通勤學英語 15Mins Today

每日跟讀#543: An Aging Boy Band Calls It Quits, but Japan Can’t Let Go

 

For nearly three decades, millions of Japanese have clamored for their every album, lined up with breathless anticipation for their concerts and gathered on Monday nights for their hit television show.

 

Now, the nation is awash with anguish over word that SMAP — Japan’s longest-running boy band, if it can still be called that with its youngest member pushing 40 — is splitting up.

 

將近30年來，無數日本人每逢他們發專輯就叫好搶購，排隊屏息期待他們的演唱會，並在周一夜聚在一起觀賞他們火紅的電視節目。

 

現在，SMAP即將解散這消息讓這個國家陷入了愁雲慘霧。SMAP是日本歷史最悠久的男孩樂團，如果它還能稱作男孩樂團的話，最年輕的成員都已年近40。

 

The news has dominated newspaper headlines and television talk shows since the band’s announcement this month. Even the mayor of Tokyo and two members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet have weighed in. One said he was worried about the effect on the Japanese economy, the world’s third-largest.

 

“We will not let them stop!” a grieving fan wrote in one of more than a dozen petitions on change.org pleading with the aging heartthrobs to remain together. “If we let them go and disband, it means Japan is finished.”

 

樂團決定解散的消息本月宣布後，隨即攻占報紙的頭條和電視談話節目。甚至東京都知事和首相安倍晉三內閣的兩位成員也發表看法。其中一人表示擔心日本經濟會受影響，日本是世界第三大經濟體。

 

change.org網站上懇求這個已有歲數的偶像天團不要解散的請願文一打不止，一名傷心粉絲寫道：「我們不准他們喊停！如果我們讓他們走和解散，日本也就完了。」

 

To understand the bedlam unfolding here, think of the Beatles’ breaking up, the airing of the final episode of “Seinfeld” and the “conscious uncoupling” of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin all rolled into one — the end of an era on the Japanese cultural landscape.

 

SMAP’s most famous saccharine single, “The Only Flower in the World,” is regularly taught in Japan’s schools. But SMAP is not just a wildly popular band whose albums have sold more than 35 million copies, making it one of the most successful musical acts in Japanese history.

 

想了解此間的抓狂狀態，不妨想像「披頭四」分手、「歡樂單身派對」播出最後一集，以及好萊塢女星葛妮絲派楚和丈夫克里斯馬丁「清醒分手」的三合一效果──它代表日本文化景觀一個時代的謝幕。

 

SMAP最知名的甜蜜單曲「世界上唯一的花」，是日本學校的必教歌曲。SMAP唱片總銷量超過3500萬張，是日本史上最成功的樂團，然而它卻不只是個紅到不行的樂團。

 

For two decades, its five members — Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Shingo Katori — have also hosted one of Japan’s top-rated television programs, “SMAP X SMAP,” a family-friendly variety show in which they cook for celebrity guests, compete in games, perform comedic skits and, of course, sing. Each has starred on his own in numerous television series, movies and commercials. The frontman, Nakai, has been a newscaster for several Olympic Games.

 

20年來，SMAP的5位成員，中居正廣、木村拓哉、稻垣吾郎、草彅剛和香取慎吾，同時是日本收視率極高電視節目「SMAP X SMAP」的主持人。他們在這個適合闔家觀賞的綜藝節目中為名人嘉賓做菜、玩競賽遊戲、表演喜劇橋段，當然，還有唱歌。每一團員都獨自在許多電視連續劇、電影和廣告中擔綱。主唱中居正廣還是數屆奧運的新聞主播。

 

The group, whose members started out as teenagers performing on skateboards and now range in age from 39 to 44, managed to both broaden its audience beyond adolescent girls and hold on to them over the years. Many of their most ardent fans are women who grew up with them.

 

SMAP, an acronym for Sports Music Assemble People, also has legions of fans in China, South Korea, Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia.

 

這個天團的成員出道時是青少年，在滑板上表演，現今年齡在39到44歲間。多年來他們既成功擴大觀眾群，不讓它只限於青少女，又牢牢抓住這些青少女。許多最死忠的粉絲是和他們一起長大的女性。

 

SMAP是「運動音樂結合人類」的縮寫，在大陸、南韓、台灣和亞洲其他地區都有粉絲軍團。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/302673/web/

 

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

 

用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

每日跟讀#543: An Aging Boy Band Calls It Quits, but Japan Can’t Let Go

 

For nearly three decades, millions of Japanese have clamored for their every album, lined up with breathless anticipation for their concerts and gathered on Monday nights for their hit television show.

 

Now, the nation is awash with anguish over word that SMAP — Japan’s longest-running boy band, if it can still be called that with its youngest member pushing 40 — is splitting up.

