2013年2月27日 星期三

small-minded, serious-minded, high-minded, high-risk power plays

High-Stakes Move by Greek Leader
The referendum idea that surprised most of Europe was characteristic of Papandreou, who combines high-minded democratic idealism with a penchant for high-risk power plays.


It virtually disappeared from Europe after the early 1960s because children had access to antibiotics, he explained. But in Africa, where many people have "never seen a nurse or a doctor in their life", Strada said, rheumatic fever is endemic and leads to the continent’s most common form of heart disease, causing an estimated 300,000 deaths a year.(AFP)
該疾病實際上在1960年代初期後,已從歐洲消失,因為兒童可獲取抗生素,他解釋。但在許多人「未曾看過護士或醫生」的非洲,史特拉達說,風濕熱盛行,從而成為這塊大陸上最普遍的心臟病,每年估計造成30萬人死亡。(法新社)



discussion which became endemic among serious-minded Oxford undergraduates
small-minded critics in 1950s.

'Solar'

By IAN McEWAN
Reviewed by WALTER KIRN
Certain books are so bad that they're actually rather good. Ian McEwan's new novel is just the opposite: it's so ingeniously designed, irreproachably high-minded and skillfully brought off that it's actually quite bad.


high-minded
('mīn'dĭd)
adj.
Characterized by elevated ideals or conduct; noble.

high-mindedly high'-mind'ed·ly adv.
high-mindedness high'-mind'ed·ness n.


small-minded
(smôl'mīn'dĭd)
adj.
  1. Having a narrow or selfish attitude.
  2. Characterized by pettiness or selfishness.
small-mindedly small'-mind'ed·ly adv.
small-mindedness small'-mind'ed·ness n.


en·dem·ic (ĕn-dĕm'ĭk) pronunciation
形容詞,地方性的、某地(或某些人中)流行的
 adj.
  1. Prevalent in or peculiar to a particular locality, region, or people: diseases endemic to the tropics. See synonyms at native.
  2. Ecology. Native to or confined to a certain region.
n. Ecology
An endemic plant or animal.

[From Greek endēmos, native, endemic : en-, in; see en-2 + dēmos, people.]
endemically en·dem'i·cal·ly adv.
endemism en·dem'ism n.

rein in, tap, tapped phone, wiretap,taproom, take (up) the reins

 

 

UBS Bosses Rein In Banker Who Golfs With Obama

A move to muzzle Robert Wolf, a banker and leading fund-raiser for President Obama, may be seen as another setback for the president on Wall Street.

 

 

 Jain Takes the Reins at Deutsche

The new co-CEO at Deutsche Bank was born in India, educated in America and is now based in London. He's expected to shake up Germany's biggest bank.

 

 

China Reins in Entertainment and Blogging

By SHARON LAFRANIERE, MICHAEL WINES and EDWARD WONG
Communist leaders in China are proposing new limits on media and Internet freedoms that include some of the most restrictive measures in years.

An Untapped Phone Call in Italy? It’s Possible
By RACHEL DONADIO
In Italy, you’re nobody if your phone isn’t tapped. But to rein in leaks, a contentious new law would restrict the ability to wiretap and publish the results.


rein in
放慢, 止住, 控制
rein in 歩調をゆるめさせる, 抑制する


rein[rein]

  • レベル:大学入試程度
  • 発音記号[réin]
[名]
1 ((通例〜s))手綱(⇒HARNESS(図));(馬具の)革ひも
a pair of reins
一対の手綱
gather (up) [tightenthe reins
手綱を引き締める.
2 [U][C]制御[統制]手段;拘束, 牽制(けんせい)
without rein
拘束なく, 自由に
with a loose rein
手綱をゆるめて, 寛大に
give a person (a) free rein
人に仕事を自由にやらせる
give freefull] rein to one's passions
激情に身をゆだねる
keephold] a tight rein onover] ...
…を厳しくしつける, 厳格に取り扱う
He had them on a short rein.
彼らをいつでも手綱を締められるところに置いた.
3 ((〜s))統御力, 統制権, 指揮権
take (up) the reins
統率[支配, 指揮]する
hold the reins of government
政権を握っている.
draw (in the) rein
手綱を引く, 馬を止める, 速度[進歩]を制限する;控え目にする.
━━[動](他)
1 〈馬を〉手綱で御する
rein upback] a horse
手綱を引いて馬を止める.
2 …を抑制[牽制, 制御]する((back));…を支配する;…を指揮する.
3 〈馬に〉手綱をつける.
━━(自)
1 〈馬が〉手綱どおり動く.
2 馬[動物]をあやつる, 御する
rein inup
手綱を引いて馬の歩調をゆるめる;((比喩))活動を抑える.



