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Chinese man regains world’s tallest title 中國再度「高人」一等

How’s this for a tall story? A Chinese man has been confirmed as the world’s tallest living man because a “taller” Ukrainian refuses to be measured, Guinness World Records said last week.

Bao Xishun, who is 2.36m tall, had lost his title last year to Leonid Stadnyk, whose height was certified by a local doctor as 2.53m.

But Guinness has changed its guidelines for the category and all pretenders to the title now have to be measured by an official judge.

Stadnyk had been crowned the tallest living human based on a statement from his doctor, but he has failed to respond to requests from Guinness to measure him.

Bao, who has been measured by Guinness, will therefore regain his title when the 2009 book of records is published this year.

Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, said: “We are the authority on world records and our obligation is to provide the public with the most accurate information possible.

“According to our new guidelines, Leonid Stadnyk does not meet the criteria for the evidence required to support his claim, which is why we felt that it was only fair to give it to Bao Xishun, whom we have measured in person.

“We still hope to hear from Stadnyk and anyone else in the world for that matter so we can travel to meet him and officially measure his height.”

Stadnyk is believed to be 2.56m tall, but hates his height and doesn’t want to be famous for it. At school Stadnyk was nicknamed “titch” because he was so small, but after routine surgery at the age of 14, he developed an unusual condition which caused him to grow abnormally tall.

(STAFF WRITER WITH AFP)

金氏世界紀錄上週表示，在一位「身高更高」的烏克蘭人不願配合測量後，中國一名男子已獲認證為世界現存最高男子。這個「高度」誇張的故事聽起來如何？

兩百三十六公分高的鮑喜順，去年被李奧尼德．史塔德尼克搶走他世界第一高人的頭銜；烏克蘭當地一名醫師證明史塔德尼克的身高有兩百五十三公分。

但金氏最近修改了這個類別的判定標準，規定所有有意角逐頭銜者都必須接受官方評判員的測量。

史塔德尼克因醫生的聲明而受封為世界現存第一高人，但他卻未回應金氏世界紀錄進行官方測量的要求。

因此，已接受金氏官方測量的鮑喜順，將在今年出版的《二ＯＯ九金氏世界紀錄大全》中重獲此頭銜。

《金氏世界紀錄大全》的總編輯葛雷格．格藍戴說：「我們是世界紀錄的權威組織，我們的責任就是盡可能提供大眾最精確的資訊。」

「根據我們新的評選原則，李奧尼德．史塔德尼克沒有拿出符合標準所需的證據佐證他宣稱的身高。因此我們認為，只有讓已接受過測量的鮑喜順得到這個頭銜才公平。」

「我們仍然希望和史塔德尼克先生、或世上任何希望角逐此頭銜的人取得聯繫，好讓我們登門拜訪、正式測量身高。」

史塔德尼克據信有兩百五十六公分高，但他的身高為他帶來困擾，他也不希望因此出名。史塔德尼克以前身材嬌小，在校時的綽號是「小矮個兒」，但他十四歲那年動了一場例行手術後，竟開始出現異常，結果變成一個身高非比尋常的高個兒。

（法新社／翻譯：袁星塵）

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字 1. pretender n. 覬覦王位者 (ji4 yu2 wang2 wei4 zhe3)，委求者 (wei3 qiu2 zhe3) 例: Although there were lots of pretenders to the boxing title, Jake was confident he would retain it. (雖然有許多人前來角逐拳擊冠軍的頭銜，但傑克有信心衛冕成功。 2. authority n. 權威 (quan2 wei1) 例: Dr Wilson is the leading authority on heart disease. (威爾森醫師是心臟病方面的權威。) 3. accurate adj. 準確的 (zhun3 que4 de5) 例: Can anybody tell me if the clock is accurate? (有誰能告訴我這個鐘準嗎？) 4. evidence n. 證據 (zheng4 ju4) 例: All the evidence suggested that Phil stole the cookies. (所有的證據都顯示菲爾偷了那些餅乾。)

SAY WHAT? 說說看 tall story 無稽之談 A tall story is a story that is untrue or unbelievable. In the article, “How’s this for a tall story?” is a joke because the article is true. The following examples show how tall story is usually used. “Lisa forgot her homework again. She told the teacher there had been a fire in her bedroom, but everyone knew it was a tall story,” or “Timmy told us that the candy shop were handing out free chocolate bars, but when we got there we discovered that it was just another of his tall stories.” 「tall story」就是不真實或讓人難以置信的故事，文章中提到：「這個『高度』誇張的故事聽來如何？」是在開玩笑，因為這是個真實的故事。下面的例子是「tall story」常見的用法。 「麗莎又忘了做作業，她跟老師說她的房間失火了，但大家都知道那是無稽之談」，或是「提米告訴我們糖果屋在免費發送巧克力棒，但我們到了那邊才發現他又在胡說八道了」。

OUT LOUD 對話練習 Roland: What are you doing with that lawn mower, Ziggy? Ziggy: I’m just making a final check before I start my journey across the US. Roland: So why are you checking the lawn mower? Ziggy: Because I’m going to break the world record for the longest distance traveled on a lawn mower. It’s currently 23,400km. Roland: I think you’re crazy. Aren’t you worried you’ll get lost? Ziggy: Not at all. I’ll just follow my nose and see where I end up. 羅蘭：吉基，你弄那台除草機幹嘛？ 吉基：我只是在為我橫跨美國之旅做最後的檢查。 羅蘭：那你為什麼要檢查那台除草機？ 吉基：因為我打算打破世界乘除草機旅行最遠的紀錄，目前的紀錄是兩萬三千四百公里。 羅蘭：我覺得你瘋了，你不擔心你會迷路嗎？ 吉基：一點也不，我打算一路朝前直走，看看最後可以到哪。 follow your nose　一路朝前直走／順從直覺 If you follow your nose, you continue in a straight line, or follow your instincts. For example: “The supermarket’s easy to find. Just follow your nose for two blocks. You can’t miss it.” 如果你「follow your nose」，就表示你持續朝著前方直走，或是跟隨你的直覺。例如：「那個超市很好找，只要直走過兩條街後，你就會看到了」。

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