通勤學英語 15Mins Today

台北嘿掰講 Ep18 - Japan adapts menus with purées to meet elderly needs

 

每週更新的播客，來聽聽Gavin跟John這禮拜聊日本對老齡化社會在菜單上的改變

 

#Taipeibanter＃台北嘿掰講

 

詞彙：

 

1. Puree - blended food 攪成泥的食物, 菜泥

2. Impediment - stop/delay from happening 障礙, 阻止

3. Turquoise/Cyan - greenish blue color 綠松石/青綠色

4. Foretaste - sign for what is about to come 預示

5. Gelatinous - like jelly 凝膠狀

 

Taipei Banter, where John and Gavin talk about the interesting things around the world.

 

跟讀文章: http://www.15mins.today/blog/498-as-japan-ages-menus-adapt-to-finding-the-gourmet-in-purees?categoryId=11281

 

更多台北嘿掰講, please visit http://www.15mins.today/taipei-banter-podcast

台北嘿掰講 Ep18 - Japan adapts menus with purées to meet elderly needs

 

每週更新的播客，來聽聽Gavin跟John這禮拜聊日本對老齡化社會在菜單上的改變

 

#Taipeibanter＃台北嘿掰講

 

詞彙：

 

1. Puree - blended food 攪成泥的食物, 菜泥

2. Impediment - stop/delay from happening 障礙, 阻止

3. Turquoise/Cyan - greenish blue color 綠松石/青綠色

4. Foretaste - sign for what is about to come 預示

5. Gelatinous - like jelly 凝膠狀

 

Taipei Banter, where John and Gavin talk about the interesting things around the world.

 

跟讀文章: http://www.15mins.today/blog/498-as-japan-ages-menus-adapt-to-finding-the-gourmet-in-purees?categoryId=11281

 

更多台北嘿掰講, please visit http://www.15mins.today/taipei-banter-podcast

每日跟讀#512: BTS, A-mei and J.J. become Taiwan’s most-streamed artists

 

Hit South Korean boyband Bangtan Boys, better known as BTS, has a new addition to their 2018 list of achievements, as the group became the most-streamed act in Taiwan, according to online music giant Spotify. Taiwanese pop diva Chang Hui-mei, better known as A-mei, took the second spot, while Singaporean singer J.J. Lin came third.

 

南韓天團防彈少年團（BTS）在二○一八年的成績單再添一筆！根據線上音樂龍頭Spotify，該團榮登台灣的最佳串流藝人，亞軍是台灣的流行天后張惠妹（阿妹），季軍則是新加坡的歌王林俊傑。

 

With more than 8.2 billion streams on Spotify last year, Drake took the crown as the world’s most-streamed artist. The Canadian rapper’s album Scorpion was the most-streamed album, and his single God’s Plan was the most-streamed song. BTS was the world’s second most-streamed group only next to US band Imagine Dragons.

 

憑著去年在Spotify高達八十二億的播放次數，Drake勇奪全球最佳串流藝人寶座。這位加拿大饒舌歌手還以專輯「Scorpion」及單曲「God’s Plan」，席捲了全球最佳串流專輯及單曲冠軍。而BTS亦衝上全球最佳串流團體的亞軍，僅次於美國搖滾天團謎幻樂團。

 

Meanwhile, as music streaming continues to boom, China’s Tencent Music Entertainment launched its US initial public offering (IPO) last month so as to compete with Spotify, and the IPO valued the company at US$21.3 billion. Under this trend, however, the nearly century-old music retail chain HMV has filed for bankruptcy again two weeks ago, putting its 125 stores and 2,200 jobs in danger.

