Afleveringen
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1. Iran reportedly fired missiles towards Israel in addition to slower-moving drones, which could take hours to reach the border. As Israel’s air-defence system intercepted the incoming barrage, explosions were heard in Jerusalem; America’s army reportedly shot down drones, too. Both Israel and Iran said they had closed their airspace; Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon followed suit. Iran’s mission to the UN confirmed that the attack was retaliation for an Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus earlier this month, and said that the “matter can be deemed concluded”.
據報導，伊朗向以色列發射了導彈，除此之外還發射了速度較慢的無人機，需要數小時才能到達邊界。隨著以色列的防空系統攔截了來襲的猛烈轟炸，耶路撒冷傳出了爆炸聲；據報導，美國軍隊也擊落了無人機。以色列和伊朗都表示已封閉其領空；伊拉克、約旦和黎巴嫩也效仿此舉。伊朗駐聯合國使團確認此次襲擊是對本月初以色列對伊朗在大馬士革領事館的打擊的報復，並表示此事“可以視為結案”。
2. President Joe Biden, who returned to the White House from his home in Delaware to meet his national-security team, said that America’s support for Israel was “ironclad”. Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister, condemned Iran’s attack as “reckless”; Stéphane Séjourné, France’s foreign minister, similarly denounced the “unprecedented action” for “risking a military escalation”.
總統喬·拜登從特拉華州的家返回白宮與其國家安全團隊會晤，並表示美國對以色列的支持是“堅不可摧的”。英國首相里希·蘇納克譴責伊朗的襲擊是“魯莽的”；法國外長斯蒂芬·塞略尼同樣譴責這一“史無前例的行動”可能“引發軍事升級”。
3. Ukraine’s most senior general, Oleksandr Syrsky, warned that the situation on the eastern front had “significantly worsened” in recent days owing to the “intensification” of Russian attacks. Fighting is thought to be particularly severe around Bakhmut, an eastern town that Russia seized—and largely flattened—last year. Ukraine and its allies fear that Russia is planning a large offensive in the spring or summer.
烏克蘭最高級的將領奧列克薩德·西爾斯基警告稱，最近幾天由於俄羅斯攻擊的“加劇”，東線的情況已經“明顯惡化”。據信，在去年俄羅斯佔領並基本上夷平的東部城鎮巴赫穆特周圍的戰鬥尤為激烈。烏克蘭及其盟友擔心俄羅斯正在計劃在春季或夏季發動大規模進攻。
4. An Israeli teenager whose disappearance led to violent clashes in the West Bank was found dead. Israeli authorities described the boy’s killing as a “terrorist attack”. During the search for the teenager, Israeli settlers raided al-Mughayyir, a village north of Ramallah. One Palestinian man was killed and dozens were injured. Settler violence in the West Bank has risen** sharply** since the war in Gaza began.
在以色列一名青少年失蹤後，西岸爆發了暴力衝突，後來該青少年被發現已經死亡。以色列當局將這名男孩的遇害描述為一起“恐怖襲擊”。在尋找這名青少年期間，以色列定居者襲擊了拉馬拉以北的村莊阿爾莫赫伊爾。一名巴勒斯坦男子死亡，數十人受傷。自加薩戰爭開始以來，西岸定居者暴力事件急劇上升。
5. At least six people were stabbed to death and others injured at a shopping centre in Bondi Junction, a suburb in eastern Sydney, Australia. Police shot the attacker at the scene. The assailant, a 40-year-old man, was thought to have acted alone, and his motive remains unclear. Police said the attack did not appear to be linked to terrorism.
在澳洲東部雪梨的邦迪聯合郊區的一家購物中心，至少有六人被刺死，其他人受傷。警方在現場擊斃了攻擊者。這名40歲男子被認為是獨自行動，其動機尚不清楚。警方表示，此次襲擊似乎與恐怖主義無關。
6. Chinese authorities said that natural disasters have cost the country nearly 23.8bn yuan ($3.3bn) in the first quarter of this year alone. Cold snaps, earthquakes and flooding were among the most costly incidents. The emergency-management ministry has said it wants to see faster responses to disasters. China’s rulers have been reluctant to discuss the role of climate change in causing extreme weather.
中國當局表示，今年第一季度自然災害已使該國損失近238億元（33億美元）。寒潮、地震和洪水是造成損失最嚴重的事件之一。應急管理部門表示，希望看到對災害的更快反應。中國的統治者一直不願討論氣候變化在引發極端天氣方面的作用。
7. Police in Europe and the Caribbean arrested nine people accused of running an international cannabis scam worth €645m ($686.4m). The gang allegedly conned victims from 35 countries who invested in a fraudulent scheme for cultivating cannabis plants for medicinal use. A Spanish-led investigation led to arrests in seven countries, including Spain, Britain, Germany and the Dominican Republic.
歐洲和加勒比海地區的警方逮捕了九名被指控運營價值6.45億歐元（6.864億美元）的國際大麻詐騙集團成員。據稱，這個集團騙取了來自35個國家的受害者，這些受害者投資於一個用於栽種醫療用大麻的詐騙計劃。一項由西班牙主導的調查導致了包括西班牙、英國、德國和多明尼加共和國在內的七個國家的逮捕行動。 -
在威尼斯的車站熬過一晚後，我們搭上早班火車一路昏睡到德國
抵達時已經是下午，我們先到沙發宿主的家放行李
糾~在這個摸門特! 沙發主Phil接到了一通神秘來電
原來是他的同學好康道相報
是什麼好康???
趕快來聽吧! -
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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1. Tens of thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv and other cities, calling on the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to reach a deal to free hostages held by Hamas. Sunday marks six months since their capture. Many protesters chanted anti-government slogans and called for immediate elections. On Saturday Israel’s army said it had recovered the body of Elad Katzir, one of those seized by Hamas during the attacks of October 7th. Around 130 hostages remain in Gaza.
數以萬計的以色列人在特拉維夫和其他城市舉行集會，呼籲總理本雅明·內塔尼亞胡達成一項協議，釋放哈馬斯所扣押的人質。4/7週日標誌著這些人質被捕獲已經六個月。許多抗議者高呼反政府口號，並呼籲立即舉行選舉。週六，以色列軍方表示已找到埃拉德·卡茲爾（Elad Katzir）的遺體，他是在10月7日的襲擊中被哈馬斯所擄。大約有130名人質仍被囚於加薩地帶。
2. Joe Biden’s re-election campaign raised more than $90m in March, up from around $53m in February. This gives the Democrats $192m in their coffers, which the fundraising committee claims is a record for any Democratic campaign at this stage in the election cycle. In contrast Donald Trump’s campaign raised more than $66m in March, giving the Republicans $93m cash on hand.
喬·拜登的連任競選活動在三月份籌集到超過九千萬美元的資金，比二月份的約五千三百萬美元有所增加。這使得民主黨在競選基金中擁有一億九千二百萬美元，這是籌款委員會聲稱在選舉週期的這個階段，任何民主黨競選活動的紀錄。相比之下，唐納德·川普的競選活動在三月份籌集到超過六千六百萬美元，使得共和黨手頭上有九千三百萬美元現金。
3. A Russian drone attack on Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine killed eight people and wounded at least ten more. Attacks on the city, Ukraine’s second-largest, have increased since December. Strikes have hit the town centre and destroyed both obvious targets and random buildings. “This attack on peaceful residents of Kharkiv once again proves that Russia is a terrorist state,” wrote the mayor, Ihor Terekhov, on Telegram, a messaging platform.
俄羅斯無人機對烏克蘭東北部的哈爾科夫發動襲擊，造成八人死亡，至少十人受傷。自去年十二月以來，對烏克蘭第二大城市的攻擊已增加。襲擊對市中心造成了重創，摧毀了明顯的目標和隨機的建築物。市長伊戈爾·特雷霍夫（Ihor Terekhov）在即時通訊平台Telegram上寫道：“這次針對哈爾科夫和平居民的襲擊再次證明了俄羅斯是一個恐怖主義國家。
4. Several South American countries offered support to Mexico, which suspended diplomatic ties with Ecuador after its embassy in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, was raided by police on Friday. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia all criticised the arrest of Jorge Glas, a former vice-president of Ecuador who had sought asylum in the embassy. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president, had called the raid a “flagrant violation of international law”.
