(English Quiz 158)
1. Recording his city's rich architectural heritage has been a demoralizing task for Shanghainese photographer Deke Erh. While Art Deco buildings in Miami, New Zealand's Napier and even the Eritrean town of Asmara are lovingly tended, Shanghai has demolished scores of equally historic structures in its headlong rush for modernity. "I've been taking photographs of old Shanghai for 20 years, and I've continually seen these things torn down," says Erh. "But I still have hope. Even today, Shanghai has more Art Deco buildings than any other city in the world. If I didn't have hope, I'd have to give up." The publication of Erh's self-funded new book Shanghai Art Deco is testament to the 47-year-old photographer's determination in the face of the city's merciless wrecking ball. In 320 pages and over 1,000 photographs, Erh and other photographers capture many of the city's surviving historic residences, hotels, cinemas and municipal buildings—creating a sweeping survey of the architectural and cultural treasures that could be threatened by relentless development. "When these buildings went up in the 1920s and '30s, a great deal of money and thought went into creating a beautiful city," says Erh. "Since then, so many new skyscrapers have gone up haphazardly without any aesthetic plan. I just want to show those in power how things could be."
Q: 試翻 "Since then, ... how things could be."
2. Erh would like things to be as they once were. Emphasizing clean, uncluttered shapes and simplified lines to express the dynamism of the mechanical age, Art Deco first gained recognition in 1925 at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. Within a few years, its influence had spread to Shanghai, at a time when the "Paris of the East" was largely under the control of Western powers. With close to 4 million inhabitants, 1930s Shanghai was the fifth-largest city in the world and the most cosmopolitan place in China. To reflect the era's gin-and-jazz culture, Shanghai's architects turned their backs on the pompous colonial edifices of yesteryear and embraced the modern sophistication of Art Deco. It was a prolific but short-lived phenomenon. When Mao Zedong's communists seized control of the country in 1949, the clampdown on Shanghai's foreign influences was total, and a period of isolationism began. "For almost 40 years Shanghai was cut off from the world," says Tess Johnston, a 75-year-old American who has lived in Shanghai for more than two decades and who wrote the text for Erh's book. "Now that the city has a chance to catch up, it is looking to the future and neglecting the past. If things don't change, everything that makes Shanghai unique will be lost forever."
Q: 試翻 "To reflect the era's gin-and-jazz culture, ... the modern sophistication of Art Deco."
3. The release of Erh's book was timed to coincide with one of the world's biggest architectural-appreciation gatherings—the annual Art Deco Weekend organized by the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL). This year's event, held over three days in January, was entitled "East Meets West: Art Deco from Shanghai to Miami," and featured an exhibition of Erh's images of both cities. "Shanghai and Miami Beach share a great deal in common," explains the MDPL's spokesman Scott Timm. "They are both economic and business centers for their regions, represent a blending of cultures and both contain a large number of Art Deco structures that must coexist with growing pressure for high-rise development." Erh hopes the spate of publicity generated overseas for Shanghai's Art Deco tradition might serve to boost his conservationist cause. But getting Shanghai itself to take notice is a slow process. A delegation of Shanghainese officials—representing government, urban planning, preservation and business development—attended the Miami event. "I invited them all to see the same exhibition in Shanghai, and they never came," says Erh. "It's a joke. I spent $3,750 of my own money to ship the pictures to Miami, when they could have seen them right here in Shanghai."
Q: 試翻 "The release of Erh's book ... (MDPL)."
2007年3月25日 星期日
English Quiz 157
(English Quiz 157)
1. The easiest way to start an academic brawl is to ask what an educated person should know. The last time Harvard University tackled that question was in 1978, when it established its Core Curriculum, which focused less on content than on mastering ways of thinking. Like Harvard's so-called Red Book standards of 1945, which helped inspire a generation of distribution requirements, the core had broad resonance at other major universities. Now, after a four-year process initiated under controversial former president Lawrence Summers, the nation's most famous university has come up with a whole new set of guidelines that proponents say will help clarify how liberal-arts subjects like philosophy and art history shed light on the hurly-burly of more quotidian topics. "Students will be more motivated to learn if they see a connection with the kinds of problems, issues and questions they will encounter in later life," says interim president Derek Bok. Harvard isn't the only institution rethinking what and how to teach its students. Yale, Rutgers and the universities of Pennsylvania and Texas have recently made similar changes, and now that Harvard has joined the club, others are likely to follow.
Q: 試翻 "the nation's most famous university ... more quotidian topics."
2. One point likely to raise eyebrows among academic traditionalists is the rationale for the newly mandated study of Empirical Reasoning, which will cover math, logic and statistics. It is being added, the committee report says, because graduates of Harvard "will have to decide, for example, what medical treatments to undergo, when a defendant in court has been proven guilty, whether to support a policy proposal and how to manage their personal finances." Does this mean balancing a checkbook is on a par with balancing equations? What about learning for learning's sake? What about the study of history, which Harvard will no longer require, even though its recently announced new president, Drew Gilpin Faust--the first woman to head the institution--is a renowned historian?
Q: 試翻 "Does this mean ... for learning's sake?"
3. The plan's advocates say the curriculum is flexible enough that students will still be able to take courses in whatever interests them, be it ancient art or cutting-edge science. What's crucial, they say, is that the new approach emphasizes the kind of active learning that gets students thinking and applying knowledge. "Just as one doesn't become a marathon runner by reading about the Boston Marathon," says the committee report, "so, too, one doesn't become a good problem solver by listening to lectures or reading about statistics." Acknowledging how important extracurricular activities have become on campus, the report calls for a stronger link between the endeavors students pursue inside and outside the classroom. Those studying poverty, for example, absorb more if they also volunteer at a homeless shelter, suggests Bok, whose 2005 book, Our Underachieving Colleges, cites a finding that students remember just 20% of the content of class lectures a week later.
Q: 試翻 "The plan's advocates say ... cutting-edge science."
1. The easiest way to start an academic brawl is to ask what an educated person should know. The last time Harvard University tackled that question was in 1978, when it established its Core Curriculum, which focused less on content than on mastering ways of thinking. Like Harvard's so-called Red Book standards of 1945, which helped inspire a generation of distribution requirements, the core had broad resonance at other major universities. Now, after a four-year process initiated under controversial former president Lawrence Summers, the nation's most famous university has come up with a whole new set of guidelines that proponents say will help clarify how liberal-arts subjects like philosophy and art history shed light on the hurly-burly of more quotidian topics. "Students will be more motivated to learn if they see a connection with the kinds of problems, issues and questions they will encounter in later life," says interim president Derek Bok. Harvard isn't the only institution rethinking what and how to teach its students. Yale, Rutgers and the universities of Pennsylvania and Texas have recently made similar changes, and now that Harvard has joined the club, others are likely to follow.
Q: 試翻 "the nation's most famous university ... more quotidian topics."
2. One point likely to raise eyebrows among academic traditionalists is the rationale for the newly mandated study of Empirical Reasoning, which will cover math, logic and statistics. It is being added, the committee report says, because graduates of Harvard "will have to decide, for example, what medical treatments to undergo, when a defendant in court has been proven guilty, whether to support a policy proposal and how to manage their personal finances." Does this mean balancing a checkbook is on a par with balancing equations? What about learning for learning's sake? What about the study of history, which Harvard will no longer require, even though its recently announced new president, Drew Gilpin Faust--the first woman to head the institution--is a renowned historian?
Q: 試翻 "Does this mean ... for learning's sake?"
3. The plan's advocates say the curriculum is flexible enough that students will still be able to take courses in whatever interests them, be it ancient art or cutting-edge science. What's crucial, they say, is that the new approach emphasizes the kind of active learning that gets students thinking and applying knowledge. "Just as one doesn't become a marathon runner by reading about the Boston Marathon," says the committee report, "so, too, one doesn't become a good problem solver by listening to lectures or reading about statistics." Acknowledging how important extracurricular activities have become on campus, the report calls for a stronger link between the endeavors students pursue inside and outside the classroom. Those studying poverty, for example, absorb more if they also volunteer at a homeless shelter, suggests Bok, whose 2005 book, Our Underachieving Colleges, cites a finding that students remember just 20% of the content of class lectures a week later.
Q: 試翻 "The plan's advocates say ... cutting-edge science."
English Quiz 156
(English Quiz 156)
1. If you believe some U.S. officials, the Chinese people are way too thrifty. Hoping to help bring down the soaring U.S. trade deficit with China, which rose by 15% to $232.5 billion last year, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have urged Beijing to encourage Chinese consumers to spend more (preferably on U.S. imports) and save less. It's true that a culture of financial prudence has shaped the psyche of generations of Chinese, leading to a national savings account of $2 trillion at the end of 2006. But it isn't quite fair to suggest that overly frugal Chinese consumers are largely responsible for trade deficits. Households only account for half of China's total savings. High levels of government and business savings also contribute. China's central bank, for example, holds more than $1 trillion in foreign currencies and securities. Moreover, the widely held view of China as a nation of supersavers appears to be increasingly out of touch with reality—a shift that has dramatic implications for the global economy.
Q: 試翻 "It's true that ... at the end of 2006."
Q: 試翻 "Moreover, ... the global economy."
2. HSBC recently conducted a survey on saving and spending patterns among the middle class in six Asian cities: Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo. Surprisingly, it was Shanghai's middle class that stood out as having the highest propensity to spend. Nearly three out of four Shanghainese who answered the survey said they agreed with the statement that "people nowadays will choose a balanced spending and saving mode rather than sacrificing to save." Of this group, 47% said they saved only what was left at the end of the month; almost one out of three said they did not save at all. These results suggest that scrimping and delayed gratification are becoming outmoded traits of an older generation. China's burgeoning middle class is hungry to enjoy the fruits of its labor today, especially in the most prosperous mainland cities, where disposable incomes rose around 12% last year.
Q: 試翻 "These results suggest that ... an older generation."
3. This is not to say that mainlanders are as profligate as, for example, middle-class Americans, whose savings rate is zero. The survey shows that they are value-conscious. Although they are exposed to new trends in high-fashion consumption through the media, many middle-class Chinese still regard "luxury" as a synonym for "unnecessary waste." They tend to buy luxury items such as watches and jewelry sparingly and only when shopping outside the mainland. It's often assumed that Chinese feel obliged to set aside large chunks of their income because the government no longer provides cradle-to-grave benefits as it did under a purely communist system. But China's urbanites are not just stashing away money to fund retirement and meet rising medical costs. Many Shanghainese respondents to the HSBC survey said their two main motivations for saving were to buy real estate (the majority already own at least one property) and pay for their kids' education. Travel was listed as the third most important reason to save. Only 14% of respondents said they were saving for retirement.
Q: 試翻 "They tend to buy ... outside the mainland China."
Q: 試翻 "It's often assumed that ... a purely communist system."
