A: I just got off the phone to my younger brother. He’s dreading the next few weeks of staying at home because of the pandemic. He’s worried he’ll go out of his mind with boredom.
B: Right. Put your thinking cap on. Let’s brainstorm some interesting things to do during the partial lockdown and then send him our favorite ones.
A: OK. Number one: read a book.
Photo: Pixabay 照片：Pixabay
B: Maybe think of something more imaginative?
A: 我剛跟我弟通過電話，他說因為疫情的關係得要待在家幾個禮拜，讓他怕得要命，擔心自己會無聊得瘋掉。
B: 好吧，那你好好想想，我們一起腦力激盪一下，看看有什麼有趣的事可以在半封城的時候做，然後把最好的點子告訴他。
A: OK，第一項：讀一本書。
B: 可以想一些比較有創意的嗎？
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯)
Audio recordings for Speak Up! dialogues will be suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.
Thinking cap
A “thinking cap” is an imaginary cap that you put on to facilitate thinking. The term dates back to 1821, but the concept dates back even further, to 1605, when it was called a “considering cap” (making use of alliteration).
A n invasion of Southeast Asian dwarf honey bees, suspected to have entered the country via cargo or passenger ship, and initially detected not far from Kaohsiung Harbor, is causing problems in the city. Since the bees prefer to build their hives on branches, poles or other long cylindrical objects found on balconies, their presence often causes a big shock to residents. In the first half of this year alone, Kaohsiung public health officials have removed more than 500 beehives — a clear indication that the bee population is gradually expanding through the city. In an effort to deal with
A: We still haven’t decided what to do with all these free mangoes. I keep coming up with ideas, and you just shoot them all down. B: I think the fairest thing to do is just divide the boxes between the staff. A: There are 25 boxes and only 20 people working here today. What do we do with the other five boxes? B: Go home and get your blender and the milk and ice. I could do with a smoothie after all this back and forth. A: 我們還沒決定到底要怎麼處理這些免費的芒果。我不停想到一些做法，可是都一直被你打槍。 B: 我覺得最公平的做法，就是把這幾箱平均分配給同事。 A: 這裡有二十五箱，可是今天只有二十個人來上班。那剩下的五箱要怎麼辦？ B: 回去把你的果汁機、牛奶和冰帶來啦！我們討論那麼久，我真的需要喝點冰沙了。 (Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯)
What are we going to do with them all? (4/5) 這麼多芒果要怎麼辦？（四） A: OK, I have one more idea about the free mangoes. Just hear me out. I have a blender at home. I’ll be back in a while with some milk and ice, and we’ll make smoothies for the office. We could charge NT$25 a pop, just to cover my costs and labor. B: Instead of thinking about schemes to make money from the management’s generosity, why don’t you do some actual work? Also, do you have any idea how many smoothies 25 boxes of mangoes will make? A: You can’t have too many mango smoothies. It’s the elixir of the gods. People
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