英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

2022/02/10 05:30
◎孫宇青

A resident of a high-rise condominium in Thailand cut the support rope for two painters, apparently angry she wasn’t told they would be doing work, and left them hanging above the 26th floor.

泰國一棟高層公寓大廈的一名住戶，剪斷2名外牆油漆工的支撐繩索，讓他們懸吊在26樓高，顯然是對未被告知施工一事動怒。

The woman is facing attempted murder and property destruction charges, and could face a prison term up to 20 years.

該名女性住戶面臨蓄意謀殺和財物毀損罪名，可能被判囚20年。

One of the painters, a Myanmar national named Song, told the Thai media that he and his friends had lowered themselves from the 32nd floor to repair a crack on the building.

其中一名緬甸籍宋姓油漆工向泰國媒體表示，他和朋友從32樓垂降，準備修復大廈的裂痕。

When he reached the 30th floor, he felt that the rope was heavier and when he looked down, he saw someone on the 21st floor open a window and cut his rope. He tried asking for help from other units, but nobody was in. The third colleague continued to support them from the top floor until a couple rescued them.（AP）

到達30樓外後，他感到繩索變重，往下竟看到有人從21樓打開窗戶剪斷繩索。他試著向其他住戶求救，但沒人在家，第3名同事則持續從頂樓支撐著他們，直到一對夫婦救了他們。（美聯社）

2022/02/09 05:30
◎管淑平

President Joe Biden blamed Donald Trump directly for the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol a year ago, saying the former president turned to violence to try to overturn the election he lost.

總統拜登將1年前的美國國會暴動直接歸咎川普，說這名前總統訴諸暴力，試圖推翻他輸掉的選舉。

"For the first time in our history, a president not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol," Biden said in a speech Thursday in the building’s Statuary Hall, commemorating the first anniversary of the insurrection.

「我國歷史上首次有一名總統，不僅輸掉選舉，還在一群暴民闖入國會時，設法阻止政權和平轉移」，拜登週四在國會大廈雕像廳發表紀念這場暴動週年的演說中表示。

Biden said that after Trump “rallied the mob to attack” the Capitol, he sat “in the private dining room off the Oval office in the White House, watching it all on television and doing nothing for hours as police were assaulted, lives at risk, the nation’s capitol under siege.”

拜登說，川普「召集暴徒攻擊」國會山莊後，坐在「白宮橢圓形辦公室外的私人餐廳，看著電視播出這一切，在警方遭到攻擊、人命處於險境、這個國家的國會被圍困之際，坐視不理達數小時之久。」

新聞辭典
tear into sth./sb.：片語，猛烈抨擊（某事或人）。例句：He tore into his opponents.（他猛烈抨擊他的對手。）

2022/02/07 05:30
◎陳成良

Getting vaccinated against Covid-19 won’t affect a couple’s chances of getting pregnant, but contracting the coronavirus could impair male fertility.

接種Covid-19疫苗不會影響夫妻懷孕的機會，但感染這種冠狀病毒可能會損害男性的生育能力。

Those are the main conclusions of a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, refuting a common myth about the vaccine and sending a warning to men who avoid it.

這是美國國家衛生研究院資助的一項研究的主要結論，駁斥了關於疫苗的普遍迷思，並向不願接種疫苗的男性發出警告。

Researchers at Boston University studied more than 2,000 couples and found no differences in their chances of conception if either partner was vaccinated compared to unvaccinated couples.

波士頓大學的研究人員研究2000多對夫妻，發現如果任何一方接種疫苗，與未接種疫苗的夫妻相比，他們的受孕機會沒有差異。

But the couples’ chances of conceiving decreased slightly if the male partner had contracted the virus 60 days or less before a menstrual cycle, an indication of diminished male fertility.

2022/01/27 05:30
◎孫宇青

The Australian Outback town of Quilpie hoped its offer of free residential land to anyone who would make it their home might attract five new families to the remote community of 800.

澳洲內陸小鎮奎爾皮原本希望，藉由免費提供住宅土地，可吸引5組新家庭前往這個800人的偏遠社區定居。

But authorities have been overwhelmed by more than 250 inquires in less than two weeks from around Australia and internationally, including Britain, India, Hong Kong and New Zealand,

但不到2週，就有來自澳洲和全球逾250組家庭前去洽詢，包括英國、印度、香港和紐西蘭，令當局大吃一驚。

People who buy a block of land, build a house on it for less than 750,000 Australian dollars, and live in it for six months are eligible for a AU$12,500 grant.

只要以75萬澳幣（約1520萬台幣）以內的價格買下一塊土地蓋房子，並實際居住6個月，就有資格獲得1萬2500澳幣（約25萬3000台幣）的補助金。

People would be able to buy a fully serviced, 1,000-square-meter block for the same price as the grant, effectively giving the plots away for free. But home buyers need to be Australian citizens or permanent residents.（AP）

在當地，以相當於補助金的價格就可以買下1000平方公尺（約303坪）的土地，等同免費贈地，但買家必須是澳洲公民或永久居民。（美聯社）

2022/01/26 05:30
◎管淑平

Extreme weather in Alaska that has brought record high temperatures and torrential downpours has left authorities in the far northern US state warning of "Icemageddon".

阿拉斯加出現的極端天氣帶來破紀錄的高溫和豪雨，使這個美國遙遠北方州的政府警告「冰雪末日」。

Hours after thermometers on Kodiak Island in the south reached 19.4 degrees Celsius － the warmest December temperature ever recorded in Alaska － the interior of the state saw 25 millimeters of rain fall in just a few hours, a downpour unseen in decades.

位於南部的科迪亞克氣溫達到攝氏19.4度—阿拉斯加有史以來12月最高溫—數小時後，該州內陸地區僅幾小時就降下250公釐雨量，是數十年來未曾見過的暴雨。

Then when temperatures plummeted again, it all froze. The state’s transportation department has coined the neologism － a play on "Armageddon" － to describe the chilly impasse.

然後氣溫再度驟降，萬物結凍。阿拉斯加州運輸部用電影「世界末日」之名，創造這個新詞，形容這種冰封景象。

"We’re experiencing an unprecedented series of winter storms," the department tweeted. (AFP)

該部推文說，「我們正經歷空前的一連串冬季風暴」。（法新社）