English Quiz 155
(English Quiz 155)
1. It's Friday night, and the back-alley Hanoi Internet cafe's buzzing with video-game warriors noisily slaying dragons. But Trung, a 26-year-old engineer, is there to make a killing of a different kind. Logging onto an Internet chat room dedicated to stock trading, he joins about 1,000 other Vietnamese with aliases like "warrenbuffet74" and "wallstreethanoi" who are in search of the day's hot deals. "I'm selling 13,000 shares of CavicoE," reads one message. "Price is 31,000 dong per share. Contact Manh." The next message reads: "Oh, what a pity. I just bought the same stock at 32,000—I wish I'd found you before." Trung (who asked not to be identified by his full name) chuckles and shakes his head. "These two are probably the same person using different nicknames to drive up the price," he explains. It's a tactic Trung knows well—he says he has used it himself. In his day job at a water utility, Trung earns just $300 per month, but since mortgaging his parents' house to raise capital last year, he claims to have raked in about $20,000 in profits from online share trading. "If you're clever," he says, "you can increase your money by five times in a few months.
2. What's surprising about Trung is not his profit projections—just about everyone is giddy about Vietnamese investments these days—but where he's making his money. While the nation's fledgling official bourses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are surging, Trung and many other local punters prefer to invest where the action is even headier: he typically trades in an unsanctioned market composed of websites and Internet chat rooms frequented by thousands of investors who swap unlisted shares of partially privatized Vietnamese companies. Participants call this the over-the-counter (OTC) market, a reference to exchanges abroad that provide an arena for trading small stocks. But unlike OTC bourses elsewhere, Vietnam's market has no licensed brokers, virtually no regulatory oversight, and trades often culminate with the exchange of cash for paper shares at a local tea shop. Think of it as an amorphous eBay for speculators, an ad hoc gray market that sprouted spontaneously from the pent-up desire among the Vietnamese to cash in on the country's economic boom. "It's the Wild West," says Noritaka Akamatsu, the World Bank's lead financial economist in Hanoi.
Q: 試翻 "What's surprising about ... making his money."
Q: 試翻 "Think of it ... economic boom."
3. A few years ago, sites like Sanotc.com couldn't have existed because there was no stock to trade. The vast majority of Vietnam's companies belonged wholly to the state. But as part of the government's move to a free-market economy, some 3,600 state-owned companies have been partially privatized by issuing shares to employees, managers and the public—who in turn have sold them through the Internet and in private deals with family, friends and acquaintances. This is capitalism in the raw. When deals are struck, whether online or over tea, purchasers take physical possession of the shares, and buyer and seller often go to the company's headquarters to register the change of ownership. In some cases, no registration takes place; the seller only provides a bill of sale.
Q: 試翻 "This is capitalism in the raw. ... the change of ownership."
1. It's Friday night, and the back-alley Hanoi Internet cafe's buzzing with video-game warriors noisily slaying dragons. But Trung, a 26-year-old engineer, is there to make a killing of a different kind. Logging onto an Internet chat room dedicated to stock trading, he joins about 1,000 other Vietnamese with aliases like "warrenbuffet74" and "wallstreethanoi" who are in search of the day's hot deals. "I'm selling 13,000 shares of CavicoE," reads one message. "Price is 31,000 dong per share. Contact Manh." The next message reads: "Oh, what a pity. I just bought the same stock at 32,000—I wish I'd found you before." Trung (who asked not to be identified by his full name) chuckles and shakes his head. "These two are probably the same person using different nicknames to drive up the price," he explains. It's a tactic Trung knows well—he says he has used it himself. In his day job at a water utility, Trung earns just $300 per month, but since mortgaging his parents' house to raise capital last year, he claims to have raked in about $20,000 in profits from online share trading. "If you're clever," he says, "you can increase your money by five times in a few months.
2. What's surprising about Trung is not his profit projections—just about everyone is giddy about Vietnamese investments these days—but where he's making his money. While the nation's fledgling official bourses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are surging, Trung and many other local punters prefer to invest where the action is even headier: he typically trades in an unsanctioned market composed of websites and Internet chat rooms frequented by thousands of investors who swap unlisted shares of partially privatized Vietnamese companies. Participants call this the over-the-counter (OTC) market, a reference to exchanges abroad that provide an arena for trading small stocks. But unlike OTC bourses elsewhere, Vietnam's market has no licensed brokers, virtually no regulatory oversight, and trades often culminate with the exchange of cash for paper shares at a local tea shop. Think of it as an amorphous eBay for speculators, an ad hoc gray market that sprouted spontaneously from the pent-up desire among the Vietnamese to cash in on the country's economic boom. "It's the Wild West," says Noritaka Akamatsu, the World Bank's lead financial economist in Hanoi.
Q: 試翻 "What's surprising about ... making his money."
Q: 試翻 "Think of it ... economic boom."
3. A few years ago, sites like Sanotc.com couldn't have existed because there was no stock to trade. The vast majority of Vietnam's companies belonged wholly to the state. But as part of the government's move to a free-market economy, some 3,600 state-owned companies have been partially privatized by issuing shares to employees, managers and the public—who in turn have sold them through the Internet and in private deals with family, friends and acquaintances. This is capitalism in the raw. When deals are struck, whether online or over tea, purchasers take physical possession of the shares, and buyer and seller often go to the company's headquarters to register the change of ownership. In some cases, no registration takes place; the seller only provides a bill of sale.
Q: 試翻 "This is capitalism in the raw. ... the change of ownership."
English Quiz 154
(English Quiz 154)
1. In his 18 years in the U.S. Senate, Joe Lieberman has cultivated an image of himself as a lonely prude among the morally corrupt, that rare Washington official who places principle above politics. But with the Democrats' hold on power dependent on just one vote — in effect, his — and with Republicans courting him to tilt the balance in their favor, Lieberman has been indulging in some fairly immodest political footsie. Early this year he terrified fellow Democrats by skipping several of the weekly caucus lunches that cement party fidelity in the Senate. Recently he was spotted in the Republican cloakroom talking with South Carolina's Lindsey Graham about reforming Social Security. He even says he might vote Republican for President in 2008, a not-so-veiled hint that he would prefer John McCain, his fellow true believer in the Iraq war, to most, perhaps all, Democratic alternatives.
Q: 試翻 "But with the ... fairly immodest political footsie."
2. Lieberman says leaving the Democratic Party is a "very remote possibility." But even that slight ambiguity — and all his cross-aisle flirtation — has proved more than enough to position Lieberman as the Senate's one-man tipping point. If he were to jump ship, the ensuing shift of power to Republicans would scramble the politics of the war in Iraq, undercut the Democrats' national agenda and potentially weaken their hopes for the White House in 2008. Those stakes are high enough to give Lieberman leverage with both parties no matter how slim the chance of his crossing the aisle. Which means Senate leaders aren't worrying only about whether Joe Lieberman will switch parties. They're wondering what, if anything, he plans to do with the power that comes from keeping that possibility alive. So far, Lieberman is using his clout mostly in ways that discomfit his fellow Democrats, while his relationship with Republicans has involved more collaboration than coercion. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Bush's State of the Union proposal for a bipartisan terrorism panel was redundant, Lieberman, who supported the idea, privately sent Reid a letter saying he was "upset." Within days, Reid backed down and negotiated the panel's makeup with the White House. And last month, after Lieberman told Reid he had stopped attending the weekly Democratic lunch because he didn't feel comfortable discussing Iraq there, Reid offered to hold those discussions at another time. Lieberman has started attending again.
Q: 試翻 "If he were to jump ship, ... for the White House in 2008."
Note: 注意前段用了 "footsie", 這裡又用了 "flirtation", 而且是 "cross0aisl flirtation"
3. It stands to reason that Lieberman, a lifelong Democrat, would be interested in extracting concessions from Republicans as well. He describes himself as a hawk abroad, and lately his rhetoric has come to resemble the G.O.P.'s, notably when he said Democratic opposition to Bush's troop surge would "discourage our troops, hearten our enemies." But he's progressive at home; he has a long record of fighting for environmental concerns, prides himself on his early support for the civil rights movement and has earned strong ratings from labor. He's even working on a military mental-health bill with California liberal Barbara Boxer. His staff claims he votes with Democrats more than 90% of the time, if Iraq is removed from the calculation.
Q: 試翻 "It stands to reason that ... from Republicans as well."
1. In his 18 years in the U.S. Senate, Joe Lieberman has cultivated an image of himself as a lonely prude among the morally corrupt, that rare Washington official who places principle above politics. But with the Democrats' hold on power dependent on just one vote — in effect, his — and with Republicans courting him to tilt the balance in their favor, Lieberman has been indulging in some fairly immodest political footsie. Early this year he terrified fellow Democrats by skipping several of the weekly caucus lunches that cement party fidelity in the Senate. Recently he was spotted in the Republican cloakroom talking with South Carolina's Lindsey Graham about reforming Social Security. He even says he might vote Republican for President in 2008, a not-so-veiled hint that he would prefer John McCain, his fellow true believer in the Iraq war, to most, perhaps all, Democratic alternatives.
Q: 試翻 "But with the ... fairly immodest political footsie."
2. Lieberman says leaving the Democratic Party is a "very remote possibility." But even that slight ambiguity — and all his cross-aisle flirtation — has proved more than enough to position Lieberman as the Senate's one-man tipping point. If he were to jump ship, the ensuing shift of power to Republicans would scramble the politics of the war in Iraq, undercut the Democrats' national agenda and potentially weaken their hopes for the White House in 2008. Those stakes are high enough to give Lieberman leverage with both parties no matter how slim the chance of his crossing the aisle. Which means Senate leaders aren't worrying only about whether Joe Lieberman will switch parties. They're wondering what, if anything, he plans to do with the power that comes from keeping that possibility alive. So far, Lieberman is using his clout mostly in ways that discomfit his fellow Democrats, while his relationship with Republicans has involved more collaboration than coercion. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Bush's State of the Union proposal for a bipartisan terrorism panel was redundant, Lieberman, who supported the idea, privately sent Reid a letter saying he was "upset." Within days, Reid backed down and negotiated the panel's makeup with the White House. And last month, after Lieberman told Reid he had stopped attending the weekly Democratic lunch because he didn't feel comfortable discussing Iraq there, Reid offered to hold those discussions at another time. Lieberman has started attending again.
Q: 試翻 "If he were to jump ship, ... for the White House in 2008."
Note: 注意前段用了 "footsie", 這裡又用了 "flirtation", 而且是 "cross0aisl flirtation"
3. It stands to reason that Lieberman, a lifelong Democrat, would be interested in extracting concessions from Republicans as well. He describes himself as a hawk abroad, and lately his rhetoric has come to resemble the G.O.P.'s, notably when he said Democratic opposition to Bush's troop surge would "discourage our troops, hearten our enemies." But he's progressive at home; he has a long record of fighting for environmental concerns, prides himself on his early support for the civil rights movement and has earned strong ratings from labor. He's even working on a military mental-health bill with California liberal Barbara Boxer. His staff claims he votes with Democrats more than 90% of the time, if Iraq is removed from the calculation.