tap

 
音節
tap2
発音
tǽp
レベル
大学入試程度
tapの変化形
taps (複数形) • tapped (過去形) • tapped (過去分詞) • tapping (現在分詞) • taps (三人称単数現在)
tapの慣用句
on tap, turn on the tap, tap into, (全3件)
[名]
1 (たるなどの)栓;(たるの)飲み口, (水道などの)蛇口, コック(((米))faucet)
turn onoffthe tap
蛇口を開く[閉める]
drink water from the tap
蛇口から水を飲む.
2 (たる口から出した)酒;((古))特定品質の酒, 銘酒;((比喩))特質, 持ち味.
3 ((英))居酒屋, 酒場.
4 雌ねじ切り, ねじタップ.
5 《外科》(腹水などを除く)穿刺(せんし).
6 (支管をさし込む)パイプ穴.
7 ((米))タップ, (コイルの)中間口出し;コンセント.
8 (電信・電話の)盗聴(器);隠しマイク
put a tap on ...
…に盗聴器をしかける.
9 ((主に英))公債, 国債.
on tap
(1) 〈酒・ビールが〉飲み口つきのたるに入った;〈酒だるなどが〉飲み口のついた.
(2) ((略式))いつでも使える.
(3) 〈特に国債などが〉いつでも買える.
turn on the tap
(1) ⇒1
(2) ((略式))泣き出す.
━━[動](〜ped, 〜・ping)(他)
1 〈容器などの〉飲み口をあけて[栓を抜いて]液体を出す, …に飲み口をつける, 〈たるなどの〉栓を抜く((off)).
2 〈幹などに〉刻み目をつけて樹液を取る;《外科》〈腹水などを〉(切開手術で)出す.
3 〈土地・資源などを〉開発する;〈話などを〉切り出す;…のせきを切る;…を一番に取る.
4 〈電信・電話を〉盗聴[傍受]する, 〈電話線などに〉(秘密に)接続する.
5 〈本管などに〉支管[出口]をつける;〈水道などを〉(本管から)引く.
6 ((英略式))〈人に〉(金などを)せがむ;〈人から〉(情報などを)引き出す((for ...)).
tap into ...
(1) …にはいり込む.
(2) (…を)活用する, 開発する.
(3) (人に)取り入る, 近づく.
 
 
 
 taproom
(noun) A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter.
Synonyms:bar, ginmill, saloon
Usage:I go to a local taproom after work every Friday and unwind over a pint.

made-up words, neologisms, spork, ultra-lightweight dual-use cutlery


鈦制叉勺是我弟弟格雷戈里(Gregory)給我的聖誕節禮物,這個禮物應該是他當時隨便選的。超輕兩用餐具對我來說沒什麼用。THE titanium spork was a Christmas gift from my brother Gregory, a choice that seemed random at the time. I had no use for ultra-lightweight dual-use cutlery.

spork 如下說明:叉匙合體組
 隨便:隨機
 兩用或可更確切說"一頭叉一頭匙"
勺= spoon 匙

Spork

 
音節
Spork
発音
spɔ'ːrk
[名]((商標))スポーク:フォーク兼用[先割れ]スプーン.
[spoon+fork]



2010年11月2日,美國專利局發給工研院和我US7827067號專利許可,專利的全名是「時間和知識交換及管理的裝置及方法」。對於這個名稱我特別滿意,因為專利的內容尚在其次,有了這名稱就可以無所不包,軟(體)硬(體)通吃。
天長地久計的英文名稱是chronobot。這也是我發明的新字,就是時間chrono和機器人robot的合成體。用這個名稱在美國申請商標,在2009年也批准了。所以萬事俱備只欠東風,如果找到人投資做成產品,天長地久計就可以上市了。

neologism (noun) A newly invented word or phrase.
Synonyms:coinage
Usage:Neologisms are often coined when people begin using newly released technology.

10 things you might not know about made-up words


This month, the Oxford American Dictionary declared that the "word of the year" for 2010 was Sarah Palin's "refudiate," an apparent combination of refute and repudiate. Such made-up words, also known as neologisms, seem increasingly popular in the Internet age:

1. An idiot's journey through life can be called an "idiodyssey."

2. "Hasbian" is a term for a former lesbian.

3. When two words are blended to form one — such as "bromance" or "mockumentary" or "spork" — it's called a portmanteau or a portmanteau word. A portmanteau is also a type of suitcase that opens into two halves. (And the plural of portmanteau is correctly written two ways: portmanteaus and portmanteaux.)

4. "Hatriot" is used to describe an extremist member of a militia group, a person who greatly distrusts the current government, or a liberal who is always critical of the country. It is also used by football fans who don't like the team from New England.

5. If you've been "dixie-chicked," your own fans or customers have turned on you, as the country music group Dixie Chicks discovered in 2003 when they denounced then- President George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq.

6. "Anticipointment" is a television and marketing term that was popular circa 1990, describing the feeling of consumers when a product is hyped but doesn't deliver.

7. The word "gerrymander" was invented in 1812 to describe a legislative district whose contours were grossly manipulated to favor one side. One such district in Massachusetts resembled a salamander, and the governor at the time was Elbridge Gerry. Thus, gerrymandering had occurred.

8. A "nagivator" is an auto passenger who nags instead of navigates.

9. Without the cellphone, "approximeeting" wouldn't work. That's when you make plans to meet someone but don't firm up the details until later, when you're on the move.

10. A college student who dates only people in his residence hall commits "dormcest."

Mark Jacob is a deputy metro editor at the Tribune; Stephan Benzkofer is the newspaper's weekend editor.

Sources: wharton.universia.net; urbandictionary.com; dictionary.reference.com; doubletongued.org; wordspy.com; "American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials" by Barbara A. Bardes, Mack C. Shelley and Steffen W. Schmidt.

2013年2月24日 星期日

guarded,undrafted point guard, incredible


Lin book soon, Taiwan schools show Knicks games
USA TODAY
You knew it was coming to this: An instant book on the incredible rise to stardom of the New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin, the Harvard-educated, undrafted point guard who is the NBA's first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.



Taiwanese show guarded acceptance of China pact
Reuters
TAIPEI (Reuters) - The low turnout at a demonstration in Taiwan on Saturday against a trade pact with China pointed to broad but guarded acceptance of the ..



Point guard (PG), also called the play maker or "the ball-handler," is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game and is commonly abbreviated ...

