherty Institute.

 

呂因擔任國際愛滋病學會解藥研究諮詢委員會的副主席，同時也是澳洲杜赫蒂研究院的研究員，她指出：「新骨髓能抵抗愛滋病毒，而它同時也藉由一種稱作『移植物對抗宿主疾病』的方式，主動消滅任何受愛滋病毒感染的細胞。」

 

The London Patient joins the first case of this kind, Timothy Ray Brown — or the “Berlin Patient” — whose HIV was eradicated by a similar transplant treatment in 2007. It involved the destruction of his immune system and transplanted stem cells with a gene mutation called CCR5 that resists HIV.

 

「倫敦病人」是這類情況的第二例，第一例是提莫西‧雷‧布朗──或稱「柏林病人」──他在二○○七年接受一場類似的移植手術，體內的愛滋病毒從此被完全消滅。這個過程包含破壞他的免疫系統，而移植的幹細胞帶有CCR5蛋白質（趨化因子受體5）的基因突變，能夠抵抗愛滋病毒。

 

The AIDS virus uses CCR5 to enter cells, but if the gene is mutated, HIV cannot latch onto cells and infect them. This “graft versus host” effect is akin to a deadly battle of two immune systems, explained Steven Deeks, an HIV expert at the University of California. The incoming transplanted donor-immune cells seek out and destroy all the host’s immune cells — including those in which HIV can hide out, he said.

 

愛滋病毒利用CCR5蛋白質來進入細胞，但是一旦控制該蛋白質的基因產生突變，愛滋病毒就無法佔領細胞，進而感染。加州大學的愛滋病毒專家史蒂芬‧迪克斯解釋說，「移植物對抗宿主」效果近似於兩個免疫系統之間發動你死我活的戰鬥。他表示，經移植來到體內的捐贈者免疫細胞，會找出宿主所有的免疫細胞，並且悉數摧毀──其中包括那些可供愛滋病毒躲藏的細胞。

 

“The transplant resulted in the complete destruction of the old immune system and the construction of a new immune system in which the (HIV) virus can’t replicate (because of the genetic mutation). That is the cure,” Deeks told Reuters. But such transplants are complex, expensive and highly risky to the patients, who would run a risk of dying in the process.

 

迪克斯向路透表示：「移植手術導致舊的免疫系統完全遭到摧毀，同時又建立起新的免疫系統，愛滋病毒（由於基因突變）無法於其中複製，這就是解方。」然而，像這樣的移植手術既複雜又所費不貲，對病人而言又具高度風險，病人很可能在過程中喪命。

 

Some research teams in the US and elsewhere are developing gene-editing techniques to edit CCR5 cells outside of the body and reintroduce the edited cells back to patients. Specialists said this method has its limits, because it only edits some cells and leaves native wild type cells untouched in the body where HIV can still hide.

 

美國和其他國家的研究團隊目前正在研發基因編輯技術，試圖在體外編輯CCR5細胞，再將編輯後的細胞重新引入病人體內。專家認為，這個方法仍有其侷限性，因為它只會編輯某些細胞，體內原生的野生型細胞則不受影響，愛滋病毒仍可躲藏其中。

 

Other avenues are also being explored. Dan Barouch, a vaccine researcher at the Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, is working with the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences to develop what’s known as a “kick and kill” treatment. The idea is to use an initial drug to flush out HIV that is hiding from the immune system and then use standard antiretrovirals to kill the newly-exposed virus. Animal studies have shown hope, but it has not yet been proven in people.

 

科學家也在探索其它途徑。疫苗研究學家丹‧巴魯克，服務於隸屬哈佛大學的波士頓貝斯以色列女執事醫療中心，目前正在和藥廠 吉利德科學公司合作，研發所謂的「踢出並殺死」療法。其概念是使用一種初期藥物，把躲在免疫系統裡的愛滋病毒通通趕出來，然後再用正規的抗反轉錄病毒藥物，殺死新暴露出來的病毒。該療法已在動物實驗中展現可能性，但目前還未於人體證實。

 

“All HIV cure approaches in general are in their infancy,” he said in a telephone interview. Rare cases of remission, such as the London and Berlin patients “provide a lot of enthusiasm and motivation” for research teams and show that a cure can be achieved, he said, “but we still have a long way to go.”