多個南美國家向墨西哥提供支援，墨西哥因其位於厄瓜多爾首都基多的大使館於週五被警方突襲而中斷與厄瓜多爾的外交關係。巴西、阿根廷、烏拉圭和哥倫比亞都批評了厄瓜多爾前副總統豪爾赫·格拉斯的逮捕，他曾在大使館尋求庇護。墨西哥總統安德烈斯·曼努埃爾·洛佩斯·奧夫拉多稱此次突襲為“對國際法的明目張膽的違規”。
5. Thousands of people took to the streets of Hungary’s capital city, Budapest, to protest against the government of Viktor Orban. Since his Fidesz party returned to power in 2010 it has set about dismantling, undermining or sidelining the country’s institutions. The march’s leader, Peter Magyar, is a former government insider who was once married to Mr Orban’s former justice minister. He has announced plans to launch a pro-EU party.
數千人走上匈牙利首都布達佩斯的街頭，抗議維克托·歐爾班政府。自其費德茲黨於2010年重返政權以來，該黨一直在解體、削弱或邊緣化國家的機構。抗議遊行的領袖彼得·馬吉亞爾是一位前政府內部人士，曾與歐爾班的前司法部長結過婚。他已宣布計劃成立一個親歐盟的政黨。
6. The vibe was different across Hungary’s northern border, as Slovakia voted in a pro-Russia populist as its president. Peter Pellegrin is an ally of the country’s similarly minded prime minister, Robert Fico, who was elected in September. Neither are keen on backing Ukraine in its war. That could cause a headache for fellow members of both the EU and NATO.
在匈牙利北部邊境地區，氛圍有所不同，因為斯洛伐克選出一位親俄羅斯的民粹主義總統。彼得·佩萊格里尼（Peter Pellegrin）是該國與有相似政見的總理羅伯特·菲科的盟友，菲科於去年九月當選。他們都不熱衷於支持烏克蘭的戰爭。這可能會給歐盟和北約的其他成員帶來麻煩。
7. Eclipse-watchers in North America fretted as meteorologists forecast that much of Monday’s event could be obscured by heavy cloud. Thousands have flocked to the path of the total eclipse, with lodging-houses full and hotel rooms going at a premium. Skygazers in Texas and Utah in particular should be crossing their fingers, say weather forecasters.
北美的日蝕觀測者擔心氣象學家預測，星期一的大部分活動可能會被濃雲遮蔽。數以千計的人湧入全日蝕的路徑，住宿設施滿員，酒店客房供不應求。天氣預報員表示，德克薩斯州和猶他州的星觀者特別應該祈禱天晴。 -
沒有想到原來我們沒有代溝!!! XDDDDD
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小王子繼續中毒,繼續講話~~~
"It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh . . ."
And he laughed again. Then he quickly became serious:
"Tonight--you know . . . Do not come."
"I shall not leave you," I said.
"I shall look as if I were suffering. I shall look a little as if I were dying. It is like that. Do not come to see that. It is not worth the trouble . . ."
"I shall not leave you."
But he was worried.
"I tell you--it is also because of the snake. He must not bite you. Snakes--they are malicious creatures. This one might bite you just for fun . . "
"I shall not leave you."
But a thought came to reassure him:
"It is true that they have no more poison for a second bite."
*
That night I did not see him set out on his way. He got away from me without making a sound. When I succeeded in catching up with him he was walking along with a quick and resolute step. He said to me merely:
"Ah! You are there . . ."
And he took me by the hand. But he was still worrying.
"It was wrong of you to come. You will suffer. I shall look as if I were dead; and that will not be true . . ."
I said nothing.
"You understand . . . it is too far. I cannot carry this body with me. It is too heavy."
I said nothing.
"But it will be like an old abandoned shell. There is nothing sad about old shells . . ."
I said nothing.
He was a little discouraged. But he made one more effort:
"You know, it will be very nice. I, too, shall look at the stars. All the stars will be wells with a rusty pulley. All the stars will pour out fresh water for me to drink . . ."
I said nothing.
"That will be so amusing! You will have five hundred million little bells, and I shall have five hundred million springs of fresh water . . .
And he too said nothing more, becuase he was crying . . .
"Here it is. Let me go on by myself."
And he sat down, because he was afraid. Then he said, again:
"You know--my flower . . . I am responsible for her. And she is so weak! She is so naïve! She has four thorns, of no use at all, to protect herself against all the world . . ."
I too sat down, because I was not able to stand up any longer.
"There now--that is all . . ."
He still hesitated a little; then he got up. He took one step. I could not move.
There was nothing but a flash of yellow close to his ankle. He remained motionless for an instant. He did not cry out. He fell as gently as a tree falls. There was not even any sound, because of the sand.
Vocabulary
bite (v) 咬 When Chloe was little, she did bite her brother.
worry (v) 擔心 Don’t worry. Be happy!
hesitate (v) 猶豫 Don’t hesitate. Just do it! -
1) Israeli officials travelled to Egypt for another round of talks over a ceasefire deal in Gaza. According to Reuters, Hamas** representatives** would not be** present** in Cairo as they await an Israeli offer. The negotiations are thought to revolve around a six-week pause in Israel’s operation in Gaza in return for the freedom of the remaining hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7th attack. Meanwhile, the office of Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netayanhu, said that he would be admitted to hospital for a hernia operation.以色列官員前往埃及就加薩停火協議進行另一輪談判。根據路透社報道，哈馬斯代表不會出席開羅，因為他們正在等待以色列的提議。據認為，談判將圍繞以色列在加薩的行動暫停六週展開，以換取哈馬斯在 10 月 7 日襲擊中劫持的剩餘人質的自由。同時，以色列總理納塔雅胡的辦公室表示，他將被送往醫院接受疝氣手術。2) Chinesemanufacturing activity grew in March, the first such rise in six months. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index was 50.8 this month, compared with 49.1 in February (anything over 50 denotes expansion). An increase in export orders explains the rise. Despite the positive news, China’s statistics agency warned that firms still face “insufficient market demand”.中國 3 月製造業活動成長，為六個月來首次成長。本月製造業採購經理人指數為 50.8，而 2 月為 49.1（超過 50 表示擴張）。出口訂單的增加解釋了這一增長。儘管有這些積極消息，中國統計機構警告稱，企業仍面臨「市場需求不足」的問題。3) A car bomb killed at least seven people in northern Syria. The blast in Azaz, a town close to the border with Turkey, happened near a busy market. The Syrian Interim Government, an opposition group which opposes the rule of Bashar al-Assad, the country’s president, is based in the town. No group has yet** claimed responsibility** for the attack.敘利亞北部發生汽車炸彈攻擊，造成至少七人死亡。靠近土耳其邊境的小鎮阿札茲的爆炸發生在一個繁忙的市場附近。敘利亞臨時政府是一個反對該國總統巴沙爾·阿薩德統治的反對派組織，總部設在該鎮。目前尚無組織聲稱對這起攻擊負責。4) AT&T said that personal information of 73m of its current and former customers had been posted on the dark web. The telecoms firm said that social-security numbers were among the data that were leaked. It said it did not yet know the source of the breach and that the information appeared to be from 2019 or before.AT&T 表示，其 7,300 萬現任和前任客戶的個人資訊已發佈在暗網上。這家電信公司表示，外洩的資料包括社會安全號碼。該公司表示，尚不清楚洩漏的來源，而且該資訊似乎來自 2019 年或更早。小撇步: 如何使用Chloe提供的資源呢?1) Podcast2) Online discussion3) Facebook& IG 分享的影片和心得4) 舉辦的活動5) 獎學金申請的辦法
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哇~~~是威尼斯耶! 水比陸地多的地方~
在這裡，跟水真的好接近
代步工具就是船，沒有公車只有公船˙，沒有計程車只有計程船
白天好好地把這座城市逛過一遍，沒想到晚上不但沒有夜車可以坐
車站也「關門」了!