Q: 試翻 "It stands to reason that ... from Republicans as well."
English Quiz 153
(English Quiz 153)
1. Such radical language is prompting a reaction. A growing group of moderate Indonesians is fighting back against the move toward puritanical interpretations of Islam's role in society. Many have formed NGOs that funnel cash to liberal mosques or distribute pamphlets calling on Indonesians to defend their more inclusive spiritual traditions. Researcher Misrawi, whose religious credentials are burnished by study at Cairo's famed Islamic Al-Azhar University, says his organization coordinates with 5,000 moderate pesantren, many of which are located in traditionally conservative regions like southern Sulawesi or West Java. The moderates admit they face a rhetorical disadvantage in their spiritual battle. "Salafi Islam is attractive because it says that if you are not rewarded in this lifetime, you will be rewarded in the next," says Jakarta scholar Anwar, who as a student leader around the time of the Iranian revolution considered himself radical, then later gravitated toward a more moderate faith. "It's hard to compete against that ideology. Being moderate is more subtle and complex. It's harder to sell."
Q: 試翻 "Many have formed ... inclusive spiritual traditions."
2. There are some signs, moreover, that the drift toward radicalism is, at last, prompting action by the nation's central institutions. Last year, the Indonesian parliament quietly shelved a controversial antipornography bill that could have criminalized public kissing and forms of traditional dance. And in December, after a popular Muslim cleric announced that he had joined a growing trend of flouting national law by taking a second wife, President Yudhoyono spoke out against polygamy—even though the Koran permits it in certain circumstances. The President surely knows the risks of radicalism. Foreign direct investment fell 46% year-on-year between January and November 2006, with one visiting European Parliament legislator blaming the rash of Shari'a bylaws for turning investors off. The specter of violence, too, acts to dampen foreign interest in Indonesia. The indigenous terror group Jemaah Islamiah—an organization linked to al-Qaeda that is blamed for hundreds of bombing deaths in Bali and Jakarta since 2002—doesn't have broad appeal among Indonesians, and its infrastructure has been battered by a number of recent arrests. But in January, clashes between police and alleged jihadis in the central Sulawesi city of Poso resulted in 16 deaths.
Q: 試翻 "There are some signs, ... the nation's central institutions."
3. In a response of sorts to the growing radicalism, Yudhoyono has recently paid lip service to Pancasila, the secularized state ideology promoted during the Suharto era. But if Indonesia is to shore up its international reputation, more will be needed than recycling an old ideology tainted by its association with a former dictator. In the absence of more vigorous mobilization by moderates, the rising conservative tide in Indonesian Islam looks unlikely to wane soon. Indonesians who return from study overseas—and those who don't leave home—are just a mouse click away from Salafi scholars anywhere else. "The Internet has helped encourage a uniformity of opinion in the Islamic world," says Sidney Jones, Southeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group. "Some of the loudest voices online are Salafi scholars in the Middle East."
Q: 試翻 "But if Indonesia ... a former dictator."
1. Such radical language is prompting a reaction. A growing group of moderate Indonesians is fighting back against the move toward puritanical interpretations of Islam's role in society. Many have formed NGOs that funnel cash to liberal mosques or distribute pamphlets calling on Indonesians to defend their more inclusive spiritual traditions. Researcher Misrawi, whose religious credentials are burnished by study at Cairo's famed Islamic Al-Azhar University, says his organization coordinates with 5,000 moderate pesantren, many of which are located in traditionally conservative regions like southern Sulawesi or West Java. The moderates admit they face a rhetorical disadvantage in their spiritual battle. "Salafi Islam is attractive because it says that if you are not rewarded in this lifetime, you will be rewarded in the next," says Jakarta scholar Anwar, who as a student leader around the time of the Iranian revolution considered himself radical, then later gravitated toward a more moderate faith. "It's hard to compete against that ideology. Being moderate is more subtle and complex. It's harder to sell."
Q: 試翻 "Many have formed ... inclusive spiritual traditions."
2. There are some signs, moreover, that the drift toward radicalism is, at last, prompting action by the nation's central institutions. Last year, the Indonesian parliament quietly shelved a controversial antipornography bill that could have criminalized public kissing and forms of traditional dance. And in December, after a popular Muslim cleric announced that he had joined a growing trend of flouting national law by taking a second wife, President Yudhoyono spoke out against polygamy—even though the Koran permits it in certain circumstances. The President surely knows the risks of radicalism. Foreign direct investment fell 46% year-on-year between January and November 2006, with one visiting European Parliament legislator blaming the rash of Shari'a bylaws for turning investors off. The specter of violence, too, acts to dampen foreign interest in Indonesia. The indigenous terror group Jemaah Islamiah—an organization linked to al-Qaeda that is blamed for hundreds of bombing deaths in Bali and Jakarta since 2002—doesn't have broad appeal among Indonesians, and its infrastructure has been battered by a number of recent arrests. But in January, clashes between police and alleged jihadis in the central Sulawesi city of Poso resulted in 16 deaths.
Q: 試翻 "There are some signs, ... the nation's central institutions."
3. In a response of sorts to the growing radicalism, Yudhoyono has recently paid lip service to Pancasila, the secularized state ideology promoted during the Suharto era. But if Indonesia is to shore up its international reputation, more will be needed than recycling an old ideology tainted by its association with a former dictator. In the absence of more vigorous mobilization by moderates, the rising conservative tide in Indonesian Islam looks unlikely to wane soon. Indonesians who return from study overseas—and those who don't leave home—are just a mouse click away from Salafi scholars anywhere else. "The Internet has helped encourage a uniformity of opinion in the Islamic world," says Sidney Jones, Southeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group. "Some of the loudest voices online are Salafi scholars in the Middle East."
Q: 試翻 "But if Indonesia ... a former dictator."
English Quiz 152
(English Quiz 152)
1. Indonesia's path to a more puritanical form of piety cannot be separated from the global trend toward conservatism that has swept Islam since the 1979 Iranian revolution, which brought Ayatullah Khomeini to power. The movement has only accelerated since Sept. 11, 2001, with the Internet bringing together Muslims worldwide in condemnation of Western actions in the Middle East. "With the hegemony of the West, we have so many problems," says Muhamad Ikhwan, director of Wahdah Islamiyah, which runs a 1,000-student Islamic academy in the eastern city of Makassar, where many girls wear chadors that cover everything but their eyes. "The world was safe when it was run by Islamic civilizations, so we want to bring Islam back to its former glory."
Q: 試翻 "Indonesia's path ... the 1979 Iranian revolution."
2. Unlike Iran or Saudi Arabia, however, the Republic of Indonesia is governed by a constitution that guarantees a separation of mosque and state. Those secular underpinnings, say some legal experts, call into question the very constitutionality of the Shari'a bylaws. But the administration of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has sidestepped this debate. Vice President Jusuf Kalla calls the faith-based regulations "normal" in a Muslim-majority state, insisting: "It is not Shari'a law but laws influenced by Shari'a." Yudhoyono himself has avoided any public comment on the bylaws' legality. "The President will do nothing on this because he is scared of offending the Islamic movement," says former Indonesian President and moderate Muslim cleric Abdurrahman Wahid. "If the silent majority isn't speaking out against the Shari'a-ization of Indonesia, then why should he risk his political career for them?" Even presidential adviser Agus Widjojo frets about the official silence: "The government can't just have a policy of no action on Islam. This policy only emboldens the extremists."
Q: 試翻 "Unlike Iran or Saudi Arabia, ... a separation of mosque and state."
3. Supporters of Shari'a argue that the central government's attitude simply reflects public sentiment. A 2006 poll by the Indonesia Survey Institute found that 58% of Indonesians believed adulterers should be stoned, as is mandated by Islamic law, up from 39% five years before. "There's a new feeling in Indonesia that people have been burned by secularism, that it's not working," says Zulkieflimansyah, a former UI student president and a legislator from Indonesia's biggest Islamic political party, the Justice and Welfare Party. "Islam can give them hope, and our mission is to educate Muslims about the real Islam." But what exactly constitutes true Islam in Indonesia? Is it a mystical tradition based on centuries of syncretic practice or an Arab-inspired move toward the religion's 7th century roots? How this debate plays out will dictate just what kind of a Muslim democracy the world's fourth most populous nation aims to be. "I believe we must strengthen the moderate paradigm and say that our Islam stands for tolerance, dynamism and freedom of expression," says Zuhairi Misrawi, a researcher with the Indonesian Society for Pesantren and Community Development in Jakarta. "But is that what the majority of Indonesian people want? It's becoming harder to tell."
Q: 試翻 "There's a new feeling ... the Justice and Welfare Party."
1. Indonesia's path to a more puritanical form of piety cannot be separated from the global trend toward conservatism that has swept Islam since the 1979 Iranian revolution, which brought Ayatullah Khomeini to power. The movement has only accelerated since Sept. 11, 2001, with the Internet bringing together Muslims worldwide in condemnation of Western actions in the Middle East. "With the hegemony of the West, we have so many problems," says Muhamad Ikhwan, director of Wahdah Islamiyah, which runs a 1,000-student Islamic academy in the eastern city of Makassar, where many girls wear chadors that cover everything but their eyes. "The world was safe when it was run by Islamic civilizations, so we want to bring Islam back to its former glory."
Q: 試翻 "Indonesia's path ... the 1979 Iranian revolution."
2. Unlike Iran or Saudi Arabia, however, the Republic of Indonesia is governed by a constitution that guarantees a separation of mosque and state. Those secular underpinnings, say some legal experts, call into question the very constitutionality of the Shari'a bylaws. But the administration of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has sidestepped this debate. Vice President Jusuf Kalla calls the faith-based regulations "normal" in a Muslim-majority state, insisting: "It is not Shari'a law but laws influenced by Shari'a." Yudhoyono himself has avoided any public comment on the bylaws' legality. "The President will do nothing on this because he is scared of offending the Islamic movement," says former Indonesian President and moderate Muslim cleric Abdurrahman Wahid. "If the silent majority isn't speaking out against the Shari'a-ization of Indonesia, then why should he risk his political career for them?" Even presidential adviser Agus Widjojo frets about the official silence: "The government can't just have a policy of no action on Islam. This policy only emboldens the extremists."
Q: 試翻 "Unlike Iran or Saudi Arabia, ... a separation of mosque and state."
