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: Guess what’s included in Google Taiwan’s 2024 most searched words. B: Let me guess: Taiwan’s victory in the WBSC Premier 12 championship must be on the list. A: Wow, good guess. “Premier 12” is at No. 10. B: What are the other most popular searches? A: No. 9 to 6 are: Ticketing platform “Tixcraft,” Taiwanese film “The Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon,” Olympic gold boxer “Lin Yu-ting,” and the “Yuanta ETF coded 00940.” A: 猜猜看，Google 2024台灣搜尋排行榜，有哪些關鍵詞？ B: 我猜「棒球12強賽」一定超熱門吧。 A: 你好強，12強真的排在第10名！ B: 其他熱門搜尋有哪些？！ A: 第9至6名是︰「拓元」售票、電影「周處除三害」、奧運拳擊金牌「林郁婷」、元大ETF「00940」。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: Which words ranked highest for Google Taiwan’s most searched words of 2024? B: No. 5 to 1 are: “US presidential election,” “Olympics,” “Ko Wen-je,” “typhoon” and “earthquake.” A: I heard that Google also released a list of most searched word meanings. B: Yeah, the most popular searches included “M3,” “APT” and “release without bail.” A: Let me google their meanings now. A: Google 2024 台灣搜尋排行榜，前幾名是什麼？ B: 第5至1名是︰「美國總統大選」、「奧運」、「柯文哲」、「颱風」、「地震」！ A: 我聽說Google還有一個搜尋字義的排行榜。 B: 對啊前幾名是︰「M3」、「APT」、「無保請回」。 A: 讓我搜尋一下他們是什麼意思。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Stonefish may not be the most impressive-looking animal in the sea. In fact, this fish is so skilled at camouflage that most people wouldn’t notice it if they swam past it. Despite their unremarkable appearance, stonefish are the most venomous fish in the ocean. Stonefish come in various shades of brown, red, yellow, and orange. Their rough skin texture and blotchy color pattern give them a remarkable resemblance to stones, which is where their name comes from. This feature helps them blend in with their surroundings exceptionally well. Stonefish are notable for their 13 highly venomous spines which protrude
「雙手合十／合掌禮」(namaste) or 「碰肘／擊肘」 (elbow bump): 新冠肺炎流行逐漸改變現代社會的某些社交禮儀，歐美許多名人政要開始以「雙手合十／合掌禮」(namaste) 或「碰肘／擊肘」(elbow bump) 替代握手。 《今日商業》報導英國王儲查爾斯以「雙手合十」代替握手。 Coronavirus update: Prince Charles spotted greeting people with namaste (Business Today , March 12, 2020) 另外，《商業內幕》報導：疫情期間美國總統川普在白宮舉行新冠肺炎記者會，想和居家照護公司LHC集團執行副總葛林斯坦 (Bruce Greenstein) 握手，葛林斯坦婉拒，示意改用擊肘。 President Donald Trump attempted to shake hands with a home health care company executive . . . but the man turned the president down and offered him an elbow bump instead. (Eliza Relman, Business Insider , March 14, 2020) 「雙手合十／合掌禮」源自印度，也流行於泰、緬等國家。「碰肘／擊肘」則是 2006 禽流感、2009 豬流感後逐漸流行。疫情逐漸改變我們的生活方式，包括打招呼等社交禮儀，也出現了微妙的變化。 「拱手禮」(fist-and-palm salute) 至於華人社會傳統上也有雙手互握合於胸前「拱手禮」(fist-and-palm salute)。公益網站 Just Quarantine 提到： Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen demonstrating social distancing through use of a traditional Chinese greeting (fist & palm) instead of shaking hands in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 因應新冠肺炎疫情，2020 當年總統蔡英文與來訪賓客保持安全距離，拱手 (fist &
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