Sweden 瑞典
With Dec. 25th right around the corner, are you longing for a white
Christmas? If you are, you might consider heading over to Sweden, where the average high in the capital for December is 1?C!
PHOTO: AFP
Read on to learn more about Sweden.
十二月二十五日就快到了,你渴望過個白色聖誕嗎?如果你想,不妨考慮前往瑞典,她的首都十二月平均溫度只有攝氏一度。往下讀,深入了解瑞典。
A closer look 說古論今
Sweden is mostly level, with farms in the south, forests in the north, and majestic mountains in the west. Sweden has some of the most unspoiled land in the world. Although the north is very cold, the south of the country is surprisingly temperate and comfortable.
Sweden has a unique and colorful history. They have had a king for almost 1,000 years. During the Viking Age (800-1100), Swedish Vikings became rich on expeditions to places as distant as Baghdad, Iraq.
In 1389, the Swedes joined the Kalmar Union with Denmark and Norway, but left the union to become fully sovereign in the early 1500s. In 1814, Sweden fought its final war, and for almost 200 years has been neutral and at peace.
Economically, Sweden is highly developed and a major exporter. Important industries include timber and engineering. The government provides many services — top-rate health care, free education through university, retirement pensions, funding for sports teams, and lots of time off work. A new father gets 60 days of paid vacation to take care of his new baby! Swedes pay a minimum 30 percent income tax plus sales taxes for these services.
More than half of the population plays sports, of which soccer and hockey are the most popular. Traditional Swedish food includes fermented Baltic herring, salmon, potato dumplings with pork and onion, pea soup and pancakes.
(Jason Cox, staff writer)
瑞典地勢多平坦,南有農田,北有森林,雄偉山脈盤倨西邊。瑞典擁有全世界最多無人涉足的淨土,而儘管北方天氣嚴寒,南方確是出乎意料之外的溫和宜人。
瑞典有著獨特且多采多姿的歷史。國王掌權近千年。維京人統治時期(八世紀到十一世紀),瑞典維京人最遠長征至伊拉克巴格達,致富萬里。
一三八九年,瑞典、丹麥和挪威加入卡爾馬聯合王國,不過在十六世紀初脫離聯合王國,完全獨立。瑞典最後一場戰役發生在一八一四年,近兩百年來瑞典一直是置身太平之世的中立國。
瑞典的經濟高度發展,為主要出口國,重點工業包括木材和工程。政府提供多項服務︰頂級的醫療照顧、大學以下免學費、退休金、運動隊伍補助金和大量的假期。新任父親還擁有六十天給薪假期照顧甫出生的寶貝!瑞典人為這些福利至少得繳30%的所得稅和銷售稅。
一半以上瑞典人從事運動,足球和曲棍球最受歡迎。傳統的瑞典飲食包括發酵的波羅地海鯡魚、鮭魚、內包豬肉和洋蔥餡的馬鈴薯餃、豌豆湯和煎餅。
(翻譯:鄭湘儀)
WHO KNEW? 你知道嗎?
Like Taiwan, Sweden has indigenous people. While Taiwan has 12 officially recognized tribes, Sweden has just one, the Sami. Four countries — Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia — have large Sami populations. In total, there are 80,000-100,000 Sami. There are 10 Sami languages, but few Sami can speak them and most speak the language of their home country. Their traditional livelihoods include reindeer herding, fishing, and animal trapping, though many Sami now leave the countryside to work in large cities doing more common jobs. The Sami people also have their own governments and parliaments in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Anybody who is Sami, and has at least a grandparent that can speak Sami, can vote. Traditional clothes are colorful and heavy, made for the cold weather.
瑞典跟台灣一樣都有原住民,不過台灣有十二個官方認定的部落,瑞典只有一族︰薩米人。芬蘭、挪威、瑞典和俄國四國境內都有大量的薩米人口,總數約在八萬到十萬人之間。他們自己有十種語言,但瑞典境內薩米人多說瑞典語,且可能對薩米語所知無多。傳統薩米人以畜養馴鹿、魚釣和誘捕動物為生,不過現在許多薩米人離開鄉村,到大城市從事比較一般性的工作。薩米人在芬蘭、挪威和瑞典都有自己的政府和國會,只要身為薩米人,且至少有一位祖父母會說薩米語便有投票權。傳統服飾色彩較艷麗,是為寒冷天氣所設計的厚重衣物。
A LOOK AT CONTEXT 思前想後猜字義
1. The climate here is quite temperate, rarely freezing cold or burning hot.
Temperate means ...
a. burning hot weather.
b. freezing cold weather.
c. weather that is neither super hot nor very cold.
d. how hot something is.
2. There was a news article today asking if the Vatican is sovereign even though it's in Italy.
Sovereign means ...
a. self-governing or independent.
b. small.
c. loud.
d. conservative.
3. You two can go ahead and fight, but I want to remain neutral.
Neutral means ...
a. supporting neither side of a dispute.
b. aligning with the strongest side.
c. fighting against both sides.
d. favoring a larger dispute.
4. Our Dance Club wants to sell tickets to our shows so we have regular funding.
Funding is ...
a. a hobby.
b. a kind of dance.
c. money or a payment.
d. tickets to shows.
WHAT TIME IS IT THERE ? 現在那裡幾點?
During the winter, Sweden is seven hours behind Taiwan, so when it is 7:30pm in Taiwan, it is 12:30am in Sweden.
瑞典在冬天比台灣晚七個小時,所以台灣若是晚上七點半,瑞典就是下午十二點半。
ABOUT SWEDEN 國家概況
Size: 449,964km2, or almost 13 times bigger than Taiwan.
Location: Northern Europe
Border countries: Norway, Finland
Capital: Stockholm
Population: About 9 million
Language: Swedish
Government: Representative parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy
Currency: 1 Krona = 4.7 Taiwan dollars
面積︰四十四萬九千九百六十四平方公里,約大台灣十三倍。
位置︰北歐
鄰國︰挪威、芬蘭
首都︰斯德哥爾摩
人口︰約九百萬
官方語言︰瑞典語
政體︰君主立憲下的代議民主
貨幣︰一克朗等於新台幣四點七元。
FLAG 國旗
The Swedish flag has been in use since 1569, and the color scheme is inspired by the Swedish coat of arms of three yellow crowns on a blue background. The yellow cross is a reminder of Sweden's Christian heritage.
瑞典國旗自一五六九年延用至今,色彩配置的靈感來源是瑞典國徽上三個映著藍色背景的黃色皇冠,黃色十字使人憶起瑞典的基督教傳統。
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