3. Supporters of Shari'a argue that the central government's attitude simply reflects public sentiment. A 2006 poll by the Indonesia Survey Institute found that 58% of Indonesians believed adulterers should be stoned, as is mandated by Islamic law, up from 39% five years before. "There's a new feeling in Indonesia that people have been burned by secularism, that it's not working," says Zulkieflimansyah, a former UI student president and a legislator from Indonesia's biggest Islamic political party, the Justice and Welfare Party. "Islam can give them hope, and our mission is to educate Muslims about the real Islam." But what exactly constitutes true Islam in Indonesia? Is it a mystical tradition based on centuries of syncretic practice or an Arab-inspired move toward the religion's 7th century roots? How this debate plays out will dictate just what kind of a Muslim democracy the world's fourth most populous nation aims to be. "I believe we must strengthen the moderate paradigm and say that our Islam stands for tolerance, dynamism and freedom of expression," says Zuhairi Misrawi, a researcher with the Indonesian Society for Pesantren and Community Development in Jakarta. "But is that what the majority of Indonesian people want? It's becoming harder to tell."
Q: 試翻 "There's a new feeling ... the Justice and Welfare Party."
2007年3月22日 星期四
I Will Use Google Before Asking Dumb Questions.
同事給我的兩句話,讓我受到不少激勵,哈哈 :)
I Will Use Google Before Asking Dumb Questions.
http://www.csd.uoc.gr/~gvasil/stuff/pictures/simpson-google.jpg
The mark of a well educated person is not necessarily in knowing all the answers, but in knowing where to find them.
I Will Use Google Before Asking Dumb Questions.
http://www.csd.uoc.gr/~gvasil/stuff/pictures/simpson-google.jpg
The mark of a well educated person is not necessarily in knowing all the answers, but in knowing where to find them.
2007年3月21日 星期三
U.S. Citizenship
最近看到一些事(不是政治的啦),感到人生真的是不公平到了一個極點.有些人為了往上爬,什麼手段都可以使出來,真是讓我大開眼界!
不過罵歸罵,U.S. citizen還是人人想當.(不管是申請學校還是找工作,身份總是有別,一般來說是 state resident > citizen > internaitonal.台灣比較奇怪,居然是對外國人與僑生特別好,對本國人比較差.)
如果PhD真的得讀上六七年,那麼我想在十年之內拿到citizen的話,只剩下一個辦法了...
不過罵歸罵,U.S. citizen還是人人想當.(不管是申請學校還是找工作,身份總是有別,一般來說是 state resident > citizen > internaitonal.台灣比較奇怪,居然是對外國人與僑生特別好,對本國人比較差.)
如果PhD真的得讀上六七年,那麼我想在十年之內拿到citizen的話,只剩下一個辦法了...
Altruist Financial Advisors LLC
Altruist Financial Advisors LLC
http://www.altruistfa.com/
有一位同事之前在美國工作過,他對投資方面相當有興趣,也從專業角度來分析事情,最近向他請教許多問題,所以他三不五時就寄些東西給我讀,非常感謝.
其實他一開始是要我看這個網頁, http://www.altruistfa.com/readingroomarticles.htm 尤其是前頭那句名言. "The mark of a well educated person is not necessarily in knowing all the answers, but in knowing where to find them." 感到頗汗顏啊~~~
http://www.altruistfa.com/
有一位同事之前在美國工作過,他對投資方面相當有興趣,也從專業角度來分析事情,最近向他請教許多問題,所以他三不五時就寄些東西給我讀,非常感謝.
其實他一開始是要我看這個網頁, http://www.altruistfa.com/readingroomarticles.htm 尤其是前頭那句名言. "The mark of a well educated person is not necessarily in knowing all the answers, but in knowing where to find them." 感到頗汗顏啊~~~
2007年3月11日 星期日
English Quiz 151
(English Quiz 151)
1. Why did the Bush Administration finally drop its opposition to bilateral talks with North Korea, or to seeking an incomplete solution? Why did it agree to reward bad behavior? Perhaps it was the muddle in Iraq and the continuing difficulties the Bush Administration has in dealing with Iran. Perhaps it was because of the Democratic Party's victory in the November congressional elections. Perhaps the White House simply needed a success story, even if it turns out to be one more of perception than fact. Whatever the reason, Washington's change of mind is welcome. It's better to stop North Korea's nuclear activities, even at a price, than to allow it to keep churning out plutonium and nuclear weapons. For its part, North Korea has been able to take advantage of Washington's eagerness to engage. All it had to do was give the U.S. government a reason to claim success. Fortunately for North Korea, and unfortunately for the rest of the world, Pyongyang did not need to promise to ensure the dismantlement of its nuclear facilities, equipment, material and weapons.
Q: 試翻 "Perhaps the White House ... more of perception than fact."
2. Will North Korea eventually give up those facilities as the U.S. and others insist? To answer that, we need to ask why the North developed and secured nuclear weapons, over several decades, at such a high cost and risk. There are a number of reasons. First, nuclear status is a political trophy for Kim Jong Il. From senior party members down to young children, North Koreans have boasted to recent visitors that Kim's great feat of testing a nuclear bomb last October has enabled their country to stand as an equal with the big powers. Second, the nuclear program is intended to deter a possible external attack—indeed, Pyongyang blames America's military prowess and policy of pressure for its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Third, North Korea's nuclear capability gives it an upper hand militarily in relation to the South—an important consideration, especially with the reduction and, possibly, the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea. Fourth, the nuclear program is seen as a key to survival—a way to block and prevent any outside attempts at regime change. Finally, nuclear weapons represent a powerful bargaining tool, which explains why the odds are that Pyongyang will want to retain its nuclear chips as it doles out piecemeal concessions, starting with a freeze, inspections and reporting; then—if it ever comes to that—moving to dismantlement of facilities, material and weapons.
Q: 試翻 "Third, ... from Korea."
3. Given what North Korea sees as compelling motives to possess nuclear weapons, it's highly unlikely it will succumb to a Libya-like solution and agree to completely rid itself of nuclear equipment and material, as Muammar Gaddafi's regime did in 2003. The best we can hope for, perhaps, is convincing Pyongyang not to produce any additional nuclear weapons. In 60 days' time, we'll know if even this modest goal can be reached. Now that the previous objective of achieving complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement looks increasingly unrealistic, the question boils down to this: Should the rest of the world accept a North Korea that has nuclear weapons as long as that number isn't increasing? When dealing with the North, it's necessary to remain realistic. That way nobody gets disappointed, or gives up a deal that—to be sure—is not 100% satisfactory, but that can serve as a start. The more ambitious goal of total denuclearization will only be achieved over time, within the context of broader changes that would include closer U.S.-China cooperation, increased Chinese pressure on Pyongyang or a leadership change in North Korea.
Q: 試翻 "Now that the previous objective ... isn't increasing?"
1. Why did the Bush Administration finally drop its opposition to bilateral talks with North Korea, or to seeking an incomplete solution? Why did it agree to reward bad behavior? Perhaps it was the muddle in Iraq and the continuing difficulties the Bush Administration has in dealing with Iran. Perhaps it was because of the Democratic Party's victory in the November congressional elections. Perhaps the White House simply needed a success story, even if it turns out to be one more of perception than fact. Whatever the reason, Washington's change of mind is welcome. It's better to stop North Korea's nuclear activities, even at a price, than to allow it to keep churning out plutonium and nuclear weapons. For its part, North Korea has been able to take advantage of Washington's eagerness to engage. All it had to do was give the U.S. government a reason to claim success. Fortunately for North Korea, and unfortunately for the rest of the world, Pyongyang did not need to promise to ensure the dismantlement of its nuclear facilities, equipment, material and weapons.
Q: 試翻 "Perhaps the White House ... more of perception than fact."
2. Will North Korea eventually give up those facilities as the U.S. and others insist? To answer that, we need to ask why the North developed and secured nuclear weapons, over several decades, at such a high cost and risk. There are a number of reasons. First, nuclear status is a political trophy for Kim Jong Il. From senior party members down to young children, North Koreans have boasted to recent visitors that Kim's great feat of testing a nuclear bomb last October has enabled their country to stand as an equal with the big powers. Second, the nuclear program is intended to deter a possible external attack—indeed, Pyongyang blames America's military prowess and policy of pressure for its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Third, North Korea's nuclear capability gives it an upper hand militarily in relation to the South—an important consideration, especially with the reduction and, possibly, the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea. Fourth, the nuclear program is seen as a key to survival—a way to block and prevent any outside attempts at regime change. Finally, nuclear weapons represent a powerful bargaining tool, which explains why the odds are that Pyongyang will want to retain its nuclear chips as it doles out piecemeal concessions, starting with a freeze, inspections and reporting; then—if it ever comes to that—moving to dismantlement of facilities, material and weapons.
Q: 試翻 "Third, ... from Korea."
3. Given what North Korea sees as compelling motives to possess nuclear weapons, it's highly unlikely it will succumb to a Libya-like solution and agree to completely rid itself of nuclear equipment and material, as Muammar Gaddafi's regime did in 2003. The best we can hope for, perhaps, is convincing Pyongyang not to produce any additional nuclear weapons. In 60 days' time, we'll know if even this modest goal can be reached. Now that the previous objective of achieving complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement looks increasingly unrealistic, the question boils down to this: Should the rest of the world accept a North Korea that has nuclear weapons as long as that number isn't increasing? When dealing with the North, it's necessary to remain realistic. That way nobody gets disappointed, or gives up a deal that—to be sure—is not 100% satisfactory, but that can serve as a start. The more ambitious goal of total denuclearization will only be achieved over time, within the context of broader changes that would include closer U.S.-China cooperation, increased Chinese pressure on Pyongyang or a leadership change in North Korea.
Q: 試翻 "Now that the previous objective ... isn't increasing?"
English Quiz 150
(English Quiz 150)
1. Gibes from Clintonites over the recent deal are to be expected. But criticism has come from the right as well as the left. John Bolton, Bush's former ambassador to the U.N. and his lead negotiator in the early rounds of the six-party talks, told CNN the U.S. has sent a perilous signal to proliferators that they'll be rewarded for bad behavior. "It's a bad deal," Bolton declared. State Department officials deny they've let North Korea off the hook. "He's just wrong," Rice sniffed in response to Bolton's criticisms. The Administration argues that their deal is much stronger than the one negotiated in '94 because it effectively isolates Kim. The Agreed Framework was bilateral, the argument goes, whereas this time North Korea's neighbors—including its closest ally and major benefactor, China—are signatories to the deal, which should force Pyongyang to keep its promises and continue to bargain in good faith. The Chinese were infuriated by Kim's October nuclear blast; President Hu Jintao had publicly warned against such a test. This "deal has muscle," argues Michael Green, a former NSC adviser on East Asian affairs in the Bush Administration, "because the Chinese have been very unhappy with the North's provocations."
Q: 試翻 "Gibes from Clintonites ... as well as the left."
2. Most of the deal's critics, in fact, concede that it is at least better than the status quo: a North Korea bent on producing more weapons. Former Clinton negotiator Dan Poneman likened the latest agreement to putting a "tourniquet" on the plutonium program. If the Yongbyon reactor is shut down, the North's ability to make more plutonium-fueled nukes is crippled. And although Pyongyang has not agreed to dismantle its nuclear program, a path for further negotiations has been set. This is likely the best deal the U.S. could get right now, and the fact that Bush's team took it means "they have come to face reality," says former NSC adviser Samore, rather than holding out for greater concessions that seemed increasingly unfeasible.
