INTRO
The mountains and rolling hills of the Czech Republic complement the basins, spa towns and the historic capital city of Prague, a popular tourist destination. Come take a closer look at the country whose motto is "Truth prevails."
山巒起伏的捷克共和國坐擁盆地、溫泉小鎮與熱門觀光盛地的古都布拉格。一同來探索國家格言為「真理戰勝一切」的捷克。
CLOSER LOOK
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Economically, it is one of the most stable and well-off former Soviet satellites, though corruption remains a problem and privatization of banking, energy and telecommunication are still underway.
The nation's landlocked location has also influenced its food - fish is relatively rare while meats, cheese and desserts are quite popular.
Czech history is as complicated as it is fascinating. The area was settled in ancient times by Germanic, Slavic and Celtic tribes. The Bohemian or Czech nation did not emerge until almost 900 when the Kingdom of Bohemia arose as a regional power. This kingdom was part of the Holy Roman Empire until its collapse in 1806.
The area then came under the control of the Austrian empire and then Austria-Hungary. At the end of World War I, Austria-Hungary was carved up and Czechoslovakia emerged for the first time in 1918.
Parts of Czechoslovakia were quickly occupied by Germany, Poland and Hungary. Germany invaded what was left of the country in 1939 and did not leave until the end of World War II in 1945.
At the end of the war, the Communist Party consolidated control in Czechoslovakia, ruling as a one-party state for 41 years. Democracy was restored peacefully in the 1989 Velvet Revolution and Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two nations, the Czech and Slovak Republics, in 1993.
捷克共和國是中歐的內陸國，在經濟上屬前蘇聯統治下最穩定富裕的國家之一，雖然貪污時有所聞，但銀行、能源與通訊私有化仍在持續進行。
捷克地處內陸的地理位置也對當地飲食產生影響，魚類相當罕見，肉類、起司與甜點則相當風行。
EPA
捷克歷史令人驚歎的同時也曲折萬分。古代有日爾曼人、斯拉夫人與居爾特人在此定居。西元九百年左右雄霸一方的波希米亞王國興起後，波希米亞或今日的捷克才逐漸成型。波希米亞王國屬神聖羅馬帝國的一部分，於一八○六年瓦解。
這一區隨後落入奧地利王國的統治，後來又受奧匈帝國掌控。奧匈帝國於第一次世界大戰結束後瓦解，捷克斯洛伐克首度在一九一八年建國。
捷克斯洛伐克的部分區域很快就遭德國、波蘭與匈牙利佔領。德國在一九三九年又再度入侵這個國家，直到一九四五年第二次世界大戰結束才撤離。
EPA
二次大戰後，共產黨鞏固對捷克斯洛伐克的掌控權，一黨獨大近四十一年。一九八九年絲絨革命後民主重建，捷克斯洛伐克終於在一九九三年和平分裂為捷克與斯洛伐克兩個國家。 （翻譯：賴美君）
WHO KNEW
The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia was a series of demonstrations in late 1989 that resulted in a transition to democracy. It started with a peaceful student protest in the capital of Prague to commemorate International Students Day. Although the demonstration was organized by the Communist Party's Socialist Union of Youth, most members were not happy with the party's leadership. The protest quickly snowballed and by the afternoon over 15,000 students were demonstrating. Riot police surrounded and beat the student protesters, a move that resulted in others calling a general strike and a massive increase in the number of protesters. Within days, nearly half a million protesters were in the city, and the Communist Party announced it would give up its monopoly on power and hold new and open elections.
一九八九年底捷克斯洛伐克的絲絨革命是一系列的示威活動，導致整個國家邁向民主。序曲是為了紀念國際學生日，在首都布拉格舉行的一場學生和平抗議活動。雖然這場抗議活動是由共產黨社會主義青年團主辦，但多數成員都對共產黨的統治感到不滿。示威活動很快就如滾雪球般愈演愈烈，當天下午就有一萬五千多名學生前來共襄盛舉。鎮暴警察包圍並打傷了參加抗議的學生，導致更大規模的抗議，抗議者人數大幅攀升。不過數日，布拉格就聚集了近五十萬名抗議者。共產黨最後宣布放棄獨攬大權，並舉行新的公開選舉。
WHAT TIME
During the summer, the Czech Republic is six hours behind Taiwan. If it is 11am in the Czech Republic, it is 5pm in Taiwan.
捷克的夏令時間較台灣晚六個小時，假如捷克現在是早上十一點，台灣就是下午五時。
ABOUT CZECH
Size: 78,866km2, around 2.4 times the size of Taiwan
Location: Central Europe
Border countries: Poland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia
Capital: Prague
Population: about 10 million
Languages: Czech
Government: Republic
Currency: 1 Czech koruna = NT$1.54
面積：七萬八千八百六十六平方公里，約為台灣的二點四倍
位置：中歐
鄰國：波蘭、德國、奧地利與斯洛伐克
首都：布拉格
人口：約一千萬人
語言：捷克語
政府：共和國
貨幣：一捷克克朗為新台幣一點五四元
FLAG 國旗
The red and white stripes on the flag are inpsired by the coat of arms of Bohemia, a region in the Czech Republic. The blue wedge was added in 1920, the same year the flag was officially adopted, to make the Czech flag different than the flag of Bohemia.
國旗上紅白條紋的靈感來源為地區性的波西米亞王國之國徽。藍色楔形區塊則是在一九二○年捷克正式採用這面國旗時加入，好讓國旗與波西米亞王國的旗幟做一區別。
A LOOK AT CONTEXT
1. The company has not finished making all the changes to our decorations. Most of the changes are still underway.
Underway means ...
a. not yet started.
b. started but not finished.
c. finished but not started.
d. already finished.
2. Catherine was covered up by a bunch of blankets. Only when she got too hot did she emerge from the pile.
To emerge is to ...
a. come in.
b. come out.
c. go in.
d. take out.
3. Dad used the big knife to carve the turkey up into pieces. He took a leg for himself but did let me have the other one.
To carve is to ...
a. mix up.
b. cut into pieces.
c. mash together.
d. leave behind.
4. Our army has entered their area and controls most of the police stations, but it will be a week before we fully consolidate control and can start doing all the work the old government did.
To consolidate is to ...
a. make solid or firm.
b. to weaken.
c. to split apart.
d. to leave outside.
ANSWERS: 1. b 2. b 3. b 4 . a
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