A: Is the award ceremony going to be televised? Do you think they’ll do a close-up of your faces when your names are announced, and at the moment they declare the winner?
B: I hadn’t thought of that! How mortifying. I suppose I have to practice feigning surprise or looking pleased for the other team if we don’t win.
A: You’ll be fine. Just act natural, and make sure you don’t eat the dessert until after your category has been announced.
Photo: CNA 照片:中央社
B: Why? Because I need to wait to see whether I should eat the cake to celebrate or to console myself if I lose?
A: No, because you’re a messy eater, and you don’t want chocolate mousse all over your face when they zoom in.
A: 這個頒獎典禮電視會不會轉播啊?他們會不會在唸到你名字的時候,和宣布得獎者的時候,給你的臉一個特寫啊?
B: 我還沒想過耶!這真是太窘了!那我猜我就得要來練習一下假裝驚訝的樣子,或是知道別的團隊得獎的時候為他們高興的樣子,如果我們沒得獎的話。
A: 你沒問題的啦。只要表現自然就好,還有,在你的獎項揭曉以前千萬不要吃甜點。
B: 為什麼?這是因為得獎者宣布以後,我才會知道吃蛋糕到底是要慶祝得獎,還是因為落選要安慰自己一下嗎?
A: 不是。因為你吃相不佳,免得到時候鏡頭拉近你,也照到你滿臉的巧克力慕斯。
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times/台北時報林俐凱譯)
English 英文:
Chinese 中文:
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110