 

在電話訪談中，巴魯克指出：「目前所有治癒愛滋病毒的方法，基本上都還在發展初期。」像倫敦病人和柏林病人這類罕見的「緩解」病例，對研究團隊而言「確實激發許多研究熱忱和動力」，而且顯示愛滋病解藥是可能達成的，他說，「但是我們還有很長的一段路要走。」

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/03/17/2003711614/2

 

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每日跟讀#571: An Opportunity Rises Offshore

 

When engineers faced resistance from residents in Denmark over plans to build wind turbines on the Nordic country’s flat farmland, they found a better locale: the sea. The offshore wind farm, the world’s first, had just 11 turbines and could power about 3,000 homes.

 

That project now looks like a minnow compared with the whales that sprawl for miles across the seas of Northern Europe.

 

當工程師想在丹麥平坦農地設置風力發電機卻遭遇居民反對時，他們發現了一個更好的地方─大海。這座世上第一個離岸風力發電場僅有11座風力發電機，約可為3000個家庭提供電力。

 

相較目前在歐洲北部海上綿延好幾英里的巨大電場，上述計畫規模小得可憐。

 

Off this venerable British port city, a Danish company, DONG Energy, is installing 32 turbines that stretch 600 feet high. Each turbine produces more power than that first facility.

 

It is precisely the size, both of the projects and the profits they can bring, that has grabbed the attention of banks, money managers, private equity funds and wealthy individuals like the owner of the Danish toymaker Lego and the investment bank Goldman Sachs. As the technology has improved and demand for renewable energy has risen, costs have fallen.

 

丹麥公司丹能風力正在這個古老英國港口城市（編按：利物浦）的外海，安裝32座高達600英尺的風力發電機。每座的發電量都比前述發電場的總發電量還大。

 

而正是這個計畫可觀的規模與獲利能力引起了金融機構、基金經理人和私募股權基金的關注，諸如投資銀行高盛及丹麥玩具製造商樂高的老闆等富豪。隨著技術改善與再生能源需求增加，成本亦已降低。

 

And offshore wind, once a fringe investment, with limited scope and reliant on government subsidies, is moving into the mainstream. Europe, too, looks all the more attractive, as the United States under President Donald Trump rethinks its stance on renewables.

 

“If you had polled infrastructure investors five years ago, only a few would have been looking at offshore wind,” said Suzanne Buchta, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch global co-head of green bonds.

 

離岸風力發電曾經是範圍有限且仰賴政府補貼的邊緣投資項目，目前卻正打入主流。而在美國總統川普重新思考再生能源立場之際，歐洲看來也格外吸引人。

 

美銀美林綠色債券全球共同主管蘇珊娜．布赫塔說：「如果你在5年前調查基礎設施項目投資人的意見，會考慮離岸風力發電的寥寥無幾」，他們現在則「稍微多了些信心」。

 

Now, she said, they “are a little more comfortable.”

 

Offshore wind has several advantages over land-based renewable energy, whether wind or solar. Turbines can be deployed at sea with fewer complaints than on land, where they are often condemned as eyesores.

 

But the technology had been expensive and heavily dependent on government subsidies, leaving investors wary. That is now changing.

 

Turbines today are bigger, produce much more electricity and are deployed on much larger sites than in the past. The result is more clean power and extra revenue.

 

離岸風力發電與陸上再生能源相比享有數項優勢，無論是陸上風能還是陸上太陽能。風力發電機在海上部署引起的抱怨少於陸地，它們在陸地上常被指為有礙觀瞻。

 

離岸風力發電技術成本一直很高且高度仰賴政府補助，讓投資人望而卻步，但情況正在改變。

 

現今的風力發電機機體更大，發電量更多，並且部署在遠比過去為大的地方，結果則是獲得更乾淨的電力與更多的收入。

 

The number of major players has also expanded, creating more competition. A joint venture of Vestas, the Danish turbine maker, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan, is now competing with Siemens, which had long dominated the market for building offshore turbines. Others, like the American giant General Electric and Chinese manufacturers, are also jumping into the game.

 

“For us competition is great,” said Benj Sykes, Britain country manager for DONG. “It drives innovation. It drives performance. It also drives cost.”

 

Companies are developing specialized vessels and improving installation techniques (taking a cue from the oil industry), cutting construction timetables. DONG and its competitors are learning to better cope with the bad weather, corrosive saltwater and scouring currents that increase costs.