 

同時，隨著音樂串流持續蓬勃發展，為了和Spotify一較高下，中國的騰訊音樂於上月赴美首次公開募股（IPO），市值高達兩百一十三億美元。在這股潮流衝擊之下，成立將近一世紀的唱片零售連鎖店HMV兩週前又再度聲請破產，旗下一百二十五家分店和兩千兩百名員工均岌岌可危。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/01/11/2003707689

 

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

每日跟讀#512: BTS, A-mei and J.J. become Taiwan’s most-streamed artists

 

Hit South Korean boyband Bangtan Boys, better known as BTS, has a new addition to their 2018 list of achievements, as the group became the most-streamed act in Taiwan, according to online music giant Spotify. Taiwanese pop diva Chang Hui-mei, better known as A-mei, took the second spot, while Singaporean singer J.J. Lin came third.

 

南韓天團防彈少年團（BTS）在二○一八年的成績單再添一筆！根據線上音樂龍頭Spotify，該團榮登台灣的最佳串流藝人，亞軍是台灣的流行天后張惠妹（阿妹），季軍則是新加坡的歌王林俊傑。

 

With more than 8.2 billion streams on Spotify last year, Drake took the crown as the world’s most-streamed artist. The Canadian rapper’s album Scorpion was the most-streamed album, and his single God’s Plan was the most-streamed song. BTS was the world’s second most-streamed group only next to US band Imagine Dragons.

 

憑著去年在Spotify高達八十二億的播放次數，Drake勇奪全球最佳串流藝人寶座。這位加拿大饒舌歌手還以專輯「Scorpion」及單曲「God’s Plan」，席捲了全球最佳串流專輯及單曲冠軍。而BTS亦衝上全球最佳串流團體的亞軍，僅次於美國搖滾天團謎幻樂團。

 

Meanwhile, as music streaming continues to boom, China’s Tencent Music Entertainment launched its US initial public offering (IPO) last month so as to compete with Spotify, and the IPO valued the company at US$21.3 billion. Under this trend, however, the nearly century-old music retail chain HMV has filed for bankruptcy again two weeks ago, putting its 125 stores and 2,200 jobs in danger.

 

同時，隨著音樂串流持續蓬勃發展，為了和Spotify一較高下，中國的騰訊音樂於上月赴美首次公開募股（IPO），市值高達兩百一十三億美元。在這股潮流衝擊之下，成立將近一世紀的唱片零售連鎖店HMV兩週前又再度聲請破產，旗下一百二十五家分店和兩千兩百名員工均岌岌可危。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/01/11/2003707689

 

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

每日跟讀#511: Moonlight influences opening and closing of oysters’ shells

 

The gentle glow of moonlight on water has moved musicians, poets and painters — and, it turns out, molluscs. Researchers have discovered the opening and shutting of oysters’ shells appears to be tied to the lunar cycle.

 

自古以來，月光倒映在水面的溫潤光澤深深觸動音樂家、詩人和畫家──以及水下的軟體動物。學者日前發現，牡蠣殼的開闔似乎和月週期有關。

 

Biological clocks have intrigued scientists for centuries, and researchers in the field won the 2017 Nobel prize for studies into the 24-hour body clock. However, organisms do not necessarily have biological processes linked only to the rhythm of day and night, the circadian clock. Other patterns that include links to the tides have been found for species including the horseshoe crab, and to the phases of the moon for creatures including the bristle worm. Some have suggested the latter may also affect humans.

 

好幾世紀以來，生物時鐘強烈吸引著科學家興趣，該領域學者最近才以二十四小時生理時鐘研究獲頒二○一七年的諾貝爾獎。不過，生物體內並非只有跟日夜轉換節奏連動的生物程序，或稱日變時鐘。科學家已發現其他模式存在，例如潮汐和包括鱟等物種的行為相關，或是月相與海中多毛綱目等生物作息有關。有些科學家則認為，月相也會影響人類。

 

Now experts say they have found evidence that oysters not only have a circadian clock and a tidal clock, but are also attuned to lunar rhythms. “It was a surprise to see that there is such an effect of the moonlight,” said Laura Payton, co-author of the research from the University of Oldenburg. Writing in the Biology Letters journal, Payton and her colleague Damien Tran from the University of Bordeaux describe how they tracked the behavior of 12 Pacific oysters submerged off the French coast over three-and-a-half lunar cycles from the end of 2014.

