A decade on from the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and whipped up a tsunami of theft in Baghdad, Iraq’s National Museum is preparing to display its treasures of Mesopotamian culture — even if thousands are missing.
The looting of the museum under the eyes of US troops has sometimes been compared to the Mongol sack of the Grand Library of Baghdad in 1258. Then-US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shrugged it off with the comment “stuff happens.”
少子化影響，台南市兩百一十七所國小、六十二所國中今年將各有一百廿三所、十九所規劃為自由入學學校，雙雙創下新高；面對招生競爭，有校長感嘆，以往免費課輔、才藝班等誘因已不如前，還是要拚辦學績效，吸引家長與學子。
台南教育局指出，都市結構改變，加上少子化影響，新生入學人數有逐年遞減趨勢，也對學校經營造成困難，早在縣市合併前，原台南縣市就已經有不少學校申請「自由學區」，只要設籍台南市的新生，都可申請就讀，不受學區限制，縣市合併後，「自由學區學校」改稱為「自由入學學校」，入學資格不變。
Taiwan’s low fertility rate has a record number of schools in Greater Tainan switching over to the open admissions system, with 123 and 19 of Greater Tainan’s elementary and junior high schools making the change respectively. Dealing with competitive enrollment, many school principals are gasping at how free tutorials and art classes no longer attract new students, and instead are having to rely on academic performance to draw parents and students.
Greater Tainan’s Bureau of Education says that changes in the urban structure, coupled with the effects of the low fertility rate, have gradually brought about a downturn in new student enrollment, making it difficult for schools to continue operating. There were already many “open admissions school districts” prior to the merger of former Tainan county and city, districts which were open to any new student registered for a household in former Tainan city. The students were not restricted to any particular school district either. After the merger, “schools in open admissions school districts” became simply “open admissions schools,” while enrollment qualifications were left unchanged.
一名五十九歲婦人烹煮孫子釣回來的魚，大口吞食之際，突然覺得卡住，吞了幾口飯，也喝了幾口水，但都沒有改善，且喉嚨愈來愈痛，她伸指入喉竟然拉到一條尼龍線，急忙到醫院急診求助，照X光發現鉤狀異物。
台南奇美醫院耳鼻喉部醫師劉璟鋒以喉部內視鏡檢查，發現婦人上喉部卡住一支銀色約三公分的魚鉤且連帶著好幾公分長的尼龍線，卡住的部位有點深，小心翼翼用「魚刺夾」才夾出，連魚鉤線在內，總長度約十二至十三公分。
Having cooked some fish that her grandson caught and brought home, a 59-year-old woman suddenly sensed that something was stuck in her throat after taking a big bite of the fish. Swallowing several mouthfuls of rice and drinking several swigs of water did not help and the pain in her throat gradually got worse. She put her fingers down her throat and unexpectedly pulled out a piece of nylon string. After being rushed to the emergency room, an X-ray showed a hook-shaped object in her throat.
Liu Ching-feng, a doctor in otolaryngology department at Greater Tainan’s Chimei Medical Center, says that an endoscopy of the woman’s throat showed a silver fishhook approximately 3cm long lodged in her upper throat with a nylon fishing line several centimeters long attached to it. The spot where the hook was stuck was fairly deep. The doctor carefully removed it using a fishbone remover. The fishhook and fishing line combined were between 12cm and 13cm long.
環境，對學語言來說很重要；如果把一個人丟在一個不同語言的國家裡，他很快(或者說比在原本語言環境裡容易)可以學會當地的語言！沒辦法，為了生存嘛！
但是，如果是有心學習語言，但又沒有辦法到那個國家的話呢？
| 6. Face it.
面對現實吧! "Face it." 跟 "Deal with it." 都是口語中非常常見的用法, 指的是去面對眼前的這個狀況. 例如有人說他很想追某個名花有主的女孩, 你就可以勸他, "Face it. She is dating someone else." (面對現實吧. 她已經有交往的對象了.) 再舉個例子, 比方說沒錢花了,但你的狐群狗黨們還要你出去吃喝玩樂. 這時你就可以說, "Deal with it. I have no money now." (面對現實吧! 我已經沒錢了.) |
| 1. Hang in there.
撐下去. 想像有人快要從懸崖上掉下去, 只剩下一隻手抓著僅剩的一點的石塊, 這時候他最需要的一句話就是 "Hang in there." 在這裏 hang in 就是抓住不要讓自己掉下去的意思. |
| 6. After seven sounds cool.
七點之後聽起來不錯. 許多老美喜歡把 cool 這個字掛在嘴邊, 不管什麼東西都可以說 cool. 例如, "He is a cool guy." (他是個好人.) 或是, "This game is cool." (這個遊戲很棒) 不過由於 cool 這個字發音的關係, 有些人會把這個字誤認為是「酷」的意思, 其實這是不太正確的. Cool 意指很棒, 在程度上和 great 相去不遠, 它比 good 和 fine 來的強一些, 但比 awesome, terrific 要來得弱一點. |
| .Hi, there.