我們就這樣拖著行李露宿街頭~~~
這時竟然禍不單行，起了濃濃大霧，又濕又冷
沒想到~~~我們的救星出現了!
是誰呢? 這個人做了什麼事呢? -
1. Vladimir Putin said that Russian security services had arrested four men who carried out a terror attack on a concert hall near Moscow. The men are understood to be among a total of 11 people detained in connection with Friday’s attack, which killed at least 133 people and wounded many more. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the rampage, sharing an image of the perpetrators on Telegram, a messaging platform. American officials, who warned Russia of an imminent attack two weeks ago, said they had no reason to doubt the claim’s credibility.
弗拉基米爾·普京表示，俄羅斯安全部門已逮捕了四名實施恐怖襲擊莫斯科附近一個音樂廳的男子。據悉，這四名男子是在星期五的襲擊中被捕的11人中的一部分，該襲擊造成至少133人死亡，並造成許多人受傷。伊斯蘭國聲稱對這次暴行負責，並在電報（一個即時通訊平台）上分享了肇事者的圖像。兩週前警告俄羅斯即將發生襲擊的美國官員表示，他們沒有理由懷疑該聲稱的可信度。
2. The attack is the worst terrorist incident to take place in Russia for decades. In his address, Mr Putin made no mention of Islamic State’s involvement. Promising to “punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists”, he tried to connect the attackers to Ukraine and claimed they were captured while** flee**ing to the border. Ukraine firmly denied any *involvement*. Dmytro Kuleba, the country’s foreign minister, dismissed
Mr Putin’s remarks as a “provocation” designed “to further fuel anti-Ukrainian hysteria”.
這次襲擊是幾十年來俄羅斯發生的最嚴重的恐怖主義事件。在他的講話中，普京先生沒有提及伊斯蘭國的參與。他承諾要「懲罰所有支持恐怖分子的人」，並試圖將襲擊者與烏克蘭聯繫起來，聲稱他們在逃往邊境時被捕。烏克蘭堅決否認任何參與。該國外交部長德米特羅·庫列巴（Dmytro Kuleba）將普京先生的言論視為一種「挑釁」，旨在「進一步助長反烏克蘭的歇斯底里情緒」。
3. America’s Congress passed a $1.2trn bipartisan spending package that will fund the government until October, sending it to President Joe Biden to sign into law and averting a government shutdown. The House passed the vote earlier in the day, but the Senate was delayed for hours by haggling over controversial** amendments**.
美國國會通過了一項價值1.2兆美元的跨黨派支出方案，將資助政府直到十月，並將其送交給總統喬·拜登簽署成法，避免了政府關閉。眾議院當天早些時候通過了這項投票，但參議院因爭論有爭議的修正案而延誤了數小時。
4. America’s Federal Aviation Administration is considering preventing United Airlines from adding new routes and taking paying passengers on new aircraft, Bloomberg reported. The regulator is said to be concerned about several recent incidents involving the carrier. One plane ran off a taxiway; another** shed** a tyre soon after takeoff.
據彭博報導，美國聯邦航空管理局正在考慮阻止聯合航空新增航線和讓新飛機載客。監管機構據稱對該航空公司近期發生的幾起事件感到擔憂。其中一架飛機偏離了滑行道；另一架在起飛後不久就爆胎。
5. India’s navy completed an anti-piracy mission east of the Red Sea and returned to Mumbai, where they handed over 35 Somali** pirates** to local police. The men face prosecution under an Indian law, passed in 2022, which allows the *navy* to apprehend pirates in international waters. Somali pirates have completed or attempted more than 20 hijackings since November.
印度海軍完成了一項在紅海以東的反海盜任務，並返回孟買，將35名索馬利亞海盜移交給當地警方。這些人將根據印度在2022年通過的法律接受起訴，該法律允許海軍在國際水域逮捕海盜。自去年11月以來，索馬利亞海盜已完成或企圖進行20多起劫持事件。
6. With a general election set to begin next month, India’s government said it will extend an export ban—previously due to **expire **on March 31st—on onions. The policy has lowered the vegetable’s price in local markets, but the announcement could make international traders weep. Importers in Bangladesh, Malaysia and the UAE have faced high prices since the ban was introduced in December.
隨著下個月即將舉行的大選，印度政府表示將延長對洋蔥的出口禁令，此前該禁令原定於3月31日到期。這項政策降低了當地市場上蔬菜的價格，但這項宣布可能會讓國際貿易商感到難過。自去年12月禁令實施以來，孟加拉、馬來西亞和阿聯酋的進口商一直面臨著高價。 -
被蛇咬到的小王子，中毒了似乎話還很多很多….
"What are you trying to say?"
"All men have the stars," he answered, "but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are
guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they
were wealth. But all these stars are** silent**. You--you alone--will have the stars as no one else has them--" *
"What are you trying to say?"
**"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you **
look at the sky at night . . . You--only you--will have stars that can laugh!"
And he laughed again.*
"And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You
will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . . And your friends will be properly astonished to
see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, 'Yes, the stars always make me laugh!' And they will think you are
crazy. It will be a very shabby** trick** that I shall have played on you . . ."
And he laughed again.
** Vaocabualry
Guide (v) 指引(n) 導遊 Chloe is Dora’s guide in English learning.
Silent (adj) 安靜的 We should be silent when we are in a library.
Trick (v/n)搗蛋 惡作劇 On Halloween, children like to play “trick or treat!” -
政治篇: 香港判刑12人-《逃犯條例修訂草案》
經濟篇: Elon Musk 為美國打造「星盾」情報衛星網
小撇步: 如何知道自己的競爭力有多少? 台灣其實很年齡歧視!
1. A ship carrying aid for Gaza could depart from Cyprus within two days, according to Cyprus’s foreign ministry. This would be the second such aid shipment after 200 tonnes of food were delivered to the enclave on Friday. The UN has repeatedly warned of a looming famine in Gaza. Reuters reported that ceasefire talks in Qatar would resume on Sunday.
根據塞浦路斯外交部的消息，一艘運輸援助物資前往加沙的船隻可能在兩天內從塞浦路斯啟航。這將是繼上週五向該地區交付了200噸食品之後的第二批援助物資。聯合國已多次警告說，加沙正在面臨一場迫在眉睫的饑荒。路透社報導，位於卡塔的停火談判將於星期日重新啟動。
2. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, is reportedly building a web of surveillance satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office, an American intelligence agency. The network of hundreds of low-Earth orbit satellites could help America to identify targets almost anywhere. Reuters reported that Starshield, a subsidiary of SpaceX that serves government and military customers, signed a classified $1.8bn contract with the intelligence agency in 2021.
據報導，SpaceX，伊隆·馬斯克的火箭公司，正在為美國情報機構國家偵察局建造一個監視衛星網絡。這個由數百顆低地球軌道衛星組成的網絡可以幫助美國幾乎在任何地方識別目標。路透社報導，SpaceX的子公司Starshield已於2021年與情報機構簽署了一份機密的18億美元的合約，專為政府和軍方客戶提供服務。
3. A Ukrainian strike on the Russian region of Belgorod killed two people. A separate attack set ablaze an oil refinery in Syzran, a city south-east of Moscow. Russia prevented an attack on a second refinery. Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on critical infrastructure this week as Russians take part in three days of voting in sham elections.
烏克蘭對俄羅斯貝爾戈羅德地區的襲擊造成兩人死亡。另一次攻擊導致位於莫斯科東南方城市錫茲蘭的一座石油精煉廠起火。俄羅斯成功阻止了對第二座精煉廠的攻擊。隨著俄羅斯人參加虛假選舉的三天投票活動，烏克蘭本周加大了對關鍵基礎設施的襲擊。
4. A militant group killed seven members of Pakistan’s security forces who were stationed at the border with Afghanistan, according to Pakistan’s armed forces. The attackers set off suicide bombs and detonated a vehicle filled with explosives. Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad, a Pakistani-based group, claimed responsibility for the attack.
