A: Next month is my mother’s 80th birthday.
B: Wow, that’s a major milestone. What are you going to get her?
A: Well, I was racking my brains for months, and I couldn’t come up with anything suitable.
Photo: Paul Cooper, Taipei Times 照片：台北時報古德謙
B: What do you get for the woman who has everything, eh?
A: As chance would have it, I was walking along the street and I found a store selling traditional lanterns.
B: Lanterns are quite cheap and nasty, though, aren’t they?
A: Certainly not! I chose a really nice one and asked him to write something auspicious on it in Chinese calligraphy. I also took photos of him doing it, which I will include in the parcel.
A: 下個月是我媽媽的八十大壽。
B: 哇，這是大生日欸！你要送她什麼？
A: 我努力想了幾個月，還是想不出要送她什麼東西才好。
B: 要送東西給什麼都不缺的女人真難，對吧？
A: 幸好，我走在街上的時候，發現一家賣傳統燈籠的店。
B: 可是燈籠不都是些品質很差的便宜貨嗎？
A: 才不是呢！我挑了一個很漂亮的燈籠，請他幫我在上面用書法寫了些吉祥話。我還拍了幾張他寫書法的照片，會放在包裹裡一起寄去。
（Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯）
English 英文:
Chinese 中文:
“cheap and nasty”
“Cheap and nasty” is a set phrase that refers to something of low cost and bad quality.
With the international COVID-19 pandemic increasing in severity, tighter border restrictions mean that only a small number of Taiwanese will be able to travel abroad during this year’s Lunar New Year holiday period. As a result, hotels are doing a roaring trade in family reunion dinners this year, with several well-known five-star hotels becoming booked out as early as December last year. Two months ago, the Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel had sold nearly 200 preorders, while places for Lunar New Year dinners at the Okura Taipei and the Fullon Hotel also sold out last year. The pandemic has given a
I certainly won’t miss the commute! (5/5) 我對通勤是絕對不會想念的！（五） A: With global telecommunications, wireless connectivity and the death of the office, it will be possible to work from anywhere. B: So you think you could just take off to a beach or a beautiful, sun-soaked spot in an idyllic part of the world and do your work from there? A: If we could do it, many others could, too. There wouldn’t be an idyllic place left on Earth. They’d all be crowded with people shouting into their mobile devices or tapping away on their keyboards. A: 有了全球電信系統、無線網路，再加上辦公室的消失，以後要在哪裡工作都可以。 B: 所以你想這樣就可以到海邊，或者世界上某個詩情畫意、陽光普照的地方去，在那裡工作？ A: 如果我們可以這樣，很多人也可以呀！這樣地球上就不會有什麼詩情畫意的地方了。因為這些地方都會擠滿人，大家都大聲講手機，或是在鍵盤上劈哩啪啦打字。 （Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯） English 英文:
I certainly won’t miss the commute! (4/5) 我對通勤是絕對不會想念的！（四） B: Urban planners are going to have to massively rethink how cities are designed. Business districts will go out of the window. Office buildings will have to be repurposed. Commuter routes will become a thing of the past. A: They will be able to make open, green spaces for people to work in, which will be easier now with all this wireless connectivity. It’s going to be great! B: Careful what you wish for. We might not be tethered to the office, but we’ll still be tied to our mobile devices. We’ll still need to be contactable 24/7, slaves
I certainly won’t miss the commute! (3/5) 我對通勤是絕對不會想念的！（三） A: Many companies want to have their employees work from home on a permanent basis, even after the pandemic gets under control. B: Social media and office productivity software are so capable now, this shift in how we do work has been on the cards for years. The pandemic and the lockdowns have just expedited the process. A: Personally, I prefer the work/home separation, but I certainly won’t miss the commute! B: Good point. I hate being squashed up against strangers in a crowded train twice a day during rush hour. A: 很多公司要求員工固定在家工作，即便是在疫情控制下來以後。 B: 現在社群媒體和辦公室生產力軟體都很強大，我們的工作型態醞釀要轉變已經好幾年了。疫情和封城只不過是加快了這個進程。 A: 我自己是比較喜歡把工作和居家生活區分開來啦，不過我對通勤是絕對不會想念的！ B: 說得好。我痛恨一天兩次要在尖峰時間擁擠的車廂跟陌生人擠在一起。 （Paul
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