A: What an idiot I am! There’s nothing wrong with the air conditioner. It’s the remote that’s not working. B: Is the remote faulty, or are the batteries dead? A: I changed the batteries, but it’s still not doing anything. See, I bought this new one online. B: Wow, nice! And you even bought the right model! A: The seller was really patient, and told me exactly which model I needed to buy. But I think that remotes die so quickly, and you have no choice but to throw them away. It’s really not very environmentally friendly. A: 我真是豬頭啊，冷氣機根本沒壞，是遙控器壞了！ B: 遙控器到底是壞了，還是電池沒電？ A: 我換了電池還是沒反應。所以你看，我就上網買了這個新的遙控器！ B: 哇，厲害！虧你還買對了型號！ A: 那個賣家很有耐心，詳細告訴我買哪一支才是對的。不過我覺得遙控器動不動就壞，最後只能丟掉，真的很不環保。 （Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
A: I think the air conditioner’s on the blink. It doesn’t turn on when I push the button. What are we going to do? B: We’ve had this air conditioner for years. Let’s just get a new one. We could buy one with a heater function. A: Heater? Are you pulling my leg? B: A lot of people do the same thing: They buy an air conditioner in the summer when it’s scorching hot, and they forget how cold it gets in winter, much to their regret when it gets cold. A: That’s right. My brother-in-law is from the US, and he says that Taiwan is colder than any other country, because in the winter the temperature drops to under 10 degrees, but there’s no interior heating. B: It’s not cold in Taiwan for a long time over the year, but for those few days when we have a cold front, having a heater is worth every cent you spent on it. A: 怎麼辦，冷氣機好像壞了，按開關都沒反應！ B: 這冷氣機也用了好多年了，乾脆換新的好了。買個有暖氣功能的。 A: 暖氣？你在開玩笑嗎？ B: 大部分的人就是跟你一樣，買冷氣機的時候都在夏天，熱得要命，所以都忘記冬天會有多冷，到時才後悔！ A: 啊對，我姐夫從美國來，說台灣是世界上最冷的國家，因為冬天十度以下，室內卻沒有暖氣。 B: 雖然一年當中台灣冷的時間不長，但是寒流來的那幾天有暖氣可以用，就值回票價了。 （Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
A: I think that the air conditioning in Thailand must be working harder than anywhere else in the world. B: Ha, yeah. Outside is so hot, you want to cool down as quickly as possible when you go indoors, so they must turn the air conditioning up full. A: With it boiling hot outside and the air conditioning turned up so high indoors, it must be like being transported to the North Pole. It’s such a relief when you first walk into the room, but once you stop moving around, you’ll start shivering from the cold. B: It’s the same in Taiwan. The temperature indoors is so different to outdoors. One minute you’re hot, the next you’re freezing. It’s very easy to catch a cold, or at least get a headache. A: That’s why I always carry a long-sleeved top with me: It keeps me warm in an air-conditioned room and protects me from the sun outside. A: 我覺得世界上冷氣最冷的地方是泰國。 B: 哈哈對耶！因為外面太熱了，一進到室內，希望趕快冷卻下來，所以冷氣都開得超強！ A: 外面多熱，裡面冷氣就開多強，簡直是穿越時空到北極！一到室內覺得很涼很爽，可是一靜下來，就冷到發抖。 B: 在台灣也差不多。這樣室內和室外溫差太大，忽冷忽熱很容易感冒，不然就是頭痛。 A: 所以我隨身攜帶一件長袖，在有冷氣的室內可以保暖，到室外可以防曬。 （Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
The Chairman in Hong Kong was named the No. 1 restaurant in the region by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021 on March 25. It was the first establishment in Hong Kong to take the top spot, followed by Odette in Singapore and Den in Tokyo, Japan at the second and third spot. The event is hailed as the Oscars of fine dining in Asia. Five Taiwanese restaurants made it to this year’s list: Mume (No. 15), Raw (No. 21), JL Studio (No. 26), Shoun RyuGin (No. 45), as well as new entry Logy (No. 24). However, Taiwan’s only Michelin three-star restaurant Le Palais was not on the list. All the winning restaurants are located in Taipei except JL Studio in Taichung. Angela Lai of Tairroir in Taipei was named Asia’s Best Pastry Chef 2021, becoming the first Taiwanese chef to take the crown. Originally from Singapore, Lai moved to Taiwan in 2015 and is best known for her signature “Pong Pia” dessert. (Eddy Chang, Taipei Times) 「亞洲50最佳餐廳」於三月二十五日揭曉，香港大班樓榮獲亞洲區最佳餐廳冠軍，亦是榜上首次奪冠的香港餐廳，亞軍是新加坡的前冠軍Odette，季軍是日本東京的Den，該評比素有亞洲美食界奧斯卡之美譽。 今年一共有五家台灣餐廳上榜︰包括Mume（十五名）、Raw（二十一名）、JL Studio（二十六名）、祥雲龍吟（四十五名），及新上榜的Logy（二十四名），然而台灣唯一的米其林三星頤宮卻未能入選。在上榜餐廳中除了台中的JL Studio，其餘都在台北。 此外台北態芮甜點主廚賴思瑩則勇奪「亞洲最佳甜點主廚」大獎！成為台灣奪冠第一人。她來自新加坡，二○一五年搬到台灣，以招牌甜點「椪餅」聞名。 （台北時報張聖恩）