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a 2005 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. The book's narrator is a nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell. In the story, Oskar discovers a key in a vase that belonged to his father that inspires him to search all around New York for information about the key. 

guarded
adj.
  1. Protected; defended.
  2. Watched over; supervised.
  3. Cautious; restrained: We view these changes with guarded optimism.
guardedly guard'ed·ly adv.
guardedness guard'ed·ness n.


incredible

  音節
in • cred • i • ble
発音
inkrédəbl
レベル
大学入試程度
incredibleの慣用句
incredibly, (全1件)
[形]
1 信じられない
an incredible story
(とても)信じられない話.
2 ((略式))信じられないほどの, 途方もない, 驚くべき
an incredible cost
とてつもない費用
an incredible house
すばらしい家.
in・crèd・i・bíl・i・ty, ・ness
[名]
in・cred・i・bly
[副]信じられないほど, 非常に;((文修飾))信じられないことだが.

2013年2月23日 星期六

此Blog 目的: 教導學生讀美英各大報/creche 應感激美式英語


 ......都說學外文難,我也覺得實在難。 這十幾二十年盡量擺脫文字法規的枷鎖,一心只求弄懂文字傳遞的信息,不去深究句法、文采,果然舒服。 學外文不一定是為了讓自己學會用外文表達自己,那是下一步的境界。 學外文先是讓自己讀懂外文,那樣才能享受本文(text)的樂趣:「看書是為了消受知的快樂,不是為了上進。」莫爾夫人說。 「那等​​於結婚是為了兩個人在一起快樂,不是為了生孩子。」得諾貝爾文學獎的凱爾泰茲前幾天才​​說,有了孩子就不得不追求比較像樣的營生,多包袱,要 遷就(“I would have to live better, and to do that,I would have made commitments and concessions”)。董橋  莫爾夫人看書知趣  2002





十幾年前是臺大管理學院的黃金時代 (對我這校外人士而言) 譬如說亞洲華爾街日報AWSJ他們說服台灣的一些企業家贊助校園閱讀AWSJ
所以每天會送近50-70份報免費到學院 (2)
前一年AWSJ都剩餘 所以我曾想過應該免費為臺大學生開班教導學生讀美國第一大報WSJ這只是空想那時候紐約時報也是網路上免費所以我開一個英文人行道BLOG希望稍微教讀者讀英文各大報它有237398人次讀過它.


------

creche


 
音節
crèche
発音
kréʃ
レベル
社会人必須
crecheの変化形
creches (複数形)
[名]
1 ((英))保育所, 託児所(((米))day nursery).
2 ((米))馬槽(うまぶね)中の幼いキリスト像(((英))crib). ▼クリスマスに飾る.
3 孤児院.
[フランス語]


應感激美式英語作者:英國《金融時報》專欄作家邁克爾•斯卡平克
有一次,在採訪時任波音(Boeing)首席執行官的菲利普•康迪特(Philip Condit)時,我提到,聽說他計劃建一所“工廠托兒所”(factory crèche)。康迪特聞言很驚訝。你聽誰說的?我說是他的一名手下告訴我的。這個回答讓他目瞪口呆,直到一位新聞官出面解釋。顯然,我當時用了一個英式英語裡的詞兒。康迪特計劃建的是一所“幼兒園”(childcare facility)。在美國,“crèche”一詞是指耶穌誕生的場景。新聞官的解釋避免了一場潛在的文化危機,讓康迪特長舒一口氣。許多人都經歷過美式英語和英式英語的不同造成的誤會。但一些人只是希望阻止來自大西洋彼岸的語言入侵,而不是努力消除美式英語與英式英語的區別。 1995年,查爾斯王子(Prince Charles)稱,美國英語“破壞性極強”。他說,美國人“發明了各種各樣的名詞和動詞,並創造出一些本不應存在的表達”。我的同事馬修•恩格(Matthew Engel)在英國廣播公司(BBC)做節目時抱怨英國採用“step up to the plate”(開始採取行動)等美式英語的表達,後來就此寫了一篇文章支持英式英語。去年,加州大學(University of California)教授杰弗裡•納伯格(Geoffrey Nunberg)則對使用英式英語表達的美國人提出了批評。他說,他覺得“one off”(一次性)這個表達是有用的——這個詞組“非常準確地描述了一次性事件”。但還有一些外來語簡直令人惱火。 “用Fortnight表示十四天?用Bespoke表示定做的?你不是在開玩笑吧?”。不過,納伯格明確表示,他對此並不介意。 “畢竟,對美國人而言,英國祇是一個巨大的語言主題公園。確實有較少一部分英式英語表達進入了美式英語,但這一小部分英式英語表達可能只會讓一些人不爽,很難對美國文化構成威脅”。這種態度,以及事實的確如此,都讓英國人感到惱火。恩格指出,進入英式英語的美式英語表達多於進入美式英語的英式英語表達,“貿易條件”不公平。有一些更為溫和的討論。 50 年前,普林斯頓大學(Princeton University)的阿爾伯特•馬克伍德(Albert Marckwardt)和倫敦大學學院(University College London)的倫道夫•奎克(Randolph Quirk)還曾就此展開一場最具啟發意義的討論。英國廣播公司和美國之音(Voice of America)將那場討論整理成書,書名為《共同的語言:英式英語與美式英語》(A Common Language: British and American English)。兩人的討論沒有強調美式英語與英語英語的差異。他們的主要觀點是,兩種英語非常相似。語法幾乎一樣。為數不多的一個差異點是美式英語用“gotten”,但仔細一看這個差異點實際上也只是半個。美式英語只有在表示“獲得”的時候才用“gotten”,比如“we've gotten a new car(我們獲得了一項新車)”,而在表示“擁有”或“必須”的時候則與英式英語的用法一樣,比如“I've got a pen(我有一支鋼筆)”或“I've got to write a letter(我必須寫一封信)”。除去少數幾個單詞的拼寫不同以外,美式英語和英式英語完全可以互相理解。兩位教授對此感嘆道,這多麼了不起啊。1607年,美國人在弗吉尼亞州的詹姆斯敦(Jamestown)建立了第一個永久性定居地,當時莎士比亞(Shakespeare)仍然健在。想想自那以後英語改變了多少。莎士比亞在《威尼斯商人》(The Merchant of Venice)中寫道,慈悲“像甘霖一樣從天上降下塵世(droppeth as the gentle rain)”。後來美式英語和英式英語中的droppeth都變成了drops。在四個世紀的時間裡,英式英語和美式英語的語法和語言都在共同發生改變。語言的發展並不一定像美式英語和英式英語那樣。 17世紀起在南非定居下來的荷蘭人最終說的是南非荷蘭語(Afrikaan),那是一種與荷蘭語完全不同的語言。諾亞•韋伯斯特(Noah Webster)曾預言,美式英語將會面臨同樣命運,總有一天美式英語會“像源於德語的現代荷蘭語、丹麥語和瑞典語一樣,變得與未來英國人所說的英語完全不同”。韋伯斯特在自己編纂的詞典中將“honour”改成“honor”,將“centre”改成“center”,但他後來逐漸承認,這兩種語言本質上仍將保持一致。南非西北大學(North-West University)的貝爾特•範羅伊(Bertus van Rooy)和荷蘭烏得勒支大學(Utrecht University)的里亞斯•范登•德爾(Rias van den Doel)指出,關鍵不同在於,英國對南非的統治隔斷了阿非利卡人(Afrikaners,南非的荷蘭人——譯者註)與荷蘭人的聯繫,而美國與英國則一直保持著聯繫。通過電影、電視、音樂和商業,英美的這種聯繫聯繫仍在延續。美國人也說英語,這幫助許多英國人在美國主導世界後仍然能夠取得成功。如果美式英語果真像韋伯斯特預言的那樣發展成一種完全不同的語言,J•K•羅琳(JK Rowling)就不會成為一個國際暢銷書作家,英國演員戴米恩•路易斯(Damian Lewis )就無法出演《國土安全》(Homeland),英國《金融時報》也不會成為一份世界讀物。一家英國公司說一位高管調任新職位時用美式英語中的transition表示調任,這可能讓人有些惱火。但是,美國人仍然在說我們的語言,作為講英語的非美國人,我們應該對此感到欣慰。譯者/鄒策