 

最近更有專家發現，證據顯示牡蠣不只具有日變時鐘和潮汐時鐘，還會調適於月周律動。該研究來自德國奧爾登堡大學，共同作者蘿拉‧培頓表示：「看到月光竟有這樣的效果，實在讓人訝異。」在這篇刊登於《生物學報》期刊的研究中，培頓和波爾多大學的同儕戴米恩‧特蘭，描述他們如何從二○一四年底開始，在三個半的月亮週期間，追蹤十二隻浸在法國近海的太平洋牡蠣行為模式。

 

The team used electrodes to track the molluscs’ degree of opening every 1.6 seconds and looked at astronomical data to assess how much of the moon was illuminated. The results reveal the oysters were most open in the buildup to — and presence of — a new moon, and less open as the moon entered first quarter and full phases. The team says that suggests oysters can sense moonlight — even though it is far less intense than the sun’s rays.

 

該團隊運用電極，每隔一點六秒追蹤這類軟體動物打開殼的角度，並參考天文資料，評估月球被照亮的程度。結果顯示，牡蠣在新月逐漸發生時──以及新月當天──打開的程度最大，而當月球進入上弦月和滿月階段時打開程度較小。團隊表示，這代表牡蠣可以感知月光，就算亮度遠不及太陽光強烈。

 

However, Payton said the situation was complex, noting the creatures appeared to be able to tell if the moon was waxing or waning: the oysters were generally more open during the third quarter than the first quarter. Payton said one possibility was that the benthic bivalves may have evolved an internal lunar clock, rather than passively relying on direct cues. In that case, she added, the moonlight sensed by the oyster would help keep this clock in sync with the environment rather than directly triggering the opening and shutting of the shell — similar to how humans use daylight to keep their internal 24-hour clock on track.

 

不過，培頓也表示實際情況其實更為複雜。她指出，這類生物似乎能夠辨識月球正在轉盈或是漸虧：牡蠣在月虧期普遍比月盈期還要更開一點。培頓認為，可能性之一是這類底棲性雙殼貝也許已經演化出身體內的月相時鐘，而不是被動地倚賴直接光感受。在這種情況下，培頓補充說，牡蠣感知到的月光會幫助體內的月相時鐘和環境同步，而不是直接觸發殼的開闔──就像是人類利用日光，讓體內的二十四小時生理時鐘維持正常運作的方式。

 

The team suggests the increased opening of the oysters when moonlight levels are lower might be linked to the possibility that more food is available at low light levels: previous studies have suggested the movement of plankton also appears to be influenced by light. “We know that oysters open their valves when there is food,” Payton said.

 

研究團隊認為，牡蠣在月光亮度較低時增加殼打開的角度，或許跟低亮度時食物更多的可能性有關：前行研究曾指出浮游生物的活動似乎也會受光影響。培頓說：「我們知道的是，牡蠣會在有食物的時候把殼打開。」

 

However, the study did not look at the impact of the moon on oysters’ behavior in all seasons, or take into account cloud cover — and hence the actual level of moonlight the molluscs experienced. David Wilcockson, a senior lecturer in aquatic biology at Aberystwyth University, said there were still many mysteries in the field. “We know that, for example, tidal, lunar and circadian clocks appear to have separate mechanisms, but they are to some extent linked — and we don’t know quite how and to what level,” he said.

 

不過，這份研究並未納入月球在不同季節對牡蠣造成的影響，也未將雲層遮蓋程度──直接影響這類軟體動物實際感受到的月光亮度──納入考量範圍。英國亞伯立斯威大學水族生物學的高級講師大衛‧威考森認為，此領域仍有許多未解之謎。他表示：「舉例來說，我們知道潮汐、月相和日變時鐘似乎是不同的機制，又在某種程度上互相關聯──但我們並不知道它們如何互相牽動，彼此間的關聯程度又為何。」

 

Wilcockson said human activity could cause unexpected problems in marine environments — an issue research like the latest study could help examine. “If you have coastal lighting, for example, or lighting on marine structures, then of course we don’t really know what the impacts of those might be,” he said.

