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讀紐時學英文
2019/10/11 第282期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 A Race Against the Sun 果樹面臨生存威脅 對抗地球暖化的長征
Personality Tests Are the Astrology of the Office 「色彩密碼」性格測驗 看出職場潛能
紐時周報精選
 
A Race Against the Sun 果樹面臨生存威脅 對抗地球暖化的長征
文/Marla Cone
譯/李京倫

這是場對抗地球暖化的長征

It was a long, hot summer, like most in the San Joaquin Valley. The pistachio trees planted in orderly rows — and the growers who nurture them — are accustomed to harsh conditions. With their deep roots and tough, gnarly branches, pistachio trees are hardy, tolerant of salty soils and brutal heat waves. Some can live for centuries.

美國加州聖華金谷這個夏天又熱又長,跟以往大多時候一樣。成排種植的開心果樹和果農都已習慣嚴苛的環境。開心果樹根札得深,枝幹粗壯扭曲,耐得住寒冷、含鹽土壤和逼人的熱浪。有的能活好幾個世紀。

But while sweltering summers are the norm in this part of central California, there’s a new, existential threat to these trees, one that scientists warn could spell the end of the pistachio harvest: warmer winters. Many crops are facing similar threats as agricultural regions across the world experience previously unseen extremes in heat, rain and drought.

雖然加州中部這塊地方夏天本就悶熱,這些果樹卻面臨一種新的生存威脅,科學家警告說,這種威脅可能意味再也沒有開心果可以收成,那就是冬天變暖。世界各地農業區正經歷前所未見的熱浪、暴雨及乾旱,許多其他作物面臨類似危機。

Chilly winters are critical to nut and fruit trees, particularly pistachios. To break their slumber and spread their pollen, pistachios need to spend about 850 hours, or five weeks, at temperatures below 45 degrees.

寒冷的冬天對堅果和水果樹十分重要,尤其是開心果。為了打破休眠狀態並散播花粉,開心果必須有850小時,亦即五周左右,處在華氏45度(攝氏7.2度)以下。

So as the San Joaquin Valley warms and its cooling fogs retreat, growers have found their orchards out of sync: Many male trees are no longer producing pollen when the females need it.

所以當聖華金谷逐步回暖,冷霧消退時,農民發現果園出了狀況:雌樹需要雄樹授粉時,許多雄樹卻不再產生花粉。

After suffering a billion-dollar loss from a recent warm winter, California pistachio growers don’t need much convincing that their livelihoods are endangered by climate change. Heeding warnings that the industry may not survive past the middle of the century, they are among the world’s earliest adapters. Scientists are wrangling and crossing genes to breed trees that can survive a warmer world, and growers are hedging their bets by planting experimental trees that need fewer chilly days.

加州開心果農因為最近一次暖冬而損失十億美元後,無需勸說也明白生計受到氣候變遷威脅。他們把這個產業可能撐不到本世紀下半的警告聽了進去,成為世上最早開始調整的群體之一。科學家把植物聚合在一起並使之雜交,以培育更能適應高溫的樹種,果農也同時種植需要寒冷天數較少的實驗樹種,藉以避險。

“There’s a lot to be said about traditional knowledge. But this is new territory,” said Rebecca Carter of the World Resources Institute, a nonprofit research group that is working with growers around the world to adapt to the threats of climate change, including warmer winters, dried-up aquifers and record-breaking heat waves.

非營利組織世界資源研究所的麗貝卡.卡特說:「傳統知識有很多好處,不過這是新領域。」這個研究所與世界各地農民合作,幫助他們應對氣候變遷的威脅,包括冬天變暖、地下蓄水層枯竭與熱浪空前。

Scientists in 2013 urged “immediate adaptation” by farmers to ensure that they can feed the 10 billion people expected to inhabit the planet by 2050. They warned in a study that world hunger would worsen as crop yields declined, pests and diseases increased, water demand skyrocketed and highly vulnerable crops vanished. “The whole food system needs to change,” according to the report published in the journal Science.

科學家2013年就呼籲農民「立刻調整作法」,以確保料將在2050年前達到100億的地球人口都有得吃。他們在「科學」期刊上發表一篇研究報告示警說,隨著作物產量減少、病蟲害增加、水資源需求高漲和高度脆弱的作物消失,全球飢餓問題將惡化,「整個食物系統都得改變」。

Coping, Carter said, would “require fundamental changes in how food is produced, how land is used, who lives where and what economic activities occur in specific areas.”