dosimeter, brassicas. once-over, blitz, the fairer sex


And it is the fairer sex that gives their rivals’ bodies a good visual once-over, found Bristol University researchers, rather than their supposedly Neanderthal partners. Men are more likely to concentrate on a potential mate’s face.
布里斯托大學的研究人員發現,更喜歡上下打量女性身體的是女性,而不是人們通常以為的粗魯男性。男性的注意力更可能集中在潛在配偶的臉蛋上。


 Microsoft Prepares Windows 8 Marketing Blitz
Microsoft plans this weekend to start the marketing blitz for Windows 8, the software company's dramatic overhaul of its flagship product to catch up to the rise of mobile devices such as Apple's iPad.



Coping with Japan's nuclear disaster
Giving the brassicas a once-overA PEN-LIKE dosimeter hangs around the neck of Katsunobu Sakurai, the tireless mayor of Minamisoma, measuring the accumulated radiation to which he has been exposed during the past two weeks of a four-week nuclear nightmare. The reading of 43 microsieverts is about the dosage he would get from a single chest x-ray. No cause for alarm, then. Yet he believes the radioactive particles from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear-power plant, 25km from his office, have led this once-prosperous city of 70,000 into a fight for its life.
Use the interactive "Graphics Carousel" to browse our coverage of catastrophe in Japan.About 50,000 inhabitants who lived closest to the plant have been evacuated or have fled since radiation levels started to rise after the March 11th tsunami—which also left at least 1,400 of the town's residents dead or missing. Even though external radiation has since returned to near-harmless levels, Mr Sakurai fears many of Minamisoma's evacuees may never come back.
Three worries predominate. One, the information passed out by the government and Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), which owns the Dai-ichi plant, may be unreliable. Two, the plant is still unstable, at risk of suddenly emitting vastly greater amounts of radioactive particles. Three, the longer it takes to stabilise, the more lasting damage wind- and waterborne radiation may do to the livelihoods of the farmers and fishermen who are the economic lifeblood of the community. If they go, so does the town.
Related topicsTokyoTokyo Electric Power Co. Inc.Environmental public healthSouth KoreaFukushima
These worries resurfaced on April 7th when TEPCO started to inject nitrogen into one of the plant's six stricken reactors. That was to prevent a repeat of the hydrogen explosions that blew radiation out of the plant soon after cooling systems failed in the wake of the tsunami.
Even before that news, Mr Sakurai was saying that he was fearful of another explosion. It was why he continued to discourage hope that the town could get back to normal. "The lack of information is making people deeply stressed and frustrated," he said.
The prompt dissemination of accurate information is not happening, though. By April 6th TEPCO had managed to staunch the leakage of highly contaminated water from one of the damaged reactors that had produced levels of radioactive iodine 7.5m times the legal limit in one sample of seawater. But that was not before fishermen about 70km south of the plant had caught tiny sand-eels, known as konago, with larger than normal traces of radioactive iodine and caesium. The unwelcome discovery prompted Naoto Kan, the prime minister, to issue a new safety standard for levels of radioactivity in marine products. Knowing the public's fears of unsafe food (and no doubt encouraged by the promise of compensation), the local konago fishermen had already pulled in their nets for the season.
The fear of contamination is spreading internationally, too, and the government is learning that it is not enough just to present scientific evidence about radiation levels. On April 6th India suspended all Japanese food imports. Neighbouring South Korea expressed concern that it was not warned about TEPCO's decision to dump low-level radioactive waste into the sea to make room to store more toxic stuff on land. South Korea does not share a sea with Fukushima. But South Korea, like Japan, has a vibrant seafood culture. Rational or not, perceptions matter.