 

威考森指出，人類活動可能對海洋環境造成預期外的問題，這是像這份最新研究的學術調查可以協助探討的。威考森說：「舉例而言，如果海岸上有照明設施、或是海中的建築結構有燈光，我們當然就無法確知可能會有什麼影響。」

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/01/13/2003707812/2

 

更多跟讀文章: www.15mins.today

每日跟讀#511: Moonlight influences opening and closing of oysters’ shells

 

The gentle glow of moonlight on water has moved musicians, poets and painters — and, it turns out, molluscs. Researchers have discovered the opening and shutting of oysters’ shells appears to be tied to the lunar cycle.

 

自古以來，月光倒映在水面的溫潤光澤深深觸動音樂家、詩人和畫家──以及水下的軟體動物。學者日前發現，牡蠣殼的開闔似乎和月週期有關。

 

Biological clocks have intrigued scientists for centuries, and researchers in the field won the 2017 Nobel prize for studies into the 24-hour body clock. However, organisms do not necessarily have biological processes linked only to the rhythm of day and night, the circadian clock. Other patterns that include links to the tides have been found for species including the horseshoe crab, and to the phases of the moon for creatures including the bristle worm. Some have suggested the latter may also affect humans.

 

好幾世紀以來，生物時鐘強烈吸引著科學家興趣，該領域學者最近才以二十四小時生理時鐘研究獲頒二○一七年的諾貝爾獎。不過，生物體內並非只有跟日夜轉換節奏連動的生物程序，或稱日變時鐘。科學家已發現其他模式存在，例如潮汐和包括鱟等物種的行為相關，或是月相與海中多毛綱目等生物作息有關。有些科學家則認為，月相也會影響人類。

 

Now experts say they have found evidence that oysters not only have a circadian clock and a tidal clock, but are also attuned to lunar rhythms. “It was a surprise to see that there is such an effect of the moonlight,” said Laura Payton, co-author of the research from the University of Oldenburg. Writing in the Biology Letters journal, Payton and her colleague Damien Tran from the University of Bordeaux describe how they tracked the behavior of 12 Pacific oysters submerged off the French coast over three-and-a-half lunar cycles from the end of 2014.

 

最近更有專家發現，證據顯示牡蠣不只具有日變時鐘和潮汐時鐘，還會調適於月周律動。該研究來自德國奧爾登堡大學，共同作者蘿拉‧培頓表示：「看到月光竟有這樣的效果，實在讓人訝異。」在這篇刊登於《生物學報》期刊的研究中，培頓和波爾多大學的同儕戴米恩‧特蘭，描述他們如何從二○一四年底開始，在三個半的月亮週期間，追蹤十二隻浸在法國近海的太平洋牡蠣行為模式。

 

The team used electrodes to track the molluscs’ degree of opening every 1.6 seconds and looked at astronomical data to assess how much of the moon was illuminated. The results reveal the oysters were most open in the buildup to — and presence of — a new moon, and less open as the moon entered first quarter and full phases. The team says that suggests oysters can sense moonlight — even though it is far less intense than the sun’s rays.

 

該團隊運用電極，每隔一點六秒追蹤這類軟體動物打開殼的角度，並參考天文資料，評估月球被照亮的程度。結果顯示，牡蠣在新月逐漸發生時──以及新月當天──打開的程度最大，而當月球進入上弦月和滿月階段時打開程度較小。團隊表示，這代表牡蠣可以感知月光，就算亮度遠不及太陽光強烈。

 

However, Payton said the situation was complex, noting the creatures appeared to be able to tell if the moon was waxing or waning: the oysters were generally more open during the third quarter than the first quarter. Payton said one possibility was that the benthic bivalves may have evolved an internal lunar clock, rather than passively relying on direct cues. In that case, she added, the moonlight sensed by the oyster would help keep this clock in sync with the environment rather than directly triggering the opening and shutting of the shell — similar to how humans use daylight to keep their internal 24-hour clock on track.

