Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's new campaign against teenage binge drinking in Australia revived questions last week about his own drunken escapade in a New York strip club.
Reports of the night he spent at "Scores" in 2003 surfaced while he campaigned ahead of last November's election. The bookish and church-going Rudd apologized, and most Australians believed him when he said it was the second time in his life that he was drunk.
Still, the incident resurfaced last week when Rudd launched a 53 million Australian dollar (NT$1.5 billion) campaign to combat excessive drinking among Australians teens.
"It's a bit rich for a man who got famously stonkered at a lap-dancing club in New York five years ago to be lecturing the rest of us on binge drinking," columnist Miranda Devine wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Rudd admitted last Friday that he was no "paragon of moral virtue."
"I'll take any incoming flak about yours truly, but I've got one target in mind and that is to get that number down," he told Melbourne radio 3AW, referring to the 168,000 Australian teenagers under the legal drinking age of 18 who abuse alcohol.
The campaign includes television, radio and Internet spots to shock young people on the consequences of binge drinking, as well as grants to clubs and community groups to help change the drinking culture. Some sports stars have agreed to appear in the ads.
Australians are relatively tolerant of excessive drinking. Former prime minister Bob Hawke held a Guinness World Record for speed beer drinking during his days as a Rhodes Scholar.(AP)
上週，澳洲總理陸克文為改善青少年狂飲問題而推行的新計畫，讓他曾在紐約一間脫衣酒吧酒醉荒唐的事再度成為民眾質疑的話題。
他去年十一月參選澳洲總理前，曾被媒體揭露他二ＯＯ三年某夜光顧「Scores」脫衣舞俱樂部的往事；當時有書卷氣息且總是按時上教堂的陸克文就道歉說，那是他生平第二次喝醉酒，這說法說服了大部份澳洲民眾。
儘管如此，當上週陸克文提出一個五千三百萬澳幣（新台幣十五億元）的計畫，以導正澳洲青少年過量飲酒問題時，該事件又再度被拿來炒作。
專欄作家米蘭達．戴凡在《雪梨晨鋒報》中寫道：「被一個五年前在紐約脫衣舞夜總會喝得酩酊爛醉的人教訓『狂飲』，實在是讓我們感到有一點荒唐。」
陸克文上週五承認他自己「在道德上並非完人」。
他對墨爾本3AW廣播電台表示：「對於大眾的抨擊我都虛心接受，但是我心中有一個目標，就是要減少狂飲的青少年人數。」他提到，澳洲未達十八歲法定年齡就酗酒的青少年約有十六萬八千人。
這項計畫包括在電視、廣播和網路上安插廣告，以可能的後果來嚇阻年輕人酗酒，並補助俱樂部和社區團體，以期改善飲酒文化；已有若干體育明星同意參與廣告拍攝。
相對而言，澳洲人對過量飲酒相當寬容；前總理霍克在當「羅德學人」期間，還曾是金氏世界紀錄極速狂飲啤酒項目的紀錄保持人。（美聯社�翻譯：袁星塵）
Warning: Excessive consumption
of alcohol can damage your health.
警告：飲酒過量有害健康。
A: Hey, didn’t you go to the opening of the Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport Nangang last week? B: Yeah, there are about 300 shops, including the first overseas branch of Japan’s Mahou Dokoro — a famous Harry Potter-themed store. A: Wow, I’ve always wanted to get a magic wand. B: There are also a bunch of great restaurants, such as Smart Fish hotpot restaurant. A: I wish I had Harry Potter’s “apparition” and “disapparition” magic, so I could teleport to the mall right now. A: 你上週不是有去LaLaport南港的盛大開幕嗎？有什麼特別的？ B: 那裡有多達300家專櫃，包括魔法之地的海外首店——它可是日本知名的《哈利波特》專賣店。 A: 哇我一直想買根魔杖。 B: 另外還有各式各樣的美食，像是林聰明沙鍋魚頭。 A: 真希望我也有哈利波特的「現影術／消影術」魔法，能瞬間移動到商場去！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
When it comes to movies, some people delight in watching spine-chilling horror films. Surprisingly, apart from containing a few scares, horror movies may also offer an unexpected __1__. According to a study, watching 90 minutes of a scary movie can burn an average of 113 calories, which is roughly __2__ to taking a 30-minute walk. Researchers from the University of Westminster carried out an experiment in which they __3__ participants’ oxygen intake, carbon dioxide output, and heart rates while they were watching horror movies without any distractions. The results revealed that physiological responses to fear play a crucial role
Bilingual Story is a fictionalized account. 雙語故事部分內容純屬虛構。 Echo pulled out a worn and tattered shoe box under father’s large oak desk. “Mariko, what should we do with these family photos?” Mariko stared at the old box with a slightly hurt expression, and then blankly at the photos. “Throw them in the garbage pile. . . along with that old, ratty box,” she murmured. She resented that her father had not cared enough to find a nicer home for the family photos. “Father never really cared about me anyway.” Echo’s emotion sensor detected sorrow. ”Mariko, that is
Dos & Don’ts — 想想看，這句話英語該怎麼說？ 1. 你覺得這部電影怎樣？ ˇ What do you think of the movie? χ How do you like the movie? χ How do you think of the movie? 註︰What do you think of ＝ What is your opinion of。 think 的受詞是 what，不能用 how。 2. 你認為哪一個歌星唱得最好？ ˇ Which singer do you think is the best? χ Do you think which singer is the best? 註︰英語中 which singer 似乎是 do you think 的受詞，實則 do you think 是插入語，其他例子如下： 你以為他喜歡誰？ Who do you think he likes? 你以為我住在哪裏？ Where do you think I live? 你想我昨天在公園裏碰到了誰？ Whom/Who do you think I met in the park yesterday? 3. 他不論到什麼地方，總是帶著一把雨傘。 ˇ No matter where he goes, he
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