A visit to see the president of the United States is probably the best excuse in the world to skip school, especially if he then personally writes your teacher a note.
President Barack Obama, who has two girls, swiftly sought to help a fellow dad out of a dilemma when he discovered John Corpus had brought his daughter to see him at a public meeting in Wisconsin, instead of taking her to school.
“I am fortunate enough to be here with my 10-year-old daughter, who is missing her last day of school for this. I hope she doesn’t get in trouble,” Corpus told the president.
“Oh, no,” replied Obama, all ears.
“Yes,” came the reply.
“Do you need me to write a note?” asked the president.
“I’ll take you up on that, actually, Mr. President.”
“All right. Go ahead. I’ll start writing it now,” replied Obama. “What’s her name?”
“John Corpus,” replied the startled father. “No, her,” Obama corrected him.
Corpus then tried to pose his question at the town hall meeting in Green Bay, when Obama interrupted him, saying “No, no, I’m serious. What’s your daughter’s name?”
“Her name is Kennedy,” the bemused Corpus said. “Kennedy. All right. That’s a cool name,” replied Obama.
A few minutes later Kennedy made her way through the crowd to receive her note from Obama written as the president was listening to her father’s question about healthcare reform.(AFP)
拜見美國總統可能是世上最好的蹺課藉口，尤其如果總統還親自幫你寫假條給老師。
自己有兩位千金的總統巴拉克•歐巴馬一知道約翰•柯普斯為了帶女兒到威斯康辛州的鎮民大會一睹其風采，竟選擇讓她蹺課後，當下決定幫助這位陷入兩難的父親。
柯普斯告訴歐巴馬：「能和十歲的女兒來這裡，我感到很幸運。她為了來這裡，沒去上這學期最後一天課，我希望她不會因此惹上麻煩。」
凝神傾聽的歐巴馬說：「不會吧？」
柯普斯回答：「是真的。」
歐巴馬問：「你需要我幫你寫假條嗎？」
「總統先生，我想我會接受你的提議。」
歐巴馬說：「好，我現在就寫。她叫什麼名字？」
這位嚇了一跳的父親回答：「約翰•柯普斯。」歐巴馬糾正他說：「不是你的名字，是她的名字。」
柯普斯之後便試圖在綠灣舉行的這場鎮民大會上提問。歐巴馬打斷他說：「我是說真的。你女兒叫什麼名字？」
困惑的柯普斯說：「她叫甘迺迪。」歐巴馬回答：「甘迺迪。好。很好的名字。」
幾分鐘後，甘迺迪穿越人群去領取歐巴馬幫她寫的假條，而歐巴馬則正在傾聽她父親所提出的健保改革相關問題。
（法新社�翻譯：林倩如）
A: China’s animated blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” also smashed a box office record recently. B: It’s No. 7 among the world’s best-selling films, grossing more than US$2 billion globally. A: I t has even become the world’s highest-grossing animated film, while the political metaphors in it are causing controversy. B: But who is Ne Zha anyway? A: Ne Zha, often spelled as “Nezha,” is actually a mythical teenage deity with superpowers. A: 中國動畫片《哪吒2》最近也打破紀錄。 B: 該片已衝上影史票房排行榜第7名，全球狂賣超過20億美元。 A: 聽說它甚至是全球最賣座的動畫片，影片中的政治隱喻卻引爆爭議！ B: 但哪吒是誰？ A: 哪吒的名字常被拼成「Nezha」，是神話中具有超能力的青少年神明。
People desire a sense of purpose in their lives, but they often remain idle unless they have a clear reason to act. This concept is illustrated by the retirement paradox. People work hard to prepare for a future without work but find life meaningless after achieving that goal. A study was carried out to determine if a reason, even a minor one, could encourage idle people to take action. __1__ Upon finishing the first, they were instructed to drop it off at a location either right outside the room or at a spot farther away, which would take around
A: Were there any highlights at the Oscars this year? B: With 13 nods, French director Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” broke the record for most Oscar nominations earned by a non-English film. A: Wow, it broke the record of 10 Oscar nominations set by Taiwanese director Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” B: On the eve of the Oscars, Lee was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards. A: It seems that Hollywood has finally become more diverse. A: 今年的奧斯卡獎有什麼亮點嗎？ B: 法國導演賈克歐迪亞的《璀璨女人夢》榮獲13項提名，打破了非英語片紀錄！ A: 哇打破了台灣導演李安的《臥虎藏龍》10項提名紀錄。 B: 李安則在奧斯卡前夕，獲頒美國導演工會「終身成就獎」。 A: 看來好萊塢終於比較多元化啦。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪)
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日） https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Results showed that only 32 percent were willing to walk farther for the same candy, but 59 percent chose to do so when promised different candy. Researchers also discovered that students who walked farther reported feeling happier during the wait. __3__ Idleness aversion can be applied in various settings. For example, Uber uses animations and real-time updates to keep customers from being bored while waiting. It can also be used in the design of office buildings to reduce elevator traffic. During busy times, it takes a while to wait for an elevator. __4__ Recognizing the power
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