The player in the picture, Eriko Arakawa, is a player on Japan's team for the women's World Cup which is being held in China this month. The organizers say that they expect "25,000 to 30,000 spectators at each game" this year.
Attendances were high at the first women's World Cup in China in 1991, but the US broke all records in 1999, when average crowds were almost 40,000. A massive 90,000-plus attended the final.
Sixteen teams will take part in the tournament, which runs for three weeks. The competition is quickly becoming popular. In 1999 it was shown in just 67 countries. By 2003 it was shown in 144, and had 526 million viewers. This year more people than ever are expected to watch the games on television.
For the first time in the history of the tournament, teams will receive prize money, with one million dollars (NT$33,149,000) for the winner.
(Staff Writer, with AFP)
照片中是今年參加世界盃女子足球賽的日本足球隊的一名球員，荒川惠理子。世界盃女子足球賽這個月在中國舉辦。主辦單位說，今年每場比賽預估會有兩萬五千到三萬名的觀眾觀賞球賽。
一九九一年首次在中國舉辦的世界盃女足賽，吸引相當多觀眾到場，但美國在一九九九年時，打破了紀錄，當時每場平均觀眾人數為四萬人，而總決賽有超過九萬人觀賞。
這次的足球聯賽將會有十六支隊伍參與，為期三週。足球比賽正迅速風行，一九九九年時，全世界只有六十七個國家播放球賽，到二○○三年為止，已經有一百四十四個國家轉播，並有五億兩千六百萬人觀賞比賽。預估今年在電視上收看這場比賽的觀眾人數將破新高。
獲勝隊伍將可獲得一百萬美元（約新台幣三千三百一十四萬九千元）的獎金，這可是世界盃女足賽有史以來頭一遭。
（法新社／翻譯：楊鴻泰）
A: Hard rock band Guns N’ Roses is touring Taiwan tomorrow. What about pop diva Lady Gaga? B: Unfortunately, Singapore has once again exclusively secured Gaga’s concerts in Asia, just like Taylor Swift’s exclusive Asian shows last year. A: The Singaporean government reportedly paid up to US$2.2 million to secure Swift’s shows. B: And the shows did boost its economy and tourism. A: But I’m angry about this approach, so I’m not going to Gaga’s shows this time. A: 硬式搖滾天團槍與玫瑰明天即將來台，流行天后女神卡卡呢？ B: 真可惜，新加坡再度取得卡卡亞洲巡演的獨家主辦權，就像去年泰勒絲的亞洲獨家演出一樣。 A: 據報導新加坡政府付出高達220萬美元，取得泰勒絲的亞洲獨家主辦權。 B: 而她的秀也的確提振了該國的經濟和旅遊業。 A: 但我對此還是很不爽，所以不去新加坡看卡卡了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
A: Hard rock band Guns N’ Roses and pop diva Lady Gaga are finally touring Asia again. B: Are they also coming to Taiwan? A: The band will stage a show at the Taoyuan Sunlight Arena on Saturday. B: Wow, so this will be the band’s third visit. I really love its 1992 power ballad “November Rain.” The nine-minute hit was the Billboard chart’s longest song at one point. A: Let’s go celebrate the 40th anniversary of its release. A: 硬式搖滾天團槍與玫瑰、女神卡卡終於再度展開亞洲巡演了。 B: 他們也會來台巡演嗎？ A: 槍與玫瑰本週六即將在桃園陽光劇場開唱唷。 B: 哇這將是該團第三次來台演出，我超愛他們1992年強力情歌《November Rain》，全長近9分鐘還曾是告示牌排行榜最長神曲。 A: 那我們一起去慶祝該團出道40週年吧！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
Bilingual Story is a fictionalized account. 雙語故事部分內容純屬虛構。 Emma had reviewed 41 resumes that morning. While the ATS screened out 288 unqualified, she screened for AI slop. She could spot it a mile away. She muttered AI buzzwords like curses under her breath. “Team player.” “Results-driven.” “Stakeholder alignment.” “Leveraging core competencies.” Each resume reeked of AI modeling: a cemetery of cliches, tombstones of personality. AI wasn’t just changing hiring. It was draining the humanity from it. Then she found it: a plain PDF cover letter. No template. No design flourishes. The first line read: “I once tried to automate my
Every May 1, Hawaii comes alive with Lei Day, a festival celebrating the rich culture and spirit of the islands. Initiated in 1927 by the poet Don Blanding, Lei Day began as a tribute to the Hawaiian custom of making and wearing leis. The idea was quickly adopted and officially recognized as a holiday in 1929, and leis have since become a symbol of local pride and cultural preservation. In Hawaiian culture, leis are more than decorative garlands made from flowers, shells or feathers. For Hawaiians, giving a lei is as natural as saying “aloha.” It shows love and
RSS