 

將近30年來，無數日本人每逢他們發專輯就叫好搶購，排隊屏息期待他們的演唱會，並在周一夜聚在一起觀賞他們火紅的電視節目。

 

現在，SMAP即將解散這消息讓這個國家陷入了愁雲慘霧。SMAP是日本歷史最悠久的男孩樂團，如果它還能稱作男孩樂團的話，最年輕的成員都已年近40。

 

The news has dominated newspaper headlines and television talk shows since the band’s announcement this month. Even the mayor of Tokyo and two members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet have weighed in. One said he was worried about the effect on the Japanese economy, the world’s third-largest.

 

“We will not let them stop!” a grieving fan wrote in one of more than a dozen petitions on change.org pleading with the aging heartthrobs to remain together. “If we let them go and disband, it means Japan is finished.”

 

樂團決定解散的消息本月宣布後，隨即攻占報紙的頭條和電視談話節目。甚至東京都知事和首相安倍晉三內閣的兩位成員也發表看法。其中一人表示擔心日本經濟會受影響，日本是世界第三大經濟體。

 

change.org網站上懇求這個已有歲數的偶像天團不要解散的請願文一打不止，一名傷心粉絲寫道：「我們不准他們喊停！如果我們讓他們走和解散，日本也就完了。」

 

To understand the bedlam unfolding here, think of the Beatles’ breaking up, the airing of the final episode of “Seinfeld” and the “conscious uncoupling” of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin all rolled into one — the end of an era on the Japanese cultural landscape.

 

SMAP’s most famous saccharine single, “The Only Flower in the World,” is regularly taught in Japan’s schools. But SMAP is not just a wildly popular band whose albums have sold more than 35 million copies, making it one of the most successful musical acts in Japanese history.

 

想了解此間的抓狂狀態，不妨想像「披頭四」分手、「歡樂單身派對」播出最後一集，以及好萊塢女星葛妮絲派楚和丈夫克里斯馬丁「清醒分手」的三合一效果──它代表日本文化景觀一個時代的謝幕。

 

SMAP最知名的甜蜜單曲「世界上唯一的花」，是日本學校的必教歌曲。SMAP唱片總銷量超過3500萬張，是日本史上最成功的樂團，然而它卻不只是個紅到不行的樂團。

 

For two decades, its five members — Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Shingo Katori — have also hosted one of Japan’s top-rated television programs, “SMAP X SMAP,” a family-friendly variety show in which they cook for celebrity guests, compete in games, perform comedic skits and, of course, sing. Each has starred on his own in numerous television series, movies and commercials. The frontman, Nakai, has been a newscaster for several Olympic Games.

 

20年來，SMAP的5位成員，中居正廣、木村拓哉、稻垣吾郎、草彅剛和香取慎吾，同時是日本收視率極高電視節目「SMAP X SMAP」的主持人。他們在這個適合闔家觀賞的綜藝節目中為名人嘉賓做菜、玩競賽遊戲、表演喜劇橋段，當然，還有唱歌。每一團員都獨自在許多電視連續劇、電影和廣告中擔綱。主唱中居正廣還是數屆奧運的新聞主播。

 

The group, whose members started out as teenagers performing on skateboards and now range in age from 39 to 44, managed to both broaden its audience beyond adolescent girls and hold on to them over the years. Many of their most ardent fans are women who grew up with them.

 

SMAP, an acronym for Sports Music Assemble People, also has legions of fans in China, South Korea, Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia.

 

這個天團的成員出道時是青少年，在滑板上表演，現今年齡在39到44歲間。多年來他們既成功擴大觀眾群，不讓它只限於青少女，又牢牢抓住這些青少女。許多最死忠的粉絲是和他們一起長大的女性。

 

SMAP是「運動音樂結合人類」的縮寫，在大陸、南韓、台灣和亞洲其他地區都有粉絲軍團。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/302673/web/

 

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

 

用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

Summary:

Sweden conducted a two-year long study on productivity and worker health. They found that working a 6-hour day can make workers happier, healthier, and more productive. However, the disadvantage of doing so is the extreme cost that came along with it.

 

完整文章 From article: http://www.15mins.today/blog/520-in-sweden-happiness-in-a-shorter-workday-can-t-overcome-the-cost

 

Vocabulary and sample sentence:

Wrap up – complete / conclude a discussion or event

The meeting was wrapped up in 30 minutes.

Let's wrap up this conference call in the next 10minutes, ok?

 Stoked – (add fuel to fire) encourage or incite (add fuel to)

- (slang) happy, proud of oneself

Stoker - the person who adds coal to the locomotive

Donald Trump stoked controversy with his comments on the border wall.

(slang) I am stoked about the party this weekend!