Q: 試翻 "This is likely ... increasingly unfeasible."
3. In two months, Rice and other foreign ministers will gather in Beijing to assess whether both sides have lived up to their initial promises. If they have, Rice says she will meet face-to-face with her North Korean counterpart for the first time during Bush's presidency. That could set the stage for historic discussions about normalizing relations between two implacable enemies. Indeed, the Administration's rhetoric about seeking a sweeping solution to the North Korea nuclear quagmire—with regime change as one of its options—has faded. Instead, the U.S. now seems willing to take a more modest, measured approach in pursuit of the ultimate goal of a denuclearized North. The first step was to halt the forward progress of Kim's nuclear program. It will be harder getting him to reverse course.
Q: 試翻 "That could set the stage ... between two implacable enemies."
1. Gibes from Clintonites over the recent deal are to be expected. But criticism has come from the right as well as the left. John Bolton, Bush's former ambassador to the U.N. and his lead negotiator in the early rounds of the six-party talks, told CNN the U.S. has sent a perilous signal to proliferators that they'll be rewarded for bad behavior. "It's a bad deal," Bolton declared. State Department officials deny they've let North Korea off the hook. "He's just wrong," Rice sniffed in response to Bolton's criticisms. The Administration argues that their deal is much stronger than the one negotiated in '94 because it effectively isolates Kim. The Agreed Framework was bilateral, the argument goes, whereas this time North Korea's neighbors—including its closest ally and major benefactor, China—are signatories to the deal, which should force Pyongyang to keep its promises and continue to bargain in good faith. The Chinese were infuriated by Kim's October nuclear blast; President Hu Jintao had publicly warned against such a test. This "deal has muscle," argues Michael Green, a former NSC adviser on East Asian affairs in the Bush Administration, "because the Chinese have been very unhappy with the North's provocations."
Q: 試翻 "Gibes from Clintonites ... as well as the left."
2. Most of the deal's critics, in fact, concede that it is at least better than the status quo: a North Korea bent on producing more weapons. Former Clinton negotiator Dan Poneman likened the latest agreement to putting a "tourniquet" on the plutonium program. If the Yongbyon reactor is shut down, the North's ability to make more plutonium-fueled nukes is crippled. And although Pyongyang has not agreed to dismantle its nuclear program, a path for further negotiations has been set. This is likely the best deal the U.S. could get right now, and the fact that Bush's team took it means "they have come to face reality," says former NSC adviser Samore, rather than holding out for greater concessions that seemed increasingly unfeasible.
Q: 試翻 "This is likely ... increasingly unfeasible."
3. In two months, Rice and other foreign ministers will gather in Beijing to assess whether both sides have lived up to their initial promises. If they have, Rice says she will meet face-to-face with her North Korean counterpart for the first time during Bush's presidency. That could set the stage for historic discussions about normalizing relations between two implacable enemies. Indeed, the Administration's rhetoric about seeking a sweeping solution to the North Korea nuclear quagmire—with regime change as one of its options—has faded. Instead, the U.S. now seems willing to take a more modest, measured approach in pursuit of the ultimate goal of a denuclearized North. The first step was to halt the forward progress of Kim's nuclear program. It will be harder getting him to reverse course.
Q: 試翻 "That could set the stage ... between two implacable enemies."
English Quiz 149
(English Quiz 149)
1. The agreement is also silent—ominously so, critics believe—on the subject of the North's existing nuclear weapons. The question of whether Pyongyang has them is no longer a matter of conjecture: last October the North tested a nuclear weapon (albeit with mixed success), dramatically raising the stakes in the standoff with the U.S. and its allies. The fact that Kim's existing nuclear stockpile is not mentioned in the latest agreement "is probably not an oversight," says Gary Samore, who was head of the counterproliferation program at the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) under Clinton. "That's an indication that the North Koreans are not going to be willing to give up their existing capabilities." It's hard to see why they would do so. Ever since Bush's speech in 2002 labeling North Korea a member of the "axis of evil," Kim has believed "he has a big, fat target painted on his back," says a former U.S. diplomat. "Kim believes that having a few nukes in his pocket is the ultimate guarantee that no one will try to topple his regime militarily. He's probably right about that, and no matter how much fuel oil or diplomatic goodies we send his way, he's not going to negotiate that away."
Q: 試翻 "The question of ... with the U.S. and its allies."
2. As Bush's critics see it, that's where the latest disarmament deal falls short. Former Clinton Administration officials say the agreement is a close facsimile of the Agreed Framework signed by Washington and Pyongyang in 1994. That deal called for the North to halt nuclear-weapons development in return for two light-water nuclear-power plants, which are difficult to use to generate fissile material for bombs. Clinton's presidency ended before the power plants could be completed and the projects today are derelict—evidence, in Pyongyang's eyes, of Washington's bad faith. But those who defend the Agreed Framework say all Bush had to do upon taking office was follow through, and several years of dangerous saber rattling in Northeast Asia could have been avoided. Says Graham Allison, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense under Clinton: "The bad news is that this is four years, eight bombs' worth of plutonium and one nuclear test" after the Bush Administration veered from the course set by the Agreed Framework.
Q: 試翻 "As Bush's critics see it, ... in 1994."
Q: 試翻 "But those ... have been avoided."
Q: 試翻 "Says Graham Allison, ... set by the Agreed Framework."
1. The agreement is also silent—ominously so, critics believe—on the subject of the North's existing nuclear weapons. The question of whether Pyongyang has them is no longer a matter of conjecture: last October the North tested a nuclear weapon (albeit with mixed success), dramatically raising the stakes in the standoff with the U.S. and its allies. The fact that Kim's existing nuclear stockpile is not mentioned in the latest agreement "is probably not an oversight," says Gary Samore, who was head of the counterproliferation program at the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) under Clinton. "That's an indication that the North Koreans are not going to be willing to give up their existing capabilities." It's hard to see why they would do so. Ever since Bush's speech in 2002 labeling North Korea a member of the "axis of evil," Kim has believed "he has a big, fat target painted on his back," says a former U.S. diplomat. "Kim believes that having a few nukes in his pocket is the ultimate guarantee that no one will try to topple his regime militarily. He's probably right about that, and no matter how much fuel oil or diplomatic goodies we send his way, he's not going to negotiate that away."
Q: 試翻 "The question of ... with the U.S. and its allies."
2. As Bush's critics see it, that's where the latest disarmament deal falls short. Former Clinton Administration officials say the agreement is a close facsimile of the Agreed Framework signed by Washington and Pyongyang in 1994. That deal called for the North to halt nuclear-weapons development in return for two light-water nuclear-power plants, which are difficult to use to generate fissile material for bombs. Clinton's presidency ended before the power plants could be completed and the projects today are derelict—evidence, in Pyongyang's eyes, of Washington's bad faith. But those who defend the Agreed Framework say all Bush had to do upon taking office was follow through, and several years of dangerous saber rattling in Northeast Asia could have been avoided. Says Graham Allison, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense under Clinton: "The bad news is that this is four years, eight bombs' worth of plutonium and one nuclear test" after the Bush Administration veered from the course set by the Agreed Framework.
Q: 試翻 "As Bush's critics see it, ... in 1994."
Q: 試翻 "But those ... have been avoided."
Q: 試翻 "Says Graham Allison, ... set by the Agreed Framework."
English Quiz 148
(English Quiz 148)
1. For all of its pomp and circumstance—the police-escorted limousines cruising unimpeded through capital cities, the grand conference rooms, the hordes of assistants and aides—international diplomacy can be a grindingly tough and draining business. For three years, Christopher Hill, the lead U.S. negotiator in the six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea, had sought a Grand Bargain with Pyongyang, only to be frustrated at every turn. Finally, in the early hours of Feb. 13, that changed. Thanks in part to the Chinese, who played the stern taskmaster during the latest round of negotiations in Beijing ("they kept us up very late," Hill later joked), the State Department diplomat was able to return to his hotel shortly before 3 a.m. with a deal in hand. Hill wasn't the only U.S. official consumed by the talks. His boss, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, called him 12 times in three days to check the progress of negotiations. "He thought he had a tentative agreement," Rice told reporters at a Feb. 13 press conference in Washington. "And I called him at 4:15 this morning just to make sure."
Q: 試翻 "For three years, ... at every turn."
2. When dealing with North Korea, "making sure" is never a bad idea. Going back to 1994, when the Clinton Administration cajoled Pyongyang into promising to abandon its nuclear-weapons program, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il has repeatedly made and then reneged on such accords. But for the Bush Administration, whose officials had once speculated openly about the possibility of forcing Kim from power by cutting off his regime from aid and trade, the agreement signed on Tuesday represented a victory—albeit a small one. Now, the immediate question it faces is simple: Have the U.S. and its four negotiating partners—South Korea, China, Russia and Japan—laid a solid foundation for a lasting deal on North Korea's nukes, or is this agreement, as one former U.S. negotiator puts it, "just another false start, destined to end badly?"
Q: 試翻 "Going back to 1994, ... on such accords."
3. Despite its obvious need for a diplomatic success somewhere, anywhere, given the quagmire in Iraq and the stalemate over Iran's purported nuclear-weapons program, the Administration could not be accused of overhyping what it got in Beijing. This was not a comprehensive solution that could bring about a nuclear-free Korean peninsula—a goal that, Bush aides say, the President has eagerly sought. But it was, Washington insists, an important first step toward that goal—"an early harvest," as U.S. negotiators like to call it. "Little plants come up," Hill says, "and you harvest those immediately."
Q: 試翻 "Despite its obvious need ... got in Beijing."
4. The preliminary nature of the deal is clear enough: North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, where it's believed to have produced the fissile material needed to make the six to 10 nuclear weapons Kim is estimated to possess. Pyongyang has also promised to allow international inspectors into the country to verify compliance within 60 days. In return, the North is to receive an emergency shipment of 50,000 tons of fuel oil from the U.S., China, Russia and South Korea. The oil is desperately needed to run electric power plants in the impoverished land. If the North permanently disables the reactor, the deal calls for another 950,000 tons of oil to be donated. Beyond that, it's less clear what North Korea has conceded. The agreement holds out the possibility of an array of unspecified economic and humanitarian assistance flowing to the North, as well as the prospect that the U.S. will remove the country from its list of terrorist-sponsoring states, end its trade sanctions and eventually enter talks to normalize relations. Meanwhile, Pyongyang agreed "to discuss all of its nuclear programs," including any stockpiles of plutonium already gleaned from the Yongbyon reactor. At her Feb. 13 press conference, Rice emphasized the phrase "all nuclear programs." She says the U.S. and its partners want the North to dismantle both its plutonium-based weapons program and a suspected uranium-enrichment program. "Everybody understands what 'all' means," she says. But Pyongyang, after first admitting to the uranium program when confronted about it by the U.S. in 2002, has since denied its existence—and may well have hidden it away deep inside a mountain somewhere in the countryside. Rice insisted that "we're going to pursue the issue of the highly enriched-uranium program." But if Kim decides not to "discuss" this issue, as the agreement demands, how will the U.S. and its partners react?
