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Sports |
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2012 London
Olympics - Britain gets ready to host the greatest show on Earth |
二0一二倫敦奧運會 -
英國緊鑼密鼓為舉辦世上規模最龐大的一場秀準備 |
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Many sports fans gasped in awe at
Beijing's Olympic stadiums four years ago, wondering how Britain could
possibly match spectacular buildings such as the Bird's Nest and Water Cube.
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四年前，許多運動迷在北京奧運會運動場內驚訝無比，甚至質疑四年後英國拿什麼跟「鳥巢」和「水立方」這些奧運場館相比。
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But the man in charge of
construction at London 2012 never had any doubt that the city he loves so
much could provide its share of iconic venues, even if he did not have the
same budget.
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但主持二○一二年倫敦奧運會營建工作的人卻一直認為，雖然英國的預算不如北京奧運會，但他心愛的城市倫敦也拿得出具代表性的場地。
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| John Armitt, chairman of Britain's Olympic
Delivery Authority (ODA), which is responsible for the Olympic Games
infrastructure, said this summer's event would be a great advertisement for
Britain's construction industry, with future host cities already looking to
tap into its knowledge and skills. |
倫敦奧運交付管理局是負責奧運會基礎建設的單位，該局局長約翰艾爾米特表示，今夏的奧運盛會不啻是英國營建業最佳的宣傳廣告，接下來的奧運會主辦城市也已經開始借鑑這個單位的知識和技術。
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"Remember, those wonderful buildings in Beijing were often designed by
British architects and engineers, and so there was never any doubt that we
would be able to create equally exciting buildings," he said.
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他說：「別忘了，北京那些奇巧的建築物往往都是英國建築師和工程師設計的，所以我們對於自己可以建造出同樣讓人讚嘆的建築物一直都很有把握。」
東 |
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One of the centerpieces of the Olympic
Park in east London will be the 86-million-pound (approximately
NT$4-billion) Velopark with its curved roof in the shape of a Pringles
potato chip, while the new aquatics center shows off all the skill of the
Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid.
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倫敦奧運公園的主建築之一是價值八千六百萬英鎊（約新台幣四十億元），波浪狀屋頂像一片品客洋芋薯片的自行車館
Velopark；而新的水上運動中心則把伊拉克裔建築師哈迪德的能耐展露無遺。
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| Britain's success in delivering 7 billion
pounds (approximately NT$327 billion) worth of Olympic infrastructure on
time is nothing new, Armitt said. "British contractors have been building
infrastructure around the world for the past 200 years," he noted, pointing
to their role in building most of the world's railways. |
艾爾米特說，英國能夠準時完成價值七十億英鎊（約新台幣三千兩百七十億元）的基礎設施，談不上是什麼新鮮事。他以英國營建商在世界各地鐵路建築工程中所扮演的角色為例指出：「過去兩百年來，英國包商一直在世界各地建造基礎設施。」
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Food Review |
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Poo for
tea: China’s pandas brew a top drop |
黃金變名茶？中國貓熊的糞便種出全球最昂貴的茶 |
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| China's national treasure, the giant
panda, will become even more precious if one businessman succeeds in using
their dung to grow organic green tea he intends to sell for over US$200
(approximately NT$5,905) a cup. |
若一位商人以大貓熊的糞便種植出有機綠茶，並且計劃以每杯逾兩百美元（約新台幣五千九百零五元）的價格成功售出的話，這個中國國寶將顯得更彌足珍貴。 |
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Travel |
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The Romantic Road |
羅曼蒂克大道 |
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I was driving along Germany's Romantic
Road when I realized a few things. For one, bombs cannot kill cities. For
another, eccentrics sometimes create masterpieces. For a third, except for
the plague and witch hunts, the olden days seem awfully recent here.
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我在德國的羅曼蒂克大道上開著車，突然有了一些想法。其一是，炸彈無法徹底毀掉一座城市。其二是，怪胎有時也能創造傑作。其三是，除了黑死病和獵巫行動外，此地的過往就如昨日般接近。 |
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| Local News |
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Number of Taiwanese students
at US universities drops |
台灣留美學生人數減少 |
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| The number of Taiwanese students at
universities in the U.S. totaled 24,818 in the 2010-2011 school year,
marking a decline of 7 percent from the previous year, according to the
Ministry of Education. Despite the drop, Taiwan still ranked as the fifth
largest source of foreign students in the U.S., with China, India, South
Korea and Canada being the top four, the MOE said, citing a recent report by
the New York-based Institute of International Education (IIE). |
據教育部指出，二○一○、二○一一學年度在美國大學求學的台灣學生總人數為兩萬四千八百一十八人，比前一學年減少了百分之七。教育部引述美國紐約國際教育協會最近發表的報告指出，台灣仍是美國外籍學生人數第五多的國家，僅次於中國、印度、南韓與加拿大。 |
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World News |
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The European debt crisis |
歐洲債務危機 |
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| When economies are growing, it can make
sense for a country to run a deficit. This means borrowing money from other
countries and private creditors to help pay for budget expenses. Though
governments may be spending more than they currently have, they expect that
their long-term economic growth will be more than enough for them to pay off
their debts. Problems occur, however, when economies begin to slow down.
This makes it harder for countries to repay their debts, and they then need
to borrow more, which in turn makes it even more difficult to repay their
debts. |
當經濟成長時，某個國家累積赤字是很合理的事；這意味要向其他國家或私人債權人借款，以協助支付預算開支。儘管各國政府的支出可能比目前所擁有的資金還多，但他們仍預期自己國家的長期經濟成長，將足以清償債務。然而，當經濟成長的腳步減緩時，問題就發生了：這使得國家更難以清償債務，接著他們必須借更多錢，使得清償債務難上加難。 |
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In Other News |
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US
radio show changes its tune |
美國廣播節目改變立場 |
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| A U.S. radio program has retracted parts
of a recent broadcast about Foxconn Technology Group that criticized the top
maker of Apple Inc.'s iPhones and iPads about its activities in China.
Foxconn said it had no plans to take legal action over the issue. |
一個美國廣播節目批評蘋果公司產品 iPhone 與 iPad 在中國最大製造商—富士康科技集團在該國的營運情形，而該節目日前撤回了部分廣播內容。 |
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