 

不過，培頓也表示實際情況其實更為複雜。她指出，這類生物似乎能夠辨識月球正在轉盈或是漸虧：牡蠣在月虧期普遍比月盈期還要更開一點。培頓認為，可能性之一是這類底棲性雙殼貝也許已經演化出身體內的月相時鐘，而不是被動地倚賴直接光感受。在這種情況下，培頓補充說，牡蠣感知到的月光會幫助體內的月相時鐘和環境同步，而不是直接觸發殼的開闔──就像是人類利用日光，讓體內的二十四小時生理時鐘維持正常運作的方式。

 

The team suggests the increased opening of the oysters when moonlight levels are lower might be linked to the possibility that more food is available at low light levels: previous studies have suggested the movement of plankton also appears to be influenced by light. “We know that oysters open their valves when there is food,” Payton said.

 

研究團隊認為，牡蠣在月光亮度較低時增加殼打開的角度，或許跟低亮度時食物更多的可能性有關：前行研究曾指出浮游生物的活動似乎也會受光影響。培頓說：「我們知道的是，牡蠣會在有食物的時候把殼打開。」

 

However, the study did not look at the impact of the moon on oysters’ behavior in all seasons, or take into account cloud cover — and hence the actual level of moonlight the molluscs experienced. David Wilcockson, a senior lecturer in aquatic biology at Aberystwyth University, said there were still many mysteries in the field. “We know that, for example, tidal, lunar and circadian clocks appear to have separate mechanisms, but they are to some extent linked — and we don’t know quite how and to what level,” he said.

 

不過，這份研究並未納入月球在不同季節對牡蠣造成的影響，也未將雲層遮蓋程度──直接影響這類軟體動物實際感受到的月光亮度──納入考量範圍。英國亞伯立斯威大學水族生物學的高級講師大衛‧威考森認為，此領域仍有許多未解之謎。他表示：「舉例來說，我們知道潮汐、月相和日變時鐘似乎是不同的機制，又在某種程度上互相關聯──但我們並不知道它們如何互相牽動，彼此間的關聯程度又為何。」

 

Wilcockson said human activity could cause unexpected problems in marine environments — an issue research like the latest study could help examine. “If you have coastal lighting, for example, or lighting on marine structures, then of course we don’t really know what the impacts of those might be,” he said.

 

威考森指出，人類活動可能對海洋環境造成預期外的問題，這是像這份最新研究的學術調查可以協助探討的。威考森說：「舉例而言，如果海岸上有照明設施、或是海中的建築結構有燈光，我們當然就無法確知可能會有什麼影響。」

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/01/13/2003707812/2

 

更多跟讀文章: www.15mins.today

每日跟讀#510: France’s Yellow Vests Reveal a Crisis of Mobility in All Its Forms

 

After more than a month of furious, antigovernment demonstrations across France, it is easy to forget that a gasoline tax set all this off.

 

在全法國各地一個多月以來出現憤怒的反政府示威之後，很容易忘記這一切原是燃油稅引發的。

 

A few cents per liter at the pump. A pebble in the sea of the French economy. A step to address climate change, according to President Emmanuel Macron.

 

每公升燃油調漲個幾分錢歐元，對法國經濟而言直如滄海一粟，根據法國總統馬克宏的說法，這是處理氣候變遷問題應走的一步。

 

Of course, that’s not how millions of workers who depend on their cars saw it.

 

而當然，幾百萬依靠自用車的勞工卻不這麼看。

 

Mobility is the story of globalization and its inequities. Mobility means more than trains, planes and automobiles, after all. It also includes social and economic mobility — being too poor to afford a car, being rich enough to transfer money out of the country. These are all inextricably linked. Weeks of protests by the Yellow Vests have made that clear.