據巴基斯坦武裝部隊稱，一個激進組織殺害了七名巴基斯坦安全部隊成員，他們駐守在與阿富汗邊境的地區。襲擊者引爆了自殺炸彈，並引爆了一輛裝滿炸藥的車輛。巴基斯坦境內的組織Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad聲稱對此次襲擊負責。
5. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft landed in Oregon with a panel missing from the underside of the plane, in the latest blow to the firm’s reputation. Nobody was injured. The fault was found after the plane had touched down. In January a Boeing 737 Max 9 shed a panel that had covered a doorway during an Alaska Airlines flight. A preliminary report by America’s National Transportation Safety Board later found that four key bolts were missing from the panel.
一架波音737-800客機在俄勒岡州降落時，發現機身底部缺少一塊面板，這是對波音公司聲譽的最新打擊。沒有人受傷。機身缺陷是在飛機降落後發現的。今年一月，一架波音737 Max 9在阿拉斯加航空公司的飛行中脫落了一個蓋住門口的面板。美國國家運輸安全委員會的初步報告後來發現，該面板缺少了四個關鍵螺栓。
6. A court in Hong Kong sentenced 12 people for up to seven years in prison for storming the city’s legislature five years ago. Hundreds of protesters entered the building at the height of pro-democracy protests in 2019. They opposed a proposed extradition bill, since abandoned, that would have allowed for people accused of crimes in mainland China to be sent there for trial.
香港一家法院判處12名人士因五年前闖入該市立法機構而被判處最高七年監禁。在2019年的民主抗議高峰期，數百名抗議者進入了該建築物。他們反對一項旨在引渡法案，該法案已被廢除，該法案允許將在中國大陸被指控犯罪的人送到那裡受審。
小撇步: 如何知道自己的競爭力有多少? 台灣其實很年齡歧視嗎? -
這一天，阿尼和克洛伊悠閒地在維洛納這個小鎮隨意漫步
聽說，羅密歐與茱麗葉的故事就是在這個地方誕生的呢~
ㄟ，浪不浪漫我們是沒感覺啦，但這個小鎮真的令人很放鬆就是了
放鬆到什麼程度呢? 鬆到我們兩個人都幾乎迷路了啦! -
1. Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s prime minister, acknowledged defeat in a two-part referendum about modernising the constitution. His government, with the support of other parties, had sought to expand the constitutional definition of families to include “durable relationships”. And it wanted to change a reference to a mother’s “duties in the home” to one about family-based care. The results will disappoint those who have welcomed the wave of liberalisation that has washed over the country in recent years, on matters including divorce and abortion.
愛爾蘭總理利奧·瓦拉德卡 (Leo Varadkar) 承認在關於憲法現代化的兩部分公投中失敗。他的政府在其他政黨的支持下，試圖擴大家庭的憲法定義，將「持久的關係」納入。它還希望將母親的「家庭職責」改為有關基於家庭的照護。結果將使那些歡迎近年來在離婚和墮胎等問題上席捲全國的自由化浪潮的人們感到失望。
2. Joe Biden signed a $460bn package of spending bills into law just in time to prevent a partial government shutdown. The six bills, which were passed by the Senate on Friday, fund various government departments, including housing and transport, until the end of September. The work is not yet done, though. The deadline for passing six more such bills, which include funding for defence, is March 22nd.
喬·拜登及時簽署了 4600 億美元的一套的支出法案，使其成為法律，以防止政府部分關閉。這六項法案於週五獲得參議院通過，為包括住房和交通在內的各個政府部門提供資金，直至 9 月底。不過，工作還沒完成。通過另外六項此類法案（其中包括國防資金）的截止日期是 3 月 22 日。
3.Preparations intensified for the first naval dispatch of aid to Gaza from Cyprus. A ship is expected to set sail this weekend to deliver desperately needed aid to the Palestinian enclave, opening a long-trailed humanitarian corridor. The vessel will drag a barge containing 200 tonnes of food provided by an American charity, although details about docking and distribution remain unclear. Meanwhile, America said it would take 60 days to build a pier designed to receive aid shipments off Gaza’s coast. America has been air-dropping food in the territory since March 2nd, a move that has been criticised as inefficient and dangerous.
塞浦路斯首次向加薩海軍派遣援助物資的準備工作正在加緊進行。預計一艘船將於本週末啟航，並向巴勒斯坦飛地運送急需的援助，開闢一條漫長的人道走廊。該船將拖著一艘載有美國慈善機構提供的 200 噸食品的駁船，不過有關停靠和分發的細節仍不清楚。同時，美國表示需要 60 天的時間建造一個碼頭，用於接收加薩沿岸的援助物資。自3月2日以來，美國一直在該領土空投食品，此舉被批評為低效且危險。
4 Asif Ali Zardari was voted president of Pakistan by the country’s parliamentarians. He was supported by the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, two parties that formed a coalition government after last month’s controversial general election. Mr Zardari’s term, which begins on Sunday, will be his second. His first, from 2008 to 2013, took place in the aftermath of the assassination of his wife, Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s first female prime minister.
阿西夫·阿里·扎爾達裡 (Asif Ali Zardari) 被巴基斯坦議員選舉為巴基斯坦總統。他得到了巴基斯坦人民黨和巴基斯坦穆斯林聯盟納瓦茲的支持，這兩個政黨在上個月有爭議的大選後組成了聯合政府。札爾達裡先生的任期將於週日開始，這將是他的第二個任期。他的第一次任期是 2008 年至 2013 年，當時他的妻子、巴基斯坦第一位女總理貝娜齊爾·布托 (Benazir Bhutto) 被暗殺。
5.Gangs in Haiti attacked several government buildings, including the presidential palace, in Port-au-Prince, the capital. The gangs are demanding the resignation of the unpopular prime minister, Ariel Henry, who has not returned to the country since travelling to Kenya last week. Guy Philippe, a former police chief who led a coup in 2004, made a claim for the presidency and told Mr Henry to step down.
海地的幫派襲擊了首都太子港的幾座政府建築，包括總統府。這些團夥要求不受歡迎的總理阿里爾·亨利辭職，他自上週訪問肯亞以來一直沒有返回該國。 2004 年領導政變的前警察局長蓋伊·菲利普 (Guy Philippe) 要求競選總統，並要求亨利下台。
6.Ukrainian drones struck Kursk and Rostov, two Russian regions that adjoin Ukraine’s eastern border, according to the local governors. The attacks typify Ukraine’s growing willingness to strike back in response to Russia’s myriad drone launches on its territory. In early January Russia said it intercepted 36 over Crimea. Ukraine’s government has said it hopes to make 10,000 long-range drones in 2024.
據當地州長稱，烏克蘭無人機襲擊了毗鄰烏克蘭東部邊境的兩個俄羅斯地區庫爾斯克和羅斯托夫。這些攻擊顯示烏克蘭越來越願意反擊俄羅斯在其領土上發射的無數無人機。 1 月初，俄羅斯表示在克里米亞上空攔截了 36 架。烏克蘭政府表示，希望在 2024 年生產 1 萬架遠程無人機。
小撇步: 如何訓練口說和英文寫作打草稿的速度—辯論!!! -
C26 Part 3
His look was very serious, like some one lost far away.
"I have your sheep. And I have the sheep's box. And I have the muzzle . . ."
And he gave me a sad smile.
I waited a long time. I could see that he was reviving little by little.
"Dear little man," I said to him, "you are afraid . . ."
He was afraid, there was no doubt about that. But he laughed lightly.
"I shall be much more afraid this evening . . ."
Once again I felt myself frozen by the sense of something irreparable. And I knew that I could not bear the thought of never hearing that laughter any more. For me, it was like a spring of fresh water in the desert.
"Little man," I said, "I want to hear you laugh again."
But he said to me:
"Tonight, it will be a year . . . My star, then, can be found right above the place where I came to the Earth, a year ago . . ."
"Little man," I said, "tell me that it is only a bad dream--this affair of the snake, and the meeting-place, and the star . . ."
But he did not answer my plea. He said to me, instead:
"The thing that is important is the thing that is not seen . . ."
"Yes, I know . . ."
"It is just as it is with the flower. If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers . . ."
"Yes, I know . . ."
"It is just as it is with the water. Because of the pulley, and the rope, what you gave me to drink was like music. You remember--how good it was."
