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）
Many consumers are guilty of filling drawers or closets with old laptops, cellphones, fitness trackers and other electronic devices once they are no longer needed. It’s hard to know where to recycle such items, or it seems costly and inconvenient to do so. The world generates millions of tons of electronic waste — also called e-waste — each year. According to the UN’s most recent estimate, people worldwide produced 62 million metric tons of e-waste in 2022, and only about 22 percent of it was properly recycled. The US’ Environmental Protection Agency estimates that less than a quarter of e-waste is
You’re sitting in class when a classmate asks to borrow a pencil. It seems like a small favor, so you agree without hesitation. The following week, the same classmate asks to share your notes. Later, they request help with a group project. You agree each time — after all, you helped out the first time — but before you know it, it has become automatic. This scenario demonstrates the “foot-in-the-door technique,” a psychological concept that shows how agreeing to small, acceptable demands makes it easier to accept larger ones later on. The name for this strategy comes from door-to-door
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Dos & Don’ts — 想想看，這句話英語該怎麼說？ 1. 我們很早到達電影院。 ˇ We arrived at the theater very early. χ We arrived the theater very early. 註︰arrive 為不及物動詞，後面如果有受詞要用 at 或 in。例如：They arrived in Taipei yesterday.。一般大地方，如國家、省、大城市等前面用 in，凡小地方城鎮、學校等則用 at。 2. 開車半小時以後，我們到達了海灘。 ˇ After half an hour’s drive, we got to the beach. χ After half an hour’s drive, we got the beach. 註︰come, go, get（來、去、到達）某地時，在表示地點的名詞前面應該用 to，如 go to school, go to Taipei, come to Shanghai 等。如果這些動詞後面所跟的是 here, there, home 等副詞，則不用 to。 3. 明天我會回辦公室。 ˇ I will be back in the office tomorrow. χ I will be back to office tomorrow. 註︰to be back 一語裡的 back 是副詞，不是介詞，所以後面要用 at (the market) 或 in (the office)。 假如假期結束，要回學校上課了則可說： ? Kids will be back
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