 

主要玩家數量也增加了，使得競爭更激烈。一家丹麥風力發電機製造商Vestas與日本三菱重工合資的公司，目前正跟長期主宰離岸風力發電機興建市場的西門子競爭，而美國巨擘奇異與中國製造商等其他玩家也投入這場競賽。

 

丹能風力英國區經理班．塞克斯說：「我們認為有競爭很好，它推動創新和性能，也推動成本（下降）。」

 

各公司正發展專用船隻且提升安裝技術（受石油工業影響），精簡施工程序。丹能風力及其競爭對手也正學習如何更好地應付惡劣天氣，腐蝕性海水以及會讓成本增加的水流沖刷情形。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/310478/web/

 

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每日跟讀#571: An Opportunity Rises Offshore

 

When engineers faced resistance from residents in Denmark over plans to build wind turbines on the Nordic country’s flat farmland, they found a better locale: the sea. The offshore wind farm, the world’s first, had just 11 turbines and could power about 3,000 homes.

 

That project now looks like a minnow compared with the whales that sprawl for miles across the seas of Northern Europe.

 

當工程師想在丹麥平坦農地設置風力發電機卻遭遇居民反對時，他們發現了一個更好的地方─大海。這座世上第一個離岸風力發電場僅有11座風力發電機，約可為3000個家庭提供電力。

 

相較目前在歐洲北部海上綿延好幾英里的巨大電場，上述計畫規模小得可憐。

 

Off this venerable British port city, a Danish company, DONG Energy, is installing 32 turbines that stretch 600 feet high. Each turbine produces more power than that first facility.

 

It is precisely the size, both of the projects and the profits they can bring, that has grabbed the attention of banks, money managers, private equity funds and wealthy individuals like the owner of the Danish toymaker Lego and the investment bank Goldman Sachs. As the technology has improved and demand for renewable energy has risen, costs have fallen.

 

丹麥公司丹能風力正在這個古老英國港口城市（編按：利物浦）的外海，安裝32座高達600英尺的風力發電機。每座的發電量都比前述發電場的總發電量還大。

 

而正是這個計畫可觀的規模與獲利能力引起了金融機構、基金經理人和私募股權基金的關注，諸如投資銀行高盛及丹麥玩具製造商樂高的老闆等富豪。隨著技術改善與再生能源需求增加，成本亦已降低。

 

And offshore wind, once a fringe investment, with limited scope and reliant on government subsidies, is moving into the mainstream. Europe, too, looks all the more attractive, as the United States under President Donald Trump rethinks its stance on renewables.

 

“If you had polled infrastructure investors five years ago, only a few would have been looking at offshore wind,” said Suzanne Buchta, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch global co-head of green bonds.

 

離岸風力發電曾經是範圍有限且仰賴政府補貼的邊緣投資項目，目前卻正打入主流。而在美國總統川普重新思考再生能源立場之際，歐洲看來也格外吸引人。

 

美銀美林綠色債券全球共同主管蘇珊娜．布赫塔說：「如果你在5年前調查基礎設施項目投資人的意見，會考慮離岸風力發電的寥寥無幾」，他們現在則「稍微多了些信心」。

 

Now, she said, they “are a little more comfortable.”

 

Offshore wind has several advantages over land-based renewable energy, whether wind or solar. Turbines can be deployed at sea with fewer complaints than on land, where they are often condemned as eyesores.

 

But the technology had been expensive and heavily dependent on government subsidies, leaving investors wary. That is now changing.

 

Turbines today are bigger, produce much more electricity and are deployed on much larger sites than in the past. The result is more clean power and extra revenue.

 

離岸風力發電與陸上再生能源相比享有數項優勢，無論是陸上風能還是陸上太陽能。風力發電機在海上部署引起的抱怨少於陸地，它們在陸地上常被指為有礙觀瞻。

 

離岸風力發電技術成本一直很高且高度仰賴政府補助，讓投資人望而卻步，但情況正在改變。

 

現今的風力發電機機體更大，發電量更多，並且部署在遠比過去為大的地方，結果則是獲得更乾淨的電力與更多的收入。

 

The number of major players has also expanded, creating more competition. A joint venture of Vestas, the Danish turbine maker, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan, is now competing with Siemens, which had long dominated the market for building offshore turbines. Others, like the American giant General Electric and Chinese manufacturers, are also jumping into the game.

 

“For us competition is great,” said Benj Sykes, Britain country manager for DONG. “It drives innovation. It drives performance. It also drives cost.”

 

Companies are developing specialized vessels and improving installation techniques (taking a cue from the oil industry), cutting construction timetables. DONG and its competitors are learning to better cope with the bad weather, corrosive saltwater and scouring currents that increase costs.

