China boosts defense spending by 6.8% in slight uptick

 

中國提高國防經費6.8％ 增幅微升

【摘要2021.4.7.自由】◎管淑平

China is increasing its defense spending by 6.8%, a slight uptick from last year, amid high government debt and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic impact.

在政府債台高築，以及新型冠狀病毒疫情衝擊帶來影響之際，中國增加其國防經費6.8％，略高於去年。

The government says most of the spending increases go toward improving pay and other conditions for troops while observers say the budget omits much of China’s spending on weaponry.

政府說，大多數增加的開支將用於改善部隊待遇和其他生活條件，而觀察家指出，這項預算忽略了中國大多數武器的開支。

China’s military is largely engineered to maintain its threat to use force to bring Taiwan under its control, although it has also grown more assertive in the South China Sea, the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and elsewhere. （AP）

中國軍力大多規劃用來維持其威脅使用武力統治台灣，不過中國在南海、西太平洋、印度洋和其他地方，也已愈來愈強勢。（美聯社）

新聞辭典

uptick：名詞，上揚、增加。例句：The nation has seen an uptick in hate crimes.（這個國家仇恨犯罪已見升高。）

omit：動詞，遺漏、忽略。例句：Her name was omitted from the list.（這份名單漏了她的名字。）

engineer：動詞，精心設計、規劃、安排。例句：The government has to engineer long-term labor policies.（政府必須規劃長期的勞工政策。）

 

Utah seeks to block pornographic content on smartphones

 

猶他州尋求阻絕智慧手機上的色情內容

【摘要2021.4.5.自由】◎ 陳成良

The governor of Utah on Wednesday announced a new law requiring an anti-pornography filter on smartphones and tablets sold in the conservative Mormon-majority US state.

猶他州州長週三宣布新法，明定在美國這個保守派摩門教徒佔多數的州內，販售的智慧手機與平板電腦必須內建阻擋色情內容的過濾器。

The law, which Republican Spencer Cox said he had signed the night before, would penalize manufacturers failing to include the filter between $10 and $500 per violation.

共和黨籍州長柯克斯表示，昨晚簽署的這條法律，將對未內建過濾器的業者開罰，每次違規罰款在10至500美元之間。

Backed by conservative lawmakers in the western state － where members of the Mormon Church make up two-thirds of the population － the measure would only take effect in the unlikely event that five other states pass similar laws.

這項法律受到這個西部州的保守派議員支持，該州3分之2人口為摩門教徒，但措施實施機會不高 ，僅有在其他5州通過類似法案時才會上路。

In practice, the reform could look like the reverse of parental controls on existing devices sold by tech companies such as Apple and Google, in which the filters are by default turned off.

實際上，這比較像是推翻既有裝置由家長控制的改革。蘋果與谷歌等科技公司的手機，都已預設關掉這些過濾器。

新聞辭典

penalize ：動詞，懲罰。例句： The professor will penalize lightly for late assignments.（如果遲交作業，教授會從輕處罰。）

parental：形容詞，父母的；做雙親的。例句：Teenagers often revolt against parental discipline.（青少年常常不遵從父母的管教。）

reverse：名詞，相反；失敗。例句：These financial reverses will prevent my taking a holiday.（這些經濟上的挫折使我不能去度假了。）

 

Trader gets painted stones instead of $36m of copper

 

貿易商拿到了著色的石頭 而非3600萬美元的銅

【摘要2021.4.4.自由】◎黃靖媗

A commodities trader was given painted stones instead of $36m of copper from a Turkish supplier in a fraudulent deal last summer.

去年夏天在一場詐欺交易中，一位商品貿易商從土耳其供應商那裡拿到了著色石頭，而非3600萬美元的銅。

Last year, Mercuria Energy Group agreed to buy the copper blister for delivery to China. About 6,000 tonnes was loaded for shipment in more than 300 containers on eight vessels.

去年，摩科瑞能源集團同意購買粗銅並運送到中國。約6000公噸的銅被裝在300多個貨櫃上，由8艘船運送。

But before its journey from a port near Istanbul, the copper was switched with paving stones, spray-painted to resemble the semi-refined metal.

但在從伊斯坦堡附近的一處港口啟程前，銅被掉包為噴漆成類似半精煉金屬的鋪路石。

It appears the copper was initially loaded into the first shipment of containers, before being surveyed by an inspection company. Seals used to prevent fraud were fixed to the containers.