"Yes, I know . . ."
"And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better, like that. My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens . . . they will all be your friends. And, besides, I am going to make you a present . . ."
He laughed again.
"Ah, little prince, dear little prince! I love to hear that laughter!"
"That is my present. Just that. It will be as it was when we drank the water . . ."
Vocabulary
laugh (v) 笑 Dora laughs with Chloe in the class.
the earth (n) 地球 We should protect the earth.
Present (n) = gift 禮物 Dora gets lots of gifts on her birthday. -
政治: 戰爭局勢還有美國對拜登的民意調查
經濟: 美國的墮胎藥市場有了轉機
小撇步: Ariel 分享如何挑戰自己申請英國研究所, 以雅思7.5分錄取英國7間研究所!
1. America’s air force dropped almost 40,000 meals in Gaza, where the UN estimates that over 500,000 people are on the brink of famine. On Thursday violence erupted when thousands of hungry civilians surrounded an aid convoy. Gaza’s health ministry said more than 112 people died. Local authorities say Israeli soldiers shot them dead. Israel says they fired warning shots and most died in a stampede. The UN later said that many people treated at a nearby hospital had gunshot wounds.
美國空軍在加薩地區投放了近40,000份糧食，聯合國估計該地區有超過50萬人處於饑荒的邊緣。上週四，當數千名飢餓的平民包圍一輛救援車隊時，暴力爆發。加薩地區的衛生部表示，有超過112人死亡。當地當局聲稱是以色列士兵擊斃了他們。以色列表示他們發出了警告射擊，大多數人是在踩踏事件中死亡。聯合國後來表示，許多在附近醫院接受治療的人有槍傷。
2. General Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, suggested that he would consider replacing some commanders on the eastern front, where fighting with Russia appears to have intensified. General Syrsky made the comments in a post on Telegram, a messaging app. On February 17th Ukrainian forces withdrew from the town of Avdiivka, the first movement on the front in months. Two nearby villages fell to Russia this week.
烏克蘭武裝部隊總司令奧列克桑德爾·斯爾斯基將軍表示，他正在考慮在東線部署一些指揮官的更換，該地區與俄羅斯的戰鬥似乎正在加劇。斯爾斯基將軍是在一篇發佈在電報（Telegram）消息應用程序上的文章中提出這些評論的。2月17日，烏克蘭軍隊從阿夫迪夫卡鎮撤出，這是數月來前線上的首次行動。附近的兩個村莊在本周被俄羅斯攻佔。
3. A cargo ship carrying 37,000 tonnes of fertiliser sank in the Red Sea after it was attacked by Houthi rebels in Yemen last month. Yemen’s government, which reported the sinking, called it an “environmental catastrophe”. The Houthis’ strikes on ships are in retaliation for Israel’s war in Gaza. American and British air strikes have failed to deter the rebels.
上個月，在葉門胡塞叛軍的襲擊下，一艘載有37,000噸肥料的貨船在紅海沉沒。葉門政府報告了這次沉船事件，將其稱為一場「環境災難」。胡塞叛軍對船隻的襲擊是對以色列在加薩地區的戰爭的報復。美國和英國的空襲未能嚇阻這些叛軍。
4. The proportion of Americans who think Joe Biden is doing a poor job rose to 47%, the highest of his presidency, according to a new poll. The survey, by Siena College and the New York Times, also found that Democrats are split over whether Mr Biden should be the party’s nominee for the election in November. According to our poll tracker the race between Mr Biden and Donald Trump is too close to call.
根據一項新的民意調查，認為喬·拜登表現不佳的美國人比例升至47％，達到他的總統任期中的最高水平。這項由希耶納學院和《紐約時報》進行的調查還發現，民主黨內部對於拜登是否應該成為該黨11月選舉的提名人存在分歧。根據我們的民意追蹤器，拜登和唐納德·川普之間的競爭難以預測。
5. Walgreens and CVS, two major pharmacy chains, announced they would start selling mifepristone, an abortion drug, in some states this month, including New York and Pennsylvania. It marks the first time the medication will be accessible at retail pharmacies in America. The Supreme Court will hear a case this month that could prevent patients from receiving mifepristone by post or obtaining a prescription remotely.
兩家主要的藥品連鎖店沃爾格林和CVS宣布，它們將在本月開始在一些州出售米非司酮，一種墮胎藥，包括紐約和賓夕法尼亞。這標誌著這種藥物首次在美國的零售藥店中可以獲得。最高法院本月將審理一案，該案可能阻止患者通過郵寄方式或遠程獲得處方來使用米非司酮。
6. California shut down a 160km stretch of Interstate-80, a motorway, after a blizzard made the road too dangerous to use. The storm hit the region on Thursday and is expected to continue to cause havok through Sunday. As much as 3m of snow is predicted in the area around Lake Tahoe, which** straddles** the California-Nevada border. Some 24,000 houses and businesses are without power.
由於暴風雪使得交通變得極為危險，加利福尼亞州關閉了一條長達160公里的I-80州際高速公路。這場風暴在星期四襲擊了該地區，預計將持續造成混亂直至星期日。預測在橫跨加利福尼亞和內華達邊界的塔霍湖周圍地區可能積雪高達3米。目前，有2.4萬戶居民和企業停電。
小撇步: Ariel 分享如何挑戰自己申請英國研究所, 以雅思7.5分錄取英國7間研究所!
1) 去補習班練習口說和寫作
2) 一次就考上雅思門檻7分
3) 用系所排名找學校
4) 有個重點! 很多學校有early decision : 先丟先贏!
5) 錄取候用自己social media保持專業寫作能力 -
這一天是我們在佛羅倫斯的最後一天了…
先去看了著名的景點之一--聖母百花大教堂
為什麼我們會覺得這座教堂表裡不一呢??
接著到老橋走走，橋上有房子的景觀不是到處都有啊
最後一次的入境隨俗，跟當地人一樣到咖啡館喝義式濃縮咖啡~
喝「義式」咖啡就能真正「意識」到濃、純、苦的「意思」
克洛伊還被Ciao~bella~了~~
依依不捨告別佛羅倫斯，我們抵達維琴察這個可愛的小鎮
有多可愛呢? 旅客服務中心4點就下班!