Skepticism n. – idea of doubting the truth (doubt, doubtfulness)

Skeptic n. - person who is skeptical

Skeptical adj. - having doubts, not easily convinced

 

Skepticism regarding the health benefits of e-cigarettes is growing amongst the youth.

Skeptics do not believe Donald Trump will be able to build a wall.

In order to survive the information age, one must be skeptical of the information on the Internet.

 

更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

Summary:

Sweden conducted a two-year long study on productivity and worker health. They found that working a 6-hour day can make workers happier, healthier, and more productive. However, the disadvantage of doing so is the extreme cost that came along with it.

 

完整文章 From article: http://www.15mins.today/blog/520-in-sweden-happiness-in-a-shorter-workday-can-t-overcome-the-cost

 

Vocabulary and sample sentence:

Wrap up – complete / conclude a discussion or event

The meeting was wrapped up in 30 minutes.

Let's wrap up this conference call in the next 10minutes, ok?

 Stoked – (add fuel to fire) encourage or incite (add fuel to)

- (slang) happy, proud of oneself

Stoker - the person who adds coal to the locomotive

Donald Trump stoked controversy with his comments on the border wall.

(slang) I am stoked about the party this weekend!

Skepticism n. – idea of doubting the truth (doubt, doubtfulness)

Skeptic n. - person who is skeptical

Skeptical adj. - having doubts, not easily convinced

 

Skepticism regarding the health benefits of e-cigarettes is growing amongst the youth.

Skeptics do not believe Donald Trump will be able to build a wall.

In order to survive the information age, one must be skeptical of the information on the Internet.

 

更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

每日跟讀#542: My Headphones, My Self

 

You see them on every block: people being propelled through their routines listening to their own individualized soundtracks, with the outside world serving as a stage set.

 

Headphones are now fashion statements. Status symbols. Fetish objects on par with luxury watches and limited-edition Nikes.

 

在每個街區你都會見到耳機的蹤影：人們從事於例行公事時聆聽著個人化的音樂，外在世界成了舞台布景。

現下，耳機是時尚的展示、身分地位的象徵，且為媲美精品手表和限量版耐吉商品的戀物對象。

 

William Crosson, a 28-year-old executive recruiter and part-time DJ, wears V-Moda Crossfade Wireless headphones, a $270 set that looks like something a cyberhooligan might wear to a Berlin disco.

 

Alexander Gilkes, a member of Vanity Fair’s best-dressed list and founder of the auction site Paddle8, wears $400 headphones made by Master & Dynamic.

 

現年28歲的威廉．克羅森是高級主管招募者，也是個兼職DJ，戴的是要價270美元的V-moda全罩蓋耳式無線耳機，看起來像是網路流氓會戴到柏林迪斯可舞廳去的耳機。

亞歷山大．吉爾克斯名登「浮華世界」雜誌最佳衣著金榜，也是拍賣網站Paddle8的共同創辦人，戴著要價400美元、由紐約頂級耳機品牌Master & Dynamic所製作的耳機。

 

Martin Gaynor, a 27-year-old freelance app developer for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, wears Symphonized 2s, a pair of wood-covered, over-the-ear headphones that he bought on Amazon for $53.

 

“The wooden earthy look just seemed to complement the subdued classical look I have on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “It just matched.”

 

紐約市公園及康樂事務局的自由接案應用程式開發人員，27歲的馬丁．蓋諾戴的則是他在亞馬遜網站上以53美元購買的一對木質耳掛式耳機Symphonized 2s。

他說：「木頭樸實的外表似乎跟我日常展現的低調古典外觀搭配。很搭。」

 

Don’t forget the cultural bellwether Beyonce. In her “Lemonade” video last year, she belted out “Sandcastles,” a ballad of a woman scorned, while wearing $550 Prymas.

 

Global headphone sales hit a peak of $8.4 billion in 2013, and two years later, that figure rose to $11.2 billion, according to the research firm Futuresource Consulting. The company predicts that sales will rise another $2 billion by 2018, meaning we have yet to reach Peak Headphone.

 

可別忘了文化領頭羊碧昂絲。在她去年的「檸檬水」影片中，當她大聲唱著敘述女人遭鄙視歌謠「沙堡」時，戴的是要價550美元的Pryma耳機。

 

研究公司Futuresource Consulting指出，全球耳機銷售額在2013年達到84億美元的高峰，兩年過後這個數字上升至112億美元。該公司預估，2018年前銷售額將再增加20億美元，這意味著我們還未達到「耳機高峰」。

 

The combination of the iPhone and headphones in many varieties (in-ear, over-the-ear, shaped-to-your-ear and so on) gives city dwellers the ability to largely avoid an experience that was once arguably the whole point of living in the crowd — interacting with others.