A: Did you know that somebody once asked Lee Kuan Yew, the former prime minister of Singapore, what the secret of Singapore’s success was, and he replied that one major factor was air conditioning. B: What? Air conditioning? He meant air conditioners? A: That’s right. He said that, for them, air conditioning was a most important invention. Without air conditioning, people in the tropics can only work in the early morning and after dusk. B: Well, that makes a lot of sense. Even in Taiwan, it’s so hot in the summer that I often find it difficult to think, and it’s so humid that even breathing makes me feel sleepy. It must have been even worse in Singapore, so close to the Equator. A: 你知道嗎，有人問新加坡前總理李光耀說，新加坡成功的秘訣是什麼，他說一個很重要的因素是空調。 B: 什麼？空調？你是說冷氣機嗎？ A: 對呀，他說空調對他們來說是最重要的發明。沒有空調的話，熱帶的人只能在一大早和黃昏以後工作。 B: 嗯，這真的很有道理耶！即使在台灣，夏天我常常熱到沒辦法思考，而且空氣很潮濕，光是呼吸都讓人昏昏欲睡，更不要說在赤道附近的新加坡了！ （Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
A certain Ms Chen, aged 39, recently sought treatment at an orthopedic clinic, saying that she had a pain in the area extending from her left buttock to her calf that had lasted for more than three weeks, and she had no idea what had caused it. She was diagnosed with a herniated disc causing severe low back pain. Hu Yu-feng, an orthopedic surgeon at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Taipei Hospital, said that frequent heavy lifting and sedentary office work are both risk factors for herniated discs. Hu said that low back pain is a commonly seen condition in orthopedic clinics and that, according to research, more than 90 percent of people have suffered from it at some time in their lives. In most cases, it is caused by a bulging disc pressing on nerves. It is three times more common in men than in women, and obesity, smoking, frequent bending down to lift heavy objects, sitting for long periods in an office and carrying children are all risk factors. Hu said that, as well as low back pain, pressure on nerves leading to pain and numbness in the lower extremities is another common symptom of disc herniation. Patients with unexplained symptoms are advised to first see if physical therapy helps. For those with severe symptoms or who see no improvement after six weeks of physical therapy, or who feel so much pain after walking a few steps that they have to stop and rest, or even suffer from urinary or bowel incontinence, it is necessary to arrange to have an MRI scan and then seek decompression surgery to relieve their symptoms. Hu explained that decompression surgery can be performed in a minimally invasive way, with only a small piece of bone needing to be removed to draw out the intervertebral
A: In March, spring was upon us, then the last two weeks it suddenly turned cold, and now it’s like a hot summer’s day. This weather is really unpredictable. B: Yep. Summer will be here soon. We should clean the filter in the air conditioner to get ready. A: Huh? You can take this out? B: My god, you’ve never cleaned it? It’s caked with dust! This way the air conditioner will waste electricity. A: No wonder my electricity bill was so high last summer. A: 三月春暖花開，然後前兩個禮拜忽然變得好冷，現在又熱得跟夏天一樣，這種天氣真是難以捉摸！ B: 對呀，夏天快到了，我們把冷氣機濾網清洗一下，提早做準備。 A: 蛤？這個可以拆喔？ B: 天哪你都不洗的嗎，你看好多灰塵！這樣冷氣會很耗電耶！ A: 難怪去年夏天電費那麼高！ （Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
