Thu, Jul 31, 2008 page15

• Conservation groups urge Taipei restaurant to stop serving shark’s fin 保育團體呼籲故宮晶華停止供應魚翅料理

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  A US and a Taiwan conservation group are demanding that a Taiwan banquet hall stop serving shark’s fin to prevent sharks’ extinction, a newspaper said last week.

  According to the United Daily News, the US-based Humane Society International (HSI) and the Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) have asked Taiwanese authorities to stop the Silk Palace banquet hall in Taipei from serving shark’s fin.

  In their petition to the Cabinet, the Council of Agriculture and the National Palace Museum, under which the Silk Palace banquet hall is attached, HSI and EAST said the Silk Palace, which opened in June, is the venue for state banquets and draws many foreign tourists.

  Out of the restaurant’s nine set courses, eight have shark’s fin dishes or soup.

  “Taiwan catches and imports a total of 600 tons (544 tonnes) of shark’s fin each year. Shark’s fin is a luxury food. Serving shark’s fin at the Silk Palace damages Taiwan’s international image,” EAST executive director Chu Tseng-hung said.

  “Taiwan residents should boycott eating shark’s fin and the government should launch a campaign to raise public awareness,” he said.

  Chu said harvesting shark’s fin is very cruel because after cutting off shark’s fin, fishermen throw sharks back into the sea to let them bleed to death. Killing sharks for shark’s fin will deplete shark populations and harm marine ecology.

  National Palace Museum officials said that although the Silk Palace banquet hall is owned by the museum, its operation has been “outsourced.”

  They said shark’s fin is an important part of a Chinese banquet, but the museum will see if it can make changes after carefully studying the petitions from HSI and EAST.

  (DPA)

  上週有一家報媒報導，美國和台灣的保育團體，要求台灣一家宴會餐廳停止供應魚翅，以防鯊魚絕種。

  《聯合報》的報導指出，美國國際人道協會（HSI）和台灣動物社會研究會（EAST）已要求台灣有關當局，停止在台北「故宮晶華」宴會餐廳供應魚翅料理。

  美國國際人道協會和台灣動物社會研究所送交行政院、農委會和國立故宮博物院的請願書中提到，六月在故宮開幕的故宮晶華推出國寶宴，吸引許多外國遊客前來。

  但該餐廳提供的九種套餐中，就有八種套餐內含魚翅料理或湯品。

  台灣動物社會研究會執行長朱增宏說：「台灣每年捕捉加上進口的魚翅就有六百噸（五百四十四公噸）。魚翅是奢華的食材。故宮晶華販售魚翅有損台灣的國際形象。」

  他說：「台灣人民應拒吃魚翅，政府也該加強活動宣導。」

  朱增宏說，魚翅的取得方式非常殘忍，漁民割下魚鰭後，就把鯊魚丟回海裡，任由牠們失血致死。為了魚翅捕殺鯊魚，將使鯊魚數量銳減，並危害海洋生態。

  國立故宮博物院方面表示，雖然故宮擁有故宮晶華的所有權，但營運的部分卻是「委外」負責。

  故宮表示，魚翅是中華宴席中一道重要的料理，他們會詳閱美國國際人道協會和台灣動物社會研究會的請願書後，再看看能否配合調整菜單。

  （德通社／翻譯：袁星塵）

  For your information

  TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

  1. extinction n. 滅絕 (mie4 jue2) 例: Global warming could lead to mass extinction. (全球暖化可能會導致物種大滅絕。) 2. petition n. 請願書 (qing3 yuan4 shu1) 例: How many people signed the petition? (這份請願書共有多少人連署？) 3. boycott v.t. 聯合抵制 (lian2 he2 di3 zhi4) 例: I boycotted the restaurant because of their terrible service. (我抵制那間�?A因為他們的服務態度很差。) 4. outsource v.t. 委外 (wei3 wai4) 例: We outsourced the advertising to another company. (我們把廣告外包給另一家公司。)

  For your information

  SAY WHAT? 說說看

  public awareness 大眾覺知 Public awareness is a phrase which refers to how aware the general population is of a particular issue. The government often tries to raise public awareness for important issues. For example: “A campaign was launched to improve public awareness about hygiene,” or “We haven’t done enough to raise public awareness about the environmental impact of flying.” Propaganda is a tool that’s used to increase public awareness. For example: “The Nazis were masters of propaganda.” 「public awareness」一詞指的是大眾對某特定議題了解的程度，政府常試圖提升民眾對某些重要議題的認知，例如：「政府舉辦活動加強宣導衛生觀念」或是「在宣導飛行造成的環境影響方面，我們做的還不夠」。 「propaganda」是用來提昇大眾覺知的宣傳方法，例如：「納粹黨是操作宣傳的高手」。

  For your information

  OUT LOUD 對話練習

  Phil: What’s wrong? Tanya: I am at sea with this new computer I got. I can’t even figure out how to connect to the Internet. Phil: Have you looked at the manual? Tanya: That only confused me more. Phil: Well computers aren’t meant for everyone. 菲爾：怎麼啦？ 坦雅：這台新電腦讓我不知如何是好，我連要怎麼連上網都不知道。 菲爾：你讀過說明書了嗎？ 坦雅：那只讓我更加迷惑。 菲爾：唔，不是每個人都適合用電腦的。 be at sea　毫無頭緒 If somebody is at sea, he or she is completely confused about something. For example: “I was at sea during the test, but the teacher said I passed.” 如果某人「be at sea」，表示他或她對某事感到茫然、毫無頭緒，例如：「我考試時腦筋一片空白，但老師卻說我及格了」。
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