Meet Kathleen the mouse and Mark the elephant. Kathleen is very brave and likes adventure, but Mark is very shy and scared of many things. But friends stay together, so Mark follows Kathleen wherever she goes. Sometimes they get into some very sticky situations.
見見老鼠凱薩琳和大象馬克。凱薩琳非常勇敢又喜歡冒險,但馬克的個性十分害羞,對許多事情都感到害怕。不過,朋友都喜歡黏在一塊兒,所以凱薩琳走到哪兒,馬克就會跟到哪兒。有時候,他們也會碰上非常棘手的情況...
Between a rock and a soft place 沙石之間
Mark and Kathleen were lying in the grass at the park one afternoon.
"I sure do love a sunny day, " said Mark as he watched some kids flying kites and others riding their bicycles. An old couple was also playing tennis nearby while a few kids played on the playground slide.
"Everyone has a good time on days like this," Kathleen murmured. "There's just nothing bad that can happen."
A tennis ball bounced out of the tennis court and over the park to Mark. "Don't worry," he yelled to the couple, "I'll get it for you." Mark picked up the ball and started to walk over to the tennis court. Kathleen followed him.
"The ground sure is soft here," Kathleen said to Mark. "It almost feels like being on the beach."
"Yeah, I noticed," replied Mark. "It's almost hard for me to walk since I'm so heavy."
Before Mark even finished the sentence, he really couldn't walk. His feet were stuck in the ground - and he was sinking deeper.
"What's going on?" Mark cried in fear. "What is this?"
"It's quicksand," Kathleen told him. "Just try not to move, you'll only make it worse. I'll try to think of something ..."
一天下午,馬克和凱薩琳躺在公園草地上。
馬克看著放風箏與騎腳踏車的小朋友說︰「我好喜歡晴朗的天氣。」一對老夫妻正在附近打網球,還有一群小孩在溜滑梯。
「這樣的日子大家都很開心,」凱薩琳輕聲說︰「沒有壞事會發生。」
一顆網球從網球場彈出,飛到公園,滾到了馬克旁邊。「別擔心,」馬克向那對老夫妻說︰「我會幫你們撿。」馬克拾起那顆網球,走向網球場,凱薩琳緊跟在後。
「土地好軟喔,」凱薩琳對馬克說︰「簡直就像走在海灘。」
「是啊,我注意到了,」馬克回答說︰「我太重了,幾乎走不動。」
馬克話還沒說完,就發現自己動彈不得。他的腳陷入土裡,愈陷愈深。
「發生了什麼事?」馬克害怕地說︰「這是什麼?」
「這是流沙,」凱薩琳告訴他︰「不要動,你只會讓情況更糟。我會努力想辦法‥‥‥」
(翻譯:賴美君)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110