 

流動性反映了全球化及其不公。畢竟，流動性不只意味著列車、飛機和汽車，還包括社會和經濟上的流動性，也就是窮到買不起車，或者富到能轉移資產到國外。這些全都緊密相關，幾周的黃背心抗議讓這件事變得清楚。

 

Many of these protesters, predominantly white working poor and middle class people who scrape by on their paychecks and pensions, live in what author Christophe Guilluy has called “peripheral France.” The term is meant to imply both a state of being and the thousands of small, struggling cities, towns and rural districts beyond the inner-ring suburbs of places like Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon or Lille.

 

黃背心抗議者主要是白人窮忙族和中產階級，靠薪水和退休金餬口，其中許多人在法國作家吉里所謂的「法國邊陲」生活。這個詞既是指存在狀態，也是指超出巴黎、波爾多、里昂或里爾這類大城近郊範圍的，法國數千個奮力掙扎的小城鎮與鄉村地區。

 

“As small businesses have been dying in these smaller cities and towns, people find themselves forced to seek jobs elsewhere and to shop even for basic goods in malls,” said Alexis Spire, a French sociologist. “They need cars to survive, because regional trains and buses have declined or no longer serve them. Once you begin to unpack the Yellow Vest phenomenon, the uprising is a lot about mobility.”

 

法國社會學家史皮爾說：「由於這些小城鎮的小商家陸續關門，人們不得不到別處找工作，甚至到購物中心採買必需品。他們要靠汽車才能存活，因為區域列車和公車班次減少或不再提供服務。一旦你開始剖析黃背心現象，會發現這場暴動很大程度跟流動性有關。」

 

Experts have been drawing parallels between the Yellow Vests and the social rifts exposed by Donald Trump’s election in the United States and Britain’s plan to leave the European Union. But there are also larger trends at work in France, involving the evolution of cities, the effect of cars, and the geography of race and class — trends rooted in the postwar years.

 

專家認為，黃背心示威暴露的社會裂痕，與川普當選美國總統和英國打算脫離歐盟暴露出的相似。不過，法國還有一些更大的趨勢在起作用，包括城市的演進、汽車的影響和種族與階級的地理分布，這些都是源於戰後的趨勢。

 

As a handful of big cities thrived with globalization, France’s regional governments, saddled with more financial burdens, became caught in a vicious cycle. Capital disappeared along with factories and jobs. Revenues shrank, debts mounted, and infrastructure declined.

 

就在少數幾個大城靠著全球化欣欣向榮之際，背負更多財政重擔的法國地方政府卻陷入惡性循環，資金跟著工廠和工作機會一起消失，收入減少，債務攀升，基礎設施逐漸衰敗。

 

Among the hardest-hit services were the regional railways, run by French rail company SNCF, which overwhelmingly invested in high-speed trains that served the big, prospering cities and is now $56 billion in debt. With service atrophying, people need their cars.

 

受創最嚴重的公共服務之一，是法國國營鐵路公司經營的區域鐵路，法國國鐵一面倒投資連接繁榮大城的高速鐵路，目前負債560億美元。由於鐵路服務萎縮，人們便需要自用車。

 

The gasoline tax “exposed a profound cultural fracture,” said Olivier Galland, a director at the National Center for Scientific Research.

 

法國國家科學研究中心高級主管加藍說，燃油稅「暴露出很深的文化裂隙」。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/335570/web/#2L-13961291L

 

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

每日跟讀#510: France’s Yellow Vests Reveal a Crisis of Mobility in All Its Forms

 

After more than a month of furious, antigovernment demonstrations across France, it is easy to forget that a gasoline tax set all this off.

