英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

◎張沛元

87-year-old Carl and 81-year-old Barbara Becker of Rixeyville, Virginia made headlines when news of their letter to the editor, detailing an episode at the Culpeper McDonald’s, spread and eventually got them free meals for life. The couple says that fast food employees kicked them out of the restaurant because they were sitting "too long."

維吉尼亞州瑞克斯維爾87歲的卡爾與81歲的芭芭拉．貝克，投書報社描述兩人在卡爾佩柏麥當勞的遭遇，消息傳開後兩人不但成為頭條新聞人物，最後還獲得終身免費餐。這對夫妻說，這家速食店的員工把他們掃地出門，只因為兩人「坐太久了」。

The pair were enjoying their regular routine of a mid-afternoon McDonald’s snack, when they were stopped by an employee cleaning up. Ms. Becker told WTTG Fox 5, "The dust started kicking up and it was just flying everywhere and she says, ’Does this bother you?’ And I said, ’Only if you like to eat dirt does it not bother me.’" After the incident with the Mickey D’s employee, the manager approached. "He says, ’You two have to leave. Your half hour’s up and we have to clean this floor, now,’" recalled the great-grandmother of 16.

這對老夫妻是在享受他們例行性的午後麥當勞點心時，遭到一名清掃員工打斷。貝克太太告訴WTTG Fox 5電視台，「灰塵飄起來到處飛揚，她說，『這困擾妳嗎？』我說，『只有喜歡吃灰塵的人才不會覺得困擾吧。』」在與這名麥當勞員工對話後，經理走上前來。「他說，『你們倆得離開。你們的半小時到了，我們要清地板，現在就走，』」這位有16名曾孫的老阿嬤回憶說。

The couple left the restaurant and kept their attitude of going with the flow and laughing things off. When they returned home, Carl drafted his letter to the editor and sent it off to the Culpeper Star Exponent.

這對夫妻離開這家餐廳，保持風度並對此一笑置之。當他們回到家，卡爾就起草讀者投書寄給「卡爾佩柏之星闡述者報」。

Once the letter was printed, the story quickly spread across social media. One of the people who saw the Beckers’ story was Shawn Moss, owner of Shawn’s Smokehouse BBQ in Culpeper. Moss says he believes strongly in customer service and wanted to do something for the couple. He decided to offer the octogenarians free "scrunch" one day a week, for life.

當這封投書被刊登出來，此事隨即在社群媒體上傳開。眾多看到貝克夫妻故事的人士之一，是卡爾佩柏的「尚恩煙燻燒烤屋」老闆尚恩．摩斯。摩斯說，他對客戶服務堅信不移，想為這對夫妻做點事。他決定提供這對80幾歲夫妻終身一週一天的免費「午晚餐」。

新聞辭典

for life：慣用語，終身，餘生。

go with the flow：慣用語，順其自然；隨波逐流。相反用法為go against the flow。例句：He wasn’t very keen on the decision but it was easier just to go with the flow.（他對這項決定並不是很熱中，但跟隨大家的意見總是比較簡單。）

laughing things off：慣用語，一笑置之，輕鬆看待嚴重問題。例句：Although her feelings were hurt, she just laughed the incident off as if nothing had happened.（儘管受到傷害，但她對那件事一笑置之，彷彿沒發生過。）

文章來源：http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/

◎詹立群

Previous designs for so-called flapping wing aircraft have mimicked the wing motions of insects, but the new design is based on the way jellyfish swim.

所謂撲翼飛機的舊時設計是模仿昆蟲的翅膀運作，但新設計是來自水母游動的方式。

The prototype built by scientists at New York University is able to keep upright and recover from disturbances.

由紐約大學科學家打造的原型，可維持直立飛行，不受干擾影響。

Most efforts to build stable flapping-wing aircraft - or ornithopters - have based their designs on the way insects fly.

建立穩定撲翼機的多數努力，都是以昆蟲飛行方式的設計為基礎。

But this approach leads to aircraft that are inherently unstable, tending to flip over if left to their own devices.

Yet（還；尚）多半用於否定句，乍聽是個負面字眼，但其實如果拿捏好用法，它也可以創造正面能量；尤其是當上司建議下屬時，語句中加了「yet」，差很多，因為它暗示著未來有望，帶給下屬正面鼓舞，職場氛圍馬上動起來。請看以下例句。

一、否定語氣

1、例：You are not experienced enough to handle the campaign on your own, yet.（你尚未具備獨自負責這項活動的經驗。）

2、例：You don’t yet have the connections to make this deal happen.（你的人脈還不足以達成這筆交易。）

請注意，yet 除了放在句子最後，也可放在助動詞後面。

3、例：Your presentation skills are not proficient for attending the regional workshop, yet.（你的簡報技巧還沒有熟練到能參加區域研討會。)

二、肯定語氣

例：yet 也可用於肯定語氣的句子，若may/ might/ can/ could 後接yet 表示依然有可能。用於打氣的時候就這麼說：Don't give up! Our team may yet win the competition.（別放棄，我們還有機會贏。）

此外，和yet很接近的一個字是still，也是「仍然」、「還是」之意，但和yet仍有分別。Yet 表示說話者期望要發生的事情還沒有發生，而still則表示事態仍然持續，如：We are still waiting for Jason.

文章來源：http://blog.udn.com/corecorner/article

英文Email錯誤率最高的一個字，其中有一個你一定沒想到，是appreciate(謝謝)！ 很多人不想要一再用thank you／thanks,,,,,.，很自然地appreciate這個字就派上用場了。

我們來看兩句經典錯誤示範：

(X) I appreciate you for giving us this opportunity to introduce our new product.  謝謝你給我們機會向您介紹我們的新產品。

(X)  We would appreciate if you would arrange for immediate payment.  如果能立即付款，我們會很感激。.

(X)  I will appreciate an interview with you。.  希望能有面試的機會。

你知道錯在哪裡?

仔細來看看appreciate，這個字一般字典都解釋為“欣賞、感謝”，再延伸有"升值"意思。這意思看起來沒甚麼關聯，其實它們都是源自同一個本意 “清楚某件事的價值、重要性而對其表達推崇之意”。理解、欣賞、激賞、讚賞、感激，甚至連升值都在同一條意義軸線上。

(O) I appreciate his generosity. 我讚賞他的慷慨大方。