Spanking may affect brain development in children, Study Suggests

 

研究發現：打屁股恐影響兒童大腦發育

【摘要2021.5.3.自由】◎陳成良

Spanking may affect a child’s brain development in similar ways to more severe forms of violence, according to a new study led by Harvard researchers.

哈佛大學研究人員領導的一項新研究表明，打屁股對兒童大腦發育的影響，可能與更嚴重的暴力虐待造成的後果類似。

The research, published recently in the journal Child Development, builds on existing studies that show heightened activity in certain regions of the brains of children who experience abuse in response to threat cues.

這篇最近發表在《兒童發育》期刊上的研究，以現有的一些研究為基礎，這些研究發現，遭受虐待的兒童在回應威脅提示時，大腦的特定區域活動會增強。

The group found that children who had been spanked had a greater neural response in multiple regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). These areas of the brain respond to cues in the environment that tend to be consequential, such as a threat, and may affect decision-making and processing of situations.

研究團隊發現，打屁股會增強兒童大腦前額葉皮層（PFC）多個區域的神經反應。大腦的這些區域會根據環境中的威脅等重要線索做出反應，並可能影響兒童的決策，以及對局勢的分析能力。

According to the study’s authors, corporal punishment has been linked to the development of mental health issues, anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, and substance use disorders.

研究作者指出，體罰一直和心理健康問題、焦慮、憂鬱、行為問題及藥物濫用有關。

新聞辭典

spank：動詞，拍打（尤指打屁股）。例句：She spanked her child’s bottom.（她打了自己小孩的屁股。）

consequential：形容詞，做為結果的；重要的；有意義的。例句：This new transformation is at least as consequential as that one was.（這一新的轉變至少和那次一樣重要。）

corporal punishment：名詞，（尤指對孩子的）體罰。例句：A teacher should not give students corporal punishment. （老師不應該體罰學生。）

 

British Town Crier Championships to be held in silence due to Covid

 

因為疫情 英國街頭傳告員競賽將在沉默中舉辦

【摘要2021.5.2.自由】◎黃靖媗

For the first time in its history, this year the British Town Crier Championships are to be held in perfect silence, with the country’s traditional news-bearers to be judged on the quality of their written cries alone.

今年是有史以來第一次「英國街頭傳告員競賽」以完全無聲的方式舉行，僅憑書面傳告品質來評審該國的傳統新聞傳遞者。

While judges are usually focused on "three distinct parts of a cry" – sustained volume and clarity, diction and inflection, and content – this year they will focus on whether cries have stuck to the theme and the 140-word limit.

通常評審都會聚焦於「傳告三個截然不同的部分」，持久的音量及清晰度、詞藻及聲調，與內容，今年他們將聚焦於傳告是否固守主題與140字上限。

The theme for this year’s competition is "nature and the environment" in support of mental health week 10-16 May.

今年競賽的主題是「自然與環境」，以支持5月10至16日的心理健康週。

The British Town Crier dates back to at least the Norman invasion, with two bellmen appearing in the Bayeux tapestry. Town criers were employed to tell townspeople the latest news, proclamations and bylaws, grabbing their attention by ringing a handbell.

街頭傳告員最早可追溯至諾曼人入侵，有兩名傳告員出現在貝葉掛毯（譯註：中世紀刺繡藝術品，記載諾曼人征服英國）上。城鎮傳告員受僱告訴小鎮民眾最新新聞、公告，與規章制度，透過搖手鈴吸引人們的注意。

新聞辭典

distinct：形容詞，明顯不同的、差異明顯的。例句：His ideal is distinct from mine.（他的理想與我的顯然不同。）

dates back：動詞片語，（時間）追溯。例句：The story can date back to 13th century.（這個故事可以追溯至13世紀。）

bellmen ：名詞，鳴鐘者、搖鈴者、更夫、傳告員（ town crier）。

 

Bolivian girl takes her virtual classes in a cemetery

玻利維亞女孩在墓地遠距上課

【摘要2021.5.1.自由】◎孫宇青

Neydi, a Bolivian primary school student, logs on to virtual classes like many kids around the world during the pandemic. The only difference is the setting： surrounded by tombstones in a public cemetery in highland city La Paz.

玻利維亞小學生妮迪和世界上許多孩童一樣，在疫情期間線上學習。唯一不同的是環境：她在高地城市拉巴斯一處公墓的墓碑群中上課。

Bolivia has kept its schools largely closed during the COVID-19 outbreak, pushing many parents to find novel ways to get their kids online for class. It is particularly challenging in a country with sporadic internet connectivity, limited access to expensive computers, and high costs for mobile data.

