An 82-year-old woman received a US$114 (NT$3,700) ticket for taking too long to cross a street in California.
Mayvis Coyle said she began shuffling with her cane across a busy road when the light was green, but was unable to make it to the other side before it turned red.
She said the police officer who ticketed her on Feb. 15 told her she was obstructing traffic.
PHOTO: AP
``I think it's completely outrageous,'' said Coyle. ``He treated me like a six-year-old, like I don't know what I'm doing.''
Los Angeles policeman Mike Zaboski said police are trying to be tough on people who improperly cross streets because the number of pedestrian accidents has been above normal. He said he could not comment on Coyle's ticket other than to say that it is her word against that of the officer.
``I'd rather not have angry pedestrians,'' Zaboski said. ``But I'd rather have them be alive.''
Others, however, supported Coyle's claim that the light where Coyle crossed the street does not give people enough time to cross the five-lane street.
``I can go halfway, then the light changes,'' said Edith Krause, 78, who uses an electric cart because she has difficulty walking. These women are not the only people who have trouble making it across the street. Sometimes the light changes too quickly even for high school students to make it across without running. It can go from green to red in 20 seconds.
Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said she has asked transportation officials to figure out how to accommodate elderly people.
``We should ... accommodate their needs in intersections,'' she said. (AP)
加州一名八十二歲婦人因過馬路太慢，而收到一張一百一十四美元（新台幣三千七百元）的罰單。
梅薇絲．克歐說，轉綠燈後，她就開始拄著拐杖拖著腳步，走過繁忙的馬路，卻無法在變紅燈前走到對面。
她表示警察在二月十五日開了她一張罰單，說她阻礙交通。
克歐說：「我覺得這簡直太過分了！他把我當六歲小孩看待，好像我不知道自己在做什麼。」
洛杉磯警員麥克*沙鮑斯基表示，因為行人交通事故過高，警方正強力取締不當穿越馬路的行人。他對於開克歐罰單一事不予置評，只表示雙方各執一辭。
他說：「我不願惹惱行人，但我更希望他們活著。」
不過有人支持克歐的說法，指出克歐過馬路的紅綠燈沒有給民眾足夠時間穿越五線道的馬路。
今年七十八歲，因不良於行而使用電動車的伊蒂絲*克羅斯說：「我過馬路才過一半，燈就變了。」不只這些婦人過馬路有困難，有時燈變得太快，甚至高中生不用跑得都走不到對面，因為綠燈在二十秒之內就會變紅燈。
女議員溫蒂*葛兒表示已要求交通局官員設法顧及年長者需要。
她說：「我們應該考量到他們過馬路時的需求。」
（美聯社／翻譯：鄭湘儀）
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
A: Who else is on Billboard’s list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century?” B: No. 15 to 6 are: Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Usher, Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Britney Spears. A: I can’t believe that Adele’s only at No. 10. B: No. 5 to 1 are: Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce. A: Well, they surely deserve the honor. A: 《告示牌》雜誌的「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」，還有誰上榜啊？ B: 第15至6名是：麥莉希拉、大賈斯汀、妮姬米娜、阿姆、亞瑟小子、愛黛兒、亞莉安娜、小賈斯汀、肯伊威斯特、小甜甜布蘭妮。 A: 真不敢相信愛黛兒只排第10名。 B: 第5至1名是：女神卡卡、德瑞克、蕾哈娜、泰勒絲、碧昂絲。 A: 這幾位真是實至名歸！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
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