 

In a fraught public sphere, headphones provide a measure of privacy. Those who fall deeply into a Spotify playlist or the latest installment of an addictive podcast enter a cocoon-like zone all but impenetrable to tourists, beggars and those do-gooders with clipboards.

 

“Headphones are the front line of urban social defense,” said Julie Klausner, a comedian, actor and writer. “I’m introverted and socially anxious by nature. My worst nightmare is sitting next to someone on a plane or someone who wants to strike up a conversation on an elevator."

 

iPhone和許多種（耳塞式、耳掛式、按耳型而製耳機等等）耳機的組合，讓城市居民在很大程度上能夠避開跟他人互動，而這種互動經驗曾經堪稱生活在人群中的唯一理由。

 

在令人不安的公共空間裡，耳機提供了一定的隱私。那些深陷於Spotify播放列表，或最新一期令人上癮的播客的人，進入了一個繭狀地區，幾乎讓觀光客、乞丐以及那些帶著剪貼板的不切實際社會改革家無法侵入。

 

身兼諧星、演員和作家的茱麗葉·克勞斯納說：「耳機是城市社交防衛的第一線。我天性內向且對社交感到焦慮。我最大的夢魘就是坐在飛機上時旁邊有人，或是乘電梯時有人來搭訕。」

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/308147/web/

 

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

 

用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

每日跟讀#542: My Headphones, My Self

 

You see them on every block: people being propelled through their routines listening to their own individualized soundtracks, with the outside world serving as a stage set.

 

Headphones are now fashion statements. Status symbols. Fetish objects on par with luxury watches and limited-edition Nikes.

 

在每個街區你都會見到耳機的蹤影：人們從事於例行公事時聆聽著個人化的音樂，外在世界成了舞台布景。

現下，耳機是時尚的展示、身分地位的象徵，且為媲美精品手表和限量版耐吉商品的戀物對象。

 

William Crosson, a 28-year-old executive recruiter and part-time DJ, wears V-Moda Crossfade Wireless headphones, a $270 set that looks like something a cyberhooligan might wear to a Berlin disco.

 

Alexander Gilkes, a member of Vanity Fair’s best-dressed list and founder of the auction site Paddle8, wears $400 headphones made by Master & Dynamic.

 

現年28歲的威廉．克羅森是高級主管招募者，也是個兼職DJ，戴的是要價270美元的V-moda全罩蓋耳式無線耳機，看起來像是網路流氓會戴到柏林迪斯可舞廳去的耳機。

亞歷山大．吉爾克斯名登「浮華世界」雜誌最佳衣著金榜，也是拍賣網站Paddle8的共同創辦人，戴著要價400美元、由紐約頂級耳機品牌Master & Dynamic所製作的耳機。

 

Martin Gaynor, a 27-year-old freelance app developer for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, wears Symphonized 2s, a pair of wood-covered, over-the-ear headphones that he bought on Amazon for $53.

 

“The wooden earthy look just seemed to complement the subdued classical look I have on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “It just matched.”

 

紐約市公園及康樂事務局的自由接案應用程式開發人員，27歲的馬丁．蓋諾戴的則是他在亞馬遜網站上以53美元購買的一對木質耳掛式耳機Symphonized 2s。

他說：「木頭樸實的外表似乎跟我日常展現的低調古典外觀搭配。很搭。」

 

Don’t forget the cultural bellwether Beyonce. In her “Lemonade” video last year, she belted out “Sandcastles,” a ballad of a woman scorned, while wearing $550 Prymas.

 

Global headphone sales hit a peak of $8.4 billion in 2013, and two years later, that figure rose to $11.2 billion, according to the research firm Futuresource Consulting. The company predicts that sales will rise another $2 billion by 2018, meaning we have yet to reach Peak Headphone.

 

可別忘了文化領頭羊碧昂絲。在她去年的「檸檬水」影片中，當她大聲唱著敘述女人遭鄙視歌謠「沙堡」時，戴的是要價550美元的Pryma耳機。

 

研究公司Futuresource Consulting指出，全球耳機銷售額在2013年達到84億美元的高峰，兩年過後這個數字上升至112億美元。該公司預估，2018年前銷售額將再增加20億美元，這意味著我們還未達到「耳機高峰」。

 

The combination of the iPhone and headphones in many varieties (in-ear, over-the-ear, shaped-to-your-ear and so on) gives city dwellers the ability to largely avoid an experience that was once arguably the whole point of living in the crowd — interacting with others.

 

In a fraught public sphere, headphones provide a measure of privacy. Those who fall deeply into a Spotify playlist or the latest installment of an addictive podcast enter a cocoon-like zone all but impenetrable to tourists, beggars and those do-gooders with clipboards.

 

“Headphones are the front line of urban social defense,” said Julie Klausner, a comedian, actor and writer. “I’m introverted and socially anxious by nature. My worst nightmare is sitting next to someone on a plane or someone who wants to strike up a conversation on an elevator."

