The US state of Colorado is renowned as a destination for outdoor activities. The impressive Rocky Mountains, which cut through the state, are the focus of these pastimes, which include hiking and climbing. In Ouray, a town in southwestern Colorado, “ice climbing” is at the center of winter festivities. Every January since 1996, the town has held the Ouray Ice Festival. Its goal is to expose more people to the thrill of ice climbing.
The site of this exciting event is the Ouray Ice Park. The park, which fills a river gorge, features over a hundred different routes where expert ice climbers train. On the ice walls are sprinklers and pipes that are overseen by the park’s “ice farmers.” Over the course of the winter, these workers carefully cover the steep walls of the gorge with ice. They create exciting challenges that mirror natural ice formations like frozen waterfalls. They’re also responsible for cleaning up hazards like icicles.
Professionals might come to the park to test their expertise, but Ouray Ice Park has been likened to a ski resort. That means that plenty of people just come to play! During the four days that the festival occupies in January, anyone can give ice climbing a try. There are classes to acquaint beginners of all ages, including young children, with the sport.
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNSPLASH / 照片：UNSPLASH提供
The fun isn’t confined to the ice, either. Visitors can also attend movie screenings and costume parties—the atmosphere at the Ice Festival is warm and fun-filled, despite the wintry weather!
美國科羅拉多州是著名的戶外活動勝地。貫穿該州雄偉的洛磯山脈是這些娛樂的焦點，包含了健行及攀岩。在科羅拉多州西南部的烏雷鎮，「攀冰」是冬季慶祝活動的焦點。自西元1996年以來，該鎮每年一月都會舉辦烏雷冰雪節。它的目標是讓更多人接觸到攀冰的刺激感。
這項令人感到興奮的活動的舉辦地點在烏雷冰上公園。該園區河流峽谷遍布，以擁有超過一百條不同的路線為特色，讓專業的攀冰者可以在此訓練。冰壁上有灑水器和管線，由園區的「冰農」監管。在整個冬天期間，這些工人小心地將冰覆蓋在峽谷的峭壁上。他們創造出刺激的挑戰，與冰瀑等自然的冰層結構很相似。他們還負責清理冰錐等危險物。
專業人士可能會來這公園測試他們的技能，但烏雷冰上公園被比擬作是滑雪勝地。這意味著很多人只是來玩的！一月的冰雪節為期四天，任何人都可以嘗試攀冰。有一些課程可以讓包括幼童在內所有年齡層的初學者認識這項運動。
樂趣也並非局限於冰上。遊客還可以參加電影放映和化妝舞會──儘管天氣寒冷，冰雪節的氣氛卻是溫暖而充滿樂趣的！
MORE INFORMATION
hooray int. (表興奮或贊同)好啊
Rocky Mountains 洛磯山脈
pastime n. 消遣；娛樂
festivities n. pl. 慶祝活動
gorge n. 峽谷
sprinkler n. 灑水器
icicle n. 冰錐；冰柱
wintry adj. 寒冷的；冬季的
Key Vocabulary
1. renowned adj.
著名的；有聲望的
Our museum is honored to host an exhibition with artworks from several renowned artists.
我們的博物館很榮幸主辦一場多位著名藝術家作品的展覽。
2. thrill n. 刺激；興奮
Stephanie gets a big thrill out of performing live in front of an audience.
在觀眾面前現場表演讓史蒂芬妮興奮不已。
3. route n. 路線；途徑
Joy drives her car to work, and she always takes the same route every day.
喬伊開車上班，她每天總是走同樣的路線。
4. oversee vt. 監管；監督
(三態oversee-oversaw-overseen)
The human resources department will oversee all the new training manuals to make sure everything is included.
人力資源部門將監管所有新的培訓手冊，以確保所有事項都包含在內。
5. formation n. 結構；形狀；形成
There’s a rock formation in Yehliu that looks like the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti.
野柳有一個岩石結構看起來像古埃及皇后娜芙蒂蒂。
6. professional n. 專業人士；專家
You should take your smartphone to a professional, rather than try to fix it yourself.
你應該把智慧型手機拿給專業人士修理，而不是試著自己修理。
7. occupy vt. 占據；占用(時間或空間)
A large marble statue occupied the center of the hotel lobby.
一座大型大理石雕像占據了飯店大廳中央的空間。
8. give sth a try 嘗試
I don’t think I am very good at socializing, but I’ll give it a try.
我不認為我很擅長社交，但我會嘗試看看。
9. acquaint vt. (使)認識；熟悉
acquaint oneself with sb / sth 熟悉；了解
Every new employee has to acquaint themselves with the company’s policies and procedures.
每位新員工都必須熟悉公司的政策及程序。
學習音檔: https://magazine.english4u.net/Magdata/menu/lkmpb
《空中美語》雜誌APP免費下載: https://www.english4u.net/apps/index.aspx
免費收聽當月《空中美語》雜誌課文朗讀及解析 !
文章由AMC空中美語授權使用: https://www.english4u.net
Undersea cables are conductors wrapped in insulating materials and laid on the seabed. Their main functions are telecommunications or power transmission. The core of the undersea cables used for Internet signals is optical fiber, using light to transmit Internet signals. Taiwan’s communications are currently handled by 10 domestic undersea cables and 14 international undersea cables. About 99 percent of Taiwan’s Internet bandwidth relies on undersea cables, making them Taiwan’s “digital lifeline.” The demands on the cables’ bandwidth are only set to increase with the development of artificial intelligence (AI), which relies on the data fed into it. Today, data is
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
Recent events in Taiwan have highlighted the contentious nature of “priority seating” on public transportation. Incidents, such as passengers experiencing emotional distress after being compelled to give up their seats and elderly individuals attacking others after being refused a seat, have prompted a national reassessment of this policy. Some voices in Taiwan now advocate for abolishing priority seats to prevent such conflicts. This issue is not unique to Taiwan. In South Korea, where respect for the elderly is deeply ingrained, priority seating has led to similar confrontations. Younger passengers often face accusations of disrespect if they do not yield seats. In
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
RSS