In the sport of baseball, a pitch is very important. A good pitcher can keep runners from ever getting on base. If runners never get on base, no one can score any runs.
Often times pitchers use speed to try to get the ball over home plate and into the catcher’s glove without the batter hitting it. A hard, fast pitch is called a “fastball.”
Pitchers don’t just rely on speed to get a pitch past a batter. They also practice a few different kinds of pitches to surprise the batter and make him swing and miss.
PHOTO: AP
One of these kinds of pitches is called a “curveball.” If thrown right, a curveball drops right before it gets to home plate. Also, a curveball is usually a little bit slower than a normal pitch, so it throws the batter’s timing off.
In English, if you throw someone a curveball, it means you tell them something or do something to that person that surprises him or her so much it makes that person not able to do his or her job — just like a batter who swung at a pitch and missed.
Usually, throwing someone a curve ball is not a nice thing to do. Most people like to be prepared to deal with problems they will have to face.(Kayleen Hartman, Staff Writer)
打棒球時，投球是很重要的。一位好投手可以讓跑者不要上壘。假如完全沒有跑者上壘，沒有人可以得分。
通常，投手利用速度，試著讓球往本壘方向飛進捕手手套裡，不讓打擊者擊球。投出又快又狠的一球稱為「快速球」。
投手不只仰賴速度讓打擊者打不到球。他們也會投出幾種不同的球，讓打擊者措手不及、揮棒落空。
有一種球路稱為「曲球」。假如投得正確，曲球會正巧在抵達本壘前墜下。此外，曲球的球速也往往比一般球慢一點，讓打擊者錯過擊球時機。
在英文中，假如你投給某人一個曲球，意指你對那個人說了某件事、或做了某件事，讓那人過於訝異而無法繼續做事——就像打擊手揮棒卻落空一樣。
一般來說，突然丟了個問題給某人（throw someone a curve ball）並不是好心的事。多數人喜歡預先準備來應付必須面對的問題。
（翻譯︰賴美君）
★ Bilingual Story is a fictionalized account. 雙語故事部分內容純屬虛構。 “Get in. It’s pouring.” She slid into the back seat, drenched and silent. “Tissues?” the driver asked. “No, thank you,” she said. Water beaded off her hair, ran from her coat, and made a small lake on the vinyl. She kept her head down, long black strands clinging to her face. “Where to?” She gave an address. “Funeral?” he asked as they slipped into the Xinhai Tunnel, rain fading to a hollow drum. She glanced up, puzzled. “No. Why?” “Crematorium’s about the only thing here.” He caught her eyes in the mirror.
Have you ever dreamed of hiking Taiwan’s majestic Mt. Jade or visiting Peru’s breathtaking Machu Picchu? These adventures sound amazing, but there’s something you should know about first: “altitude sickness.” This condition strikes when you climb to a higher elevation too quickly. The higher you go, the thinner the air becomes, making it harder for your body to absorb oxygen. The symptoms usually begin within hours of reaching high altitudes — about 2,500 meters or higher. You might experience headaches, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, or extreme fatigue. These symptoms can last for several days. The severity of altitude sickness varies
Week 24 詞法—名詞 1. 人們一致稱讚他。 ˇ People praised him unanimously. χ Peoples praised him unanimously. 註：people 作「人們」（＝ men and women）解時，是單數形式，作複數用。peoples 是「多個民族」、「各國人民」，不是「多數人」，如 the peoples of Asia（亞洲各民族、亞洲人民）。 2. 她為他做了一條新褲子。 ˇ She made him a new pair of trousers. χ She made him a new trousers. 註：scissors 和 trousers 等名詞習慣用複數形式。「一把剪刀」或「一條褲子」正統說法為 a pair of scissors 或 a pair of trousers。 3. 我們提前兩年完成了第二個五年計劃的主要目標。 ˇ We fulfilled the major objectives of the Second Five-Year Plan two years ahead. χ We fulfilled the major objectives of the Second Five-Years Plan two years ahead. 註：five-year 作為一個複合形容詞，year 不用複數。又如 a twelve-year-old boy、a five-dollar note、a one-hundred-meter race 等，也是一樣。 4. 他們決定買一輛新車。 ˇ They have made up their minds to buy a new car. χ
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日） https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Interestingly, one of the words Collins Dictionary discarded was selected by Oxford University Press (OUP) for its own Word of the Year. On its Web site, the publishing house of the University of Oxford stated it had conducted a public poll in which over 37,000 people participated. The voters, along with OUP’s language experts, settled on the term “brain rot.” One main reason for the decision was the vast amount of interest in the noun during 2023 and 2024, with its usage increasing by 230 percent. In fact, brain rot is not a new term by any
RSS