Q: 試翻 "Beyond that, ... flowing to the North."
English Quiz 147
(English Quiz 147)
1. For Simon Jones, Vice President of product development at Plastic Logic, his company's mission comes down to this simple but startling question: "What if you could print electronics on just about anything at very low cost?" A corner office at the Cambridge, U.K., firm is filled with models of products that could be built: hospital bracelets synched to update when info is added to a medical file, musical scores that refresh so you'd never need to turn a page and a series of portable text displays. That, says Jones, is what happens when you can make circuits not from silicon but from plastic.
Q: 試翻 "hospital bracelets synched ... text displays."
2. In the race to market, Plastic Logic took an early and significant lead. On Jan. 3, the company announced it would build a factory in Dresden, Germany, to create its flexible, portable text display — a device that would let you carry your whole library on a sheet of plastic. That makes it the first plant proposed anywhere that would produce plastic transistors on a commercial scale. Plastic Logic's plant attracted $100 million from such backers as Oak Investment Partners, Intel, Bank of America and BASF. "We believe there is nothing silicon transistors can do that polymer transistors won't be able to do eventually," says Hermann Hauser, a former physicist and now a partner at Plastic Logic financier Amadeus Capital Partners Ltd. Others agree. On Jan. 24, an Eindhoven, Netherlands, spin-off from Philips unveiled plans for its own mass-production facility in Southampton, U.K. The firm, Polymer Vision, will make a 5-in. screen that can be rolled up to the thickness of a cell phone. But even though it announced its factory site after Plastic Logic's, the Dutch company plans to produce at commercial volumes sooner: as early as this year.
Q: 試翻 "On Jan. 24, ... in Southampton, U.K."
3. Has a new era of consumer electronics begun? Market researchers at Virginia-based NanoMarkets, which reports on micro- and nanotechnology, predict plastic electronics will be worth nearly $35 billion by 2014. That's about the same value as today's global recorded-music industry. Executives rhapsodize on grocery-store displays that will advertise directly to you, based on information picked up from, say, a chip in your cell phone. Perishables like milk could be packaged with sensors layered in their cardboard to let you know whether they've always been stored at appropriate temperatures. Other products in the pipeline include plastic solar panels, low-cost memory sticks and displays like big-screen TVs that could be rolled up and stashed when guests come over.
Q: 試翻 "Perishables like milk ... at appropriate temperatures."
English Quiz 146
(English Quiz 146)
1. So is there an overriding strategic goal beyond spreading democracy? Does the Administration have a framework for dealing with the most immediate challenges it confronts--civil war in Iraq, a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan and the swelling influence of Iran? Put simply, do Bush and Rice know where they're going? The answers aren't readily apparent. Bush's decision to send more troops to Iraq and Afghanistan means both wars will continue to consume the bulk of the U.S.'s military resources, to say nothing of the mental energies of the President's lieutenants in Washington. Although Defense Secretary Robert Gates has hinted that the increase in troop strength in Iraq may last only until the summer, the Administration rejects the idea of setting any firm limits on the U.S. commitment there. Says Rice: "This is going to happen over a period of time ... It's not as if there's a cutoff point, because that's not how it's going to unfold." And it's hard to imagine a significant decrease in U.S. troop presence in Iraq before the end of Bush's term.
Q: 試翻 "So is there an overriding strategic goal beyond spreading democracy?"
2. A former director of Chevron whose reading includes the financial press and oil- and gas-industry journals, she has personally overseen the Administration's campaign to persuade financial institutions in Europe and the Arab world to halt the flow of capital to Iran's oil sector. The idea is that through a combination of moves--projecting military muscle, squeezing Iran's oil lifeline and securing U.N. Security Council sanctions against Tehran's nuclear industry--the U.S. can drain Ahmadinejad's popular support and force the mullahs to bend to international demands to stop enriching uranium, the first step to a nuclear bomb.
Q: 試翻 "The idea is that ... a nuclear bomb."
3. Whether Rice can steer the U.S. away from a military confrontation with Tehran is one of the two big challenges that will define the final years of her tenure--and the legacy she leaves for her successor. The other is even more daunting: making peace in the Middle East. Those who have spoken to her say her determination to seek a comprehensive settlement between Israel and the Palestinians is real. A senior Arab official says that on her trip to the region last month, Rice pledged to help set up a Palestinian state by the end of Bush's term. According to this same official, Bush phoned the Kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia to tell them Rice was coming with a commitment to solve the Palestinian issue. "There is a shift. There is no doubt about that," says an Arab official. "But how deep, how strong this effort is going to be--it's too early to tell." The first test will come later this month, when Rice plans to convene a summit in Jerusalem between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Q: 試翻 "Those who have spoken ... is real."
English Quiz 145
(English Quiz 145)
1. To this point, Rice's tenure as Secretary of State has been long on procedural victories but short on substantive policy results. Her most clear-cut successes have been forging a strategic alliance with India and improving the U.S.'s tattered relationship with its European allies. "She's been a good diplomat in the true sense of the word, going around talking and listening," says Charles Grant, director of the London-based Center for European Reform. "Although America's image hasn't changed, she's blameless in that."
Q: 試翻 "Her most clear-cut successes ... its European allies."
2. But Rice has been slow to recognize the extent to which the U.S.'s prestige has declined. In 2005, the convergence of elections in the Palestinian territories and Iraq and the popular uprising against Syria's presence in Lebanon spurred Rice all but to declare that Washington was guiding the march of history. In a speech at the American University in Cairo, she criticized the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for failing to liberalize and said, "For 60 years, my country pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region ... and we achieved neither. Now we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people." Less than two years later, Rice rarely speaks in such exalted tones; when she visited Egypt last month, she went out of her way to praise the U.S.'s "strategic relationship" with the Mubarak regime. Rice told TIME that she "always" raises the issue of democracy in private meetings with Arab leaders, including Mubarak. But the time for public tongue lashings is over.
Q: 試翻 "But Rice has been slow ... has declined."
3. Rice's new restraint reflects a broader reworking of the democracy agenda that dominated U.S. foreign policy after 9/11. Two factors have contributed to that change. The first is the reality that free elections in places like Lebanon and the Palestinian territories have handed power to fundamentalist groups like Hizballah and Hamas that have little interest in pluralistic, secular governance. Whatever the ultimate benefits of implanting democracy in the Middle East, in the short run it's more likely to damage U.S. interests than serve them. The second cause for the shift is Iraq. The country's dissolution has reduced the U.S.'s leverage in the region, emboldened Iran and alienated the U.S.'s traditional Sunni allies. "They've been reticent to provide real support," says Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution. "They think we've created a government that is nothing but a facade for a bunch of vicious Shi'i militias." Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month that the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is on "borrowed time." Rice says now that "Iraqis will have to decide whether their government is functioning. But that's not for us to decide." And yet the very fact that the U.S. would raise the possibility that a popularly elected government in Iraq might get dumped reflects an acknowledgment that elections alone won't bring stability.
Q: 試翻 "The second cause ... Sunni allies."
1. To this point, Rice's tenure as Secretary of State has been long on procedural victories but short on substantive policy results. Her most clear-cut successes have been forging a strategic alliance with India and improving the U.S.'s tattered relationship with its European allies. "She's been a good diplomat in the true sense of the word, going around talking and listening," says Charles Grant, director of the London-based Center for European Reform. "Although America's image hasn't changed, she's blameless in that."
Q: 試翻 "Her most clear-cut successes ... its European allies."
2. But Rice has been slow to recognize the extent to which the U.S.'s prestige has declined. In 2005, the convergence of elections in the Palestinian territories and Iraq and the popular uprising against Syria's presence in Lebanon spurred Rice all but to declare that Washington was guiding the march of history. In a speech at the American University in Cairo, she criticized the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for failing to liberalize and said, "For 60 years, my country pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region ... and we achieved neither. Now we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people." Less than two years later, Rice rarely speaks in such exalted tones; when she visited Egypt last month, she went out of her way to praise the U.S.'s "strategic relationship" with the Mubarak regime. Rice told TIME that she "always" raises the issue of democracy in private meetings with Arab leaders, including Mubarak. But the time for public tongue lashings is over.
Q: 試翻 "But Rice has been slow ... has declined."
3. Rice's new restraint reflects a broader reworking of the democracy agenda that dominated U.S. foreign policy after 9/11. Two factors have contributed to that change. The first is the reality that free elections in places like Lebanon and the Palestinian territories have handed power to fundamentalist groups like Hizballah and Hamas that have little interest in pluralistic, secular governance. Whatever the ultimate benefits of implanting democracy in the Middle East, in the short run it's more likely to damage U.S. interests than serve them. The second cause for the shift is Iraq. The country's dissolution has reduced the U.S.'s leverage in the region, emboldened Iran and alienated the U.S.'s traditional Sunni allies. "They've been reticent to provide real support," says Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution. "They think we've created a government that is nothing but a facade for a bunch of vicious Shi'i militias." Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month that the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is on "borrowed time." Rice says now that "Iraqis will have to decide whether their government is functioning. But that's not for us to decide." And yet the very fact that the U.S. would raise the possibility that a popularly elected government in Iraq might get dumped reflects an acknowledgment that elections alone won't bring stability.
Q: 試翻 "The second cause ... Sunni allies."
English Quiz 144
(English Quiz 144)
1. This is not the messy state of affairs that Rice--the meticulously well-mannered, history-obsessed perfectionist--hoped to find herself in. If she has been more inclined than her peers to acknowledge the Administration's missteps, particularly in Iraq, she has yet to show she has the ability or will to correct them. Her accomplishments as Secretary of State have been modest, and even those have begun to fade. She pushed Bush to appoint the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, only to see him ignore the commission's call to pull back from the fight in Iraq; instead Bush plans to send more Americans there. She persuaded Bush to back European-led negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program and even offer to talk directly to Tehran if it stopped enriching uranium. But she also supports the military's recent moves to beef up a presence in the Persian Gulf and target Iranian interests in Iraq. Although both Bush and Rice deny they have any hostile intent, there is anxiety in some foreign-policy circles that even as it struggles to avoid losing one war in Iraq, the Administration may provoke another one across the border in Iran.
Q: 試翻 "If she has been ... to correct them."
2. In recent years the Bush team has split over whether to abandon the ambition that underpinned the invasion of Iraq--to bring Western-style democracy to the Islamic world--in favor of conventional Realpolitik, in which idealism takes a backseat to stability. The most obvious signals that the U.S. is tilting back toward realism came on Rice's trip to the Middle East last month, in which she toned down calls for democracy for the Arabs and talked up her desire to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, something she and Bush have avoided for six years.