 

在全法國各地一個多月以來出現憤怒的反政府示威之後，很容易忘記這一切原是燃油稅引發的。

 

A few cents per liter at the pump. A pebble in the sea of the French economy. A step to address climate change, according to President Emmanuel Macron.

 

每公升燃油調漲個幾分錢歐元，對法國經濟而言直如滄海一粟，根據法國總統馬克宏的說法，這是處理氣候變遷問題應走的一步。

 

Of course, that’s not how millions of workers who depend on their cars saw it.

 

而當然，幾百萬依靠自用車的勞工卻不這麼看。

 

Mobility is the story of globalization and its inequities. Mobility means more than trains, planes and automobiles, after all. It also includes social and economic mobility — being too poor to afford a car, being rich enough to transfer money out of the country. These are all inextricably linked. Weeks of protests by the Yellow Vests have made that clear.

 

流動性反映了全球化及其不公。畢竟，流動性不只意味著列車、飛機和汽車，還包括社會和經濟上的流動性，也就是窮到買不起車，或者富到能轉移資產到國外。這些全都緊密相關，幾周的黃背心抗議讓這件事變得清楚。

 

Many of these protesters, predominantly white working poor and middle class people who scrape by on their paychecks and pensions, live in what author Christophe Guilluy has called “peripheral France.” The term is meant to imply both a state of being and the thousands of small, struggling cities, towns and rural districts beyond the inner-ring suburbs of places like Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon or Lille.

 

黃背心抗議者主要是白人窮忙族和中產階級，靠薪水和退休金餬口，其中許多人在法國作家吉里所謂的「法國邊陲」生活。這個詞既是指存在狀態，也是指超出巴黎、波爾多、里昂或里爾這類大城近郊範圍的，法國數千個奮力掙扎的小城鎮與鄉村地區。

 

“As small businesses have been dying in these smaller cities and towns, people find themselves forced to seek jobs elsewhere and to shop even for basic goods in malls,” said Alexis Spire, a French sociologist. “They need cars to survive, because regional trains and buses have declined or no longer serve them. Once you begin to unpack the Yellow Vest phenomenon, the uprising is a lot about mobility.”

 

法國社會學家史皮爾說：「由於這些小城鎮的小商家陸續關門，人們不得不到別處找工作，甚至到購物中心採買必需品。他們要靠汽車才能存活，因為區域列車和公車班次減少或不再提供服務。一旦你開始剖析黃背心現象，會發現這場暴動很大程度跟流動性有關。」

 

Experts have been drawing parallels between the Yellow Vests and the social rifts exposed by Donald Trump’s election in the United States and Britain’s plan to leave the European Union. But there are also larger trends at work in France, involving the evolution of cities, the effect of cars, and the geography of race and class — trends rooted in the postwar years.

 

專家認為，黃背心示威暴露的社會裂痕，與川普當選美國總統和英國打算脫離歐盟暴露出的相似。不過，法國還有一些更大的趨勢在起作用，包括城市的演進、汽車的影響和種族與階級的地理分布，這些都是源於戰後的趨勢。

 

As a handful of big cities thrived with globalization, France’s regional governments, saddled with more financial burdens, became caught in a vicious cycle. Capital disappeared along with factories and jobs. Revenues shrank, debts mounted, and infrastructure declined.

 

就在少數幾個大城靠著全球化欣欣向榮之際，背負更多財政重擔的法國地方政府卻陷入惡性循環，資金跟著工廠和工作機會一起消失，收入減少，債務攀升，基礎設施逐漸衰敗。

 

Among the hardest-hit services were the regional railways, run by French rail company SNCF, which overwhelmingly invested in high-speed trains that served the big, prospering cities and is now $56 billion in debt. With service atrophying, people need their cars.

 

受創最嚴重的公共服務之一，是法國國營鐵路公司經營的區域鐵路，法國國鐵一面倒投資連接繁榮大城的高速鐵路，目前負債560億美元。由於鐵路服務萎縮，人們便需要自用車。

 

The gasoline tax “exposed a profound cultural fracture,” said Olivier Galland, a director at the National Center for Scientific Research.

