The picture shows a wild binturong or bearcat tied up and kept at a pagoda in Kandal Province, Vietnam.
The local monk feeds two wild bearcats at the pagoda to try and protect them from poachers. The poachers want to sell the bearcats to be used in Traditional Chinese medicine.
Actually the bearcat isn't really a bear or a cat. It's a type of civet. It lives in forests in Vietnam, Borneo, Burma and Palawan.
PHOTO: AFP
Bearcats stay awake during the night and climb trees and look for food. They mainly eat fruit. They sleep on branches during the day.
They have long bodies, between 60 to 90cm. Their tails are almost as long as their body. Bearcats weigh 9kg to 14kg and, when they aren't caught by poachers, they can live for up to 20 years. People say that bearcats smell like warm popcorn!(Catherine Thomas, staff writer)
照片上的野生熊貍被綁在越南干拉省的一座寺塔內，並由塔方負責照料。
當地僧侶在寺塔內飼養兩隻野生熊狸，保護牠們不被偷獵。熊狸可作為傳統中藥，偷獵者因此想販售牟利。
事實上，熊狸既非熊也非貓，牠是一種果子狸，生活在越南、婆羅洲、緬甸及巴拉望的森林裡。
熊狸是夜行性動物，所以利用夜間爬樹覓食。水果是牠們的主食，白天就在樹枝上睡覺。
熊狸的身長介於六十到九十公分，尾巴差不多和身體一樣長，體重則有九到十四公斤。在未遭偷獵的情況下，牠們的壽命可長達二十年。據說，熊狸的氣味很像熱爆米花！
（翻譯：林倩如）
A: Yet another shopping mall has just opened in Taipei. B: Do you mean the Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport Nangang? A: Yeah, the shopping mall run by Japanese Mitsui & Co. opened last week. B: I hear the mall features about 300 stores, Vieshow Cinemas and Japanese Lopia supermarket. A: With the opening, a war is breaking out between Taipei’s department stores. A: 台北又有新的購物商場可逛啦。 B: 你是說Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport 南港？ A: 對啊這家日本三井集團旗下的商場上週開幕。 B: 聽說商場有威秀影城、樂比亞日系超市，還有多達300家專櫃。 A: 新商場一開幕，看來又要掀起一場百貨大戰啦！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
A: Hey, didn’t you go to the opening of the Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport Nangang last week? B: Yeah, there are about 300 shops, including the first overseas branch of Japan’s Mahou Dokoro — a famous Harry Potter-themed store. A: Wow, I’ve always wanted to get a magic wand. B: There are also a bunch of great restaurants, such as Smart Fish hotpot restaurant. A: I wish I had Harry Potter’s “apparition” and “disapparition” magic, so I could teleport to the mall right now. A: 你上週不是有去LaLaport南港的盛大開幕嗎？有什麼特別的？ B: 那裡有多達300家專櫃，包括魔法之地的海外首店——它可是日本知名的《哈利波特》專賣店。 A: 哇我一直想買根魔杖。 B: 另外還有各式各樣的美食，像是林聰明沙鍋魚頭。 A: 真希望我也有哈利波特的「現影術／消影術」魔法，能瞬間移動到商場去！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
When it comes to movies, some people delight in watching spine-chilling horror films. Surprisingly, apart from containing a few scares, horror movies may also offer an unexpected __1__. According to a study, watching 90 minutes of a scary movie can burn an average of 113 calories, which is roughly __2__ to taking a 30-minute walk. Researchers from the University of Westminster carried out an experiment in which they __3__ participants’ oxygen intake, carbon dioxide output, and heart rates while they were watching horror movies without any distractions. The results revealed that physiological responses to fear play a crucial role
Dos & Don’ts — 想想看，這句話英語該怎麼說？ 1. 你覺得這部電影怎樣？ ˇ What do you think of the movie? χ How do you like the movie? χ How do you think of the movie? 註︰What do you think of ＝ What is your opinion of。 think 的受詞是 what，不能用 how。 2. 你認為哪一個歌星唱得最好？ ˇ Which singer do you think is the best? χ Do you think which singer is the best? 註︰英語中 which singer 似乎是 do you think 的受詞，實則 do you think 是插入語，其他例子如下： 你以為他喜歡誰？ Who do you think he likes? 你以為我住在哪裏？ Where do you think I live? 你想我昨天在公園裏碰到了誰？ Whom/Who do you think I met in the park yesterday? 3. 他不論到什麼地方，總是帶著一把雨傘。 ˇ No matter where he goes, he
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