Have you ever seen a gingerbread house? Do you know where gingerbread houses come from?
Gingerbread is like a soft cookie and is made using spices. It was very popular all over Europe in the Middle Ages. It was especially popular in Germany because Germany used to be an important place to buy spices.
In the autumn people would buy gingerbread hearts in Nuremburg at the Christmas market. Then in 1819 the Brothers Grimm published a collection of traditional German fairy tales. One of the fairy tales is called Hansel and Gretel. Have you ever read it?
PHOTO: CATHERINE THOMAS, TAIPEI TIMES
In the fairy tale Hansel and his sister Gretel are lost in the woods. They find a house made of bread, cake and candies. But the house belongs to a witch!
In 1893 a famous composer, Engelbert Humperdinck, wrote an opera based on the fairy tale.
In the opera the witch’s house was made of gingerbread. The opera was shown for the first time that Christmas. It was very popular. Pretty soon it was a German Christmas tradition to make gingerbread houses. (CATHERINE THOMAS, STAFF WRITER)
你曾看過薑餅屋嗎？你知道薑餅屋的由來嗎？
薑餅是用多種香料做成的軟餅乾，在中古時代盛行歐洲各地，在德國尤其受歡迎，因為德國曾是香料的重要貿易地。
人們會在秋天時到紐倫堡的耶誕市集買心型薑餅。到了一八一九年，格林兄弟出版德國傳說的童話故事集，其中有一篇故事叫《糖果屋》，你讀過這個故事嗎？
在故事中，韓塞爾和他的妹妹葛蕾特在森林裡迷路，他們發現一間用麵包、蛋糕和糖果蓋的房子，但房子的主人是一個女巫！
一八九三年，名作曲家英格柏•漢普汀克寫了一齣以此童話故事為背景的歌劇。
歌劇中，女巫的房子是用薑餅蓋的，這齣歌劇在耶誕節首演後廣獲好評。不久之後，做薑餅屋就成為德國耶誕節的傳統習俗了。（翻譯�袁星塵）
Picture a 45-foot-long animal with a 5-foot-long skull and 3-foot-long arms. It may not seem strange until you realize that a human with those proportions would be 6 feet tall with 5-inch arms. Although the Tyrannosaurus rex went extinct 65 million years ago, the mystery of its unusual body __1__ has fascinated scientists for over a century. Barnum Brown, the paleontologist who first discovered T. rex fossils, initially found it hard to believe that the tiny arms belonged to such a __2__ creature. One of his colleagues speculated that the short forelimbs might have been used to hold the
A: Actually, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is particularly good for small people like you. B: Really? How so? A: According to Diana Wang, a US doctor of physical therapy, the BJJ’s purpose is to help smaller, weaker people defend themselves by using various techniques, such as leverage. B: That sounds interesting. What time does Dr Wang’s BJJ seminar begin tonight? A: The event is scheduled for 7:30pm at PMA Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in Taipei. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. A: 其實你的個子比較小，很適合練巴西柔術呢。 B: 真的嗎？為什麼？ A: 據美國理療醫師王幼瑞博士說，巴西柔術的概念是讓弱小的人，也能利用槓桿作用等技巧防身。 B: 真有趣，王醫師的巴柔研討會幾點開始？ A: 今晚7點半在「台北巴柔運動館」，免費入場自由樂捐唷！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
Photographer Franziska Stuenkel likes to take spontaneous urban shots, so she needs a nimble camera that is ready to go when inspiration strikes: her German-made Leica M11. “I have to be very quick and discreet,” said the Berlin-based artist who captures reflections of people walking past windows, their contours merging with the shapes behind the glass. Stuenkel’s compact Leica is the perfect camera for the job, the 51-year-old told AFP. Famous for its pocket-sized and retro-style devices, the Leica brand is celebrating a milestone as it marks 100 years since its first commercial camera was presented to the public. The
Dogs’ noses are incredibly keen. They can even detect changes in cortisol levels in human sweat and breath. Known as the “stress hormone,” cortisol increases when humans are under pressure. Recent research indicates that the smell of human stress can influence a dog’s behavior and emotions. In the study, human volunteers were exposed to the stressful tasks of preparing and delivering a speech on the spot and then solving math problems. __1__ Researchers collected sweat and breath samples from the volunteers on pieces of cloth during both their stressful and restful states. Meanwhile, other researchers worked with 18
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