With more emotion than sense, electronic components, machine parts and even towels made far from Fukushima have required radiation checks or been turned back by Italy and China, among others. The Japanese authorities have not helped by falling back on technocracy rather than a more sympathetic response. Shippers have urged the government to issue certificates that would assure foreign ports that goods are radiation-free. Instead, Japan expends its energies mainly attempting to convince shippers about the safely low levels of radiation in the country at large. "The question is how to reduce anxiety, not present science," says Katsunori Nemoto of Keidanren, Japan's business lobby.
At a time when the Japanese economy needs help, to date around 50 countries have imposed restrictions on Japanese imports. America, which buys one-sixth of Japanese farm exports, has put products from Fukushima and three other prefectures on a watch list. The European Union has named a dozen prefectures that need radiation tests, yet traders in these places report a lack of testing equipment. In one case, says an executive at a Japanese trading house, tuna that arrived in America was set aside by customs, rotting before it was inspected. A sake brewer on a sales trip to Las Vegas noticed that Japanese food was off the menu at hotels.
So far the direct economic impact of radiation fears on exports is slight. Fishing and farming account for a very small part of Japan's total exports, even if a disproportionate share in Japan's stricken north-east. Even so, the reputation for high quality enjoyed by Japanese-sourced food will probably suffer.
At home, the impact on domestic demand may be much bigger. Economists say fears of radiation dampen consumer confidence and extend as far south as Tokyo, which is 250km from the Fukushima plant. Some pundits want the government to launch a publicity blitz to urge ordinary Japanese to spend more. It may do little good, especially coming from a government that does not inspire confidence. Many ordinary Japanese unaffected by the tsunami and nuclear mess either feel a sympathy for the victims or are ashamed to be seen enjoying themselves. The Japanese tendency towards self-restraint, or jishuku, is back in force. People are cutting back on everything from shopping trips to hanami parties to view the spring cherry blossom.
As for Minamisoma, its residents are fed up with paying the price for a nuclear accident at a plant that brought them little benefit—after all, it sent nearly all its electricity to Tokyo. Takashi Shibaguchi, a 41-year-old acupuncturist who lived on the outskirts of the town, says he will never return home, even though he has no money and is sleeping on the floor of an evacuation shelter with his wife and four-year-old daughter. He is rational about the radiation risks to himself, but fears his daughter growing up in such a potentially poisonous environment. "I'm done with it," he says.
南相馬市距離福島第一核電廠約25公里,核災至今已有約5萬居民逃離或撤離。南相馬市市長櫻井勝延擔心,大部分撤離的市民可能永遠不會回來。主要疑慮有 三;其一為東京電力公司提供的資訊並不可靠,其二為電廠仍舊不穩定,其三,時間拖得越長,輻射對居民賴以為生的農地和海洋傷害就越大。


dosimeter
[dousímətər]
[名]線量計:放射能吸収量測定装置.
brassicas 高麗菜


Small Factories Give Baxter the Robot a Cautious Once-Over


Rethink Robotics invented a $22,000 humanoid robot that competes with low-wage workers. 


the fairer sex:(總稱)女性、女界、婦女。

once-over
(wŭns'ō'vər)
n. Informal
A quick but comprehensive survey or performance: Let's give this memorandum the once-over.
俚語,give someone/something the once-over,迅速打量某人或某事;草草過目(非正式用法)。例句:She felt his parents were giving her the once-over .(她感到他父母打量著她。)

blitz[blitz]
 

  • レベル:社会人必須
  • 発音記号[blíts]

[名]
1 電撃戦;(一般に)電撃的猛攻撃, (特に)集中空爆;((the B-))(ドイツ軍による)ロンドン大空襲(1940-41).
2 《アメフト》ブリッツ:フォワードパスへのチャージ.
3 ((略式))(マスコミによる)大宣伝, (政党のテレビコマーシャルによる)大攻勢.
4 ((略式))奮闘, 努力
have a blitz on ...
…に猛然と取りかかる.
━━[動](他)
1 …を電撃攻撃する, 急襲する.
2 …を壊滅させる.
━━(自)
1 《アメフト》ブリッツする.
2 電撃的に動く;猛烈な勢いで行動する
blitz on junk food
ジャンクフードをがむしゃらに食べる.
3 ((米俗))授業[試験など]を休む, サボる.
[ドイツ語Blitz(稲妻). ドイツ軍が自軍の敏速な攻撃をそう呼んだ]

2013年2月19日 星期二

jujube, kumquat, corn maze, amaze, "K-9 dog" , canine

Taiwan will begin exporting jujubes to Japan early next year as part of an effort to expand the overseas market for the fruit, a breeder said yesterday.
“Japan will be our first market that conducts quarantine procedures for the tropical fruit,” said Chiou Chu-ying, a researcher at the Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station in southern Taiwan.