在新冠肺炎爆發期間，玻利維亞學校大部分時候是關閉的，迫使許多家長苦思讓孩子線上上課的新方式。在這個網路連線分散、昂貴電腦取得受限、手機數據代價高昂的國家，線上上課尤具挑戰性。

Neydi’s mother, Jeanete Alanoca, a 30-year-old indigenous Aymara who makes a living working at the General Cemetery of La Paz, decided to bring her daughter along with her to make use of the area’s free WiFi. Neydi does not have her own device and must use her mother’s cellphone to do her schoolwork.（Reuters）

妮迪的30歲母親珍奈特．阿蘭諾卡是當地艾馬拉族人，靠著在拉巴斯市公墓的工作維生。她決定帶著女兒上班，好利用工作場合的免費無線網路。妮迪沒有自己的手機，必須用媽媽的手機做功課。（路透）

新聞辭典

cemetery：名詞，墓地。例句：At the other side of the cemetery, mourners stood around a grave.（在墓園另一端，弔唁者圍著一個墓穴站立。）

log on：動詞片語，登入（電腦系統）。例句：Over ten thousand people logged on to the ticket system at the same time.（逾10萬人同時登入票務系統。）

sporadic：形容詞，偶發的；分散的。例句：At least 100 people have been killed this year in sporadic outbursts of ethnic violence.（今年以來至少100人在偶發的種族暴力事件中喪命。）

 

Businesses in Texas have now become a battleground of sorts for wearing masks

 

德州商家如今已淪為戴口罩戰場

【摘要2021.4.30.自由】◎張沛元

Texas has been mask-free since the beginning of March, but it has created a standoff between business owners across the state trying to mitigate Covid-19 outbreaks and their customers.

德州自3月解除強制戴口罩令，但卻導致全州各地企圖緩解武漢肺炎疫情的商家與客人的對立。

"It’s amazing what people, what kind of people there are that will go out of their way to have their two cents put in that they’re against having to wear a mask," said Wayne LaCombe, co-owner at Legends Diner in Denton, Texas, added a $75 charge for people who debate the restaurant’s policy after Texas repealed its mask mandate and allowed businesses to operate at 100% capacity.

「真是太驚人了，什麼樣的人會專程跑來發表他那微不足道的反口罩高見，」德州丹登「傳奇小館」的老闆之一韋恩．拉科姆如是說。拉科姆在德州撤銷強制戴口罩令並允許商家全面開放後，對上門爭論該店的（戴口罩）政策者，加收75美元的費用。

Texan business owners like LaCombe said they’ve fielded vicious calls from strangers and some have even received death threats.

像拉科姆這樣的德州商家說，他們接到來自陌生人的惡意電話，有些業者甚至接獲死亡威脅。

新聞辭典

go out of one’s way：慣用語，（特別是為其他人）非常努力地做。例句：The hotel front desk staff went out of their way to help customers.（飯店前台工作人員竭力協助顧客。）

one’s two cents’ worth：慣用語，美式，又做one’s two cents，（某人的）意見，想法，觀點（不值一哂），可用於謙稱自己的意見，如淺見，愚見，也可用於嘲諷他人的意見不重要。例句：I don’t need your two cents worth of advice.（我不需要你那不值一提的忠告。）

vicious：形容詞，邪惡的，惡毒的，凶暴的。

 

French woman spends three years proving she’s alive after court rules her dead

 

被法院宣判死亡後 法女花3年證明自己還活著

【摘要2021.4.29.自由】◎孫宇青

Jeanne Pouchain living in Saint-Joseph, France, has spent three years trying to prove she is alive, after a court declared her dead in 2017.

住在法國聖約瑟夫的珍妮．布桑，2017年被法院宣告死亡後，已花費3年試圖證明自己還活著。

The 58-year-old hasn’t been able to get a driver’s license, open bank accounts or get health insurance because she has no official paperwork.

58歲的布桑一直無法取得駕照、開銀行帳戶或辦健康保險，因為她沒有正式文件。

The event resulted from a former employee taking a case against Pouchain after losing her job with Pouchain’s cleaning company when it lost a big contract in 2000.

這起事件起源於布桑的清潔公司在2000年丟掉一筆大訂單後，一名前員工因此沒了工作，因此對她提出告訴。

A labor tribunal then ordered Pouchain to pay 14,000 euros in damages, but because the case had been taken against her company and not Pouchain herself, the ruling was never enforced.