銅顯然最初裝在第一批運送的貨櫃中，之後接受檢驗公司檢查。用於防止詐欺的封條也被固定在貨櫃上。

But the containers were opened and the copper replaced with paving stones, Istanbul law firm KYB told media.

伊斯坦堡的KYB律師事務所告訴媒體，貨櫃之後被打開，且銅被替換為鋪路石。

新聞辭典

commodity：名詞，商品、貨物。例句：The most valuable commodities in the auction are those stones.（這場拍賣會中最有價值的商品，是這些石頭。）

switch：動詞，調換。例句：Mother switches the talk to my father’s decision.（母親將話題轉到我的父親的決定上。）

container：名詞，容器、貨櫃。例句：The Suez Canal in Egypt has been blocked by a huge container vessel, named Ever Given.（埃及的蘇伊士運河被一艘名為長賜號的大型貨櫃船阻塞。）

 

Florida family finds dead snake inside their clothes dryer

 

佛州家庭在乾衣機中發現死蛇

【摘要2021.4.3.自由】◎周虹汶

After their clothes dryer began blowing out a lot of lint, a Florida family called a repair man who discovered a dead snake rather than a jammed motor.

在乾衣機吹出一堆棉絨後，佛羅里達一個家庭打電話找來維修員，他發現一條死蛇而非堵住的馬達。

"I was like oh — that’s what caused the motor to blow," Alyson Pring told Orlando television station WKMG.

艾麗森．普林告訴奧蘭多電視台WKMG，「我說，噢——那就是導致馬達毀掉的東西。」

Repairman Darrell Cobble stopped by to take a look at what was causing the problem, the station reports.

該台報導說，維修人員達雷爾．卡柏順道來看一下是什麼導致問題發生。

"He just stands up, and he walks off. He’s like, ’There’s a dead snake in there,’" Pring said.

普林說，「他就站了起來，然後離開。他就像，『那裡面有一條死蛇。』」

Cobble told the station that while it’s not common, snakes can find their way into dryers. He said there is usually a grate that prevents snakes and other animals from entering the dryer. But Pring’s central Florida home did not have one.

卡柏告訴該台，蛇可以找到進乾衣機的途徑，雖然這並不常見。他說，通常有個防止蛇和其他動物進入乾衣機的罩子。但普林位於佛羅里達中部的住家沒有。

They’ll be keeping an eye out now, Alyson Pring said.（AP）

艾麗森．普林說，他們現在會注意。

（美聯社）

新聞辭典

blow：動詞，指吹動、吹奏、毀掉、輪胎爆裂、揮霍；名詞，指重擊、打擊、吹奏樂器。例句：Divorce was a severe blow to him.（離婚對他是個嚴重打擊。）

jam：動詞，指塞進、堵住、壓碎、不能動彈；名詞，指擁擠、軋住、窘境、擁擠的人群、堵塞物。例句：He was in a jam because he didn’t have enough money to foot the bill.（他的錢不夠買單，很窘。）

keep an eye out：片語動詞，指當心、警惕。例句：Keep your eye out for signposts to Taroko National Park.（注意前往太魯閣國家公園的路標。）

 

Monkeys in Finland zoo prefer traffic noises over nature sounds

 

芬蘭動物園猴子喜歡交通噪音勝過自然聲響

【摘要2021.4.1.自由】◎孫宇青

White-faced saki monkeys at Korkeasaari Zoo of Finland have shown a "significant" preference for traffic sounds over jungle noises, researchers have found.

研究員發現，芬蘭赫爾辛基動物園的白面狐尾猴，相較於叢林聲響，對交通聲音表現出「顯著的」偏好。

A tunnel fitted with sensors was installed in a monkey enclosure. This allowed the monkeys to choose whether they listened to a playlist of traffic noises, nature and falling rain - or a choice of either zen music and dance music.

猴園內設有一個配置感應器的地道，猴子可從播放清單中選擇要聽交通噪音、自然聲響和雨聲，或禪修音樂、舞蹈音樂等。

Dr. Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas said："We thought they would enjoy more calming sounds, such as zen music, but actually they triggered the traffic sounds more."

耶娜．希爾斯基—道格拉斯博士說：「我們以為牠們會喜歡和緩的聲音，像是禪修音樂，但其實牠們更常觸動交通聲響。」

The monkeys also groomed themselves or each other and sometimes slept with the sounds playing - something they did not do for any of the other noises.

