A reliable source of information indicates that the marriage rate has been going down down on a annual basis, which has been accompanied by a low birth rate as well. The increasing population of the elderly is causing an aging society.
reliable 可靠的
indicate 指出
on a annual basis 每年地
accompany 伴隨
increasing 增加的
population 人口
the elderly 老人
aging 老化的
The more developed the society is, the higher standard has been required by those who look for a spouce. On the other hand, more of those self-determined minds have led to the choice of being single.
developed 發展的
standard 標準
require 要求
spouce 配偶
on the other hand 另一方面
self-determined 自主的
lead to 導致
Marriage is accomplished by a couple wishing to form a family, and a firm economic basis is the essence of it. However, due to the economy which has been in a sorry state for a long while, many people still choose to hold off getting married.
form 形成
firm 穩固的
economic basis 經濟基礎
essence 必要性
due to 由於
in a sorry-state 糟糕的狀態
hold off 停止
It isn't an easy job to increase both the marriage and the birth rate. Before doing that, the authority should first consider how to save people from the problems of the recession.
authority 當局
consider 考慮
recession 不景氣
Maintaining a family in harmony is the key to a happy marriage. Therefore, choosing the right companion other is an important step.
maintain 維持
in harmony 和諧地
optimum 最適合的
companion 伴侶
As far as the high divorce rate and the low marriage rate are concerned, not only the government but also every citizen should tax their strength to solve this social problem, shouldn't we?
as far as ....is concerned 至於
divorce 離婚
not only... but also 不僅...也
citizen 公民
tax their strength 花他們的力量
solve 解決
social problem 社會問題
June 21, 2007
Spiritual or Material?
An improved life has little to do with materials but more with spirit
improved 被提昇的，改進的
material 物質的
spirit 心靈的
For the average people like you and me, the foremost concerns for how to live better lives in this material world seem to involve buying more luxurious houses, posher set of wheels and outfits, higher position at work, more relations in sex, and just to name a few. Therefore, making more money to fulfill our needs in this material world has become the only solution to the pursuit of better life. We can't criticize those for what they are doing. Neither can we tell them what is the right nor wrong thing to do. After all, I still think what people wish to do is by their own will.
average people 普通人
foremost 最重要的，首先的
concern 關心
involve 牽涉，有關
luxurious 奢侈的，豪華的
posh 流行的，第一流的
set of wheels 車子
outfit 服裝
position 職位
relation 肉體關係
fulfill 滿足，成就，實踐
solution 解決方法
pursuit 追求
criticize 批評
neither 也不
Nevertheless, here I would like to refer to the ground of a spiritually improved life, which is by all means against the material. A spiritual life means simplicity by nature, and you will decrease the desire of concerning with money and possessions once you know what is more important for you. You will learn to cherish everything around you, to love your family, friends and colleagues, and to help those who are in need of help. As a result, being more affluent means little to you, and that is the improvement of a spiritual life.
nevertheless 但是
refer to 提到
ground 主題
by all means 當然
against 反對，不同於
simplicity 簡樸，單純
by nature 本質上
decrease 減少
desire 欲求
possession 擁有物
cherish 珍惜
colleague 同事
as a result 結果
affluent 富裕的
improvement 改良，改進
The evidence shows that people seem not to get happier once they become materially richer. The materialistic value is apparently not the remedy for unhappiness. The two things are just on the opposite side of the scale. Which one do you prefer to be heavier, my friend?
evidence 證據
materialistic value 物質化的價值
apparently 明顯地
remedy 治療
opposite 相反的
scale 天平
prefer to 寧可
heavier 較重的
improved 被提昇的，改進的
material 物質的
spirit 心靈的
For the average people like you and me, the foremost concerns for how to live better lives in this material world seem to involve buying more luxurious houses, posher set of wheels and outfits, higher position at work, more relations in sex, and just to name a few. Therefore, making more money to fulfill our needs in this material world has become the only solution to the pursuit of better life. We can't criticize those for what they are doing. Neither can we tell them what is the right nor wrong thing to do. After all, I still think what people wish to do is by their own will.
average people 普通人
foremost 最重要的，首先的
concern 關心
involve 牽涉，有關
luxurious 奢侈的，豪華的
posh 流行的，第一流的
set of wheels 車子
outfit 服裝
position 職位
relation 肉體關係
fulfill 滿足，成就，實踐
solution 解決方法
pursuit 追求
criticize 批評
neither 也不
Nevertheless, here I would like to refer to the ground of a spiritually improved life, which is by all means against the material. A spiritual life means simplicity by nature, and you will decrease the desire of concerning with money and possessions once you know what is more important for you. You will learn to cherish everything around you, to love your family, friends and colleagues, and to help those who are in need of help. As a result, being more affluent means little to you, and that is the improvement of a spiritual life.
