英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

Their rainbow colors draw your eye. As you lift one to your mouth, you smell almonds. When you bite into the cookie, your teeth break through the thin shell into a soft center. Your mouth is filled with delicious flavor. This is the sweet experience of eating a macaron.

Macarons are one of the latest dessert crazes to sweep the world. This treat is basically two cookies that are stuck together with a sweet filling. The cookies are very light. That’s because they are made with little more than egg white, almond flour, and sugar. This gives the outside of the cookie a crisp shell. The filling is usually frosting, chocolate ganache, or a kind of jam. It melts into the cookies and makes their centers soft.

Interesting flavors are also added to the cookies and the fillings. The standard flavors are chocolate, vanilla, and raspberry. These days, though, you can buy ones that taste like flowers, peanut butter, green tea, and even liver. With bright colors and a variety of different tastes, macarons are a feast for the senses.

它們彩虹般的色彩吸引你的目光。你拿起一個到嘴邊時，聞到了杏仁味。當你咬一口這種餅乾時，你的牙齒會穿透薄薄的外皮，觸及柔軟的餅心。你的口腔裡充滿美味的滋味。這就是吃馬卡龍的甜蜜體驗。

馬卡龍是最近橫掃全世界的甜點風潮之一。這道小點心基本上是兩片以甜內餡黏在一起的餅乾。餅乾非常清爽，因為它們的原料只有蛋白、杏仁粉和糖。這讓餅乾的外皮酥脆。內餡通常是糖霜、巧克力甘那許或某種果醬。它會溶入餅乾中，讓中心部份變得柔軟。

餅乾和內餡還會加入有趣的口味。標準的口味有巧克力、香草和覆盆莓。不過現今你可以買到嚐起來像花香、花生醬、綠茶、甚至肝醬的馬卡龍。由於有著鮮亮的色彩和豐富多樣的口味，馬卡龍是一種感官的饗宴。

Did you know that your cells would die without salt? This simple seasoning lets us stay alive. It also helps make medicine and keep food fresh. In fact, there are thousands of ways to use salt to improve our lives.

One of the first uses of salt was to keep food from going bad. Salt can stop cut fruit from turning brown and help milk stay fresh for longer. It can also be used to remove a coffee stain from a cup and to get rid of rust. The usefulness of salt doesn't stop here. If a sore throat is bothering you, try cleaning your throat with warm salt water. A paste made from salt and water can also ease the pain from a bee sting.

These are only a few of the thousands of uses for salt. The next time you have a problem around the house, see if it can be solved with salt. This wonderful item makes life possible, and it also makes many things in life much easier.

你知道細胞缺乏鹽份的話會死掉嗎？這種簡樸的調味料讓我們維繫生命。它也有助於製作藥物以及讓食物保鮮。事實上，有數千種方法可用鹽來改善我們的生活。

鹽最早的用途之一是讓食物免於腐壞。鹽可以讓切好的水果不會變成褐色，還有助於延長牛奶保鮮的時間。鹽也可用於去除杯子上的咖啡漬，還可用來除鏽。鹽的功用還不只於此。如果你正受喉嚨痛所惱，試試用溫鹽水清洗喉嚨吧。用鹽和水製成的糊狀物還可以減輕蜜蜂叮咬造成的疼痛。

這些只是鹽數千種用途的其中一些。下次你在家中遇到問題時，看看能不能用鹽來解決。這種美妙的物品讓生命成為可能，也讓生活中的很多事情變得容易多了。

文章出處：Live互動英語雜誌

To help save the environment, researchers have gone underwater to find inspiration.
為了幫助拯救環境，研究員已深入水底去尋找靈感。
The scales on sharks are tiny, rough, tooth-like structures. This makes their skin feel like armor and helps the sharks move quickly and gracefully through the water. For many years now, humans have been copying shark skin in different products. Artificial sharkskin fabric is very light and does not wrinkle easily, which makes it ideal for suits, curtains, and tablecloths. Other things that have been made with sharkskin fabric are diving suits and winter coats.
　　The biggest technological advancement that is related to shark skin in recent years is paint. This new kind of paint, which has been inspired by the efficiency of shark skin, can be applied to airplanes, ships, and wind turbines. By doing so, wind drag is reduced. This means that fuel costs for boats and planes are reduced and money is saved. On wind turbines, less air resistance means that more energy is generated, making them more efficient. The best things about sharkskin paint are that very little extra weight is added to the ships, planes, and wind turbines and it can resist ultraviolet radiation and extreme temperatures.
　　There are particles in the paint that recreate the shark-skin like quality, but it needs to be applied properly with stencils. The researchers in Germany who came up with the paint tested it on ships. They found that the paint reduces drag by five percent. On large container ships, this could save 2,000 tons of fuel. If this paint were applied to every plane in the world, 4.48 million tons of fuel would be saved every year. That would reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and when it comes to protecting the environment, every little bit helps.

鯊魚的魚鱗是很小、很粗糙而且像牙齒一樣的構造。這讓牠們的皮膚摸起來像是盔甲，而且幫助鯊魚在水裡快速且優雅地移動。多年來，人類在許多不同產品上都仿照了鯊魚皮膚。人造的鯊魚皮布料非常輕，而且不容易皺，這使得這種材質很適合用來作西裝、窗簾和桌布。其他以鯊魚皮布料製成的還有潛水衣和冬天的外套。
　　近年來和鯊魚皮膚有關的最大科技發展就是塗料。這種新式塗料是以鯊魚皮膚的功能為靈感，它可以運用於飛機、船隻以及風力發電機。塗上這種塗料後，便能減低風阻。這意味著船隻和飛機的燃料費用會減少，同時也省了不少錢。在風力發電機方面，較少的空氣阻力意味著能夠產生更多的能源，也讓機器更有效率。鯊魚皮塗料最棒的就是它幾乎完全不會為船隻、飛機和風力發電機增加額外的重量，同時它還可以抗紫外線和極端的溫度。
　　這種塗料裡有可以重現和鯊魚皮膚類似特性的粒子，但是它必須適當地搭配模版來塗抹。這群想出這種塗料的德國研究員將它塗在船隻上做測試。他們發現這種塗料可以減少百分之五的阻力。以大型的貨櫃船來說，這種塗料可以省下兩千公噸的燃料。如果這種塗料運用在全世界每一艘船隻，那麼每年將可以省下四百四十八萬公噸的燃料。這將會減少二氧化碳的排放量，而且就保護環境而言，這一點一滴都有所幫助。

ideal a. 理想的
It is Jane's view that an ideal husband should always be respectful and truthful.