如果我是居民，我也會覺得這裡的上班時間真可愛
公車司機也很可愛，需要有人站在他旁邊刷存在感喔~ -
政治篇 普亭的對手Navalny離奇死亡後的後續經濟篇 巴菲特說美國境外 目前沒有適合的投資小撇步 想要去澳洲念書的高中生, 該怎麼開始呢?政治篇1. The body of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in prison last week, was returned to his mother. Kira Yarmysh, Mr Navalny’s press secretary, said his funeral is yet to be arranged. “We don’t know whether the authorities will interfere with carrying it out,” she said. On Thursday, Mr Navalny’s mother said that Russian authorities wanted to bury him in secret.俄羅斯反對派領袖阿列克謝·納瓦爾尼上週在監獄中逝世，其遺體已歸還給其母親。納瓦爾尼的新聞秘書基拉·亞爾米什表示，他的葬禮尚未安排。“我們不知道當局是否會干擾進行葬禮，”她說。上週四，納瓦爾尼的母親表示俄羅斯當局希望秘密埋葬他。2. Western leaders travelled to Kyiv to show solidarity with Ukraine on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, was accompanied by the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium. She pledged that Europe would support Ukraine“financially, economically, militarily, morally. Until the country is finally free.”西方領袖前往基輔，以示在俄羅斯全面入侵滿兩週年之際對烏克蘭的團結支持。歐洲委員會主席烏蘇拉·馮·德·萊恩（Ursula von der Leyen）與義大利、加拿大和比利時的總理一同出席。她承諾歐洲將在各方面支持烏克蘭，“在這個國家最終自由之前，包括財政、經濟、軍事和道義支持。”經濟篇3. Warren Buffett, the boss of Berkshire Hathaway, warned of the end of “eye-popping performance” for his firm. Writing to Berkshire’s shareholders, the investor said that few deals remain which can replicate the success of previous takeovers. Outside America, he sees “essentially no candidates” for investment. Because of a dearth of attractive deals, Berkshire’s cash pile hit a record high of $167.6bn last quarter.波克夏·海瑟威（Berkshire Hathaway）老闆沃倫·巴菲特發出警告，稱他的公司即將結束“令人瞠目結舌的業績”。在給波克夏·海瑟威股東的信中，這位投資者表示，很少有交易能夠複製先前收購的成功。在美國以外，他認為“基本上沒有候選人”可供投資。由於吸引人的交易稀缺，波克夏·海瑟威的現金儲備在上個季度達到了創紀錄的1676億美元。4. Mario Draghi, a former head of the European Central Bank, urged the European Union “to invest an enormous amount in a relatively short time” to tackle an increasingly hostile world. At a meeting of the bloc’s finance ministers, Mr Draghi—whom the EU has asked to come up with ideas to revitalise the bloc’s economy—called for governments to spend more on defence while preserving green investment and public services.歐洲央行前行長馬裡奧·德拉吉（Mario Draghi）敦促歐洲聯盟“在相對短的時間內大量投資”，以應對日益敵對的世界。在歐盟財政部長會議上，德拉吉先生（歐盟已要求他提出振興該區經濟的想法）呼籲各國政府在保持綠色投資和公共服務的同時，加大國防開支。5. Officials in New York announced that Flaco, a Eurasian eagle-owl, died after striking a building. Flaco, who was due to turn 14 next month, flew freely in the city after a vandal destroyed parts of his enclosure in Central Park Zoo. He survived for over a year, living off rats and capturing the attention of locals and tourists alike.紐約官方宣佈，一隻名為Flaco的歐亞雕鴞在撞擊建築物後不幸去世。Flaco原本將在下個月滿14歲，由於有人破壞了牠在中央公園動物園的圈養區的部分，牠曾在城市中自由飛翔。牠靠捕食老鼠生存了一年多，引起當地居民和遊客的關注小撇步 想要去澳洲念書的高中生, 該怎麼開始呢?1. 收集資料: Niche, 遠景安 (音檔口誤稱 景安)2. 搞清楚學制和自己的目前GPA3. 找出大學清單- 前百大-> 前150名-> 前200名 : 十間大學4. 準備好雅思和累積自己的”履歷表”
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元宵節特別節目!!
Chloe 針對菲律賓的旅遊小撇步-歷史,文化,美食,民族和語言來考考大家!
1. 菲律賓這名字怎麼來的?
2. 菲律賓是個小國~人口數不到5千萬人 True or False ?
3. 以下哪個國家沒有占領或攻擊過菲律賓?
4. 菲律賓的宗教是哪一個?
5. 哪個食物不是菲律賓當地菜餚?
a) Kare Kare b) Crispy Pata c) Turon d) Lasagne
6. 菲律賓的民族性為何?
7. 光是在馬尼拉首都, 有幾種方言?
8. 菲律賓的小朋友上小學的時間?
a) 跟台灣一樣 早上七八點到下午四點 b) 跟美國一樣普遍落在早上8點至下午3點 c) 義大利，一個典型的學校日從早上8點左右開始，下午1點半左右結束 d) 分成上午下午班
9. 菲律賓的暑假期間是?
10. 菲律賓最主要的出口主要出口產品包括半導體和電子產品、運輸設備、服裝、化學品、銅、鎳、呂宋蕉麻、椰子油和水果還有服務?
11. 他們最有名的貪汙總統是誰?
a) Macros 老馬可仕 b) 杜特蒂 c) 小馬可仕Bong Bong -
政治篇: 以阿和烏俄戰爭
經濟篇: 中國對與歐美國家的愛恨情仇
小撇步: 去菲律賓要怎麼玩? 一切放空和粉紅泡泡- 度假勝地
看現實- 請到首都和二三線城市
1. A spokesperson for Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominentopposition leader, confirmed his death. Mr Navalny’s team accused Russian authorities of withholding his body from his family to “cover traces of murder”. More than 340 people were detained across Russia after they tried to pay tribute to Mr Navalny, according to a rights group. The G7’s foreign ministers observed a minute’s silence for Mr Navalny and demanded that Russia immediately clarify the causes of his death. On Friday Russia’s prison service said that the activist had died, having fallen ill after a walk.
亞歷克謝·納瓦爾尼的發言人確認了俄羅斯最著名的反對派領袖的死訊。納瓦爾尼先生的團隊指控俄羅斯當局扣留他的遺體，以「掩蓋謀殺的痕跡」。據一個權益組織稱，超過340人在俄羅斯各地被拘留，因為他們試圖向納瓦爾尼先生致敬。G7的外交部長們默哀一分鐘，要求俄羅斯立即澄清他的死因。在週五，俄羅斯的監獄服務表示，這位活動家在散步後感到不適，最終辭世。
2. The International Court of Justice rejected South Africa’s request for additional measures against Israel, which would have prevented it from entering Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city. The court noted that “recent developments” in the strip would worsen the existing “humanitarian nightmare” and called on Israel to abide by the existing provisional measures it ordered on January 26th.
國際法院拒絕了南非要求對以色列採取額外措施的請求，這些措施原本會阻止以色列進入加薩地帶最南端的城市拉法。法院指出，該地帶的「最新發展」將加劇現有的「人道主義噩夢」，並呼籲以色列遵守其於1月26日下令的現有臨時措施。
3. Thailand freed Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister, from detention at a police hospital. Mr Thaksin returned to Thailand in August after a long exile and was jailed on corruption charges. Many suspect he cut a deal for early release. Mr Thaksin’s Pheu Thai Party has allied itself with the military establishment. That helped block Move Forward, a liberal party which won May’s election, from forming a government.
泰國釋放了前總理塔信·奇那瓦特，讓他從警察醫院的拘留中獲得自由。奇那瓦特先生在長時間的流亡後於八月回到泰國，因貪污罪被判入獄。許多人懷疑他可能達成了提前釋放的交易。奇那瓦特先生的「Pheu Thai Party」已與軍方建立聯盟，這有助於阻止五月當選的自由黨「Move Forward」組成政府。
4. President Volodymyr Zelensky made a new** plea for arms after Ukraine pulled troops out of Avdiivka, an eastern frontline town. Mr Zelensky told leaders at the Munich Security Conference that an “artificial deficit of weapons” is allowing “Putin to adapt to the current intensity of the war”. On Saturday Russia’s leader said the capture **of Avdiivka was an “important victory”.
烏克蘭總統弗拉迪米爾·澤倫斯基在烏克蘭從東線前線城鎮Avdiivka撤回軍隊後再次懇求援助。澤倫斯基先生在慕尼黑安全會議上告訴各國領袖，「武器的人為短缺」讓「普亭能夠適應當前戰爭的強度」。在周六，俄羅斯領導人表示，佔領Avdiivka是一場「重要的勝利」。
5. Also speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, said that countries who attempted to “shut China out” of world trade would be making a “historical mistake”. America and Europe have said they will “de-risk” their trade ties with China—ie, reduce their economic reliance on the country.
同樣在慕尼黑安全會議上發言的中國外交部長王毅表示，試圖「將中國排除在世界貿易之外」的國家將犯下一個「歷史性的錯誤」。美國和歐洲已表示將「降低風險」，即減少對中國的經濟依賴。 -
今天來到了眾多偉人長眠之地的聖十字聖殿
從小聽到大的伽利略、哥白尼、但丁，都葬在這個教堂當中
半夜會不會開物理學大會啊?
接著到了比薩這個小鎮，來看看著名的比薩斜塔
到底~比薩斜塔為什麼是斜的呢?
晚上我們自以為入境隨俗還特地到餐廳訂位吃飯
到底~吃了什麼讓我們永難忘懷的料理呢?