嗨, 你好. 首先來談談在網路上聊天的基本大原則. 網上聊天凡事要儘可能簡單. 因為打字的速度遠不若說話的速度快, 所以能簡寫的簡稱的就要儘可能去簡化. 例如平常老美見面打招呼最常用的是, "How are you doing?" 或是 "How are you?" 但在網路上比較常見的則是, "Hi!" 或是 "Hello." 如果是認識的人, 則在 "Hi!" 或 "Hello." 之後加上名字, 例如, "Hi! Claire." 或是 "Hello! Claire" 如果是不認識的人, 則用 "Hi! there." 或是 "Hi! you." |
Co-op 為 cooperative 這個名詞的簡寫，意為「(共同擁有或經營的) 合作社；合作企業；合作性組織」，如 These houses were built by a housing co-op. (這些房子是由一家住宅合作企業所建造)。除此之外，它沒有其他意思。
Co-opt 是個動詞，意為「由現有會員推舉或增選 … 為新會員；拉攏，籠絡」，過去式和過去分詞都是 co-opted，而現在分詞為 co-opting，如 Barry was co-opted into the board of directors. (貝瑞被增選為董事會的新董事)；The government tried to co-opt the opposition by giving them positions of authority. (政府試圖以有實權的職位來籠絡反對派)。
(形容詞) 太棒了，棒極了。這個字是由 fantastic 和 fabulous 組合而成。
該報告指出，美國的國外移民的人數最多，達到四千五百八十萬人，大部份的移民是在一九九○年到二○一三年期間來到美國 ── 人數有將近兩千三百萬人，等於每年增加一百萬名移民。俄羅斯的國外移民人數居次，有一千一百萬人，其後是德國的九百八十萬人，沙烏地阿拉伯有九百一十萬人，阿拉伯聯合大公國和英國各有七百八十萬人，法國有七百四十萬人，加拿大有七百卅萬人，澳洲和西班牙則各有六百五十萬人。
人口司主任約翰威爾莫斯表示：「新的移民來源地和目的地不斷湧現，在某些情況下，有些國家同時成為重要的移民來源國、過境國以及目的地。」
The U.S. hosts the largest number, 45.8 million, and it gained the largest number of international migrants between 1990 and 2013 — nearly 23 million, equal to one million additional migrants per year, the report said. Russia was second with 11 million international migrants, followed by Germany with 9.8 million, Saudi Arabia with 9.1 million, United Arab Emirates and the UK with 7.8 million, France with 7.4 million, Canada with 7.3 million, and Australia and Spain with 6.5 million each, it said.
John Wilmoth, director of the Population Division, said "new sources and destinations of migrants are emerging, and in some cases, countries have become important points of origin, transit and destination simultaneously."
聯合國發現，愈來愈多人居住在國外
根據新的聯合國數據，現今世界各地僑居國外的人比以往任何時候都多，而美國仍是最熱門的目的地。聯合國人口司最近報告指出，在二○一三年，全球有兩億三千兩百萬人（或全球百分之三點二的人口）居住在本國以外的地區
葛蘭姆在去年秋天時參觀了 BiblioTech 數位圖書館，且正在努力說服查爾斯頓都會區的領袖在今年推估債券的發行量，以資助類似的概念構想，其中甚至包括了讓人想起蘋果電腦商店的時髦美學。可是蘋果電腦商店通常不會在這樣的城鎮裡設點。BiblioTech 數位圖書館位在經濟環境低迷的聖安東尼奧市南區，並與貝爾郡政府大樓共享一個購物中心。在最近的一個下午，一對困惑的伴侶走進了 BiblioTech 數位圖書館，要去找當地的治安法官。
根據人口普查數據顯示，貝爾郡的郡治聖安東尼奧是美國第七大城，但識字率卻排名第六十。BiblioTech 數位圖書館企畫協調蘿拉柯爾表示，在二○○○年代初期，BiblioTech 數位圖書館周邊的低收入戶公寓與慈善二手商店的社區領袖曾抱怨，當地附近甚至連一家書店都沒有。她指出，十年之後，當地大多數的家庭依然沒有 Wi-Fi 無線上網。
Graham toured BiblioTech last fall and is pushing Charleston leaders for a bond measure in 2014 to fund a similar concept, right down to the same hip aesthetic reminiscent of Apple. Usually, however, Apple stores aren't found in parts of town like this. BiblioTech is on San Antonio's economically depressed South Side and shares an old strip mall with a Bexar County government building. On a recent afternoon, one confused couple walked into the library looking for the justice of the peace.
San Antonio is the U.S.' seventh-largest city but ranks 60th in literacy, according to census figures. Back in the early 2000s, community leaders in BiblioTech's neighborhood of low-income apartments and thrift stores railed about not even having a nearby bookstore, said Laura Cole, BiblioTech's project coordinator. A decade later, Cole said, most families in the area still don't have Wi-Fi.