 

iPhone和許多種（耳塞式、耳掛式、按耳型而製耳機等等）耳機的組合，讓城市居民在很大程度上能夠避開跟他人互動，而這種互動經驗曾經堪稱生活在人群中的唯一理由。

 

在令人不安的公共空間裡，耳機提供了一定的隱私。那些深陷於Spotify播放列表，或最新一期令人上癮的播客的人，進入了一個繭狀地區，幾乎讓觀光客、乞丐以及那些帶著剪貼板的不切實際社會改革家無法侵入。

 

身兼諧星、演員和作家的茱麗葉·克勞斯納說：「耳機是城市社交防衛的第一線。我天性內向且對社交感到焦慮。我最大的夢魘就是坐在飛機上時旁邊有人，或是乘電梯時有人來搭訕。」

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/308147/web/

 

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

 

用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

每日跟讀#541: What a Tangled Web We Weave

 

Among the more unnerving sights a traveler may come across in distant corners of the world are giant hairballs of wires, clumped at the tops of utility poles or hanging perilously from the sides of buildings.

 

They speak of the exuberant, confounding and sometimes dangerous disorder of a country free of the rules and regulations that make modern life safe.

 

旅行到世界上某個偏遠的角落，可能會讓人比較神經緊張的景象之一，是大團大團的電線，亂糟糟的壓在電線桿頂端，或是危險地垂掛在建築物側邊。

 

這些透露了一個沒有法律規章來保障現代生活安全的國家，其不受限制、混亂、有時危險的失序。

 

For example, Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is famous for its buzzing, swirling, incomprehensible traffic. If you dare take your eyes off the road, a glance overhead will find a representation of this same tangled, heedless, even insouciant approach to life. One Vietnamese author wrote fancifully of the huge cobweb of electrical, telephone and cable-television wires covering the city.

 

Utilities in most developed countries don’t keep their overhead wiring tidy for tidiness’ sake; safety is on the line. A crazy tangle can make repairing faults difficult and dangerous, and wiring improvised by amateurs can be a serious fire hazard.

 

例如，越南首都河內以吵雜、讓人頭暈和莫名其妙的交通聞名。如果你敢不看路，往上方瞄一眼，將發現一種同樣紊亂、不留心，甚至漫不經心的生活態度的呈現。一位越南作家曾以極富想像力的筆觸描繪覆蓋這個城市的電線、電話線和電視纜線交織的龐大蜘蛛網。

 

大部分已開發國家的電力公司維持上方接線的整潔，為的不是整潔本身；安全才是重點。瘋狂的線路交纏可能使修復故障的工作變得困難和危險，而且業餘人士隨意接線很可能引發火災。

 

No visitor to a place where they are common, like Vietnam, India or Pakistan, is more likely to be appalled — and intrigued — by these Gordian tangles than a traveling engineer.

 

“It’s sometimes an intellectual challenge to look and try to figure out what’s going on,” said Dickon Ross, editor-in-chief of Engineering & Technology, a magazine published by an institute in London.

 

對常見這些「哥帝爾斯的繩結」（源自希臘神話，意指難解的結）的地方，像是越南、印度和巴基斯坦，沒有訪客比旅行中的工程師更可能驚嚇─及著迷。

 

倫敦一個研究機構發行的雜誌「工程與科技」總編輯迪康．羅斯說：「去看和努力想出是怎麼回事，有時是智力的挑戰。」

 

In July, the magazine invited its 138,000 readers to send in pictures of “the worst and most dangerous examples of electrical wiring from around the world.” Out of 500 submissions, it selected 12 to publish for readers to rank, each seeming more outrageous than the last.

 

One from Vietnam showed a “terrifying image of a hapless Vietnamese electrician, totally entangled in the cobweb of crossed wires and hanging above the street like a giant spider in a hard-hat,” wrote the magazine’s features editor, Vitali Vitaliev.

 

去年七月，該雜誌邀請它的13萬8000名讀者傳送「世界各地最糟糕和最危險的電線線路」照片。該雜誌從500張傳送的照片中選出12張刊出，讓讀者評比，似乎一張比一張更令人吃驚。

 

雜誌的專題報導編輯維塔利．維塔利夫寫道，來自越南的一張照片顯示「一個倒楣的越南電工嚇人的景象，他完全陷身於錯綜複雜的電線交纏成的蜘蛛網中，高掛在街道上方，活像一隻戴著頭盔的大蜘蛛」。

 

By a wide margin, the readers’ choice was a showy image from Madras, India, depicting a metered main power line tapped by “multiple bare, unterminated wires,” all loosely hung from a wood board that already bore the scorch marks of a fire.

