英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

An estimated 30 million people worldwide are living in modern-day slavery, according to the inaugural Global Slavery Index published Thursday.

估計有全球3000萬人活在當代的奴隸制度下，根據週四公佈的首份全球奴隸指數指出。

The index, compiled by the Walk Free Foundation, said that while India by far had the largest number of enslaved people, the problem was most prevalent in the west African nation of Mauritania, where four percent of the population was deemed to be held in slavery.

這份由自由行基金會彙整的指數表示，雖然印度奴隸人口最多，但奴隸問題最猖獗的地方是在西非國家茅利塔尼亞，國內有4%人口被當成奴隸。

The WFF hopes the annual index will help governments to monitor and tackle what it calls a "hidden crime".

自由行基金會希望藉由每年公布指數，來幫助政府監控和處理這種「隱藏性犯罪」。

"A lot of governments won’t like hearing what we have to say," chief executive Nick Grono told AFP.

「有許多政府不會喜歡聽我們所說的事」，執行長葛羅諾告訴法新社。

Established in May last year, the WFF is a 20-strong team based in Perth on the Australian west coast, founded by philanthropists Andrew Forrest -- the chairman of Fortescue Metals Group -- and his wife Nicola.

去年5月成立的自由行基金會，由一個位於澳洲西岸柏斯的20人小組組成，由福特斯克金屬集團暨慈善家弗瑞斯特和他的妻子妮可拉創辦。

When Rob Taylor rolled down his car window on Christmas Eve and handed money to an apparently down on his luck man, the Iowa state representative from West Des Moines had no idea it was he who was about to receive a wondrous gift.

勞柏．泰勒在耶誕節前夕那天搖下車窗，遞錢給一名看來落魄的男子時，這名來自西狄蒙市的愛荷華州議員不知道，即將收到美好禮物的人，正是他自己。

The man was dressed in shabby clothes and holding a sign indicating he was homeless. He stood on a bitterly cold street corner in the Des Moines suburb of Johnston handing sealed envelopes to people who gave him money.

這名男子穿著破舊衣服，舉著牌子指他無家可歸。他在酷寒中站在狄蒙市郊區強斯頓的街角，把一個個密封的信封送給給他錢的人。

The envelopes were stuffed with a letter and either a $10 or $100 bill. He handed out roughly $1,000 dollars in the 50 envelopes he gave away.

這些信封裡裝了一封信和一張面額10或100美元的鈔票。他在送出的50個信封中總共發出約1000美元。

The letter inside the envelopes surprised Taylor when he opened it. It said that the ‘bum’ he just handed money wasn’t homeless, and was a successful business man giving back to people who do good.

當泰勒打開信封，裡面那封信讓他大為驚訝。信中說，他剛才慷慨解囊的那名「流浪漢」並非無家可歸，而是事業成功的商人在回饋行善之人。

Jonnie Wright was the man portraying the homeless panhandler. He told KCCI he did the giveaway because it was on his bucket list.

裝扮成這名無家可歸乞丐的人是強尼．萊特。他告訴KCCI電視台，他送錢是因為這是他死前想做的事情。

Australia’s national science agency has issued a rare apology to a seven-year-old girl for not being able to make her a fire-breathing dragon.

澳洲國家科學機構為了沒能為一個7歲女孩做出一隻噴火龍，而發佈罕見的道歉。

The youngster, Sophie, wrote to a "Lovely Scientist" at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation（CSIRO）, politely asking whether they could make her a winged pet of her own.

那個小傢伙，蘇菲，寫信給「聯邦科學暨工業研究組織 」（CSIRO）的「可愛的科學家」，客氣地詢問他們是否能夠為她製造一隻有翅膀的專屬寵物。

Sophie’s request prompted an unusual apology from the 87-year-old institution, which admitted "we’ve missed something".

蘇菲的要求促使這個有87年歷史的研究機構不尋常的道歉，坦承「我們遺漏了某些東西」。

"There are no dragons," it said in a blog reply posted on its website this week.

「沒有龍」，該機構本週在其官網上貼出的部落格回覆中說。

The enquiry had a fairytale ending Friday when the CSIRO announced that, thanks to Sophie’s letter, "a dragon was born".

這封詢問信函週五出現童話般的結局，CSIRO宣布，由於蘇菲的來信，「一隻龍誕生了」。

Likened to a weather forecast crossed with a church hymn, Switzerland’s national anthem could be binned in favour of a new version if campaigners get their way.

被形容成結合天氣預報和教會讚美詩的瑞士現行國歌，很可能會被換掉改成新版，假如推動換國歌的運動人士能夠順利如願的話。

Too heavy on God and Alpine vistas, the anthem fails to reflect today’s values and has never been etched into the national psyche, critics say.

批評者表示，現行國歌內容太偏重上帝和阿爾卑斯山景色，無法反映現代價值，也從未被銘刻在瑞士人的民族心靈中。

"Nobody knows the words! Anyone who tells you they do is a liar. Or else we manage the first few and afterwards we go ’la, la, la’," said Pierre Kohler, president of the jury holding an unofficial competition to choose a new anthem.

Some 1400 people filed a joint lawsuit Thursday against three companies that manufactured Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, saying they should be financially liable for damage caused by its 2011 meltdowns.

約1400人週四對建造福島第一核電廠的3家公司提出集體訴訟，表示它們應對2011年其反應爐爐心熔毀導致的損害承擔財政責任。

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said that the lawsuit, filed at Tokyo District Court, is a landmark challenge of current regulations that give manufacturers immunity from liability in nuclear accidents. Under the Japanese nuclear damages compensation scheme, only the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co., has been held responsible for the accident, triggered by a powerful earthquake and tsunami.

原告律師說，這宗向東京地方法院提出的訴訟，是對豁免製造商之核事故責任的現行規範提出的劃時代挑戰。根據日本的核損害賠償計畫，只有電廠營運者東京電力公司，對這起因威力強大的地震與海嘯引發的事故負有責任。

The 1415 plaintiffs, which include 38 Fukushima residents and 357 others from around the world, said that manufacturers _ Toshiba, GE and Hitachi _ failed to make needed safety improvements to the 4-decade-old reactors at the Fukushima plant. They are seeking compensation of 100 yen each, saying the idea is to raise awareness of the problem.

包括38名福島居民與其他357名來自全球各地的1415名原告指出，製造商東芝、美國奇異與日立公司，對於福島電廠已有40年歷史的反應爐並未做到必要的安全改善，他們向每家公司各求償100日圓，表示該構想是為了提高對此問題的警覺。

Akihiro Shima, a lawyer for the group, said that the nuclear plant manufacturers so far had not been held responsible "and their names are not even mentioned." The lawsuit is intended to bring attention to the problems of the system that protects the nuclear industry around the world, he said.（AP）

原告律師島昭宏指出，核電廠製造商迄今並未負起責任，「它們的名字甚至沒被提及」，這起訴訟旨在讓世人對保障全球核能工業的系統問題產生關注，他說。（美聯社）

新聞辭典

liable（for）︰負有…責任的、有…義務的。例句︰You are liable for this debt.（你有責任還清這筆債款。）