The US-based Educational Testing Service (ETS), which develops the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), released the results of its 2018 survey last month, showing as high as 94.8 percent of Taiwan’s top enterprises attach importance to employees’ ability to communicate in English. They also require an average of 582 points on the TOEIC for newcomers.
For mid- and high-level managers, 684 and 726 are required respectively in the 990-point test. However, since many schools have cut English courses to save money in recent years, the average score for Taiwanese university students last year was a mere 514, and for vocational university students it was only 425. This means that many university students are barely able to reach the threshold for employment.
In order to meet the threshold, more people have now turned to English cram schools or TOEIC preparation books. In light of this trend, “Hackers New TOEIC Voca” was crowned the No. 1 bestseller by Books.com Co. last year, becoming the first ever language learning book to top the platform’s annual list.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Yang
照片︰楊士璿提供
(Eddy Chang, Taipei Times)
「多益英語測驗」的開發者美國教育測驗服務社,上個月公布了二○一八年的調查報告,其結果顯示在台灣的大企業中,高達百分之九十四‧八很重視員工「用英文溝通的能力」,對新進員工多益的要求平均為五百八十二分。
至於中階與高階主管,則分別被要求必須具備六百八十四分、七百二十六分的水準,滿分則是九百九十分。然而近年來許多學校為了節省經費紛紛大砍英語課程,導致台灣的大學生去年平均僅五百一十四分,技職大學的學生更只有四百二十五分,這意味著許多大學生根本無法達到就業門檻。
為了跨過門檻,不少人轉而求助於英語補習班或多益參考書。在這股風潮下,《新制多益New TOEIC單字大全》去年甚至登上博客來年度暢銷書排行榜冠軍,這也是首次有語言學習書籍榮登該平台年度冠軍寶座。
(台北時報張聖恩)
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
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
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
A: As well as Eid al-Fitr, Southeast Asia is celebrating the Water Festival this week. B: And this year, Thailand is expanding the celebration between April 12 and 16 for the event, officially known as the Songkran Festival, expecting to make 24.3 billion Thai baht in tourism revenue. A: Does Taiwan celebrate the Water Festival? B: Some local cities and counties do have similar activities. A: Let’s go experience the festival then. A: 除了「開齋節」外,東南亞「潑水節」本週也盛大登場! B: 泰國今年從4月12日到16日擴大「宋干節」連假,預估觀光收入可高達243億泰銖。 A: 台灣會慶祝「潑水節」嗎? B: 有些縣市會舉辦類似活動。 A: 那我們也去體驗一下吧。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)