nevertheless 但是
refer to 提到
ground 主題
by all means 當然
against 反對，不同於
simplicity 簡樸，單純
by nature 本質上
decrease 減少
desire 欲求
possession 擁有物
cherish 珍惜
colleague 同事
as a result 結果
affluent 富裕的
improvement 改良，改進
The evidence shows that people seem not to get happier once they become materially richer. The materialistic value is apparently not the remedy for unhappiness. The two things are just on the opposite side of the scale. Which one do you prefer to be heavier, my friend?
evidence 證據
materialistic value 物質化的價值
apparently 明顯地
remedy 治療
opposite 相反的
scale 天平
prefer to 寧可
heavier 較重的
June 01, 2007
In-calss writing
I got a chance to be a subsitute teacher for a writing class last night. The topic of the night was "Writing Descriptions". During the class, I asked each of the students to work on a translation practice. They all seemed to pretty enjoy themselves while working on that. Here is the original text in Chinese following an English translated sample:
昨天下午3點30分左右，市中心第一聯邦銀行發生一宗搶案。兩名搶匪闖入偷走了300萬元台幣。根據警方的調查，兩名搶匪戴著太陽眼鏡，面罩及頭盔。他們大約相同的高度，大約175公分。其中一名有黑色直髮然而另一名有不尋常的染金捲髮。兩個人都穿黑色夾克而且他們的褲子都是藍色的。看起來豐滿的這個搶匪穿著白色球鞋，瘦的這個則是穿涼鞋。搶完銀行之後，他們騎摩托車逃走並且30秒內在街角消失。幸運地是這個事件中沒有人受傷。這是今年城市警局所報出的第二件搶案。
Around 3:30 pm yesterday afternoon, a robbery occurred at the downtown First Federal Bank. Two robbers raided it and stole 3 million NT dollars. According to the police investigation, both robbers wore sunglasses, face masks and helmets. They were about the same height, around 175 centimeters tall. One of them had black straight hair while the other one had unusual dyed blond curly hair. Both of them had black jackets on and their pants were blue. The plump-looking robber wore a pair of white sneakers, and the sandals were worn by the skinny one. After robbing the bank, they made their escape on their motorcycle and disappeared round corner within 30 seconds. Fortunately no one was hurt in this incident. This is the second robbery case reported this year by the city police.
昨天下午3點30分左右，市中心第一聯邦銀行發生一宗搶案。兩名搶匪闖入偷走了300萬元台幣。根據警方的調查，兩名搶匪戴著太陽眼鏡，面罩及頭盔。他們大約相同的高度，大約175公分。其中一名有黑色直髮然而另一名有不尋常的染金捲髮。兩個人都穿黑色夾克而且他們的褲子都是藍色的。看起來豐滿的這個搶匪穿著白色球鞋，瘦的這個則是穿涼鞋。搶完銀行之後，他們騎摩托車逃走並且30秒內在街角消失。幸運地是這個事件中沒有人受傷。這是今年城市警局所報出的第二件搶案。
Around 3:30 pm yesterday afternoon, a robbery occurred at the downtown First Federal Bank. Two robbers raided it and stole 3 million NT dollars. According to the police investigation, both robbers wore sunglasses, face masks and helmets. They were about the same height, around 175 centimeters tall. One of them had black straight hair while the other one had unusual dyed blond curly hair. Both of them had black jackets on and their pants were blue. The plump-looking robber wore a pair of white sneakers, and the sandals were worn by the skinny one. After robbing the bank, they made their escape on their motorcycle and disappeared round corner within 30 seconds. Fortunately no one was hurt in this incident. This is the second robbery case reported this year by the city police.
