Sun Jou-hui of National Changhua Girls’ Senior High School, who received 74 points at this year’s university entrance exam test, did not go to cram school in her three years of high school in order to reduce the burden on the family economy. She relied fully on her own diligence and hard work in combination with the study resources available on the Internet.
Sun, who attends the advanced language class at her school, received 14 points in the natural sciences test but a full 15 points in all the other tests. Sun is interested in business, and she is looking toward a future in international banking and finance.
Sun says that what is most lacking for high school students studying English in Taiwan is exposure to Western culture and everyday conversation. In order to make up for this shortage without spending a lot of money, she goes to the YouTube Web site to look for colloquial English dialogue and to gain a wide exposure to knowledge about politics, economics and everyday life. Thanks to the vast amount of colloquial expressions that she has learned directly from foreigners, her own English is becoming more authentic.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者張聰秋
Sun has her sights set on the University of Hong Kong. She says Hong Kong is an international financial center that offers a lot of competition and a lot of opportunities. In the future, she wants to work in business, because that offers a lot of internship, work and employment opportunities. However, she does not exclude a future in Taiwan and says she will strive hard and try her fortunes in both places.
(Liberty Times, translated by Perry Svensson)
今年大學學測考了七十四級分彰女考生孫柔惠，為了減輕家裡經濟負擔，高中三年沒有補習，完全靠自己的勤奮努力和善用網路學習資源。
彰化女中語文資優班學生孫柔惠，五科成績只有自然科十四級分，其他四科各十五級分最高分，她興趣在商，未來想朝國際金融財經發展。
孫柔惠說，台灣高中學生學英語，最欠缺的是對西方文化和日常生活對話涉獵不足，為了補足這方面的欠缺，在不花錢的情況下，她會上YouTube網站尋找英語口語對話，政治、經濟、生活知識廣泛涉獵，靈活運用從外國人身上學來的大量口語，讓自己的英語更道地。
孫柔惠志在香港大學，她表示，香港是國際金融發展重心，競爭多、機會相對也多，日後她想從商，在實習、工作、就業出路選擇性多，但另一方面，她也不排斥在台灣發展，兩邊都會努力爭取和嘗試。
(自由時報記者張聰秋)
In the early hours of Monday morning last week, the First Tank Company of the Second Combined Arms Battalion of the army’s 584 Armor Brigade set out from its barracks for a combat readiness patrol. As the unit was passing along the Bade Road section of Provincial Highway 1 in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township, a CM11 tank accidentally knocked over a set of traffic lights at an intersection and drove up onto the median divider island. Fortunately the accident did not cause any harm to personnel or equipment. The unit immediately contacted the relevant department of Hsinchu County Government to
A: Are there any other organisms facing extinction? B: Reportedly, over 40 percent of amphibians, 25 percent of mammals and 13 percent of birds could face extinction. A: These are really frightening statistics. B: If humans do not look after the animal kingdom, one day we too might become extinct. A: 那其他生物會不會也面臨絕種危機啊？ B: 據說百分之四十的兩棲動物、百分之二十五的哺乳動物、百分之十三的鳥類都可能滅絕。 A: 這些數字看起來好驚人。 B: 如果人類再不保護動物，總有一天自己也會滅絕。 （Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩） Audio recordings for Speak Up! dialogues will be suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.
Tourists will benefit as yen falls 日本6月將開放觀光！日圓「貶值」學換匯英文 自疫情爆發至今已超過兩年，全球逐漸邁向與疫情共存的方式，日本政府也將陸續鬆綁邊境管制，最快有機會六月就開放外國觀光客以團體旅遊方式入境。加上日圓近期狂貶，來到二十年來新低點，專家預估，日本將迎來新一波的旅遊熱潮。今天我們就從國外報導的日圓貶值現象，提前為旅日做好準備吧！ yen weakness 日圓疲軟 Yet economists see building pressure for a shift if persistent yen weakness exacerbates inflation by raising import costs, particularly for energy, and reckon that 125 is a key level. （然而，若是日圓持續疲軟而提高進口成本，尤其在能源上，將加重通貨膨脹，經濟學家認為政策轉變的壓力很大，並預估貶破125是關鍵點。） yen weakness是「日圓疲軟，weak (a.)意思是「虛弱的、疲弱的，加上「-ness」名詞字尾，代表「疲軟的概念；加上「-en」動詞變化則有「弱化、削弱」的意思。 The bill would seriously weaken environmental protections. （這項法案將嚴重削弱對環境的保護。） exacerbate (v.)「惡化、加劇、加重，英文的定義為to make something that is already bad even worse（使某件已經很糟的事情更糟）。文章中提到通膨（inflation）加劇，將會對經濟造成負面的影響，因此可以看出作者的態度是不樂觀的。 This attack will exacerbate the already tense relations between the two communities.（這次襲擊將令兩個原本已經處於緊張狀態的團體關係更加惡化。） 提高成本raise、rise怎麼用？ raise import cost是「提高進口成本，討論數據「上升、下降時，經常使用raise和rise這兩個動詞，但是特別注意兩者使用方式有所不同。raise是及物動詞(vt)，後方必須要接一個受詞（名詞），如raise your hand、raise the eyebrows；然而，rise是不及物動詞(vi)，不能直接加上受詞，而是要在中間穿插一個介系詞作為連結功能的用途，如常見的go (to) school、listen (to) music等，因此rise的用法就是inflation rises，常見的the sun rises in the east就是如此。 The government plans to raise taxes. （政府計畫增稅。） Inflation is rising by 2.1 percent a month. （通貨膨脹一個月增長百分之二‧一。） 升值、貶值怎麼說？ Japanese yen depreciation is a big problem for the Japanese economy, because
21% of reptile species may be at risk of extinction (4/5) 21%爬蟲動物面臨絕種（四） A: Why are reptiles under the threat of extinction? B: According to one expert, the cause is “over-exploitation and persecution.” A: In what sense? B: Crocodiles are killed for their meat or are driven out of human settlements. Turtles are poached for the pet trade and are used for traditional medicine. A: 為什麼爬蟲動物會瀕臨絕種啊？ B: 專家說是因為「過度開發和迫害」。 A: 怎麼說？ B: 鱷魚是因為人類捕食，或被趕出人類居住環境的原因。烏龜是因為寵物交易，或傳統藥材需求所致。 （Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩） Audio recordings for Speak Up! dialogues will be suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.
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