 

法國國家科學研究中心高級主管加藍說，燃油稅「暴露出很深的文化裂隙」。

 

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/335570/web/#2L-13961291L

 

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

每日跟讀#509: Royals, 3D and public domain works most anticipated in 2019

 

To welcome the new year, CNN aired a report titled “19 things to look forward to in 2019” last month, introducing some highly-anticipated “bright spots” of the new year — such as 3D-printing in everything, two solar eclipses, the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, a Disney dominance at the movies, and the opening of new Star Wars-themed lands.

 

為了迎接新年，CNN於上個月報導了十九件在二○一九年令人盼望的事，介紹新的一年裡值得高度期待的「亮點」——包括無所不在的3D列印物品、兩次的日全蝕、在法國的FIFA女子世界盃足球賽、迪士尼將稱霸電影圈，和星際大戰主題遊樂園的開幕。

 

Meanwhile, another royal baby will make his or her debut, as Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are expecting their first child in spring. On April 30, the 85-year-old Japanese Emperor Akihito is set to formally step down from the throne, becoming the first Japanese emperor to abdicate in over 200 years.

 

同時，英國皇室的新成員即將誕生，哈利王子和梅根王妃（薩塞克斯公爵夫人）會在春天迎接他們的第一胎。高齡八十五歲的日本天皇明仁，則預計在四月三十日正式退位，成為兩百多年來第一個退位的日皇。

 

Moreover, hundreds of thousands of works of art, literature, film and music from 1923 all entered the US public domain on New Year’s Day when their copyrights expired. It was the biggest entry in two decades since the US extended the term of all existing copyrights by 20 years from a 75- to a 95-year term in 1998.

 

此外，數十萬件於一九二三年發行的藝文作品、電影及歌曲，已於版權到期後在元旦進入美國公共領域。這也是自一九九八年，美國將現行版權保護期從七十五年延長二十年至九十五年後，二十年來最大一批作品轉化為公共財。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/01/04/2003707278

更多跟讀單元：www.15mins.today

每日跟讀#509: Royals, 3D and public domain works most anticipated in 2019

 

To welcome the new year, CNN aired a report titled “19 things to look forward to in 2019” last month, introducing some highly-anticipated “bright spots” of the new year — such as 3D-printing in everything, two solar eclipses, the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, a Disney dominance at the movies, and the opening of new Star Wars-themed lands.

 

為了迎接新年，CNN於上個月報導了十九件在二○一九年令人盼望的事，介紹新的一年裡值得高度期待的「亮點」——包括無所不在的3D列印物品、兩次的日全蝕、在法國的FIFA女子世界盃足球賽、迪士尼將稱霸電影圈，和星際大戰主題遊樂園的開幕。

 

Meanwhile, another royal baby will make his or her debut, as Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are expecting their first child in spring. On April 30, the 85-year-old Japanese Emperor Akihito is set to formally step down from the throne, becoming the first Japanese emperor to abdicate in over 200 years.

 

同時，英國皇室的新成員即將誕生，哈利王子和梅根王妃（薩塞克斯公爵夫人）會在春天迎接他們的第一胎。高齡八十五歲的日本天皇明仁，則預計在四月三十日正式退位，成為兩百多年來第一個退位的日皇。

 

Moreover, hundreds of thousands of works of art, literature, film and music from 1923 all entered the US public domain on New Year’s Day when their copyrights expired. It was the biggest entry in two decades since the US extended the term of all existing copyrights by 20 years from a 75- to a 95-year term in 1998.

 

此外，數十萬件於一九二三年發行的藝文作品、電影及歌曲，已於版權到期後在元旦進入美國公共領域。這也是自一九九八年，美國將現行版權保護期從七十五年延長二十年至九十五年後，二十年來最大一批作品轉化為公共財。

 

Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2019/01/04/2003707278

更多跟讀單元：www.15mins.today