More than 20 heads of government and global agencies in a commentary published Tuesday last week called for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness that they say will protect future generations in the wake of COVID-19. But there were few details to explain how such an agreement might actually compel countries to act more cooperatively. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and leaders including Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, Premier Mario Draghi of Italy and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda proposed “a renewed collective commitment” to reinforce preparedness and response systems by leveraging the UN health agency’s constitution. International regulations governing health and implemented by the WHO already exist — and can be disregarded by countries with few consequences. Despite an obligation for nations to share critical epidemic data and materials quickly with the WHO, for example, China declined to do so when the coronavirus first broke out. And with no enforcement powers, WHO officials had little means of compelling them to share details, an AP investigation last year found. Steven Solomon, the WHO’s principal legal officer, said the proposed pandemic treaty would need to be ratified by lawmakers in the participating countries. European Council President Charles Michel first laid out the idea of a pandemic treaty at the UN General Assembly in December last year. Although the 25 signatories of the commentary called for “solidarity,” and greater “societal commitment,” there was no indication any country would soon change its own approach to responding to the pandemic. China, Russia and the United States didn’t join in signing the statement.(AP) 有鑒於武漢肺炎（新型冠狀病毒病，COVID-19）之教訓，二十多位政府與全球機構負責人在上週二發表的評論書中，呼籲制訂國際條約，以後面對疫情便能有備無患，以保護未來的世代。 但是，如何讓此協議實際上迫使各國採取行動更加合作，幾乎沒有細節說明。 世界衛生組織秘書長譚德塞，以及包括英國首相強森、義大利總理德拉吉和盧安達總統卡加梅在內的領導人提出「新的共同承諾」，以透過此聯合國衛生機構之章程來加強備災及應對系統。 世衛組織已實施衛生相關之國際法規，然而，不遵循這些法規的國家，也不會面對什麼嚴重後果。例如，儘管各國有義務與世衛組織立即共享重要的流行病數據及資料，但在冠狀病毒爆發之初，中國拒絕履行此義務。美聯社去年的一項調查發現，由於沒有執法權，世衛組織官員幾乎沒有辦法強迫中國分享細節。世衛組織首席法務官索羅門表示，擬制定的疫病國際條約須經由參加國之立法者批准。制訂疫病國際條約的構想，是由歐洲高峰會主席米歇爾在去年十二月的聯合國大會上首次提出。 儘管簽署該評論書的二十五國呼籲「團結」及更大的「社會承諾」，但並無跡象顯示有任何國家會很快改變應對疫情的方式。中國、俄羅斯與美國也並未加入簽署該聲明的行列。 （台北時報林俐凱編譯）
The COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University has been associated with a spate of blood clot cases in Europe. A number of European nations, including Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Canada, Denmark and Ireland, temporarily suspended administering the shot due to concerns about possible side effects. Responding to the news, a Taiwanese pediatric emergency doctor has recommended seeking immediate medical treatment if anyone experiences the following symptoms between four and 20 days after receiving the vaccine: rapid breathing, chest pain, paleness of the legs and feet, reduced blood circulation, persistent abdominal pain, headaches, blurred vision or bruising. Wu Chang-teng, a pediatric emergency resident doctor at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, in a post on Facebook, addressed recent reports of “rare” cases of severe blood clots in Europe in individuals who had taken the AstraZeneca vaccine, including cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis associated with thrombocytopenia. To date, most of the cases identified are women under 55 years of age. However, there are also reports of male cases, and most of them have occured between four to 16 days after vaccination was administered, said Wu. Wu explained that the condition is being termed as “vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia,” or VIPIT for short. Wu added that this is because VIPIT is associated with the production of antibodies that can activate platelets which stimulate the formation of blood clots, leading to thrombocytopenia. Wu said that the process is similar to heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), but the exact mechanism that triggers VIPIT is still being studied. Wu emphasized that medical professionals are still waiting for confirmation of the precise incidence of adverse reactions to the vaccination. According to data provided by the European Medicines Agency on March 18, it was initially estimated that one per million people who took the AstraZeneca vaccine had experienced VIPIT.