April 25, 2007
Personal endeavor
Few days ago I bumped into a guy who used to be in my class before. I caught his eye while entering the lobby of the building where I usually had class at. I run into people I know here more often than not because this gate seems to be the only access to the building for all workers of the company for the sake of security.
personal endeavor 個人努力
bump into 碰到
used to 曾經
catch one's eye 四目交接
enter 進入
lobby 大廳
run into 遇見
more often than not 常常
gate 大門
seem to 似乎
access 通道
for the sake of security 為了安全的理由
I greeted him as usual by saying how he had been doing recently. He did the same thing to me in the same manner as well. Suddenly he just thought of something and started speaking to me raising his voice. He said he really appreciated my teaching because he registered for one official TOEIC test shortly after the wrap-up of my TOEIC lessons. He scored 805 in the real test and from that moment on he would never have to worry about it any more; a sufficient TOEIC score has always been taken into account by the management when one in this company works his or her way up the corporate ladder.
greet 問候
as usual 通常
recently 最近
manner 姿態
as well 也
suddenly 突然地
thought of 想到(think of 過去式)
raise 提高
appreciate 感謝
register for 報名
official 官方的，正式的
shortly after 馬上在...之後
wrap-up 結束
score 得分
from +time+ on 從...開始
worry 擔心
sufficient 足夠的
take into account 考慮
management 資方
work one's way up the corporate ladder 在公司向上晉升
I could see why he got into ecstasies and then I congratulated him on that. I told him by the way it was due to his own endeavor and teaching him in preparing for the test was only my job. Then I entered the revolving door.
ecstasy 非常高興，狂喜
congratulate 恭賀
by the way 順便說
due to 由於
prepare for 準備，應付
revolving door 旋轉門
I was being so happy the whole evening.
personal endeavor 個人努力
bump into 碰到
used to 曾經
catch one's eye 四目交接
enter 進入
lobby 大廳
run into 遇見
more often than not 常常
gate 大門
seem to 似乎
access 通道
for the sake of security 為了安全的理由
I greeted him as usual by saying how he had been doing recently. He did the same thing to me in the same manner as well. Suddenly he just thought of something and started speaking to me raising his voice. He said he really appreciated my teaching because he registered for one official TOEIC test shortly after the wrap-up of my TOEIC lessons. He scored 805 in the real test and from that moment on he would never have to worry about it any more; a sufficient TOEIC score has always been taken into account by the management when one in this company works his or her way up the corporate ladder.
greet 問候
as usual 通常
recently 最近
manner 姿態
as well 也
suddenly 突然地
thought of 想到(think of 過去式)
raise 提高
appreciate 感謝
register for 報名
official 官方的，正式的
shortly after 馬上在...之後
wrap-up 結束
score 得分
from +time+ on 從...開始
worry 擔心
sufficient 足夠的
take into account 考慮
management 資方
work one's way up the corporate ladder 在公司向上晉升
I could see why he got into ecstasies and then I congratulated him on that. I told him by the way it was due to his own endeavor and teaching him in preparing for the test was only my job. Then I entered the revolving door.
ecstasy 非常高興，狂喜
congratulate 恭賀
by the way 順便說
due to 由於
prepare for 準備，應付
revolving door 旋轉門
I was being so happy the whole evening.
April 18, 2007
Unexpected compensation
I would like to tell you a true story about myself. It just happened last night and the moral of it is how important cooling down yourself can be.
unexpected compensation 不預期的賠償
moral 寓意
cool down 冷靜
I pulled my car into the nearest gas station of my home on Tuesday night, as usual. On Tuesdays this station provides its customers with much cheaper gas price than others-- normally around 1.5 NT per liter less than the fixed price if paid by cash. For me it is a real bargain, so I would never let the chance go.
pull a car into 把車開進
gas station 加油站
as usual 通常
provide sb with st 提供某人某物
customer 顧客
gas/ gasoline 汽油
normally 正常來說
NT 台幣
per liter 每公升
less than 少於
fixed 固定的
cash 現金
bargain 便宜貨
In Taiwan almost all the gas stations offer only full service to their patrons instead of self service. That is, drivers don't have to get off their cars to get their babies filled up by themselves. All you have to do is stay inside and tell the clerk how much fuel you want and the class of the gasoline you prefer and they will serve you in no time.
almost 幾乎
offer 提供
full service 全服務
patron 顧客
self service 自助服務
get off 下車
fill up 加滿
clerk 職員
fuel 燃料
prefer 較喜歡
serve 服務
in no time 馬上
I told the young man that I only wanted 500 NT of 92 gas for my car. I opened the lid of the gas tank and he immediately triggered the "gun" of the gas pump, then he left.
lid 蓋子
gas tank 油箱
immediately 馬上
trigger 啟動
gun 槍
gas pump 加油機
I looked at the meter of the pump blankly, thinking about picking something up at he grocery store later. Suddenly I found the numbers on the meter didn't seem to stop at "500" dollars but kept rolling. I called the clerk who just served me and told him to stop the pump right away. He, having a chat with his fellow worker just seconds ago, started realizing that he had forgotten to set the pump to stop at "500". It was finally stopped at "678" dollars and then I began to worry whether I had enough money to pay. He looked worried too, because I could sense that. I opened my wallet and counted the bills I had; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...Oops! there were only six hundred NT... then I looked into the coins I got...Two fifty-NT coins!! Now I got enough to pay but began to get annoyed.