........要不要學學人家英國用書籍建迷宮?作為與2012年夏季奧運同步的倫敦藝術節的揭幕活動,七月二十六日倫敦Southbank藝術中心的Clore Ballroom裡,巴西藝術家Marcos SaboyaGualter Pupo將打造一座巨型圖書maze。迷宮佔地五千平方英尺,由二十五萬本圖書堆疊環繞而成,書牆高四公尺。這個創意來自終身癡愛圖書館和迷宮的阿根廷盲人作家Jorge Borges。這座名為The aMAZEme的迷宮,訴求民眾參與,一書一磚集體建造知識的趣味城堡,目前籌辦單位也緊鑼密鼓,在網站公告,徵集愛書志工共襄盛舉。讓愛書人自己在圖書迷宮游走,感受人類心智的華麗風景,對比牽拖一本書逛大街的發想,反差的何止是文化品位?2012-07-24中國時報【顧秀賢】
《中英對照讀新聞》Family gets lost, calls police from Danvers corn maze 迷路的一家人從丹沃斯玉米迷宮中致電報警
 
◎張沛元

One family got more mystery than they bargained for when they took an outing to a corn maze -- they got lost among the stalks as it got dark and needed the police to get them out, the owner said.
一座玉米田迷宮的所有人表示,在該迷宮中遠足的一家人,獲得比原本所要的還更多的謎團─他們在天色變暗後迷失於玉米莖叢之間,必須求助警方協助脫困。

Around 6:35 p.m., Danvers police received a call from a family who couldn’t find their way out of the seven-acre corn maze at Connor’s Farm in Danvers, and were getting nervous because it was dark. A police officer and K-9 unit quickly located the family.
大約傍晚6點35分,丹沃斯警方接獲一通無法從丹沃斯康納農場的7英畝玉米田迷宮中脫困、而且因為天色變暗開始感到緊張的一家人的來電。一名員警與一支警犬小組迅速找到這家人。

"We design the maze so that people get lost," said Bob Connors, owner of the farm.
「我們設計這個迷宮就是要讓人迷路的,」農場主人鮑伯.康納斯說。

Though the farm closes at 6 p.m., they let guests continue to walk around the maze past closing time, and farm staff attends the maze until the last guest has left, Connors said.
儘管該農場傍晚6點就打烊,但允許遊客打烊時間過後繼續在迷宮間穿梭,而農場工作人員也會一直看顧迷宮直到最後一位遊客離開,康納斯說。

"We don’t like to rush people out of the maze. We like to give people their money’s worth," Connors said. "I’m sure they won’t be the last family who gets lost in there."
「我們不想要趕著叫人走出迷宮。我們想讓大家覺得值回票價,」康納斯說。「我相信他們不會是最後一個在這裡迷路的家庭。」



新聞辭典
get lost:片語,迷路;叫人走開(非正式用法)。例句:Get lost! I don’t need your help.(走開啦!我不需要你的幫忙。)
bargain(for):動詞,期待,預期。例句:He got more than he bargained for.(他得到的比他預期的還要多。)
find one’s way out(of something):片語,脫身,擺脫;想出解決之道。例句:Life will find its way out.(生命自有出口。)

宜蘭礁溪製作600台斤金棗養生月餅

  • 2010-09-18
  • 新聞速報
  • 【中廣新聞/賴沁沁】

全國有90%的金棗產自宜蘭,礁溪更是主要產地,宜蘭縣礁溪鄉製作一個全台最大的「金棗養生月餅」,這個直徑330公分,重達600台斤的中秋月餅,經過30名工作人員,耗時24小時製成完成,今天在礁溪鄉長黃太平與99名小朋友合力之下,共同掀開大紅布公開亮相。
礁溪鄉公所與蘭陽技術學院助理教授陳韻如合作,製作「全台最大金棗養生月餅」,這個大月餅光是餡料就有240公斤,包含180公斤的白豆 沙、50公斤的金棗、10公斤的無鹽奶油;餅皮的部份,用了80公斤的粉料、100罐鮮奶、50條奶油、煉乳、白蘭地、糖粉等,總重量600台斤,在傍晚 切開供1,500人食用,金棗大月餅的另一個特色,餅皮不是用烤的,而是採用「冰皮」食材,沁涼的口感,在炎炎夏日清涼又消暑,就像吃冰淇淋一樣。
Jumbo mooncake amazes eastern Taiwan
Focus Taiwan News Channel
18 (CNA) A kumquat "snow-skin" mooncake, touted as the largest mooncake ever made in Taiwan, was unveiled in eastern Taiwan's Yilan County on Saturday. ...
See all stories on this topic »

Focus Taiwan News Channe




kumquatalso
n.
  1. Any of several trees or shrubs of the genus Fortunella, having small, edible, orangelike fruit.
  2. The fruit of these plants, having an acid pulp and a thin, edible rind. It is the smallest of the citrus fruits.
[Chinese (Cantonese) kamkwat, equivalent to Chinese (Mandarin) xīn, gold + Chinese (Mandarin) , orange, tangerine.]


n. - 金橘, 金錢桔樹




A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas (which is a homophone of canine), is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work. One commonly used breed is the German Shepherd, although now Belgian Malinois are popular dogs to use. In many jurisdictions the intentional injuring or killing of a police dog is a felony,[1] subjecting the perpetrator to harsher penalties than those in the statutes embodied in local animal cruelty laws,[2] just as an assault on a human police officer is often a more serious offense than the same assault on a non-officer.

canine[ca・nine]

  • 発音記号[kéinain]
[形]((限定))
1 犬の(ような).
2 《解剖学》犬歯の.
━━[名]
1 イヌ科の動物;犬.
2 犬歯(canine tooth).




maze[maze]

  • レベル:社会人必須
  • 発音記号[méiz]
[名]
1 迷路, 迷宮(labyrinth)
a maze of streets
迷路のような通り.
2 ((a 〜))当惑, 混乱, 紛糾.
━━[動](他)((通例受身))((主に方言))当惑させる, 混乱させる.
[中英語amasen. △AMAZE

amaze[a・maze]

