President Tsai Ing-wen adopted three retired guide dogs last month. Tsai signed the adoption papers for the Labrador Retrievers — Bella, Bunny and Maru — at a ceremony organized by the Huikuang Guide Dog Foundation Taiwan in Sinjhuang District, New Taipei City.
Tsai vowed to build more barrier-free facilities friendly to seeing eye dogs, so that more visually impaired people can take their dogs on public transport and to other public and business venues, without having to worry that their dogs will be barred entry.
Ideally, there should be about 600 guide dogs in Taiwan, but there are only 37 or 38 at present, Tsai said. Around five to six guide dogs retire every year. She said that guide dogs are “intelligent and aware,” and asked the public to learn more about them, or even adopt them after they retire.
Photo: CNA
照片:中央社
(CNA)
蔡英文總統上個月收養三隻退役導盲犬。在惠光導盲犬教育基金會舉辦的儀式上,蔡總統當場簽署了收養同意書,收養三隻退役拉布拉多犬Bella、Bunny和Maru,該基金會位於新北市新莊區。
她宣誓要打造更多無障礙設施,讓視障朋友在搭乘大眾交通工具,及出入公共場所、營業場所時,都能得到導盲犬的協助,而不需擔心他們的狗兒會被禁止進入。
在理想情況下,台灣應該要有六百隻導盲犬,蔡總統說我國目前只有三十七或三十八隻,每年則有約五、六隻退役。她稱讚導盲犬聰明、善解人意,要求大家多了解他們,並在狗兒退役後予以收養。
(張聖恩譯自中央社)
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