Q: 試翻 "In recent years ... takes a backseat to stability."
3. Rice's best qualities are her optimism and self-belief, but, like Bush, she is prone to stubbornness and resists admitting mistakes. Her uneven management of the State Department has left her without a strong team to execute bold new initiatives, even if she's inclined to pursue them. If Rice disagrees with Bush's determination to hold the line in Iraq, there are no signs that she has tried to change his mind. But right now a military victory in Iraq is out of reach; at most, the U.S. is fighting not to lose. And so the fate of Bush's legacy, and perhaps even the future shape of the international system, may hinge on whether Rice can pull off some kind of diplomatic breakthrough in the 23 months she has left. "Condi has a very positive frame of mind in the way she looks at the world and, I think, the way she looks at her job," says Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, a close adviser. "She's someone who believes every problem has a resolution." But answers won't be easy to find this time.
Q: 試翻 "Her uneven management ... to pursue them."
English Quiz 143
(English Quiz 143)
1. Condoleezza Rice is not accustomed to failure. The prodigious accomplishments of her youth--she learned Beethoven at 5, finished college at 19 and earned tenure at Stanford at 26--have been followed by a glide to global prominence. Even as the Bush Administration's support has slid to historic depths, Rice's image has been relatively unsullied. She remains not just the most glamorous member of the Bush Cabinet but also its most popular, with job-approval ratings 20 points higher than her boss's. Among the top officials in the Administration, she is the only one who could reasonably expect to have a political future beyond 2008.
Q: 試翻 "Even as ... relatively unsullied."
2. But none of that is of much use now. With the U.S. military tied down on two fronts and the rest of the world growing resistant to American power, the challenges for Rice are as daunting as they have been for any Secretary of State in the past three decades. After six years of tussling with others on Bush's national-security team, Rice has seen off her rivals and emerged as the principal spokesperson for Bush's foreign policy. Her reward has been to inherit responsibility for selling a failed policy in Iraq and salvaging a legacy for Bush at a time when few in the world are in the mood to help her. "Bush is severely weakened and has very little credibility or support at home or abroad," says Leslie Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations. "That is also true for his Secretary of State. So they are basically flailing around."
Q: 試翻 "With the U.S. military ... in the past three decades."
3. That's a grim assessment, since the threats to international order are bigger today than at any other time since the end of the cold war. The most immediate source of instability emanates from Iraq, where the country's civil war risks igniting a region-wide conflict. Across swaths of the greater Middle East--from Lebanon and the Palestinian territories to Afghanistan and Pakistan--armed militants are undermining the authority of U.S. allies. Anti-U.S. regimes in Iran and North Korea have accelerated their pursuit of atomic arsenals. In Africa, genocide, poverty and disease threaten the survival of millions. And in the shadows lurks the danger of al-Qaeda and its jihadist kin, who thrive on the very dislocation the U.S.'s war on terrorism was supposed to combat.
Q: 試翻 "And in the shadows ... was supposed to combat"
1. Condoleezza Rice is not accustomed to failure. The prodigious accomplishments of her youth--she learned Beethoven at 5, finished college at 19 and earned tenure at Stanford at 26--have been followed by a glide to global prominence. Even as the Bush Administration's support has slid to historic depths, Rice's image has been relatively unsullied. She remains not just the most glamorous member of the Bush Cabinet but also its most popular, with job-approval ratings 20 points higher than her boss's. Among the top officials in the Administration, she is the only one who could reasonably expect to have a political future beyond 2008.
Q: 試翻 "Even as ... relatively unsullied."
2. But none of that is of much use now. With the U.S. military tied down on two fronts and the rest of the world growing resistant to American power, the challenges for Rice are as daunting as they have been for any Secretary of State in the past three decades. After six years of tussling with others on Bush's national-security team, Rice has seen off her rivals and emerged as the principal spokesperson for Bush's foreign policy. Her reward has been to inherit responsibility for selling a failed policy in Iraq and salvaging a legacy for Bush at a time when few in the world are in the mood to help her. "Bush is severely weakened and has very little credibility or support at home or abroad," says Leslie Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations. "That is also true for his Secretary of State. So they are basically flailing around."
Q: 試翻 "With the U.S. military ... in the past three decades."
3. That's a grim assessment, since the threats to international order are bigger today than at any other time since the end of the cold war. The most immediate source of instability emanates from Iraq, where the country's civil war risks igniting a region-wide conflict. Across swaths of the greater Middle East--from Lebanon and the Palestinian territories to Afghanistan and Pakistan--armed militants are undermining the authority of U.S. allies. Anti-U.S. regimes in Iran and North Korea have accelerated their pursuit of atomic arsenals. In Africa, genocide, poverty and disease threaten the survival of millions. And in the shadows lurks the danger of al-Qaeda and its jihadist kin, who thrive on the very dislocation the U.S.'s war on terrorism was supposed to combat.
Q: 試翻 "And in the shadows ... was supposed to combat"
English Quiz 142
(English Quiz 142)
1. In a matter of six months, possibly less, cartographers will have to make a small change in the political map of Europe: according to a U.N.-backed proposal unveiled Feb. 2, the formerly Serbian province of Kosovo is about to become an independent state. Ethnic Albanians, who make up the bulk of Kosovo's population, welcomed a plan that brings them to the brink of fulfilling their century-old dream; Serbia and Kosovo's Serb minority have already rejected it, and they're struggling in vain to prevent its implementation. But as the wheels of diplomacy spin, the impact of this change on the lives of people on both sides of the border is a far more subtle thing than either side seems ready to admit. Proponents of Kosovo's independence, including most Western countries, claim that it will bring a much needed stability to the land that languished in legal uncertainty after nato forced Serbian security forces to withdraw in 1999. Since then, Kosovo has been ruled by U.N. administrators while formally remaining a part of Serbia. Now this largely symbolic bond is about to be severed, but that doesn't mean the people of Kosovo will be free from foreign rule: according to the plan, devised by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, the European Union's office in Pristina will have broad powers to keep local politicians in line, both in internal and external affairs, much as in Bosnia (which is also nominally independent and internationally recognized). Furthermore, some 30,000 nato troops will remain in the province, while Kosovo will be allowed only a 2,500-man army. And finally, some 100,000 Serbs in Kosovo will have a high degree of autonomy, and rights to economic and administrative links with Serbia.
Q: 試翻 "Ethnic Albanians, ... to prevent its implementation."
2. While most ethnic Albanian leaders are ready to accept token independence over the status quo, some are already grumbling that Ahtisaari's plan falls far short of their expectations. Albin Kurti, the leader of the pro-independence Self-Determination movement, warned that "Ahtisaari's proposal does nothing for Kosovo's independence, state system and sovereignty" — and called for its rejection. Kurti's movement, which intends to stage a series of anti-plan protests, is backed by hard-line veterans of the disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, a guerrilla force that waged a ruthless war against Serbs. In the short run, Kurti's extreme views are unlikely to attract many followers, but that could change once the Kosovars discover that having a national flag and anthem will not automatically bring jobs and put food on the table. One thing diplomats rarely discuss is the sustainability of Kosovo's economy: an unemployment rate estimated at 50% coupled with rampant corruption and an absence of the rule of law presents a tough challenge for any elected government, independent or not.
Q: 試翻 "While most ethnic Albanian leaders ... short of their expectations."
3. As for the Serbs, the independence of Kosovo is nothing short of catastrophe. Most of my compatriots have never been to Kosovo, nor do they intend to go, but that doesn't stop them from having strong feelings about it. Too many Serbs nurture a romantic notion of Kosovo; it is a part of our upbringing, our epic poems and our national mythology. Most Westerners find that difficult to understand, but not me. To find a place as firmly attached to the sense of national identity as Kosovo is to the Serbs, you have to look to the Holy Land's iconic status for Jews and Palestinians alike.
Q: 試翻 "To find a place ... for and Palestinians alike."
English Quiz 141
(English Quiz 141)
1. Abe has also been hurt by the ideological approach he has taken to education reform, an issue that does resonate with voters. This year more 12-year-olds than ever before took entrance exams for selective private and national high schools, their parents desperate to remove them from a dysfunctional public-education system. While conservatives worried about declining academic performance and motivation, a highly publicized string of student suicides last fall showed the extent to which bullying had poisoned Japan's classrooms. Abe's answer? Revise the fundamental education law to allow for greater emphasis on patriotism. Although a council he convened last month released more detailed recommendations, including increasing total class time, critics aren't impressed. Abe "doesn't address the real problems that Japan's education system faces," says the SDP's Fukushima, who notes that Japan still spends considerably less per student on public schooling than the O.E.C.D. average—forcing parents to plug the gap by sending their kids to private schools if they can afford to do so.
Q: 試翻 "Although a council ... , critics aren't impressed."
2. In coming years, Japan will need a better-educated, more productive population if it is to defuse its demographic time bomb. Japan's working population is projected to decline from 66 million to 55 million by 2035. This year the first of Japan's 7 million baby boomers will hit retirement age. If nothing is done to alter the equation, a shrinking supply of workers will struggle to support a growing number of retirees, while Japan's national debt means the government may be unable to provide a strong safety net. "People have lost confidence in the pension system," says Diet member Kono, who connects this fear to depressed consumer spending.
Q: 試翻 "In coming years, ... demographic time bomb."
3. Abe has urged Japanese women to have more children (the current fertility rate is 1.29 children per woman), appealing to traditional family values while also promising to boost child-care support. But his administration has still managed to appear insensitive and out of touch on the issue. In a Jan. 27 speech exhorting them to have more children, Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa referred to Japanese women as "baby-making machines." The minister quickly apologized, but Abe's critics seized on the incident—and on Abe's refusal to fire Yanagisawa—as evidence that the administration can't handle the demographic issue. "The Health Ministry deals with grave fundamental social issues like the decreasing population," says Yoshiaki Takaki, the DPJ's Diet policy chief. "We cannot accept that it is headed by someone who has demonstrated a complete lack of respect for people."
Q: 試翻 "The minister quickly apologized, ... the demographic issue."
4. Ironically, the area where Abe has made genuine progress is the one that critics were most afraid he would mishandle: foreign affairs. Abe has quickly managed to rebuild Japan's fractured relationships with South Korea and China, traveling to both capitals for lightning summits less than two weeks after he took power. While Koizumi continually irritated his neighbors by visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, Abe tactfully sidestepped the issue by refusing to say what he intends to do about Yasukuni. "He's shown real success in dealing with this," says Koichi Kato, an LDP heavyweight who has been critical in the past of Abe's nationalist leanings. Abe's advisers know that diplomatic successes play well in foreign op-ed pages. But they also realize the Prime Minister must begin to show that he can address the pain Japanese voters are feeling at home—while reassuring a worried LDP that he can still lead the party to victory in the crucial July elections.