A: So, what have we learned about communicating on social media? B: For one, don’t assume everyone understands the details of plans. Confirm and clarify. Make sure there’s no room for misunderstanding. A: And avoid jokes like the plague. Emojis convey meaning quite well, but they’re still a blunt instrument. B: And sarcasm just doesn’t work, unless you really know each other well. A: Throw all humor, nuance and sophisticated thought out of the window, and you should be fine. A: 那我們對於社群媒體上的溝通，學到了什麼？ B: 其中一點是，不應該去假設每個人都知道事情的細節。要講清楚說明白，確認沒有誤會的空間。 A: 而且千萬要避免開玩笑。表情符號雖然可以把意思表達得蠻好，可是它畢竟是很生硬的表達工具。 B: 還有，諷刺的話根本就不會有效果，除非你真的跟對方很熟。 A: 把幽默、微妙和話中有話的文字都丟掉，這樣就不會有問題了。 （Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
A: Sarcasm is another thing that doesn’t go over well on social media. B: Good heavens, no. It’s too easy to misconstrue. I remember once, I had just started a new job. A group of people I was getting to like asked me to join them for dinner. I turned them down. A: Well, sometimes that happens. It can’t be helped. B: The truth was that I already had plans, but I told them that I didn’t want to go because I didn’t like them. It was meant to be sarcastic, but I said it with a straight face. It didn’t go over well, as I’m sure you can imagine. A: 諷刺的話是另一個可能在社群媒體上把事情搞砸的東西。 B: 天哪，真的不要用，這太容易造成誤會了。我記得有一次，我剛開始一個新工作，有一群我覺得可以處得不錯的人問我要不要跟他們一起去吃晚餐，我拒絕了。 A: 可是有時候就是沒辦法，不得不推掉啊！ B: 我其實是因為已經有別的計畫了，可是我說，因為我不喜歡他們，所以不去。我其實是在說反話，但是臉上沒什麼表情，可想而知，結果我的幽默沒有人買單。 （Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
B: I have a friend. He’s a great guy, but he’s kind of sensitive. I’ve put my foot in it several times writing something stupid on social media. A: Yes, you have to be careful. When you are face to face, there are all kinds of expressions and facial cues that people can pick up on. Emojis don’t always cut it. B: I’ve learned not to rib him about things unless we’re speaking in person. He doesn’t always understand that I’m joking. It often leads to some rather testy exchanges. B: 我有個朋友，他人很好，不過他常常想太多，有幾次我在社群媒體上就講錯了話。 A: 對呀，你還是應該要小心點。你跟人面對面溝通，他們可以從你各種表情理解你的意思，可是用表情符號，並不總是能夠有效表達你的意思。 B: 所以我現在知道了，不要去虧他，除非我們是面對面講話。他並不是都能夠了解其實我是在跟他開玩笑，所以我們的對話後來常變得很僵。 （Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
On March 18, Taiwanese singer Chan Ya-wen shocked showbiz by announcing that she had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in a recent health examination. According to CNA, the 54-year-old singer has moderate cerebral atrophy in her left brain, and she has quickly lost 8kg over the past two months and now only weighs 42kg. Chan debuted in the 1980s as part of a group, starting a solo career in 1991. She has been nominated for a total of eight Golden Melody Awards for Best Female Taiwanese Singer, winning the trophy in 2008. “Every sickness has a reason. It reminds me to love my body, and it’s time to slow down,” she wrote in a statement on her Facebook page. Parkinson’s disease is a chronic progressive neurological disease marked especially by muscle tremors and other symptoms. In addition to medicine, chips produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company have been utilized by local hospitals to develop a new type of “deep brain stimulation” (DBS) in the treatment in recent years. (Eddy Chang, Taipei Times) 台語歌后詹雅雯於三月十八日，宣布在健康檢查時發現自己罹患「帕金森氏症」，消息一出震驚演藝圈！據《中央社》報導，這位五十四歲的女歌手左腦中度萎縮，在過去兩個月內已暴瘦八公斤，目前僅剩四十二公斤。 詹雅雯最初在一九八○年代以台語團體出道，一九九一年起單飛展開個人歌唱生涯，曾八度提名金曲獎最佳台語女歌手獎，並於二○○八年獲獎。她在臉書貼文中寫道︰「每個病痛都有原因，提醒自己要愛自己的身體，應把速度慢下來了。」 「帕金森氏症」算是一種慢性的漸進式神經病變，常會引發肌肉顫抖等症狀。除了藥物治療，近年來有本地醫院亦開始利用台積電的晶片，提供深腦電刺激治療。 （台北時報張聖恩）