  • レベル:大学入試程度
  • 発音記号[əméiz]
[動](他)(あまりにも意外で)…をびっくりさせる, 驚きあきれさす
That amazes me.
そいつは驚きだね.
[古英語āmasian (a-動作点を強調する接頭辞+masian困らす)]

situation update, -speak, disease, make history

 

American granny Sharron Thornton, 60, was blind for nine years after contracting Stevens-Johnsons syndrome, a rare disease that scarred her cornea. But doctors in Miami, Florida, made history after extracting her canine and drilling an optical cylinder lens into it.
60歲的美國阿嬤雪倫.松頓在染患史提芬—約漢森症候群後失明9年,這種罕見疾病損害她的角膜。然而佛州邁阿密的醫師在取出她的犬齒,並在牙上鑽入一個圓柱狀光學晶體後,創造歷史。

make history
Do something memorable or spectacular enough to influence the course of history, as in That first space flight made history. [Mid-1800s]

DNA Test Becoming Routine Medical Tool

As the cost of genetic sequencing plunges, patients like Lillian Bosley, 13, who has a rare orthopedic condition, are getting the test to help find disease-causing mutations. 



Although Google intended to tackle major problems like climate change, global poverty and the spread of pandemic diseases, it declared that DotOrg would not be “conventional” — a four-letter word in Google-speak. For starters, the organization would operate in part as a business, thus freeing itself from various constraints placed on nonprofit groups.


-speak
suff.
Language characteristic of: doctorspeak; cop-speak.

[From (NEW)SPEAK.]


Situation Update

Map of flu activity in the U.S. for week ending September 12, 2009. Click to view the full Situation Update.Each week CDC analyzes information about influenza disease activity in the United States and publishes findings of key flu indicators in a report called FluView. During the week of September 6-12, 2009, a review of the key indictors found that influenza activity continued to increase in the United States compared to the prior weeks.
Learn More >>
situation
n.
    1. The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
    2. The place in which something is situated; a location.
  1. Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
  2. The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs. See synonyms at state.
  3. A critical, problematic, or striking set of circumstances.
  4. A position of employment; a post.
situational sit'u·a'tion·al adj.
situationally sit'u·a'tion·al·ly adv.

━━ n. 位置; 場所; 形勢; 状況; 立場, 境遇; 地位; 職; (劇の)きわどい場面.
sit・u・a・tion・al ━━ a. 状況[場面]の.
situational leadership 【経営】状況に応じた[臨機応変の]指導性.
sit・u・a・tion・al・ly ━━ ad. 状況に応じて.
situation comedy 状況喜劇.
Situations Vacant 〔英〕 (the 〜) (新聞の)求人広告.

fact, hanker, lady cousin, beggarly rascal

按下看大圖
漫畫來源: Ted Goff

fact
n.
  1. Knowledge or information based on real occurrences: an account based on fact; a blur of fact and fancy.
    1. Something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed: Genetic engineering is now a fact. That Chaucer was a real person is an undisputed fact.
    2. A real occurrence; an event: had to prove the facts of the case.
    3. Something believed to be true or real: a document laced with mistaken facts.
  2. A thing that has been done, especially a crime: an accessory before the fact.
  3. Law. The aspect of a case at law comprising events determined by evidence: The jury made a finding of fact.
idiom:
in (point of) fact
  1. In reality or in truth; actually.
[Latin factum, deed, from neuter past participle of facere, to do.]
USAGE NOTE Fact has a long history of usage in the sense "allegation of fact," as in "This tract was distributed to thousands of American teachers, but the facts and the reasoning are wrong" (Albert Shanker). This practice has led to the introduction of the phrases true facts and real facts, as in The true facts of the case may never be known. These usages may occasion qualms among critics who insist that facts can only be true, but the usages are often useful for emphasis.

****
 In 1987, hankering for more serious roles, he joined Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company where he took on a number of stage roles and appeared in Branagh's films of Henry V and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

hanker Pronunciation (verb) Desire strongly or persistently.
Synonyms:long, yearn
Usage:There, my lady cousin; there stands the most undutiful child in the world; she hankers after a beggarly rascal, and won't marry one of the greatest matches in all England.
(') pronunciation
n., pl., -dies.
  1. A well-mannered and considerate woman with high standards of proper behavior.
    1. A woman regarded as proper and virtuous.
    2. A well-behaved young girl.
  2. A woman who is the head of a household.
  3. A woman, especially when spoken of or to in a polite way.
    1. A woman to whom a man is romantically attached.
    2. Informal. A wife.
  4. Lady Chiefly British. A general feminine title of nobility and other rank, specifically:
    1. Used as the title for the wife or widow of a knight or baronet.
    2. Used as a form of address for a marchioness, countess, viscountess, baroness, or baronetess.
    3. Used as a form of address for the wife or widow of a baron.
    4. Used as a courtesy title for the daughter of a duke, a marquis, or an earl.
    5. Used as a courtesy title for the wife of a younger son of a duke or marquis.
  5. Lady The Virgin Mary. Usually used with Our.
  6. Slang. Cocaine.
[Middle English, mistress of a household, from Old English hlǣfdige.]
USAGE NOTE Lady is normally used as a parallel to gentleman to emphasize norms expected in polite society or in situations requiring courtesies: Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. I believe the lady in front of the counter was here before me. The attributive use of lady, as in lady doctor, is offensive and outdated. When the sex of the person is relevant, the preferred modifier is woman or female. Twice as many members of the Usage Panel in our 1994 survey preferred female and male to woman and man as modifiers in the sentence President Clinton interviewed both -=@rule3m=- and -=@rule3m=- candidates for the position of Attorney General.

