2009年11月17日 星期二
2009年11月16日 星期一
11/16 Daily Podcast
◆ CNN Student News│CNN
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◆ 60-Second Science│ ScientificAmerican
Why Bangladesh Water Contains Arsenic
In a study in the journal Nature Geoscience, M.I.T. researchers identify what they believe is the sequence of events whereby arsenic trapped in the sediment of the Ganges Delta is finding its way into the drinking water supply of Bangladesh. Cynthia Graber reports
→WORD LIST:
※
※延伸閱讀：
孟加拉2百萬人砷中毒 禍首找到
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Understand why intense debate surrounds a decision involving 9/11 suspects
- Take note of what did and what did not happen at the weekend APEC summit
- Get an update on what was found after NASA spacecraft crashed into the moon
※
◆ 60-Second Science│ ScientificAmerican
Why Bangladesh Water Contains Arsenic
In a study in the journal Nature Geoscience, M.I.T. researchers identify what they believe is the sequence of events whereby arsenic trapped in the sediment of the Ganges Delta is finding its way into the drinking water supply of Bangladesh. Cynthia Graber reports
→WORD LIST:
※
※延伸閱讀：
孟加拉2百萬人砷中毒 禍首找到
11/16 Daily Reading
◆譯言堂
“Bonuses have been a symptom of the excessive behaviour of some banks over the last few years and even over the last few month. We will be giving the FSA powers if necessary to tear up contracts that would result in payments being made that would cause instability." -- Alistair Darling
「紅利是部分銀行近幾年、甚至過去幾個月行為乖張的症狀。必要時，我們將應賦予金融管理局權力，以取消會造成不穩定的薪酬合約。」
英國提出政府介入銀行發放紅利的新法律，以防造成金融體系不穩定。財政大臣達林14日接受訪問時表示，他不是反對辛苦工作的銀行家領取高薪，而是不希望鼓勵他們冒高風險，以免拖垮整個金融體系。
excessive：過度的、過分的。symptom：症狀。instability 不穩定。
◆Word of the Day | fetter
By THE LEARNING NETWORK
fetter noun 腳鐐 and verb 上腳鐐(限制某人自由)
noun : a shackle for the ankles or feet
verb: restrain with fetters
The word fetter has appeared in 5 Times articles over the past year, including in a quote from a book by Rachel Cusk reviewed by Adam Begley in “O Sole Mio “:
The idea behind this memoir seems simple: a prizewinning author of six novels and a previous memoir, books praised (讚揚) for their witty (詼諧的;機智的) and sophisticated prose (散文), scoops up (敏捷地抱起) her husband and two children and escapes dreary (沉悶的;令人沮喪的) England for Tuscany, where she will relish the landscape, the weather, the food and, above all, the art. As someone who periodically escapes England with the same destination and delights in mind, I was eager to read “The Last Supper: A Summer in Italy,” by Rachel Cusk, hoping to see cherished sights through fresh eyes.
”Arlington Park,” the novel Cusk published two years ago, is about the deadening effects of rainy British suburbia on a handful of unhappy young mothers, so it comes as no surprise to discover at the beginning of her new book that she regrets the damp suburb in which she lives, prey to disenchantment, claustrophobia and boredom. She requires truth and beauty — and ”distinctness.” She tells us about ”a hunger that seemed to gnaw at the very ligaments of my soul.” Later, on the other side of the Channel, she looks back on ”the days whose repetition had laid a kind of fetter on my soul.” It’s not clear whether the souls of her husband (unnamed) and her daughters (ages 5 and 6, also unnamed) are similarly gnawed and fettered. Nevertheless, ”we decided to go to Italy, though not forever.”
◆ Words in the News│BBC
Ghost rainforest in London
The stumps of ten rainforest trees have been placed around London's Trafalgar Square to highlight the issue of deforestation. Ghost Forest, by artist Angela Palmer, will remain in the square until Friday.
The ten stumps arrived overnight, having being shipped by the artist, Angela Palmer, from a sustainable forestry in Ghana. Most had fallen naturally, and the original trees would have been as tall as Nelson's column.
But now the stumps are laid out across the square as an artwork, albeit one with a purpose to show people what exactly has been lost through deforestation and also to celebrate the work in Ghana to promote responsible logging.
This though is only a temporary exhibition. The trees have to make another journey after this, to Copenhagen and the forthcoming UN climate change conference.