 

Ross pointed out that the survey was hardly comprehensive: Which countries were included had less to do with where the wiring is wackiest than where engineers like to take vacations.

 

A case in point: One of the most eye-catching pictures, he said, came from St. Tropez, in the south of France.

 

讀者票選大幅領先的是來自印度馬德拉斯的一張很顯眼的照片，描繪一條有量表的主電源線，連接著「多條裸露、沒有終端接頭的電線」，鬆散的掛在一塊已有火災燒焦痕跡的木板上。

 

羅斯指出，這項調查絕對不全面：哪些國家被列入，與電線接得最古怪較無關，而是與工程師喜歡去何處度假較有關。

 

舉一個恰當的例子：他說，最吸睛的照片之一來自法國南部的聖托佩。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/309111/web/

 

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

 

用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

每日跟讀#541: What a Tangled Web We Weave

 

Among the more unnerving sights a traveler may come across in distant corners of the world are giant hairballs of wires, clumped at the tops of utility poles or hanging perilously from the sides of buildings.

 

They speak of the exuberant, confounding and sometimes dangerous disorder of a country free of the rules and regulations that make modern life safe.

 

旅行到世界上某個偏遠的角落，可能會讓人比較神經緊張的景象之一，是大團大團的電線，亂糟糟的壓在電線桿頂端，或是危險地垂掛在建築物側邊。

 

這些透露了一個沒有法律規章來保障現代生活安全的國家，其不受限制、混亂、有時危險的失序。

 

For example, Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is famous for its buzzing, swirling, incomprehensible traffic. If you dare take your eyes off the road, a glance overhead will find a representation of this same tangled, heedless, even insouciant approach to life. One Vietnamese author wrote fancifully of the huge cobweb of electrical, telephone and cable-television wires covering the city.

 

Utilities in most developed countries don’t keep their overhead wiring tidy for tidiness’ sake; safety is on the line. A crazy tangle can make repairing faults difficult and dangerous, and wiring improvised by amateurs can be a serious fire hazard.

 

例如，越南首都河內以吵雜、讓人頭暈和莫名其妙的交通聞名。如果你敢不看路，往上方瞄一眼，將發現一種同樣紊亂、不留心，甚至漫不經心的生活態度的呈現。一位越南作家曾以極富想像力的筆觸描繪覆蓋這個城市的電線、電話線和電視纜線交織的龐大蜘蛛網。

 

大部分已開發國家的電力公司維持上方接線的整潔，為的不是整潔本身；安全才是重點。瘋狂的線路交纏可能使修復故障的工作變得困難和危險，而且業餘人士隨意接線很可能引發火災。

 

No visitor to a place where they are common, like Vietnam, India or Pakistan, is more likely to be appalled — and intrigued — by these Gordian tangles than a traveling engineer.

 

“It’s sometimes an intellectual challenge to look and try to figure out what’s going on,” said Dickon Ross, editor-in-chief of Engineering & Technology, a magazine published by an institute in London.

 

對常見這些「哥帝爾斯的繩結」（源自希臘神話，意指難解的結）的地方，像是越南、印度和巴基斯坦，沒有訪客比旅行中的工程師更可能驚嚇─及著迷。

 

倫敦一個研究機構發行的雜誌「工程與科技」總編輯迪康．羅斯說：「去看和努力想出是怎麼回事，有時是智力的挑戰。」

 

In July, the magazine invited its 138,000 readers to send in pictures of “the worst and most dangerous examples of electrical wiring from around the world.” Out of 500 submissions, it selected 12 to publish for readers to rank, each seeming more outrageous than the last.

 

One from Vietnam showed a “terrifying image of a hapless Vietnamese electrician, totally entangled in the cobweb of crossed wires and hanging above the street like a giant spider in a hard-hat,” wrote the magazine’s features editor, Vitali Vitaliev.

 

去年七月，該雜誌邀請它的13萬8000名讀者傳送「世界各地最糟糕和最危險的電線線路」照片。該雜誌從500張傳送的照片中選出12張刊出，讓讀者評比，似乎一張比一張更令人吃驚。

 

雜誌的專題報導編輯維塔利．維塔利夫寫道，來自越南的一張照片顯示「一個倒楣的越南電工嚇人的景象，他完全陷身於錯綜複雜的電線交纏成的蜘蛛網中，高掛在街道上方，活像一隻戴著頭盔的大蜘蛛」。

 

By a wide margin, the readers’ choice was a showy image from Madras, India, depicting a metered main power line tapped by “multiple bare, unterminated wires,” all loosely hung from a wood board that already bore the scorch marks of a fire.

 

Ross pointed out that the survey was hardly comprehensive: Which countries were included had less to do with where the wiring is wackiest than where engineers like to take vacations.