A: Social media are great for communicating and scheduling appointments, but sometimes the wires can get crossed. B: It’s always a good idea to confirm and clarify, and not to assume. A: Last month I invited a friend over for a drink. He wrote that he wasn’t sure, and then told me he’d see me later. B: Don’t tell me: he meant… A: Yes. He meant later in the future. I’d thought he meant later on that evening. I was waiting around for hours before I twigged. A: 社群媒體是溝通和約時間的好幫手，可是有時候會造成一些誤會。 B: 去做確認、把事情講清楚總是好的，而不是去推測。 A: 上個月我邀一個朋友來我家喝一杯，他回說不確定會來，然後又跟我說稍後見囉。 B: 他的意思該不會是…… A: 沒錯，他的意思是說，未來不久後見。我還以為他指的是稍後在當天晚上見。我等了好幾個小時才悟過來。 （Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
The New Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau is launching its “2021 New Taipei City Environmental Season” series of activities, scheduled to take place from April 1 to June 30, centered on the three main aspects of “good living, good fun and good sense” and linking up over 20 environmental education activities that are being promoted by various bureaus and offices. Details can be found on the New Taipei City Environmental Season section of the bureau’s official Web site (www.epd.ntpc.gov.tw/season/) and on the bureau’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ntpclowcarbon). The bureau held a news conference on Monday last week, at which it announced various tour itineraries that include promoting advocacy of a “good living” environment and harbor and sea cleanups, such as recruiting New Taipei City Water Scout Volunteers, a project that calls for removing small roadside advertisements and a series of activities for Ocean Month (June). These activities combine the strengths of the government and the public to make New Taipei City a good place for people, animals and plants to live. As to the “good fun” aspect, the organizers invite the public to visit nine environmental education facilities in New Taipei City and take part in tours exclusive to the Environmental Season that include rich and varied ecological, cultural and DIY handicraft experiences, while participants can also reduce their carbon footprints by enjoying food made from fresh local ingredients. The bureau said that the “good sense” aspect involves collaboration with various organizations and departments to organize a variety of environmental education activities, including environmental education promotions co-organized with civic organizations, a special exhibition at the Wetland Story House and low-carbon awareness courses, with the aim of enhancing the public’s environmental literacy and implementing the spirit of environmental protection in daily life. The bureau said that this Environmental Season activity series not only coordinates promotion
