Tue, Jul 08, 2008 page14

• German fuel price protester burns his own car 德男子焚車抗議油價飆漲

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  A protester demanding a tax holiday on petrol set fire to his own BMW car in front of the German city of Frankfurt’s most iconic skyscraper late last month to protest at soaring fuel costs.

  Police said he parked the car on a grass verge near the 63-story Messeturm building, poured a canister of petrol over it and set it alight. Lettering painted on the car said “Petrol Profiteering” and showed the address of his protest site on the Internet. By the time police and fire crews arrived, the car had been gutted.

  The protester, 30, who lives in neighboring Bavaria state, was detained by the police. They said the damage, including the loss of the car, totaled about 10,000 euros (NT$481,950). The man said he wanted to burn the car in Berlin, but it had been too far to drive.

  

  The blazing car is seen in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 27, 2008. 六月二十七日，這輛在德國法蘭克福市熊熊燃燒的汽車。 照片：歐新社

  PHOTO: EPA

  Karlheinz Wagner, a police spokesman, said the protestor, who had given up his job 23 days earlier, would probably be charged with pollution and would receive a big invoice from the fire brigade.

  “The guy was quite lucky because the petrol tank did not explode,” he added.

  On the Web site, the man, who gave only his first name, Michael, made clear that he viewed the German government, not oil companies, as the profiteers, since the price of petrol in Germany was mainly tax.

  With fuel costs rising sharply recently, the protestor was feeling the pinch. He said he had quit his job because he had to pay 250 euros (NT$12,000) per month for fuel to drive to a job 80km from his home.

  The scene of the blaze, the Messeturm, is a lone tower dominating its own plaza and a main Frankfurt street and is the second tallest office building in the city.

  (DPA)

  一位爭取油價租稅假期的示威者，上個月底在德國法蘭克福市最著名的摩天大樓前，以焚燒自己寶馬汽車的方式抗議油價飆漲。

  警方表示，他先把車停在六十三層樓高的商品交易會大廈附近的草坪旁，然後朝著車子倒了一桶汽油，再點火引燃。他的車體上漆有「牟取油價暴利」及他的抗議網站網址等字樣。等警方和消防隊趕到現場，這輛車已經全毀。

  這名三十歲的抗議男子住在鄰近的巴伐利亞邦，縱火後即被警方羈押。警方表示，包括被燒毀的寶馬車在內，這場火災總共造成約一萬歐元（約合新台幣四十八萬一千九百五十元）的損失。這名男子說，他本來想在柏林焚燒這輛車，可是開到柏林實在太遠了。

  警方發言人卡爾海茲．華格納表示，這名抗議人士二十三天前辭掉工作，現在可能會因污染環境被起訴，還會收到消防隊開出的鉅額罰單。

  他補充說道：「那輛車的油箱沒有爆炸，算他走運。」

  在這名男子架設的網站上，他只透露他名叫麥克。他在網站上清楚表示，他認為從高油價中牟得暴利的是德國政府，而非石油公司，因為稅金就佔了德國油價絕大的比例。

  隨著最近石油價格狂飆，這名抗議人士的荷包也大縮水。他說，就是因為每個月從家裡開車到公司（相距八十公里）的油錢就要兩百五十歐元（新台幣一萬兩千元），他才辭掉工作。

  這起燒車事件發生在商品交易會大廈前，這棟鶴立於廣場上的摩天高樓坐落在法蘭克福市的主要大道上，是該市第二高的辦公大樓。

  （德通社�翻譯：袁星塵）

  For your information

  TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字

  1. protester n. 抗議者 (kang4 yi4 zhe3) 例: Hundreds of protesters arrived at city hall to protest against the latest tax increase. (數百名抗議群眾聚集在市政府前，抗議最近提高的稅賦。) 2. profiteer v. 牟取暴利 (mou2 qu3 bao4 li4) 例: Many companies profiteer, but few admit to it. (許多企業都牟取暴利，但承認者少之又少。) 3. spokesman n. 發言人 (fa1 yan2 ren2) 例: The spokesman said his airline has the best safety record in the industry. (這位發言人表示，他們是航空界飛安紀錄最好的公司。) 4. invoice n. 繳費單 (jiao3 fei4 dan1) 例: Dave received the invoice for his car repairs today. (大衛今天收到他修車的費用清單了。)

  For your information

  SAY WHAT? 說說看

  feel the pinch 感到經濟拮据 Feel the pinch is an idiom that means to have less money, or to feel like one has less money because of rising costs. The literal meaning of “pinch” means to be squeezed painfully, so this idiom implies a degree of psychological hardship. When people feel the pinch, they may have to tighten their belt — an expression that means to spend less money. For example: “Roger lost his job last month and he’s really feeling the pinch. But he’s tightened his belt and doesn’t eat at expensive restaurants anymore. “ 「feel the pinch」這個片語意指錢變少了，或是因為物價變高而讓人覺得錢變薄了。「pinch」字面上的意思是擰痛，所以這個片語暗指心理上某種程度的艱苦。 當人們「feel the pinch」，他們也許得「tighten their belt」─勒緊褲帶少花點錢。 例如：「羅傑上個月丟了工作，所以覺得錢很不夠用，但他開始縮衣節食，不再去高級餐廳吃飯了」。

  For your information

  OUT LOUD 對話練習

  Marcy: Have you heard the news? The university has decided to increase tuition fees for next semester. Charlie: So what are you going to do about it? Marcy: We’re organizing a protest outside the library tomorrow afternoon. Charlie: Protesting never changes anything. The university won’t listen to you. Marcy: You are so negative! If it weren’t for protesters, women would still be second-class citizens! Charlie: Maybe you’re right. But don’t expect to see me at the protest tomorrow. 瑪西：你聽到那消息了嗎？大學已經決定下個學期要調漲學費了。 查理：那你怎麼辦？ 瑪西：我們正計畫明天下午要在圖書館外面抗議。 查理：抗議根本沒用，學校才不會聽你們的。 瑪西：你太消極了！如果沒有抗議人士，女性到現在還會是二等公民！ 查理：也許你說得對，但別指望我會去參加明天的抗議活動。 second-class citizen　二等公民 A second-class citizen is a person with less rights than other people. It’s usually used figuratively to describe a situation when a person is being mistreated. 「second-class citizen」就是比其他人享有更少權利的人，通常用來比喻受到不公平待遇的情況。
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