 

A case in point: One of the most eye-catching pictures, he said, came from St. Tropez, in the south of France.

 

讀者票選大幅領先的是來自印度馬德拉斯的一張很顯眼的照片，描繪一條有量表的主電源線，連接著「多條裸露、沒有終端接頭的電線」，鬆散的掛在一塊已有火災燒焦痕跡的木板上。

 

羅斯指出，這項調查絕對不全面：哪些國家被列入，與電線接得最古怪較無關，而是與工程師喜歡去何處度假較有關。

 

舉一個恰當的例子：他說，最吸睛的照片之一來自法國南部的聖托佩。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/309111/web/

 

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

 

用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

每日跟讀#540: In Spain, Nourishing the Body and the Soul

 

Angel Castillo once worked as a restaurant cook. But after losing his job and struggling with alcoholism, he has been sleeping on the streets for most of the last 16 years. It has been a while since he has worked in a restaurant, let alone eaten at one.

 

Yet there he was one recent evening, among the diners who crowded into a new restaurant in Madrid. It was a simple space, with red-tiled walls and paper napkins, but there were tablecloths, chandeliers and water glasses, and even someone to serve you.

 

“It’s special to get your food in a restaurant,” Castillo said, satisfied.

 

卡斯提約曾在餐館當廚師。在他失業且為酗酒所困之後，16年來大多露宿街頭。距離他上回在餐館工作已有好一陣子了，更別說進到餐館裡用餐了。

 

然而，就在最近的一個傍晚，他和其他用餐者擠進馬德里一間新餐廳。這是個有紅色磁磚牆面、使用紙餐巾的簡樸空間，不過桌上可舖了桌布，還放著玻璃杯，屋頂有枝形吊燈，甚至還有人為你服務。

 

卡斯提約滿足地說：「在餐廳裡享用食物很不一樣。」

 

The restaurant is one of four named Robin Hood that opened in the last November in Spain to serve those who cannot afford to dine out.

 

The minichain’s novel business model is not to steal from the rich, but rather to use revenues made by serving breakfast and lunch to paying customers to cover the costs of preparing free evening dinners for homeless people.

 

這間餐廳是去年十一月在西班牙開張的四家「羅賓漢」餐館之一，專門招待吃不起館子的人。

 

這個迷你連鎖的新奇產業模式不是劫富濟貧，而是為付費客人供應早餐與午餐，以營收支應提供遊民免費晚餐的費用。

 

It is the brainchild of the Rev. Angel Garcia Rodriguez, 79, one part clergyman, one part innovator and nonprofit entrepreneur, who has spent a lifetime working with the needy.

 

Unconventional down to his attire, Father Angel, as he is universally called, prefers a suit and loose tie to a collar, unless he is saying Mass, and is just as likely to hand out his business card as communion. “The priest habit is like my gala outfit,” he said with a chuckle.

 

這是79歲的羅德里格茲神父想出來的點子，他既是神職人員，也是富創意的非營利創業家，他這一生都在幫助窮人。

 

大家都叫他天使神父，他不遵從傳統，連穿著都不例外，除非他在主持彌撒，否則他偏愛穿西裝並打上寬鬆領帶，勝過神父的白領圈。他宛如發放聖餐般遞出名片，咯咯笑說：「神職人員的服裝就像我的節慶服。」

 

Rodriguez has had long experience finding new ways that sometimes push the boundaries of how to serve the poor.

 

He is president of Messengers of Peace, a nongovernment organization that employs 3,900 people and 5,000 volunteers. It runs homes for older people, orphanages, centers for drug addicts and other social services.

 

羅德里格茲對於尋找新方式來服務窮人很有經驗，有時會挑戰極限。

 

他是非政府組織「和平使者」的會長，該組織有3900名員工，5000名志工，經營老人院、孤兒院、戒毒中心，並提供其他社會服務。

 

But what all of his projects have in common is that they have helped sustain the most vulnerable Spaniards at a time of near-record unemployment and deep public spending cuts amid the lingering economic crisis. His organization also runs projects in about 50 developing countries.

 

These days, it is his budding string of Robin Hood restaurants that animates Rodriguez. On top of receiving basic help, he said, poor people need to regain a sense of dignity and purpose that is hard to achieve when eating in a soup kitchen.

 

“To get served by a waiter wearing a nice uniform and to eat with proper cutlery, rather than a plastic fork, is what gives you back some dignity,” he said.