Q: 試翻 "While Koizumi continually irritated ... do about Yasukuni."
1. Abe has also been hurt by the ideological approach he has taken to education reform, an issue that does resonate with voters. This year more 12-year-olds than ever before took entrance exams for selective private and national high schools, their parents desperate to remove them from a dysfunctional public-education system. While conservatives worried about declining academic performance and motivation, a highly publicized string of student suicides last fall showed the extent to which bullying had poisoned Japan's classrooms. Abe's answer? Revise the fundamental education law to allow for greater emphasis on patriotism. Although a council he convened last month released more detailed recommendations, including increasing total class time, critics aren't impressed. Abe "doesn't address the real problems that Japan's education system faces," says the SDP's Fukushima, who notes that Japan still spends considerably less per student on public schooling than the O.E.C.D. average—forcing parents to plug the gap by sending their kids to private schools if they can afford to do so.
Q: 試翻 "Although a council ... , critics aren't impressed."
2. In coming years, Japan will need a better-educated, more productive population if it is to defuse its demographic time bomb. Japan's working population is projected to decline from 66 million to 55 million by 2035. This year the first of Japan's 7 million baby boomers will hit retirement age. If nothing is done to alter the equation, a shrinking supply of workers will struggle to support a growing number of retirees, while Japan's national debt means the government may be unable to provide a strong safety net. "People have lost confidence in the pension system," says Diet member Kono, who connects this fear to depressed consumer spending.
Q: 試翻 "In coming years, ... demographic time bomb."
3. Abe has urged Japanese women to have more children (the current fertility rate is 1.29 children per woman), appealing to traditional family values while also promising to boost child-care support. But his administration has still managed to appear insensitive and out of touch on the issue. In a Jan. 27 speech exhorting them to have more children, Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa referred to Japanese women as "baby-making machines." The minister quickly apologized, but Abe's critics seized on the incident—and on Abe's refusal to fire Yanagisawa—as evidence that the administration can't handle the demographic issue. "The Health Ministry deals with grave fundamental social issues like the decreasing population," says Yoshiaki Takaki, the DPJ's Diet policy chief. "We cannot accept that it is headed by someone who has demonstrated a complete lack of respect for people."
Q: 試翻 "The minister quickly apologized, ... the demographic issue."
4. Ironically, the area where Abe has made genuine progress is the one that critics were most afraid he would mishandle: foreign affairs. Abe has quickly managed to rebuild Japan's fractured relationships with South Korea and China, traveling to both capitals for lightning summits less than two weeks after he took power. While Koizumi continually irritated his neighbors by visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, Abe tactfully sidestepped the issue by refusing to say what he intends to do about Yasukuni. "He's shown real success in dealing with this," says Koichi Kato, an LDP heavyweight who has been critical in the past of Abe's nationalist leanings. Abe's advisers know that diplomatic successes play well in foreign op-ed pages. But they also realize the Prime Minister must begin to show that he can address the pain Japanese voters are feeling at home—while reassuring a worried LDP that he can still lead the party to victory in the crucial July elections.
Q: 試翻 "While Koizumi continually irritated ... do about Yasukuni."
English Quiz 140
(English Quiz 140)
1. The shift to part-time workers is also exacerbating the income disparity that more than 90% of Japanese believe is a growing problem, according to a recent poll by the broadcaster NHK. Although Japan has never fully realized its self-image as ichioku sochuryu (the nation of middle-class people), the income gap is getting worse because the rich are getting richer while the poor are actually losing ground. According to the O.E.C.D., Japan is now second to the U.S. among developed countries in terms of relative poverty—the proportion of people living on 50% less than the median income. The gap is readily apparent in spending patterns. The only two categories of automobiles to show sales growth in Japan last year were ultra-cheap minicars and luxury imports.
Q: 試翻 "The shift to ... the broadcaster NHK."
2. Fears abound that the millions of young people who have never managed to land a full-time job might become a subclass permanently doomed to part-time work and paltry wages. "You have people competing for the diminishing number of good jobs, and a lot of kids just don't have the resources to compete," says Scott North, a sociologist at Osaka University. Those trends, he adds, may in turn worsen Japan's declining birthrate. "If you don't have stable employment, it'll be hard to get married, hard to raise children."
Q: 試翻 "Fears abound that ... paltry wages."
3. For Japanese worried about their country's direction, the depressed city of Yubari on the northern island of Hokkaido provides an ominous worst-case scenario. Once a thriving coal-mining town of 130,000, Yubari has shrunk to 13,000 people, with 40% of them 65 years old or over. In the 1980s and '90s town officials tried to stanch the economic decline by borrowing hundreds of millions to remake the city as a tourist destination, only to fail miserably—as Yubari's shuttered amusement park, melon museum and robot museum testify. After racking up over $500 million in debt—roughly 14 times the city's annual tax revenue—Yubari was forced to declare bankruptcy last summer, the first Japanese municipality to do so in 14 years. Late last year the city government announced a harsh fiscal-restructuring plan that would involve raising local taxes to the maximum while cutting public services to the bone. With its crippling debt, aging population and depressed job market, Yubari has come to embody many of Japan's ills. "All the problems that Yubari faces as a city are the same problems that Japan as a country faces," says Tatsuro Sasaya, a Yubari businessman. "It makes me wonder where Japan is headed."
Q: 試翻 "With its crippling debt, ... many of Japan's ills."
1. The shift to part-time workers is also exacerbating the income disparity that more than 90% of Japanese believe is a growing problem, according to a recent poll by the broadcaster NHK. Although Japan has never fully realized its self-image as ichioku sochuryu (the nation of middle-class people), the income gap is getting worse because the rich are getting richer while the poor are actually losing ground. According to the O.E.C.D., Japan is now second to the U.S. among developed countries in terms of relative poverty—the proportion of people living on 50% less than the median income. The gap is readily apparent in spending patterns. The only two categories of automobiles to show sales growth in Japan last year were ultra-cheap minicars and luxury imports.
Q: 試翻 "The shift to ... the broadcaster NHK."
2. Fears abound that the millions of young people who have never managed to land a full-time job might become a subclass permanently doomed to part-time work and paltry wages. "You have people competing for the diminishing number of good jobs, and a lot of kids just don't have the resources to compete," says Scott North, a sociologist at Osaka University. Those trends, he adds, may in turn worsen Japan's declining birthrate. "If you don't have stable employment, it'll be hard to get married, hard to raise children."
Q: 試翻 "Fears abound that ... paltry wages."
3. For Japanese worried about their country's direction, the depressed city of Yubari on the northern island of Hokkaido provides an ominous worst-case scenario. Once a thriving coal-mining town of 130,000, Yubari has shrunk to 13,000 people, with 40% of them 65 years old or over. In the 1980s and '90s town officials tried to stanch the economic decline by borrowing hundreds of millions to remake the city as a tourist destination, only to fail miserably—as Yubari's shuttered amusement park, melon museum and robot museum testify. After racking up over $500 million in debt—roughly 14 times the city's annual tax revenue—Yubari was forced to declare bankruptcy last summer, the first Japanese municipality to do so in 14 years. Late last year the city government announced a harsh fiscal-restructuring plan that would involve raising local taxes to the maximum while cutting public services to the bone. With its crippling debt, aging population and depressed job market, Yubari has come to embody many of Japan's ills. "All the problems that Yubari faces as a city are the same problems that Japan as a country faces," says Tatsuro Sasaya, a Yubari businessman. "It makes me wonder where Japan is headed."
Q: 試翻 "With its crippling debt, ... many of Japan's ills."
English Quiz 139
(English Quiz 139)
1. Meanwhile, in his first four months in office, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has seemed out of touch with the national mood. While Japanese say they're most worried about stagnant wages, a fragile pension system and growing social disparities, Abe has chosen to prioritize plans to revise Japan's pacifist constitution. While parents fret about declining academic standards, Abe's response has been to pass a reform bill that will attempt to make children more patriotic, and may bring back physical punishment to schools. "I'm not sure that constitutional revision should be the No. 1 issue," says Sadakazu Tanigaki, a former Finance Minister who ran against Abe in September's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election. "There are so many issues that people are more concerned about, like social security or the low birthrate." LDP Diet member Taro Kono is blunter: "Constitutional amendments? Who cares?"
Q: 試翻 "While Japanese say ... Japan's pacifist constitution."
2. In reality, Abe is unlikely to fall so quickly. The LDP holds an unassailable majority in the Diet's lower house, and approval ratings for the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) are even worse than the Prime Minister's. Abe's supporters also argue that he remains relatively popular by the lackluster historical standards of most Japanese leaders, and that he hasn't received enough credit for repairing Japan's often fractious relations with its Asian neighbors. Shoichi Nakagawa, the LDP's powerful policy chief, asserts that the Abe Cabinet takes everyday issues just as seriously as it does ideological ones. "We can do constitutional reform and the economy as well," says Nakagawa. "We aren't ignoring daily matters." But Abe's critics say he's failing to prioritize and lacks the ability to articulate a vision that addresses the issues troubling ordinary Japanese. Instead, Abe seems mired in the past, calling for a return to traditional values, to Japan "the beautiful country," his favorite figure of political speech. "Abe seems to be a modern politician, but he actually has a nostalgic 1950s vision of Japan that doesn't comport with reality today," says Michael Zielenziger, author of the book Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation. Adds Carol Gluck, a professor at Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute: "His rhetoric plays as a reassurance that things are not going to fall apart. But most people do not agree with him."
Q: 試翻 "Abe seems to be ... comport with reality today."
3. Takenaka says he expects consumer spending to pick up as soon as deflation is finally conquered. In the meantime, Japanese companies are coming under fire for failing to pass more of their profits on to workers—and Japanese politicians are being criticized for crowing about a recovery that has been largely driven by business investment as companies gear up to meet the rising demand for exports to the U.S. and China. "There has never been a recovery dating back to 1945 that is so dependent on capital investment," says Richard Katz, editor of the Oriental Economist Report. Should the U.S. and China falter, he warns, the Japanese economy will have nothing to fall back on, given the weakness of domestic consumer spending. "This is not sustainable," says Katz.
Q: 試翻 "Should the U.S. and China falter, ... says Katz."
2007年3月6日 星期二
Chat for Charity
用 Windows Live Messenger 8.1 聊天也能當慈善家喔...
聊越多！捐越多！那麼怎樣才能被正確計算到你的聊天次數呢！目前只要有一方是在美國使用Windows Live Messenger 8.1 就能被正確計算! 所以告訴你的美國朋友趕快加入活動 : )
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聊越多！捐越多！那麼怎樣才能被正確計算到你的聊天次數呢！目前只要有一方是在美國使用Windows Live Messenger 8.1 就能被正確計算! 所以告訴你的美國朋友趕快加入活動 : )
http://3c.msn.com.tw/page.asp?m=84&s=&id=18555&url=
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