小撇步要來教大家，怎麼樣才不會被當成凱子騙錢
阿尼特地分享了自身慘痛經驗
精彩精彩，馬上來聽! -
**Concept of Bisexual; Asexual; Heterosexual; Homosexual and Pansexual **
A tale of penguins and prejudice is a parable of modern America
When two male penguins hatched an egg in Central Park, they set off an enduring controversy
企鵝與偏見的故事是現代美國的寓言 當中央公園的兩隻雄性企鵝孵化了一顆蛋時，掀起了一場持久的爭議。
Once upon a time in America there lived a pair of penguins called Roy and Silo. They were just like the other penguin couples in their zoo, except that they were both boys. Together they sat on an egg until a chick popped out. Later two men wrote a story about them—igniting a controversy which, almost two decades later, is still blazing.
很久以前，在美國有一對叫做羅伊和希洛的企鵝。它們和動物園裡的其他企鵝夫婦一樣，唯一的不同是它們都是男孩。它們共同孵化一顆蛋，直到一隻小鳥破殼而出。後來，兩名男士為它們編寫了一個故事，引發了一場爭議，幾乎兩十年後仍在持續燃燒。
This is the story of that story, and it has many morals. It is a tale of parenting and devotion, and a fable of progress and the backlash it can provoke. It is a feathery parable of America’s divisions, in this case over freedom of speech and gay rights. An ongoing saga of politics and prejudice, in the beginning it was, first and foremost, a story about penguins.
這是那個故事的故事，而且它蘊含著許多寓意。這是一個關於父母和奉獻的故事，也是一個關於進步及其可能引發的反彈的寓言。這是一個羽毛般的美國分裂寓言，在這種情況下涉及言論自由和同性戀權利。這是一個關於政治和偏見的持續傳奇，在一開始，它首先是一個關於企鵝的故事。
Thronged with children, the penguin exhibit at Central Park Zoo in New York is an unlikely battleground in America’s culture wars. It is easy to see why the creatures are a hit. They wobble around their barren terrain like drunks trying to walk straight for a patrolman. Some engage in what seem to be lively conversations, flapping their wings for emphasis. (Others spend a lot of time staring at rocks.) Diving into their pool they become as lithe and dexterous as they are clumsy on land, rocketing out after their dips in gravity-defying bursts.
紐約中央公園動物園企鵝展覽彙聚著成群結隊的孩子，成為美國文化戰爭中不太可能的戰場。很容易理解為什麼這些生物如此受歡迎。它們在貧瘠的領地上搖搖晃晃，就像醉漢試圖直行一樣。一些進行似乎是生動的對話，揮動翅膀以強調。 （其他一些則花費很多時間盯著岩石看。）潛入水池後，它們變得像陸地上那樣笨拙的靈活和熟練，以違背重力的方式沖出水面。
Of the various species in the cold, smelly enclosure, the feistiest are the chinstrap penguins, so called because of the black markings below their beaks. For a novice they are hard to tell apart; but, says Rob Gramzay, who oversaw their care for 17 years, zookeepers come to know the penguins individually while hand-feeding them fish twice a day. Some are sweet, says Mr Gramzay, others “really ornery”. Between Silo and Roy, “Silo was definitely the one with more attitude.”
在這個寒冷而有臭味的圍場中，各種物種中最好鬥的是下喙企鵝，因為它們的嘴下有黑色斑紋而得名。對於新手來說，它們很難辨別；但是，負責它們護理17年的羅布·格拉姆澤說，動物園管理員在每天兩次餵食時會逐漸瞭解每只企鵝。格拉姆澤先生說，有些企鵝很溫順，而另一些“真的很刁鑽”。在希洛和羅伊之間，“希洛絕對是那個性格更強硬的。”
In 1998 Mr Gramzay noticed that these two males were spending most of their time together. They exhibited the same behaviours as male-female pairs, such as squawking at each other and showing off in courtship displays. When, a year later, Mr Gramzay saw Silo sitting on an egg-shaped rock in the nest the pair had built, he swapped in an egg made of plaster. In 2000 he gave them a real egg that two other chinstraps, Betty and Porkey, had discarded. His aim, he says, was purely to support the penguin colony, which had not raised many chicks.
1998年，格拉姆澤先生注意到這兩隻雄性企鵝大部分時間都在一起。它們表現出與雄雌配對相同的行為，例如相互嘎嘎叫和在求偶展示中炫耀。一年後，格拉姆澤先生看到希洛坐在它們建造的巢中一個形狀像鳥蛋的岩石上，他用石膏做的蛋替換了進去。2000年，他給它們一個兩隻其他下喙企鵝貝蒂和波爾基拋棄的真正的鳥蛋。他說，他的目的純粹是為了支援企鵝群體，因為它們沒有孵化出許多小企鵝。
Roy and Silo took turns incubating the egg for around 36 days. At the time Mr Gramzay was enjoying the tango music of Astor Piazzolla, an Argentine composer; when the egg hatched he called the new penguin Tango. She was “a very sturdy chick”, he recalls. He helped her learn to swim.
羅伊和希洛輪流孵化了大約36天的蛋。當時，格拉姆澤先生正在欣賞阿根廷作曲家阿斯托爾·皮亞左拉的探戈音樂；當蛋孵化出來時，他給新孵化的企鵝取名為探戈。他回憶說，她是“一個非常結實的小鳥”。他幫助她學會游泳。
That might have been that, had it not been for a double stroke of fate. In 2004 the New York Times ran an article about the penguins, headlined “Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name”. And, in their kitchen in Greenwich Village, a particular human couple read it.
那本可能就這樣結束了，如果不是因為命運的雙重打擊。2004年，《紐約時報》發表了一篇關於企鵝的文章，標題是“不敢發出聲音的愛”。而在格林尼奇村的他們的廚房裡，一對特殊的人類夫婦讀到了這篇文章。
They were just the right pair to incubate the story. A psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who teaches at Columbia University, Justin Richardson had interests in sex education and gay and lesbian mental health. On a blind date almost a decade earlier he had met Peter Parnell, a playwright who worked on “The West Wing”. Lots of people, they knew, were squeamish about discussing homosexuality and gay parents with their children. Here was a tale of same-sex parenting from which everything that might cause discomfort—even the word “gay”—could be omitted. Two cute characters would overcome obstacles to reach their goal in a classic narrative arc. Unusually for the time, the children of same-sex couples would glimpse a version of their own experience.
他們正是適合醞釀這個故事的完美搭檔。賈斯汀·理查森是一位在哥倫比亞大學教授的精神科醫生和心理分析學家，對性教育和同性戀心理健康有濃厚興趣。差不多十年前的一次相親中，他遇到了彼得·帕內爾，一位在《西翼》工作的劇作家。他們知道，很多人對討論同性戀和同性戀父母與子女的話題感到尷尬。在這裡，是一個關於同性戀父母的故事，可以省略一切可能引起不適的元素，甚至包括“同性戀”這個詞。兩個可愛的角色將克服障礙，以經典的敘事弧線達到他們的目標。當時，同性戀夫婦的孩子們會在這個故事中窺見他們自己經歷的一種版本，這在當時是異常的。
They wrote fast. Mr Parnell quickly got out of his system a draft in which Roy and Silo loved Broadway musicals. Aided by a visit to the zoo, they stuck closely to the facts. “We got to hear them,” Dr Richardson says of the penguins, “and smell them.” An illustrator, Henry Cole, contributed dreamy yet realistic watercolours. Intended for four- to eight-year-olds, the book was published in 2005 as “And Tango Makes Three”.
他們寫得很快。帕內爾先生很快就完成了一份草稿，其中羅伊和希洛喜歡百老匯音樂劇。在參觀動物園的幫助下，他們緊密地圍繞事實展開。"我們有機會聽到它們，"理查森博士談到企鵝時說，"也能聞到它們的氣味。"插畫家亨利·科爾貢獻了夢幻而又逼真的水彩畫。這本書是為4到8歲的兒童出版的，於2005年以《探戈的誕生》為名出版。
It is a delight. “Every day”, it explains of Central Park Zoo, “families of all kinds go to visit the animals.” The animals have families too, mostly featuring male-female partnerships. Roy and Silo, however, were “a little bit different”. As in real life, Mr Gramzay gives them an egg, which they sit on until—“CRAAAACK!”—out comes Tango with “fuzzy white feathers and a funny black beak”.
