對話 Dialogue
清清：哎喲！我哥哥的孩子竟然可能會在後天出生！
Qīngqīng: Aiyo! Wǒ gēge de háizi jìngrán kěnéng huì zài hòutiān chūshēng!
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華華：恭喜，恭喜！怎麼了？後天出生有什麼問題？
Huáhuá: Gōngxǐ, gōngxǐ! Zěnmele? Hòutiān chūshēng yǒu shénme wèntí?
清清：你忘了嗎？後天是2月29號，這樣一來，我侄子每四年才能過一次生日了！
Qīngqīng: Nǐ wàngle ma? Hòutiān shì 2 yuè 29 hào, zhèyàng yìlái, wǒ zhízi měi sì nián cáinéng guò yícì shēngrì le!
華華：啊！今年是閏年，哈哈！你說的沒錯，你侄子真會挑時候。但如果他真的後天來報到，你跟他父母就省錢啦！四年才需要送一次禮物。
Huáhua: A! Jīnnián shì rùnnián, haha! Nǐ shuōde méicuò, nǐ zhízi zhēn huì tiāo shíhòu. Dàn rúguǒ tā zhēnde hòutiān lái bàodào, nǐ gēn tā fùmǔ jiù shěngqián la! Sì nián cái xūyào sòng yícì lǐwù.
清清：不行，要真是那樣，就太可憐了！我們可以給他慶祝農曆的生日。
Qīngqing: Bùxíng, yào zhēnshi nàyàng, jiù tài kěliánle! Wǒmen kěyǐ gěi tā qìngzhù nónglì de shēngrì.
華華：這倒是個好辦法，不過要是碰上農曆每三年一次的閏月，他還是得多等一個月。
Huáhua: Zhè dǎoshì ge hǎo bànfǎ, búguò yàoshi pèngshàng nónglì měi sān nián yícì de rùnyuè, tā háishì děi duō děng yí ge yuè.
清清：三年才多等一個月，還是比四年才過一次生日好得多，就這麼定了！
Qīngqing: Sān nián cái duō děng yí ge yuè, háishì bǐ sì nián cái guò yícì shēngrì hǎo de duō, jiù zhème dìngle!
華華：無論如何，還是恭喜你們家要添丁了！下個月孩子滿月的時候，別忘了請我吃雞腿油飯和紅蛋喔！
Huáhua: Wúlùn rúhé, háishì gōngxǐ nǐmen jiā yào tiāndīng le! Xià ge yuè háizi mǎnyuè de shíhòu, bié wàngle qǐng wǒ chī jītuǐ yóufàn hàn hóngdàn o!
翻譯 Translation
Qingqing: Oh my! My brother’s child might be born the day after tomorrow!
Huahua: Congratulations! What’s the matter? What’s the problem with being born the day after tomorrow?
Qingqing: Did you forget? The day after tomorrow is Feb. 29. This means my nephew will only celebrate his birthday every four years!
Huahua: Ah! This year is a leap year, haha! You’re right, your nephew sure knows how to pick the timing. But if he really arrives the day after tomorrow, you and his parents will save money! You only need to give a gift once every four years.
Qingqing: No way, that would be too sad! We can celebrate his lunar birthday instead.
Huahua: That’s a good idea, but if it coincides with the lunar leap month that occurs every three years, he still has to wait an extra month.
Qingqing: Waiting an extra month every three years is much better than celebrating his birthday only once every four years. So be it!
Huahua: Anyway, congratulations on the upcoming addition to your family! Don’t forget to treat me to steamed glutinous rice with a drumstick and a red egg when the baby turns one month old next month!
生詞 Vocabulary
1. 出生 (chūshēng) born, birth
2. 這樣一來 (zhèyàng yìlái) in this way, thus
3. 侄子 (zhízi) nephew, brother’s son
4. 閏年 (rùnnián) leap year
5. 閏月 (rùnyuè) leap month, intercalary month
6. 添丁 (tiāndīng) beget a son, have a baby (boy)
7. 滿月 (mǎnyuè) one month old
8. 油飯 (yóufàn) steamed glutinous rice (Taiwanese food)
教材音檔 Audio Files
國立清華大學華語中心提供
By National Tsing Hua University Chinese Language Center:
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）
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
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