A: Some toys were cool, some were badly conceived and some were toxic.
B: Toxic? What do you mean?
A: I had a collection of cartoon figurines. They were part of a promotion from a gas station. It turns out there was lead in the paint used on them. They had to be withdrawn. Lead paint is toxic.
Photo: Pixabay 照片：Pixabay
B: I remember those. They later reintroduced them with non-toxic paint, didn’t they? And the ones with the safe paint had a little blue spot on the base of the foot to distinguish them from the poisonous ones.
A: That’s right. So I built up a second collection. I came home from school one day to find my younger brother had used them to enact a battle scene, and had stained them with red paint to represent blood. That was another set ruined.
B: Well, your brother was using his imagination. I thought you just said that was a good thing.
A: 有些玩具很酷，有些設計得不好，也有些有毒。
B: 有毒？這是什麼意思？
A: 我收集了一些小的卡通人物模型，這是一家加油站的促銷活動送的。結果後來發現這些模型用的塗料含有鉛，他們只好把這些模型召回。含有鉛的油漆是有毒的。
B: 我記得這件事。後來他們又開始送使用無鉛塗料的玩具，對吧？這些使用安全塗料的玩具底座就有一個藍色的點，用來跟那些有毒的玩具做區別。
A: 沒錯。所以我就收集了第二套。有一天我放學回家，發現我弟用這些模型來扮演戰爭的場面，在上面灑了紅色油漆來代表血。所以我第二套收集也毀了。
B: 嗯，你弟弟是在運用他的想像力啊。你剛剛不是說運用想像力是件好事嗎？
（Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯）
English 英文:
Chinese 中文:
Renhe sat stiffly at the Wei Ya banquet, picking at the symbolic dishes on the table. Fish for abundance, sticky rice cake for progress — it all seemed superstitious to him. The shrine to the Land God near the entrance, adorned with offerings, incense, and fruit, struck him as frivolous. “What does this have to do with running a business?” Renhe scrolled on his phone as his co-workers performed skits and poorly sung songs. He wasn’t even paying attention to the lucky draws when his name was called. The room filled with applause and cheers as he went to the stage
The cocoa industry is currently facing a crisis, with this year’s cocoa trading price soaring to an unprecedented $10,000 per ton—a 400 percent increase from last year—stemming from diminished crop yields. Given cocoa’s indispensable role in chocolate-making, this surge has driven up chocolate prices and triggered concerns about the sustainability of global chocolate production. West Africa, home to over half of the world’s cocoa trees, is at the center of this issue. The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Ghana, in particular, are facing severe challenges from both natural disasters and human-induced factors, substantially impacting cocoa harvests. Climate change, with
A: What were the highest-grossing films globally last year? B: “Inside Out 2” was the highest, followed by “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Despicable Me 4,” “Dune: Part 2” and “Moana 2.” A: “Inside Out 2” was also the highest-grossing film in Taiwan. B: It grossed nearly US$1.7 billion worldwide, or NT$55 billion, becoming the best-selling animated film of all time. A: I can’t believe I missed the movie last year. A: 去年全球最賣座的電影有哪些？ B: 冠軍是《腦筋急轉彎2》，其後是《死侍與金鋼狼》、《神偷奶爸4》、《沙丘：第2部》、《海洋奇緣2》。 A: 《腦2》也是去年台灣票房冠軍耶。 B: 這部鉅片狂賣近17億美元，約550億台幣，成為全球影史最賣座動畫電影！ A: 真不敢相信我錯過了這部強片。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: In addition to “Inside Out 2” at the top, what were the other highest-grossing films domestically last year? B: “Gatao: Like Father, Like Son” was the only Taiwanese movie among the top 10 blockbusters, which included five animated films. A: I’m surprised that the Taiwanese hit “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” wasn’t on the chart. B: But it grossed over 500 million Chinese yuan in China, which is nearly NT$2.5 billion. The figure was five times higher than that of the best-selling film in Taiwan. A: Its success shows that Taiwanese movies should go international. A:
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