勞資裁判庭隨後判布桑給付1萬4000歐元（約48萬台幣）賠償金，但因案件是控告公司，而非布桑本人，判決內容從未執行。

Surprisingly, the court ruled Pouchain as deceased in 2017 without proof of a death certificate. She accuses her former employee of fabricating her death to try to win damages from her heirs － her husband and son.(AFP)

令人訝異的是，法院在沒有死亡證明下，於2017年宣告布桑已死。她指控前員工偽造她的死亡，企圖從她的繼承人─丈夫和兒子─取得賠償金。（法新社）

新聞辭典

damages：名詞，賠償金，通常為複數形。例句：The newspaper was asked to revoke the report and pay damages.（這家報社被要求撤回報導並支付賠償金。）

deceased：形容詞，亡故的。例句：He took it as his responsibility to take care of his deceased wife’s family.（他視照顧亡妻家人為自身責任。）

fabricate：動詞，杜撰。例句：She fabricated an excuse to leave early.（她編了理由早退。）

 

扛兄弟4棒敲再見三分砲 張志豪擊碎魔咒

 

Under The Double Eagle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDqpq5fXOPA

【摘要2021.4.28.聯合報】中信兄弟隊昨天在台中洲際球場上演驚天逆轉，張志豪9局下敲出再見三分砲，以5：3逆轉擊敗富邦悍將隊，這是他生涯第3支再見轟、第8支再見安打，可以一棒扭轉勝負，張志豪當時打定主意：「打到就有機會」。 

洋投羅力先發6局、無失分，悍將隊一路領先，兄弟直到第8局才由周思齊的陽春砲、本季首轟打破鴨蛋，悍將隊仍以3：1進入9局下，推出終結者陳鴻文關門，戰局也在此時風雲變色。 

陳鴻文面對王威晨、江坤宇連續被敲安打、保送，許基宏一棒掃向右外野，直擊全壘打大牆，動用輔助判決確認是否為全壘打，確認為二壘打、帶1分打點，只差幾公分無法形成的全壘打，下一棒張志豪負責補上，掃出一發終結比賽的再見三分砲。 

張志豪表示，「當時落後1分，最起碼我要追平，挑能夠攻擊的球，打到就有機會追平。」兄弟近期「4棒魔咒」纏身，誰扛4棒都打不好，此役張志豪扛第4棒扮演致勝英雄，他說壓力一直都有，也知道自己的狀況、球隊的狀況都不太好，「我們都會提早來球場練習，我們都沒有放棄。」 

中職本季首度前進花蓮，上映味全龍隊徐若熙和統一獅隊古林睿煬的少年強投對決，身為平鎮高中學長的古林睿煬技高一籌，先發6局、僅失1分，飆生涯新高的10次三振，壓倒投5局失3分的徐若熙，獅隊終場以4：1贏球，本季龍獅對戰由獅隊握有壓倒性的7戰全勝。 

徐若熙的失分都出現在第3局，先保送林祖傑，「外野3帥」陳傑憲、蘇智傑、林安可接連敲安，蘇智傑的二壘打帶兩分打點，林安可補刀讓徐若熙再失血。蘇智傑敲出生涯在花蓮球場的第9支二壘打，打破中職紀錄，加上他曾在花蓮7度開轟，也僅落後彭政閔（8轟）。 

UK gamers and politicians take aim at console ’scalpers’

 

英國電玩玩家和政治人物矛頭對準電玩主機「黃牛」

【摘要2021.4.28.自由】◎管淑平

Furious British gamers and lawmakers are training their sights on "scalpers" who are buying up coveted PS5 and Xbox consoles and selling them online at vastly inflated prices.

氣沖沖的英國玩家和議員將焦點指向「黃牛」，這些黃牛買光搶手的PS5、Xbox電玩主機，然後在網路上以大幅灌水的價格出售。

The popular consoles have also been hard to come by in other parts of the world, but in Britain anger has boiled over to the point where some lawmakers want to ban the practice of reselling them online at higher prices.

這些熱門電玩主機在世界其他地方也一機難求，但是在英國掀起的怒火已沸騰，一些議員為此打算禁止網路高價轉售的作法。

While a PS5 normally costs between £360 and £450 depending on the model, its median resale price on sites like eBay is £650-£750, according to US researcher Michael Driscoll. （AFP）

根據美國研究員麥可．德里斯考的說法，通常一部PS5依版本差異，售價在360英鎊到450英鎊之間，但在諸如「電子海灣」的網站上轉售價中位數為650到750英鎊不等。（法新社）

新聞辭典

take aim at：片語，瞄準，強烈批評，注意到。例句：The new law takes aim at illegal fishing.（新法旨在打擊非法捕魚。）

train ones’s sights on：片語，以某事物為目標，立志（做某事）。例句：She has trained her sights on getting a promotion this year.（她立志今年內要獲得升遷。）

boil over：片語，負面情緒或情勢強烈到失控。例句：The workers’ frustration and anger boiled over into violent action.（這批工人的失望和憤怒失控，演變成暴力行動。）