英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

2020-12-31 05:30

◎孫宇青

An Australian David Tait entered his home in Laceys Creek in Queensland state and was surprised to find a large chunk of the ceiling lying on his kitchen table. "I knew we hadn’t had rain, so I looked around to find what had caused it," Tait said.

一名澳洲民眾大衛．泰特回到位於昆士蘭州萊西溪市的家時，驚訝地發現一大片天花板躺在廚房餐桌上。泰特說：「我知道沒下雨，所以我四處張望尋找事發原因。」

He soon found two culprits, non-venomous carpet pythons 2.8 meters and 2.5 meters long, that had slithered into a bedroom and living room. The snakes have an estimated combined weight of 45 kilograms.

他很快發現2隻罪魁禍首，各為2.8公尺及2.5公尺的無毒地毯蟒爬進了臥室和客廳。這2隻蟒蛇合計重達45公斤。

Snake catcher Steven Brown was called to remove the two snakes. "I would assume that it was two males fighting over a female that was nearby in the roof," he said. He suspected the female could still be in the ceiling or nearby.

捕蛇專家史蒂芬．布朗被叫來抓2隻蟒蛇。他說：「我想是2隻公蟒為了待在天花板附近的1隻母蟒在打架。」他懷疑，那隻母蟒或許還待在天花板或附近一帶。

The males were returned to the wild, but the suspected third snake hasn’t been found.（AP）

2隻公蟒被野放，疑似還在屋內的第3隻蟒蛇下落不明。（美聯社）

2020-12-30 05:30

◎管淑平

As early as February, with the global pandemic spreading fast, the World Health Organization issued a warning about an "infodemic", a wave of fake news and misinformation about the deadly new disease on social media.

在全球大流行病疫情迅速蔓延之際，世界衛生組織早自2月起就警告「假資訊大流行」：社群網路上一波有關這場新的致命疾病的假新聞與不實資訊。

Now with hopes hanging on Covid-19 vaccines, the WHO and experts are warning those same phenomena may jeopardise roll-out of immunisation programmes meant to bring an end to the suffering.

現在隨著希望繫於新型冠狀病毒病疫苗上，世衛和專家正警告，同樣的現象，或許也會危害那些旨在結束這場疫情磨難的免疫計畫的推出。

"The coronavirus disease is the first pandemic in history in which technology and social media are being used on a massive scale to keep people safe, informed, productive and connected," the WHO said.

「新冠病毒疾病是史上第一個大規模利用科技和社群媒體，使人們安全、獲知訊息、維持生產力和彼此聯繫的全球大流行疫情」，世衛說。

"At the same time, the technology we rely on to keep connected and informed is enabling and amplifying an infodemic that continues to undermine the global response and jeopardises measures to control the pandemic."（AFP）

「同時，我們賴以保持聯繫和獲得資訊的科技，也正使假資訊大肆蔓延和擴大，持續打擊和危害全球回應、控制疫情措施。」（法新社）

英倫翻譯轉自https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1422293

2020-12-29 05:30

◎黃靖媗

Officials in Jasper, an alpine town in Canada’s Alberta province, have put up signs asking motorists to avoid allowing moose to lick the salt off their cars.

加拿大亞伯達省高山小鎮賈斯柏的官員們，已經張貼標語要求駕駛人不得允許駝鹿舔他們車外的鹽。

"They’re obsessed with salt, it’s one of the things they need for the minerals in their body," Jasper National Park spokesman Steve Young told CNN. "They usually get it from salt lakes in the park, but now they realized they can also get road salt that splashes onto cars."

「他們癡迷於鹽，鹽是其中一種牠們身體必需的礦物質」，賈斯柏國家公園發言人史蒂夫．楊告訴美國有線電視新聞網，「他們通常會從公園的湖鹽獲取它（礦物質），但現在他們知道，他們也能從濺在車上的路鹽得到」。

At the Jasper National Park, where people often park on the side of the road in hopes of catching a glimpse of the moose, letting the animals near your car is actually a serious danger.

賈斯柏國家公園內時常有人停車在路邊，希望能得到駝鹿的注意，但讓動物接近你的車，其實是非常危險的。

By allowing moose to lick the salt off your car, they will become habituated with being around cars. That poses a risk to both the animals and the drivers who can accidentally crash into them.

允許駝鹿舔你的車外的鹽，將會讓牠們習慣徘徊於車子旁邊。對動物及可能意外與牠們相撞的駕駛人都構成風險。

英倫翻譯轉自

2020-12-28 05:30

◎陳成良

Japan plans to boost its tumbling birth rate by funding artificial intelligence matchmaking schemes to help residents find love.

日本計畫透過資助人工智慧配對相親計畫，幫助國民尋找愛情，以提高該國不斷下降的出生率。

From next year it will subsidize local governments already running or starting projects that use AI to pair people up.

從明年開始，日本政府將提供補貼，資助地方政府已經在運行以及新啟動的人工智慧配對相親項目。

Last year the number of babies born in Japan fell below 865,000 - a record low.

去年，日本新生嬰兒數跌破86.5萬，創下歷史新低。

The fast-greying nation has long been searching for ways to reverse one of the world’s lowest fertility rates.

日本的生育率為全世界最低的國家之一，這個快速高齡化的國家長期以來一直在尋找扭轉局面的方法。

2020-12-25 05:30

◎張沛元

Statues of the politically unpalatable have this year been toppled, beheaded and graffitied from the American South to Belgium, and Britain to New Zealand. Not even Winston Churchill was spared.

從美國南方到比利時、英國以至紐西蘭，今年有政治上令人難以接受的人物的塑像被拉倒、斬首與毀損。即便（英國前首相）邱吉爾也無法倖免。

In the English town of Grantham, an 11-foot pedestal now stands empty. That’s not because the statue atop it has been vandalized — though many expect it will be once it is finally installed.

在英格蘭小鎮格蘭瑟姆，一座11呎高的雕像底座上方空無一物。這並非因為底座上的雕像遭到毀損——儘管許多人預料，塑像一旦安座後，就會遭遇此等下場。

Next year, that plinth is to become the base of a stern-looking, larger-than-life bronze monument to Grantham’s most famous daughter：Margaret Thatcher. Known as the "Iron Lady," Thatcher was the first female prime minister of Britain and remains a divisive and polarizing figure three decades after leaving office.

明年，這個基柱將成為格蘭瑟姆最知名的女兒——瑪格莉特．柴契爾－－的一尊表情嚴肅、比真人還大的銅像的底座。被稱為「鐵娘子」的柴契爾夫人是英國首位女首相，卸任30年後仍是備受爭議與兩極化的人物。

英倫翻譯轉自https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1421300