Russian president Dmitry Medvedev turned 46 last Wednesday, with a group of fans in cheerleading outfits marking the occasion by singing “Happy Birthday, Mr President” on Red Square.
Five young women who call themselves “the Medvedev Girls” donned red, white and blue colored mini-dresses and burst into a slightly off-key version of the song, as performed by Marilyn Monroe for John F. Kennedy in 1962.
“We think Dmitry Medvedev is the best president ever elected. We hope he will stand again in 2012,” said activist Yulia Semyonova.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
The group then handed in a cake complete with candles and an iPhone decorated with a picture of Medvedev to the presidential administration, but were apparently not granted a personal audience with the leader, who spent the day at work.
The group emerged this summer, adding sex appeal to Medvedev’s image, previously overshadowed by the macho antics of his partner in the tandem, Vladimir Putin, as speculation mounted on which will stand as president.
Putin has previously prompted students at a Moscow university to strip to lingerie and declare their undying love for him in an erotic calendar, as well as inspiring a pop song called “I want a man like Putin.”
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
In a previous stunt, two of the Medvedev Girls stripped to bikinis in a central Moscow square, claiming this would promote Medvedev’s legislation against beer drinking.
Separately, the Nashi pro-Kremlin youth group gathered birthday wishes from passersby outside a Moscow university and posted them on Twitter.
A survey carried out by state polling agency VTsIOM for the occasion found that 50 percent of Russians could not come up with any ideas associated with Medvedev, while 47 percent could not name any of his achievements.
(AFP)
俄羅斯總統德米崔‧麥維德夫上週三過四十六歲生日，一群身穿啦啦隊服飾的粉絲們，當天則是在紅場上高唱「總統先生，生日快樂」，慶祝這個日子。
五位自稱「麥維德夫女孩」的年輕女性，身穿紅白藍顏色組合的迷你裙，並突然唱出如同一九六二年瑪麗蓮‧夢露為約翰·菲茨傑拉德·甘迺迪獻唱，稍微走音版的生日快樂歌。
行動者尤里雅‧賽馬諾瓦說：「我們認為德米崔‧麥維德夫是我們選過最好的總統。我們希望他將在二０一二年續任。」
這個團體接著將一個插好蠟燭的蛋糕，以及一支飾有麥維德夫照片的iPhone，交給總統執政團隊，但總統顯然整天忙於公事，並未接見。
這個團體在今年夏天成軍，增添一些麥維德夫具有性魅力的形象，一掃前總統弗拉吉米爾‧普廷呈現出的男子氣慨，帶給現任總統的陰影。到底誰會選上總統，各種臆測已如火如荼地展開。
普廷在先前已造成一所莫斯科大學學生，願意為他褪去外衣只留內在美，並且在一本色情月曆中，宣稱她們對他永遠的愛。甚至還把其心意，譜寫成一首名為「我要一位像普廷的男人」的流行歌曲。
「麥維德夫女孩」團體的兩位成員，先前在莫斯科市中心的廣場，使過一個脫到剩下比基尼裝的花招，自稱該行動能為麥維德夫在制定反對喝啤酒法規的立場，更站得住腳。
另一個分開的慶祝活動是，親克里姆林宮的青年組織「納許」，在莫斯科大學外，蒐集過路客的生日祝賀，並將這些祝詞貼在推特網站上。
俄羅斯國家民意研究中心VTsIOM的一份調查顯示，百分之五十的俄羅斯人無法想出任何能與麥維德夫聯想在一起的事情，且百分之四十七無法指出他到底有什麼政績。
（法新社／翻譯：林亞蒂）
A: After attending Taiwanese baseball superstar Chen Wei-yin’s retirement ceremony in Japan, why didn’t you stay longer for some fun? B: Don’t you remember? We’re going to Blackpink member Jisoo’s fan meeting at Messe Taoyuan this Sunday. A: Oh, that’s right. She’s the second Blackpink member visiting Taiwan as a solo artist after Lisa. B: Jisoo just released her EP “Amortage” on Valentine’s Day. A: Blackpink will also release new songs and launch a world tour this summer. A: 你去日本參加台灣強投陳偉殷的引退儀式後，怎麼沒留下來玩幾天？ B: 你忘啦？我們週日還要去「桃園會展中心」參加Blackpink成員Jisoo的見面會。 A: 啊對耶，她是繼Lisa後第二位單飛訪台的Blackpink成員。 B: Jisoo不久前才在情人節，推出個人迷你專輯《Amortage》。 A: Blackpink今年夏天也會推出新歌，還會啟動世界巡演呢！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
A: Taiwan’s baseball superstar Chen Wei-yin announced his retirement, and I’m still in shock. B: Didn’t you fly to Japan last Sunday just to attend his retirement ceremony? A: Yeah, it was held by Chen’s former Japanese team, the Chunichi Dragons. I even cried at the event. B: His glorious record of 96 wins in Japanese and US professional baseball altogether is unprecedented. A: His total income of NT$3.3 billion, including a huge 2016 contract of US$80 million with the US Miami Marlins, is also unprecedented. A: 台灣棒球巨星陳偉殷宣布引退，真是令人震驚。 B: 你週日不是特別飛去日本，參加他的引退儀式嗎？ A: 對啊老東家「中日龍」為他舉行了儀式，我還感動到大哭。 B: 他創下日／美職棒總計96勝紀錄，真是史無前例。 A: 而他生涯總收入高達33億台幣，包括在2016年時，和「馬林魚」簽下8千萬美元巨約，更是無人能及！ （By Eddy
In another application of artificial intelligence, a team of archaeologists from the Nazca Institute at the University of Yamagata in Japan, in collaboration with IBM Research, have discovered 303 new geoglyphs in the “Nazca” region of Peru. Though these figures are not nearly as large as their Nazca Lines counterparts, their discovery has helped enhance the understanding of the transition from the Paracas culture to the Nazca culture. The AI model, assisted by low-flying drones, was able to accomplish what the naked eye could not—quickly and accurately spotting the smaller relief-type geoglyphs in the desert area. While it previously
Dos & Don’ts — 想想看，這句話英語該怎麼說？ 1. 王老師很負責，每天都準時到學校。 √ Miss Wang is conscientious. She comes to school on time every day. χ Miss Wang is very responsible. Every day she goes to school on time. 註︰一個人很認真、負責、敬業，英文通常用 conscientious 來表達，它的名詞是conscience（良心）。responsible 接在 be 動詞之後是指對某事負責，也可指做錯事時該負的責任，因此“她該負責”英文是 She is responsible for it.。如果某人很負責、值得信賴，可以託付重任，可說 She / He is a responsible person.。 2. 他個子不高。 √ He is not tall. χ His body is not tall. χ He is not high. 註︰high 通常指「物」的高大，tall 則指「人或細長物」的「高」。但講人的高度，有數字時可以說： He is six feet high. He is six feet tall. 3. 我能占用你幾分鐘嗎？ √ Can you spare me a few minutes? χ May I occupy you a few minutes? 註︰spare：騰出，省下。不顧句型及前後文，只把學過的英文詞彙的中文解釋任意還原為英文時很容易造出這種中式的英文句子。 4. 讓我想想看。 √ Let me think it over. √ Let
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