meter 表
blankly 茫然地
pick up 買
grocery store 雜貨店
suddenly 突然
chat 聊天
fellow workers 同事
realize 了解
whether 是否
sense 察覺
wallet 錢包
count 計算
oops 糟糕
coin 硬幣
annoyed 不高興
I was about to blame this guy for his carelessness because I had already told him how much gas I wanted, but he seemed to turn his deaf ear to what I just told him to do. I managed to cool myself down this time, so I didn't say anything to him. He got my money and got back to the cash register. When he returned, he gave me my change and receipt plus a stack of toilet tissue boxes. He apologized to me about his mistake and wish me to come back again.....
blame 責備
guy 傢伙
carelessness 粗心
seem 似乎
turn one's deaf ear to st 把某事當耳邊風
manage to 設法
cash register 收銀機
return 回來
receipt 收據
plus 加上
a stack of 一疊
toilet tissue 面紙
apologize 抱歉
Well, on my way home I was thinking if I had shouted at him last night at the gas station, I might not have got so many boxes of toilet tissue. I had successfully managed my EQ fairly well this time.
shout 大叫
fairly well 還不錯
unexpected compensation 不預期的賠償
moral 寓意
cool down 冷靜
I pulled my car into the nearest gas station of my home on Tuesday night, as usual. On Tuesdays this station provides its customers with much cheaper gas price than others-- normally around 1.5 NT per liter less than the fixed price if paid by cash. For me it is a real bargain, so I would never let the chance go.
pull a car into 把車開進
gas station 加油站
as usual 通常
provide sb with st 提供某人某物
customer 顧客
gas/ gasoline 汽油
normally 正常來說
NT 台幣
per liter 每公升
less than 少於
fixed 固定的
cash 現金
bargain 便宜貨
In Taiwan almost all the gas stations offer only full service to their patrons instead of self service. That is, drivers don't have to get off their cars to get their babies filled up by themselves. All you have to do is stay inside and tell the clerk how much fuel you want and the class of the gasoline you prefer and they will serve you in no time.
almost 幾乎
offer 提供
full service 全服務
patron 顧客
self service 自助服務
get off 下車
fill up 加滿
clerk 職員
fuel 燃料
prefer 較喜歡
serve 服務
in no time 馬上
I told the young man that I only wanted 500 NT of 92 gas for my car. I opened the lid of the gas tank and he immediately triggered the "gun" of the gas pump, then he left.
lid 蓋子
gas tank 油箱
immediately 馬上
trigger 啟動
gun 槍
gas pump 加油機
I looked at the meter of the pump blankly, thinking about picking something up at he grocery store later. Suddenly I found the numbers on the meter didn't seem to stop at "500" dollars but kept rolling. I called the clerk who just served me and told him to stop the pump right away. He, having a chat with his fellow worker just seconds ago, started realizing that he had forgotten to set the pump to stop at "500". It was finally stopped at "678" dollars and then I began to worry whether I had enough money to pay. He looked worried too, because I could sense that. I opened my wallet and counted the bills I had; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...Oops! there were only six hundred NT... then I looked into the coins I got...Two fifty-NT coins!! Now I got enough to pay but began to get annoyed.
meter 表
blankly 茫然地
pick up 買
grocery store 雜貨店
suddenly 突然
chat 聊天
fellow workers 同事
realize 了解
whether 是否
sense 察覺
wallet 錢包
count 計算
oops 糟糕
coin 硬幣
annoyed 不高興
I was about to blame this guy for his carelessness because I had already told him how much gas I wanted, but he seemed to turn his deaf ear to what I just told him to do. I managed to cool myself down this time, so I didn't say anything to him. He got my money and got back to the cash register. When he returned, he gave me my change and receipt plus a stack of toilet tissue boxes. He apologized to me about his mistake and wish me to come back again.....
blame 責備
guy 傢伙
carelessness 粗心
seem 似乎
turn one's deaf ear to st 把某事當耳邊風
manage to 設法
cash register 收銀機
return 回來
receipt 收據
plus 加上
a stack of 一疊
toilet tissue 面紙
apologize 抱歉
Well, on my way home I was thinking if I had shouted at him last night at the gas station, I might not have got so many boxes of toilet tissue. I had successfully managed my EQ fairly well this time.
shout 大叫
fairly well 還不錯
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