A: Oh, dear. I think there’s been a misunderstanding. B: What happened? A: I belong to a social media chat group with some colleagues. Last week, I asked whether anybody would be able to fill in for me today if I needed to take the day off, and one of my colleagues said she would be willing to help out. B: That was nice of her. So what’s the problem? A: I just assumed that she was going to go into the office. Apparently, she had been waiting for me to confirm. She hasn’t gone in. She’s at the beach. B: Well, you shouldn’t have assumed. You’d better get on the phone and see if anyone else can help at this short notice. A: 糟糕，這中間大概有什麼誤會。 B: 發生了什麼事？ A: 我跟一些同事有個社群網路討論群組，上禮拜我在群組裡問說，如果我今天休假的話，有沒有人可以幫我代班，然後就有一個同事說她可以幫忙。 B: 她人真好！那這樣有什麼問題啊？ A: 所以我就想當然耳說，她會到辦公室去。可是她一直在等我確認。她沒進辦公室，她到海邊去了。 B: 這個嘛，你不應該就這樣假設她會去辦公室。你最好去打電話，看看有誰可以在這麼短的時間來幫你忙。 （Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
The 400-meter long, 220,000-ton MV [motor vessel] Ever Given, classed as a so-called “megaship,” veered off course during a gale-force duststorm. The 59-meter-wide Taiwan-run, Panama-flagged vessel became stuck near the southern end of the Suez Canal, diagonally blocking the man-made waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. Opened 150 years ago, Egypt’s Suez Canal has been regularly expanded and modernized, and it is today capable of accommodating some of the world’s largest supertankers, handling roughly 10 percent of international maritime trade. In 2019 around 50 ships used the canal daily, compared with three in 1869. The majority of oil transported by sea passes through the Suez Canal, which is the fastest crossing from the North Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, but demands hefty passage tolls. The journey between ports in the Persian Gulf and London, for example, is roughly halved by going through the Suez Canal compared to the alternate route via the southern tip of Africa. Most of the cargo traveling from the Persian Gulf to Western Europe is oil. In the opposite direction, it is mostly manufactured goods and grain from Europe and North America headed to the Far East and Asia. The latest blockage highlights the risks faced by the shipping industry as more and more vessels transit maritime choke points including the Suez and Panama canals, the Strait of Hormuz and Southeast Asia’s Malacca Strait. Those routes are also having to accommodate increasingly larger ships that are more complex to rescue, while the container-carrying capacity of vessels has doubled in the past decade. (AFP and Bloomberg) 長達四百公尺、二十二萬噸，屬於所謂「超大型船舶」的內燃機船「長賜號」，在沙塵暴的大風中偏離了航道。 這艘五十九公尺寬，由台灣企業經營、以巴拿馬為船旗國的船卡在蘇伊士運河南端附近，以斜角堵住了這條連接地中海與紅海的人造水路。 埃及的蘇伊士運河一百五十年前開航，一直定期進行擴建及現代化改造，如今能夠容納世界上最大的一些超級油輪，經手大約百分之十的國際海洋貿易。二○一九年，每天約有五十艘船通過運河，在一八六九年則為每日三艘。 大部分經海路運輸的石油都會通過蘇伊士運河，但需付高額通行費，蘇伊士運河是由北大西洋通往印度洋最快的渡口。例如，要來往波斯灣諸港及倫敦之間，經由蘇伊士運河要比繞道非洲南端的替代路線縮短了大約一半的行程。 由波斯灣運往西歐的貨品大部分為石油；而反方向的運輸，主要是將歐洲及北美洲的製成品與穀物，運往遠東及亞洲。 近日的蘇伊士運河堵塞事件確實凸顯出航運業所面臨的風險，因為有越來越多的船通過海上戰略咽喉要塞，包括蘇伊士運河、巴拿馬運河、荷莫茲海峽，以及東南亞的麻六甲海峽。這些路線還必須容納體積越來越大的船舶，體積越大，救援起來就越複雜。船舶的裝載貨櫃容量在過去十年中整整翻了一倍。 （台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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