 

主要玩家數量也增加了，使得競爭更激烈。一家丹麥風力發電機製造商Vestas與日本三菱重工合資的公司，目前正跟長期主宰離岸風力發電機興建市場的西門子競爭，而美國巨擘奇異與中國製造商等其他玩家也投入這場競賽。

 

丹能風力英國區經理班．塞克斯說：「我們認為有競爭很好，它推動創新和性能，也推動成本（下降）。」

 

各公司正發展專用船隻且提升安裝技術（受石油工業影響），精簡施工程序。丹能風力及其競爭對手也正學習如何更好地應付惡劣天氣，腐蝕性海水以及會讓成本增加的水流沖刷情形。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/310478/web/

 

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每日跟讀#570: Taiwan’s PChome and Japan’s Rakuten join forces

 

Direct delivery from Japan and cross-border trade between Taiwan and Japan has just become a whole lot easier. Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten Inc and Taiwanese e-commerce operator PChome Online Inc have signed a cooperation agreement to pool their respective membership bases and services. This will enable the establishment of a unified reward system, which will combine PChome’s “P-coin” and Rakuten’s “Super Points,” allowing customers to accumulate and redeem reward points using a single system. Under the agreement, cross-border trade will be expanded to promote a Taiwan-Japan strategic alliance.

 

日貨直送，台日跨境交易變簡單了。日本樂天集團已與PChome網路家庭簽訂合作協議，利用雙方會員數和服務，進一步建立P幣和樂天超級點數互相累積和兌換機制，衝點數經濟，也將同步擴展台日跨境線上交易，推動台日策略聯盟。

 

According to PChomestore chairman Jan Hung-tze, he established the e-commerce Web site pcstore.com.tw in 2004, several years before China’s Tmall, having observed the Rakuten model for a period of five years. Jan says the Web site has a 10 million-strong member base in Taiwan and has been looking to expand overseas. President of Rakuten’s Asia operations, Hiroshi Takasawa, says Taiwan is an extremely important market for the company.

 

網家董事長詹宏志強調，他在觀察樂天模式五年後，二○○四年成立商店街，幾年後中國的天貓才成立。網家在台有千萬會員，盼服務跨出台灣。日本樂天集團亞洲區總裁高澤廣志表示，台灣對樂天來說，是一個非常重要的市場。

 

Rakuten and PChomestore started collaborating six months ago by allowing PChome’s “P-coin” and Rakuten’s “Super Points” to be accumulated and used together, and expanding e-commerce trade between Taiwan and Japan. This means that Taiwanese customers can use the ruten.com Web site to get a taste of what is currently trending in Japan and, through a Chinese-language interface, purchase items using their local currency. The system also allows Taiwanese customers to enjoy direct shipping from Japan, in addition to other Rakuten e-commerce services.

 

樂天與網家是在六個月前開啟此次合作，PChome的P幣與樂天的樂天超級點數可相互累積使用，也將同步擴展台日之間的跨境線上交易，台灣消費者將可透過露天拍賣網站，體驗與日本同步流行、中文介面購買、在地金流、日本直送等跨境電商服務。

 

Benefits provided by Rakuten’s Taiwan credit card can be accumulated when making purchases on the PChome Web site, and PChome will make Rakuten’s Kobo e-Reader available on its PChome24h Web site and provide a nationwide, 24hr delivery service. Rakuten and PChome will also team up their logistics operations in Taiwan.

 

此外，台灣樂天信用卡優惠將同步在PChome的購物網站上使用，PChome也將在PChome24h購物銷售樂天的Kobo電子書閱讀器，並提供全台保證二十四小時送貨服務，樂天在台的物流也會跟網家合作。

PChome’s Jan says he feels an affinity toward Rakuten’s business model and opened negotiations with the company in 2009 to discuss possible areas for collaboration. Jan traveled to Japan to meet with Rakuten’s founder Hiroshi Mikitani, but at the time the overall terms of the agreement were not fully hammered out. However, in light of Rakuten’s ever-expanding range of services, both sides have now agreed to embark upon an initial phase of collaboration, combining their respective membership bases and reward schemes.

 

詹宏志表示，他對樂天模式情有獨鍾，二○○九年就跟樂天談過合作，也去日本見了樂天創辦人三木谷浩史，但當時整體條件沒有那麼完備；隨著樂天有越來越多服務，雙方第一階段先把會員跟點數串接起來。

 

Once the two companies formalize their collaboration, it will be possible for Japanese goods to be directly shipped to Taiwan by Rakuten shop owners in Japan, making cross-border trade much simpler.

 

網家與樂天合作後，未來日貨會從日本店家直送台灣，跨境交易將變得更簡單。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/04/02/2003712606

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