The Color Run is one of the most memorable experiences you will ever have.
繽紛馬拉松將會是你有生以來最難忘的經驗之一。

Are you ready to have the time of your life? If you are, then grab your family and friends and get yourselves out to The Color Run. This is a unique untimed, five-kilometer race that is all about adding color to your life and your clothes. Participants start out wearing completely white outfits at the event. By the end, they are covered from head to toe with different colors. That's because at each kilometer of the race, the runners are dipped with colored powder. The best part, though, is the gigantic Color Festival at the end of the race, where everyone gets to throw colors at the runners crossing the finish line. 
　　There's more to The Color Run than just covering people in colored powder. The event also observes happiness, healthy living, individuality, and giving back to the community. In each city that the event visits, the organizers team up with local and national charities to raise awareness and shed light on important issues. In 2012, more than US$600,000 was raised by The Color Run, and they plan to pass the million-dollar mark in 2013. What's more, the race has become the single largest event series in the US since its first running in January 2012. 
　　The Color Run is open to people of all ages and backgrounds, from first-time runners to professional athletes. Moreover, everyone is a winner because the race is not about who's the fastest. The Color Run will soon be heading to Taiwan, so get ready to take part and become your own moving canvas of color.
　　你準備好要享受人生中最美好的時光了嗎？如果是的話，拉著你的家人和朋友一起去參加繽紛馬拉松吧。這是一場獨特的五公里不計時比賽，一切都只是為了替你的人生和衣服增添色彩。參賽者在這場活動剛開始時會穿著全白的衣服。到了比賽結束時，他們從頭到腳都覆蓋著各種不同的顏色。那是因為在這場比賽中，每隔一公里跑者們就會被浸在色粉當中。然而，這場比賽最棒的部份就是比賽尾聲的巨型色彩慶典，每個人都可以對著穿過終點線的跑者丟色粉。

　　繽紛馬拉松不只是將彩色粉末覆蓋在人們身上而已。這項活動也在慶祝幸福、健康生活、個人獨特性和回饋社會。在該活動造訪的每個城市，主辦單位會和當地及該國的慈善團體合作來喚起大眾意識和闡明某些重要議題。2012 年，繽紛馬拉松籌募了六十多萬美元，他們預計要在 2013 年打破一百萬美元的目標。此外，這項比賽自從 2012 年一月首次開跑以來，便已成為美國最盛大的單一賽事系列。
　　繽紛馬拉松開放給來自各個年齡層和身份背景的人，從第一次參加的跑者到職業運動員都有。此外，每個人都是贏家，因為這場比賽並不是要比誰跑得最快。繽紛馬拉松很快就會來到臺灣，所以準備好參加這項活動，並成為你自己的移動色彩畫布吧。

1. start out　　開始，著手進行
   The project started out on a small scale, but it has since become much larger.
   這個企劃剛開始時的規模很小，但之後就擴大很多。
2. from head to toe　　從頭到腳
   John checked me out from head to toe when he saw my new dress.
   約翰看到我穿了新洋裝，便從頭到腳打量了我一番。
3. dip vt. 浸，泡
   The worker cooled the hot steel by dipping it into water.
   

The human brain is the third largest organ in the body. It weighs an averageof three pounds and is made up of fat and protein. The brain is the control center for the whole body. It has some 100 billion nerve cells and operates other organs, creates thoughts and emotions, controls movement, and gets and keeps information all at the same time. It is what makes us different from other animals. It gives us the means to use language, think rationally, sense the world, and so much more. 
　　The brain is quite flexible and continues to develop even into old age. However, just like the muscles in our bodies, the brain needs care and regularexercise to stay fit. If we don't do this, then our control centers won't be able tomake a decision, keep our fears in check, or remember anything we did. 
　　A good way to keep the brain healthy is to challenge it with clever games and tests, like those found on National Geographic Channel's Brain Games. Each of the 12 episodes reveals more of how the brain works, so don't miss seeing any.

人類的大腦是身體第三大器官。它平均重量是三磅，由脂肪和蛋白質所組成。大腦是全身的控制中心。它有大約一千億的神經細胞、負責運作其他器官、創造思想和情緒、控制動作，並同時獲取和保留資訊。這正是我們人類與其他動物的不同之處。大腦賦予我們能力來使用語言、理性思考、感知世界，並且從事其他許許多多的事。
大腦十分柔韌並且終其一生都會持續發展。然而，就像身上的肌肉一般，大腦也需要照護和定期活動來維持健康。如果我們沒有這麼做，我們的控制中心將無法做決定、抑制恐懼，或是記得曾經做過的任何事。
　　要讓大腦維持健康的一個好途徑就是以益智遊戲或測驗來挑戰腦力，就像國家地理頻道中《大腦遊戲》所做過的那些遊戲和測驗一樣。《大腦遊戲》系列共有十二集，每一集都將揭曉大腦是如何運作的，所以不要錯過任何一集喔。