這是一部令人愉悅的作品。它解釋說：“每天”，中央公園動物園都有“各種各樣的家庭來參觀動物。” 動物也有家庭，主要是由雄雌配對組成。然而，羅伊和希洛“有點不同”。就像在現實生活中一樣，格拉姆澤先生給了它們一個鳥蛋，它們孵化直到——“哢嚓！”——探戈出現，帶著“絨絨的白色羽毛和有趣的黑色喙”。
The story was well-received by reviewers and readers. “It’s a great feeling”, says Dr Richardson, “to hear a kid loves your book.” Then fate—or what you might call a penguin ex machina—intervened again.
這個故事得到了評論家和讀者的好評。“這感覺真好，”理查森博士說，“聽到一個孩子喜歡你的書。” 然後，命運——或者你可能稱之為企鵝的“神助攻”——再次介入。
Life imitates penguin
The authors expected objections to their fable of same-sex union; the first illustrator they approached had declined on religious grounds. But they could not have anticipated the way penguins came to be enlisted as political warriors. “The March of the Penguins”, a documentary about emperor penguins in Antarctica, was released later in 2005. Some conservatives saw those birds as exemplars of parental devotion and stable relationships. In response, some on the left invoked the non-traditional family in “And Tango Makes Three”.
生活仿佛在模仿企鵝 作者們預料到他們描繪同性聯姻的寓言會引起異議；他們最初聯繫的插畫家因宗教原因拒絕了。但他們無法預料企鵝會被捲入政治戰爭的方式。“企鵝的行軍”，一部關於南極皇帝企鵝的紀錄片，於2005年晚些時候上映。一些保守派視這些鳥類為父母的奉獻和穩定關係的典範。作為回應，一些左翼人士在《探戈的誕生》中引用了非傳統的家庭。
When, in 2006, two parents in Missouri complained about the book at a public library, it was reshelved in non-fiction. Stephen Colbert defended it satirically on “The Colbert Report” (“It’s all just another part of the homosexual flightless waterfowl agenda”). After that, the herring was in the penguin pool.
在2006年，密蘇里州的兩名家長在公共圖書館抱怨這本書後，它被重新分類到非小說類書籍。斯蒂芬·科爾伯特在他的節目《科爾伯特報告》中諷刺地為此辯護（“這只是同性戀不能飛的水禽議程的又一個部分”）。之後，鯡魚就成了企鵝池中的事。
The American Library Association (ala) tracks “challenges” to books in public and school libraries—ie, bids to have them removed or access to them restricted. By its count “And Tango Makes Three” was the most targeted book in America in 2006-08, and again in 2010. Complainants alleged that it is “anti-family” and “promotes the homosexual agenda”. Penguin skirmishes erupted overseas: Singapore’s authorities resolved to pulp library copies of the book until, amid an outcry, it was moved to the adult shelves instead.
美國圖書館協會（ALA）跟蹤公共圖書館和學校圖書館中對書籍提出的“挑戰”——即要求將它們撤下或限制對它們的訪問。根據它的統計，《探戈的誕生》在2006-08年和2010年再次成為美國被針對最多的圖書。投訴者聲稱這本書是“反家庭”和“宣傳同性戀議程”的。企鵝戰鬥也在海外爆發：新加坡當局決定銷毀圖書館中的這本書，直到在強烈抗議聲中，它被移至成人書架。
The attacks betray several misconceptions, the most elementary involving science. Same-sex attachments among penguins are not a pernicious invention but a fact of nature. Mr Gramzay saw other such pairs in Central Park; they have been sighted in captivity in Berlin, London and Sydney. As for animals in general, says Paul Vasey of the University of Lethbridge in Canada, incidents of same-sex courtship and bonding have to some extent “been observed in many, many species”. (Hardly any animals, cautions Dr Vasey, are exclusively homosexual. And since many creatures have nasty habits like infanticide, basing moral arguments on their behaviour is inadvisable.)
這些攻擊揭示了一些誤解，其中最基本的涉及科學。企鵝中的同性依附並非一種有害的虛構，而是自然界的事實。格拉姆澤先生在中央公園看到了其他類似的配對；在柏林、倫敦和雪梨的囚禁中也發現了它們。至於一般的動物，加拿大勒斯布里奇大學的保羅·瓦西表示，同性戀求偶和結合的事件在某種程度上“在很多很多物種中都被觀察到”。（瓦西博士警告說，幾乎沒有動物是純粹的同性戀者。而且由於許多生物有像殺嬰等惡劣習性，基於它們的行為來制定道德論點是不明智的。）
A second misconception concerns human sexuality. Whatever its mysteries, it is unlikely to be swayed by a picture book about penguins, a fear that seems to lurk behind many objections to “And Tango Makes Three”. As Dr Richardson puts it, wearing his psychiatrist’s hat: “There’s no reason to believe that reading a book about homosexual waterfowl makes a child more likely to be gay when they grow up.” Conversely, banning books with gay characters—or their avian avatars—won’t change the fact that “gay families exist”.
第二個誤解涉及人類的性取向。無論其神秘性如何，都不太可能被一本關於企鵝的圖畫書所左右，這似乎是許多反對《探戈的誕生》的異議背後潛在的擔憂。理查森博士戴上精神病醫生的帽子表示：“沒有理由相信，閱讀一本關於同性戀水禽的書會使一個孩子在長大後更有可能成為同性戀。” 相反，禁止具有同性戀人物或它們的鳥類化身的書籍並不會改變“同性家庭存在”的事實。
A final confusion is over children and reading. It is not a mechanistic process whereby a story propounds a message and a child absorbs it. To think it is, says Marah Gubar, an expert on children’s literature at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is to see young readers as defenceless blank slates, altogether inferior to grown-ups and worryingly impressionable. In reality they are, like adults, exposed to umpteen competing influences that they sift and process. As anyone who has read to a toddler knows, Dr Gubar notes, they already have tastes and ideas; they interpret books—which tend to have several possible meanings—in their own ways. The response to this one might be, “I wanna be a zookeeper!” In the encounter between child and book, “It takes two to tango.”
最後一個混淆涉及兒童和閱讀。這不是一個機械的過程，即一個故事提出一個資訊，而孩子吸收它。馬蘿·古巴是麻省理工學院兒童文學專家，她說認為是這樣的是把年輕讀者視為無防備的空白板，完全次於成年人且易受影響。實際上，他們和成年人一樣，暴露於無數競爭性的影響中，需要篩選和處理。正如任何給幼兒讀過書的人都知道的那樣，古巴博士指出，他們已經有了品味和想法；他們以自己的方式解釋書籍——通常有多種可能的含義。對這本書的回應可能是：“我想當動物園管理員！”在孩子和書的相遇中，“這需要兩個人共同跳探戈。
The real-life union of Roy and Silo did not, alas, end happily ever after. They “stayed together for a couple more years”, remembers Mr Gramzay. Then Silo had a fling with a female chinstrap named Spike, before forming a long-term partnership with another female, Scrappy. (News of his change of mate and taste was greeted by some as a triumph of heteronormativity.) For his part, Roy took up with a male named Blue. Tango found a female partner called Tazuni.
Roy和Silo的真實聯合，可悲的是，並沒有像童話一樣幸福地結束。格拉姆澤先生回憶道，它們“在一起多了幾年”。然後，Silo和一隻名叫Spike的雌性帶魚有了一段短暫的風流韻事，然後與另一隻雌性Scrappy形成了長期的夥伴關係。（有關他改變伴侶和品味的消息被一些人視為異性戀常態的勝利。）至於Roy，他與一隻名叫Blue的雄性成了夥伴。Tango找到了一位名叫Tazuni的雌性伴侶。
There was a happier sequel for the authors. Like Roy and Silo, when they wrote “And Tango Makes Three” the couple felt, in the words of the story, that “Their nest was nice, but it was a little empty.” In that line, confides Dr Richardson, “We were talking about our own lives, too.”
對於作者來說，有一個更幸福的續集。像Roy和Silo一樣，當他們寫下《探戈的誕生》時，這對夫婦感覺到，用故事中的話來說，“他們的巢很好，但有點空虛。”理查森博士坦言：“在這一句中，我們也在談論我們自己的生活。” - Laat meer zien