在聲音播放時，猴子也會清理自己或同伴的身體；有時睡覺時也會聽，這是牠們在其他任何聲響下都不會做的事。

Kirsi Pynnonen, the zoo’s research coordinator, said the sounds of the road mimic some of the ways in which the animals naturally communicate.（Sky News）

動物園研究協調員基爾希．皮諾農說，道路的聲音與這種動物天生溝通的某些方式很相似。（天空新聞）

新聞辭典

trigger：動詞，觸發。例句：The cigarette butt triggered the explosion.（菸頭觸發這場爆炸。）

groom：動詞，刷洗（動物）。例句：I spent the whole morning grooming the pets.（我花了整個早上幫寵物洗澡。）

coordinator：名詞，協調人。例句：A coordinator was appointed by us to oversee the project.（我們指定一名協調人監督工程。）

 

Why this teen set up a prize-winning fake cosmetics shop

 

Why this teen set up a prize-winning fake cosmetics shop／

為什麼這名青少年會架設得獎的假化妝品商店

【摘要2021.3.28.自由】◎黃靖媗

Disturbed by reports of rising domestic violence under coronavirus lockdown, a Polish high school student decided to launch a fake online shop to offer a lifeline to victims trapped in their homes.

對疫情封鎖期間逐漸上升的家暴事件感到不安，一名波蘭高中學生決定架設假的線上商店，提供被困在家中的受害者一條救生索。

Her idea won a European Union prize that came with €10,000.

她的點子贏得了歐盟獎與1萬歐元獎金。

"Firstly, I heard about the increase in domestic violence cases during the pandemic. Then I heard about a French initiative, where people go to the pharmacy and ask for a special mask that lets the pharmacist know they are a victim of domestic violence," Krystyna Paszko explained.

「起初，我聽聞大流行期間家暴案例增加，然後我聽說了一起法國倡議活動，人們只要去藥局要求購買一種特殊的口罩，就能讓藥師知道他們是家暴受害者」，克莉斯汀娜．帕斯科解釋。

In April, Krystyna decided to launch the fake online shop "Camomiles and Pansies" to sell those cosmetics.

4月，克莉斯汀娜決定架設假的線上商店「洋甘菊與三色堇」來販售那些化妝品。

When a victim writes asking to buy a cream, a psychologist responds instead of a salesperson and asks how long the "skin problems" have been going on for.

當受害者要求要買乳霜時，心理醫師會代替銷售員回覆，並詢問「皮膚問題」已經持續多久。

新聞辭典

lifeline：名詞，救生索、生命線。例句：The relief package offers lifeline to restaurants devastated by the pandemic.（紓困方案為遭疫情大流行衝擊的餐廳提供了救生索。）

domestic：形容詞，家庭的。例句：For a decade, she has done her domestic duty.（過去10年來，她已經盡了她的家庭責任。）

code：名詞，密碼、代碼。例句：I cannot break the code without a calculator.（沒有計算機，我無法破解密碼。）

 

Spain will experiment with four-day workweek, a first for Europe

 

開歐洲先河 西班牙將試行1週上班4天

【摘要2021.3.29.自由】◎陳成良

For years, advocates for a four-day workweek have argued that a compressed schedule could lead to more productivity and a better work-life balance — a perspective that has gained credence in some countries amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has wrought drastic changes to the way people work.

多年來，提倡每週工作4天的人一直主張，緊湊的日程可以提高生產力，改善工作與生活之間的平衡。在冠狀病毒大流行使人們工作方式發生劇烈改變的背景下，這種觀點已在某些國家獲得認可。

Spain is about to find out firsthand whether it works. The country is poised to become one of the first to experiment with a 32-hour workweek, which would allow workers to spend less time at the office without any change in pay.

西班牙將直接了解它是否奏效。該國準備成為第一批實驗每週工作32小時的國家之一，在這種工作制度下，員工上班時間減少，但工資不變。

Exactly what the pilot program will look like is unclear, nearly every detail was still up for negotiation, including how many companies will be involved and how long the experiment will last.

這一試驗性計畫的確切樣貌尚不清楚，幾乎每個細節都有待協商，​​包括將有多少公司參與、試驗將持續多久。

新聞辭典

credence：名詞，相信、信任。例句：Do not give credence to all the gossip you hear.（不要相信你聽到的閒話。）

firsthand：副詞，第一手地，直接地。例句：I heard the news firsthand.（我直接聽到這消息。）

pilot；形容詞，（小規模）試驗性的。例句：This year we are trying a pilot scheme.（今年我們正在試驗一個小規模計畫。）