David Sillito, BBC News, London
→WORD LIST:
※ stumps (樹倒或被砍後遺留下的)殘幹,根株
here, a stump means the roots and the base of the trunk of a fallen tree
※ a sustainable forestry
forestland that has been planted for commercial purposes and is carefully managed so it can continue to grow for a long period of time
※ laid out (佈局) across the square
put in a particular order, as instructed by the artist, in different parts of the square
※ an artwork
something beautiful and/or thought-provoking that has been created by human effort rather than by nature; sometimes a work of art is created to serve a particular purpose or to promote a particular cause, e.g. here, to attract people's attention to the threat of deforestation (see below)
※ albeit 雖然，即使
even though, although
※ deforestation
causing a lot of damage to forests by cutting down a lot of trees in large areas
※ to promote responsible logging (伐木)
to encourage people to cut down trees responsibly, i.e. causing forests as little harm as possible
※ temporary
not permanent, existing for a limited period of time
“Bonuses have been a symptom of the excessive behaviour of some banks over the last few years and even over the last few month. We will be giving the FSA powers if necessary to tear up contracts that would result in payments being made that would cause instability." -- Alistair Darling
「紅利是部分銀行近幾年、甚至過去幾個月行為乖張的症狀。必要時，我們將應賦予金融管理局權力，以取消會造成不穩定的薪酬合約。」
英國提出政府介入銀行發放紅利的新法律，以防造成金融體系不穩定。財政大臣達林14日接受訪問時表示，他不是反對辛苦工作的銀行家領取高薪，而是不希望鼓勵他們冒高風險，以免拖垮整個金融體系。
excessive：過度的、過分的。symptom：症狀。instability 不穩定。
◆Word of the Day | fetter
By THE LEARNING NETWORK
fetter noun 腳鐐 and verb 上腳鐐(限制某人自由)
noun : a shackle for the ankles or feet
verb: restrain with fetters
The word fetter has appeared in 5 Times articles over the past year, including in a quote from a book by Rachel Cusk reviewed by Adam Begley in “O Sole Mio “:
The idea behind this memoir seems simple: a prizewinning author of six novels and a previous memoir, books praised (讚揚) for their witty (詼諧的;機智的) and sophisticated prose (散文), scoops up (敏捷地抱起) her husband and two children and escapes dreary (沉悶的;令人沮喪的) England for Tuscany, where she will relish the landscape, the weather, the food and, above all, the art. As someone who periodically escapes England with the same destination and delights in mind, I was eager to read “The Last Supper: A Summer in Italy,” by Rachel Cusk, hoping to see cherished sights through fresh eyes.
”Arlington Park,” the novel Cusk published two years ago, is about the deadening effects of rainy British suburbia on a handful of unhappy young mothers, so it comes as no surprise to discover at the beginning of her new book that she regrets the damp suburb in which she lives, prey to disenchantment, claustrophobia and boredom. She requires truth and beauty — and ”distinctness.” She tells us about ”a hunger that seemed to gnaw at the very ligaments of my soul.” Later, on the other side of the Channel, she looks back on ”the days whose repetition had laid a kind of fetter on my soul.” It’s not clear whether the souls of her husband (unnamed) and her daughters (ages 5 and 6, also unnamed) are similarly gnawed and fettered. Nevertheless, ”we decided to go to Italy, though not forever.”
◆ Words in the News│BBC
Ghost rainforest in London
The stumps of ten rainforest trees have been placed around London's Trafalgar Square to highlight the issue of deforestation. Ghost Forest, by artist Angela Palmer, will remain in the square until Friday.
The ten stumps arrived overnight, having being shipped by the artist, Angela Palmer, from a sustainable forestry in Ghana. Most had fallen naturally, and the original trees would have been as tall as Nelson's column.
But now the stumps are laid out across the square as an artwork, albeit one with a purpose to show people what exactly has been lost through deforestation and also to celebrate the work in Ghana to promote responsible logging.
This though is only a temporary exhibition. The trees have to make another journey after this, to Copenhagen and the forthcoming UN climate change conference.
David Sillito, BBC News, London
→WORD LIST:
※ stumps (樹倒或被砍後遺留下的)殘幹,根株
here, a stump means the roots and the base of the trunk of a fallen tree
※ a sustainable forestry
forestland that has been planted for commercial purposes and is carefully managed so it can continue to grow for a long period of time
※ laid out (佈局) across the square
put in a particular order, as instructed by the artist, in different parts of the square
※ an artwork
something beautiful and/or thought-provoking that has been created by human effort rather than by nature; sometimes a work of art is created to serve a particular purpose or to promote a particular cause, e.g. here, to attract people's attention to the threat of deforestation (see below)
※ albeit 雖然，即使
even though, although
※ deforestation
causing a lot of damage to forests by cutting down a lot of trees in large areas
※ to promote responsible logging (伐木)
to encourage people to cut down trees responsibly, i.e. causing forests as little harm as possible
※ temporary
not permanent, existing for a limited period of time
2009年11月15日 星期日
11/14-11/15 Weekly Podcast
◆ 60-Second Earth │ ScientificAmerican
Are Algae Mass Murderers?
A new theory suggests that algae might be to blame for the Earth's greatest mass extinctions. David Biello reports
→WORD LIST:
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◆ 60-Second Psych │ ScientificAmerican
Boost Your Creativity with Eye Movement
Recent research published in the journal Brain and Cognition finds that people can boost the number and quality of their original ideas when they increase the interaction between the brain's right and left hemispheres. Christie Nicholson reports
→WORD LIST:
※
◆ 6 Minute English│BBC
Spiral museum at 50
Join Dima and Rebecca as they talk about a most unusual arts museum building that first opened to the public in New York 50 years ago. Also, why not test your prediction skills with an exercise at the end of the programme?
→WORD LIST:
※
Are Algae Mass Murderers?
A new theory suggests that algae might be to blame for the Earth's greatest mass extinctions. David Biello reports
→WORD LIST:
※
◆ 60-Second Psych │ ScientificAmerican
Boost Your Creativity with Eye Movement
Recent research published in the journal Brain and Cognition finds that people can boost the number and quality of their original ideas when they increase the interaction between the brain's right and left hemispheres. Christie Nicholson reports
→WORD LIST:
※
◆ 6 Minute English│BBC
Spiral museum at 50
Join Dima and Rebecca as they talk about a most unusual arts museum building that first opened to the public in New York 50 years ago. Also, why not test your prediction skills with an exercise at the end of the programme?
→WORD LIST:
※
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