2013年2月18日 星期一

come to live/ come alive, fingernails on the blackboard


 Mr. Chagnon's theory of the formation of society, his major contribution to the discipline, was like fingernails on the blackboard to these new anthropologists. They feared that his depiction of violence as central to social identity in groups like the Yanomamö would be used to cast indigenous peoples as savages, who could be forced into reservations "for their own good."


TEACHING MATH AS NARRATIVE DRAMA
When Edward B. Burger presents a math challenge to his class at Baylor University, he paces the aisles and pairs students together. "I want to hear chattering," he says. Before long, students are laughing and shouting out answers. He dashes to the chalkboard to scribble them down, creating long rows of numbers topped with running stick figures. Mr. Burger, 46, who is visiting from Williams College, keeps up a rapid-fire banter with his students, whom he calls by name. He began teaching night classes at Austin Community College at age 22, while he was working on his doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin. "What I was trying to do was to take really complex, intricate, abstract ideas of mathematics and make them come to life for these students," he says. He began encouraging students to be creative and take risks, and even bases a portion of their grades on "the quality of their failure." The article is in The Chronicle of Higher Education


Scraping a chalkboard with the fingernails produces a sound which most people find extremely irritating. The basis of this innate reaction has been studied in the field of psychoacoustics.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalkboard

come to live/ come alive
Meaning #1: stop sleeping
Synonyms: wake up, awake, arouse, awaken, wake, waken

cathedra, episcopal, ex cathedra, riverbed, Infallibility




When a Pope Retires, Is He Still Infallible?
Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign has puzzled the faithful and scholars, who wonder how a pope can be infallible one day and fallible again the next. 


Infallibility of the Church :教會不能錯誤性: 1870 年梵蒂岡第一屆大公會議宣佈,教會於下列三種情形下不能錯誤: (1) 教宗以教會領袖名義,對全球教會宣佈有關教義及道德之事項。 (2) 大公會議對上列事項之決定。 (3) 與教宗保持共融的全球主教團對上列事項之決定(法典 749 )。 Infallibility 拉丁文稱作 Infallibilitas
Infallibility of the Pope :教宗不能錯誤性: 1870 年梵蒂岡第一屆大公會議宣佈:教宗以全教會領袖名義,根據聖經和聖傳,對有關教義(信仰)與道德之事項,以隆重方式 ex cathedra 所作之宣佈不能錯誤(法典 749 )。至於教宗以個人名義、或對部分教會所作之宣佈、以及非正式之宣佈,均無「不能錯誤性」的保障。此「不能錯誤性」既非不可犯罪性,亦非天主之啟示或感發。


Half of German City to Evacuate For Diffusion of a WWII Bomb

1.8 ton bomb discovered in riverbed after low water levels; more expected to be found

Orange's Nimble Big Man Will Dance With a Star in Griffin
Arinze Onuaku has uncommon coordination for his size, and the Episcopal High product will need it against Oklahoma.
(By Steve Yanda, The Washington Post)


episcopal
adjective FORMAL
of a bishop, or of a church which is directed by bishops

Episcopalian 
adjective, noun [C]聖公會
He is (an) Episcopalian (= belongs to the Episcopal church).

ex cathedra (eks kuh-THEE-druh)

adverb, adjective: Spoken with authority; with the authority of the office.

Etymology
From Latin ex cathedra (from the chair), from cathedra (chair). In the Roman Catholic Church, when the Pope speaks ex cathedra he is considered infallible. The word cathedral is short of the full term cathedral church, meaning the principal church of a diocese, one containing a bishop's throne.

Notes
The term is often used ironically or sarcastically to describe self-certain statements, alluding to the Pope's supposed infallibility, as if an office or position conferred immunity from error.

Usage
"The Supreme Court's ex cathedra pronouncement that the area is not riverbed or floodplain commits two errors." — Ramaswamy R. Iyer; Let the Games Go On; The Indian Express (New Delhi, India); Aug 4, 2009.

ca・the・dra



n. (bishopの)法座; 教授のいす.
ex cathedra 権威による.




ca・the・dral ━━ n. 司教[主教]座聖堂, (cathedraのある)大聖堂.



cathedral Show phonetics
noun [C]
a very large, usually stone, building for Christian worship, which is the largest and most important church of a diocese (= area):
Salisbury Cathedral

n.
  1. The principal church of a bishop's diocese, containing the episcopal throne.
  2. A large, important church.
  3. Something that resembles a cathedral, as in grandeur or authority.
adj.
  1. Of, relating to, or containing a bishop's throne: a cathedral church.
  2. Relating to or issuing from a chair of office or authority; authoritative.
  3. Of, relating to, or resembling a cathedral: tall trees whose branches met to form cathedral arches over the path.
[Short for cathedral church, from Middle English cathedral, of a diocese, from Old French, from Medieval Latin cathedrālis, of a bishop's see, from Latin cathedra, chair. See cathedra.]


Polishing the Brand in a Cathedral for Cars


Ari Marcopoulos/Coop Himmelb(l)au
The interior of BMW Welt, where clients can pick up their new cars. The cavernous main hall has restaurants, a cafe and a shop selling BMW merchandise. More Photos >


Published: January 23, 2008

MUNICH — I admit I had not been thrilled about flying here to see the BMW Welt, this car company’s fancy new delivery center. The enthusiasm many of us once felt for the notion of an increasingly interconnected world has dimmed, a casualty of the canceled flights and lost luggage that is the reality of travel today. And I feared that the building itself — a luxury showroom that could double as a theme park for car fetishists — would be a monument to excess.