British Foreign Office cat heads for retirement

 British Foreign Office cat heads for retirement

英國外交部的貓迎向退休生活

【摘要2020.8.15.中時】◎周虹汶

Palmerston, the cat who has lived at the Foreign Office for four and a half years, will trade in his London residence for retirement in the countryside, where his mouse-catching duties for the diplomats will come to an end.

帕默斯頓，那隻4年半來生活在外交部的貓，將從倫敦的官邸換到鄉下退休，屆時牠替外交官捕鼠的任務將劃下句點。

Writing to the more than 100,000 followers on his Twitter feed, the black and white moggy, who once lived at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, said he wanted to spend more time relaxing away from the limelight.

這隻一度住在「巴特西貓狗之家」的黑白貓在推特上向超過10萬名跟隨者發文說，牠想把更多時間用來放輕鬆，遠離公眾關注。

"I have enjoyed climbing trees and patrolling the fields around my new home in the countryside," he wrote to the Foreign Office’s most senior civil servant, Simon McDonald, signing off with two paw prints.

牠寫給外交部最高階公務員西蒙．麥唐諾：「我喜歡爬樹，在我鄉下新家附近巡邏」，結尾留下兩隻爪印。

"I will miss hearing the footsteps of an Ambassador and sprinting to my hideout to see who it is."

「我會想念聽到大使的腳步聲，以及快快跑到我的藏身處看看是誰。」

There will be no wider reshuffle as Larry the cat remains on Downing Street whilst fellow feline Gladstone retains his post at the finance ministry. （Reuters）

不會有更大幅度改組，貓兒賴瑞繼續待在唐寧街，而貓夥伴格萊斯頓保留財政部的職位。（路透）

新聞辭典

trade：名詞，指交易、買賣、生意、行業、需要特殊技術和手工勞動的職業；形容詞，指行業的（刊物）；動詞，指交換、國與國間從事貿易、在證券交易所買賣、相互交談。例句：I wouldn’t trade you for the world.（除了你，我誰都不要。）

limelight：名詞，聚光燈、眾所矚目的中心。例句：He’s been in the limelight recently.（他近來受到公眾極大關注。）

sprint：名詞、動詞，指短跑、衝刺。例句：She suddenly broke into a sprint.（她突然飛奔起來。）

 

 

MAN REPLACES EYE WITH CAMERA；BECOMES “EYEBORG”

魔鬼終結者上身

【摘要2020.8.15.蘋果】

With the help of engineers, Spence now has a fully functional camera inside his fake eye. The device, which is controlled by a mobile computer, can record video or take photos. He actually has two versions of the robotic eye. One looks like a normal eye, but his original “eyeborg” device has a dark red glow. This makes Spence seem like a real cyborg—part man and part machine.

藉由工程師的協助，史賓斯的義眼裡現在有個功能完備的攝影機。這個由一臺可攜式電腦所操控的裝置能夠錄影和照相。他的機器眼其實有兩種版本。一款看起來像正常的眼睛，但他原版的 eyeborg 裝置則散發出暗紅光芒。這使得史賓斯看起來就像個真正的生化人 ── 一半人類、一半機器。

生活必備字詞

functional a.正常運作的；功能性的
version n. 版本
With so many different versions of the story, it’s hard to know what really happened.