 

不過他這一切計畫有個共通點，就是在這經濟危機徘徊不去，以致西班牙失業率逼近紀錄且政府大砍公共開支之際，協助西班牙那些最脆弱的人活下去。他的機構另在約50個開發中國家經營多項計畫。

 

這些日子，羅德里格茲草創未久的羅賓漢連鎖餐館讓他充滿活力。他說，窮人除接受基本協助，還需重拾尊嚴與人生目標，這是在慈善廚房用餐很難做到的。

 

他說：「接受穿著整齊制服的侍者服務並用適當的餐具用餐，而非塑膠叉子，能夠還給你一些尊嚴。」

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/309696/web/

 

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

 

用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。

每日跟讀#540: In Spain, Nourishing the Body and the Soul

 

Angel Castillo once worked as a restaurant cook. But after losing his job and struggling with alcoholism, he has been sleeping on the streets for most of the last 16 years. It has been a while since he has worked in a restaurant, let alone eaten at one.

 

Yet there he was one recent evening, among the diners who crowded into a new restaurant in Madrid. It was a simple space, with red-tiled walls and paper napkins, but there were tablecloths, chandeliers and water glasses, and even someone to serve you.

 

“It’s special to get your food in a restaurant,” Castillo said, satisfied.

 

卡斯提約曾在餐館當廚師。在他失業且為酗酒所困之後，16年來大多露宿街頭。距離他上回在餐館工作已有好一陣子了，更別說進到餐館裡用餐了。

 

然而，就在最近的一個傍晚，他和其他用餐者擠進馬德里一間新餐廳。這是個有紅色磁磚牆面、使用紙餐巾的簡樸空間，不過桌上可舖了桌布，還放著玻璃杯，屋頂有枝形吊燈，甚至還有人為你服務。

 

卡斯提約滿足地說：「在餐廳裡享用食物很不一樣。」

 

The restaurant is one of four named Robin Hood that opened in the last November in Spain to serve those who cannot afford to dine out.

 

The minichain’s novel business model is not to steal from the rich, but rather to use revenues made by serving breakfast and lunch to paying customers to cover the costs of preparing free evening dinners for homeless people.

 

這間餐廳是去年十一月在西班牙開張的四家「羅賓漢」餐館之一，專門招待吃不起館子的人。

 

這個迷你連鎖的新奇產業模式不是劫富濟貧，而是為付費客人供應早餐與午餐，以營收支應提供遊民免費晚餐的費用。

 

It is the brainchild of the Rev. Angel Garcia Rodriguez, 79, one part clergyman, one part innovator and nonprofit entrepreneur, who has spent a lifetime working with the needy.

 

Unconventional down to his attire, Father Angel, as he is universally called, prefers a suit and loose tie to a collar, unless he is saying Mass, and is just as likely to hand out his business card as communion. “The priest habit is like my gala outfit,” he said with a chuckle.

 

這是79歲的羅德里格茲神父想出來的點子，他既是神職人員，也是富創意的非營利創業家，他這一生都在幫助窮人。

 

大家都叫他天使神父，他不遵從傳統，連穿著都不例外，除非他在主持彌撒，否則他偏愛穿西裝並打上寬鬆領帶，勝過神父的白領圈。他宛如發放聖餐般遞出名片，咯咯笑說：「神職人員的服裝就像我的節慶服。」

 

Rodriguez has had long experience finding new ways that sometimes push the boundaries of how to serve the poor.

 

He is president of Messengers of Peace, a nongovernment organization that employs 3,900 people and 5,000 volunteers. It runs homes for older people, orphanages, centers for drug addicts and other social services.

 

羅德里格茲對於尋找新方式來服務窮人很有經驗，有時會挑戰極限。

 

他是非政府組織「和平使者」的會長，該組織有3900名員工，5000名志工，經營老人院、孤兒院、戒毒中心，並提供其他社會服務。

 

But what all of his projects have in common is that they have helped sustain the most vulnerable Spaniards at a time of near-record unemployment and deep public spending cuts amid the lingering economic crisis. His organization also runs projects in about 50 developing countries.

 

These days, it is his budding string of Robin Hood restaurants that animates Rodriguez. On top of receiving basic help, he said, poor people need to regain a sense of dignity and purpose that is hard to achieve when eating in a soup kitchen.

 

“To get served by a waiter wearing a nice uniform and to eat with proper cutlery, rather than a plastic fork, is what gives you back some dignity,” he said.

 

不過他這一切計畫有個共通點，就是在這經濟危機徘徊不去，以致西班牙失業率逼近紀錄且政府大砍公共開支之際，協助西班牙那些最脆弱的人活下去。他的機構另在約50個開發中國家經營多項計畫。

 

這些日子，羅德里格茲草創未久的羅賓漢連鎖餐館讓他充滿活力。他說，窮人除接受基本協助，還需重拾尊嚴與人生目標，這是在慈善廚房用餐很難做到的。

 

他說：「接受穿著整齊制服的侍者服務並用適當的餐具用餐，而非塑膠叉子，能夠還給你一些尊嚴。」

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/309696/web/

 

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

 

用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。