Those changes are already happening worldwide. After growing coffee for generations, farmers in parts of Costa Rica are switching to oranges. Kenyan herders, facing intense droughts, are raising camels instead of cattle. In China’s drought-prone Fujian province, farmers who grew wheat and corn have switched to apples.

卡特說,處理這個問題「必須在食物生產、土地利用、居住範圍和特定區域的經濟活動等方面徹底改變」。

這些改變已在全球各地發生。哥斯大黎加部分地區的農民在種植咖啡幾個世代後,改種柑橘。肯亞的牧人面對嚴重乾旱,從養牛改為養駱駝。在中國大陸容易發生乾旱的福建省,原本種小麥和玉米的農民改種蘋果。

說文解字看新聞

氣候變遷讓農民損失慘重,本文討論農民如何動腦筋克服。

outsmart是擊敗…的意思,尤其是靠著機智勝過…,非正式用語,與outwit、outfox、outthink同義。相關慣用語是outsmart oneself,意思是弄巧成拙、聰明反被聰明誤。

sync這一個常見的字是synchronization(同步)的非正式寫法,指兩件事情同時或以同樣方式發生,引申為合作良好、意見一致或彼此適合,例如:The president and Senate majority leader are in sync (= think the same way) on the big issues.又如:She found that the job was out of sync (= not a good match) with her principles, and she had to leave.

sync也可以當動詞,指兩台電子設備之間「同步」更新最新的資訊和文檔。sync up是指跟其他人協調好,使相關各方都知道同樣的資訊、計畫或時間表,例如:Be sure to sync up with Mary so you're both on the same page about your responsibilities.

chilly意思比cool強,是指涼或冷到讓人不舒服。sweltering語意比hot更強,指熱得難受,尤其是熱到流汗和頭暈。

 
Personality Tests Are the Astrology of the Office 「色彩密碼」性格測驗 看出職場潛能
文/Emma Goldberg
譯/李京倫

性格測驗 看出職場潛能

On his first day working at the University of Phoenix, Eric Shapiro found out the good news: He had tested red-yellow.

夏皮洛到美國亞利桑納州鳳凰城大學上班的第一天,就得知一個好消息:他測出的結果是紅黃色性格。

To the layperson this doesn’t mean much. But to those well-versed in the psychology of Taylor Hartman’s “Color Code,” as all employees of the University of Phoenix’s enrollment office were required to be, it was a career-maker.

對外行人來說,這沒什麼意義,但對熟知美國心理學家哈特曼「色彩密碼」心理學的人而言,這足以決定職涯發展。鳳凰城大學註冊辦公室所有職員都被要求熟悉這套心理學。

Red meant you were a person motivated by power and yellow by fun. This was an ideal combination for someone looking to climb the ranks in an admissions team that demanded the ability to schmooze and then hit recruitment targets: equal parts charisma and competitiveness.

紅色表示你會為權力而做事,黃色表示會為樂趣做事,對想在招生團隊中往上爬的人而言,紅黃兩色是理想的組合。招生團隊需要具備交際和達成招生目標的能力,人格魅力和競爭力同等重要。

“The dominant people in the office, most of the leadership staff including myself when I got promoted, we were heavy red and yellows,” said Shapiro, 36. “Yellows tend to be really good at working the room. Reds tend to be more type A, like bulls in a china shop. You’re passionate, you’re not sensitive, you get over things quicker.”

36歲的夏皮洛說:「這個辦公室的高層,領導階層中絕大多數的人,包括晉升後的我,都是重度的紅黃色性格。黃色性格的人善於透過交際贏得好感,紅色偏向A型人格,直率魯莽、熱情、不敏感,容易挺過不愉快的事。」

As Shapiro rose to be a manager, he became fluent in the color-code vocabulary. It helped him diagnose office problems and identify areas for professional growth.

夏皮洛晉升為經理時,已牢牢掌握色彩密碼的語彙。這套系統幫助他判斷辦公室的問題在哪,並認清每個人適合朝哪個專業方向發展。

The taxonomy didn’t typically have a direct influence on hiring decisions, Shapiro said, but managers knew which color types were most likely to thrive when reviewing applications. (He said a 45-minute assessment was included in the job application process to purportedly identify each subject’s primary behavioral motivator, which he added was later discontinued.)

夏皮洛說,這個分類法通常不會直接影響雇用的決定,不過,經理在審視應徵文件時,知道哪一種色彩類別的人最有可能表現傑出。(他說,應徵過程包括45分鐘的性格評估,據說這樣能辨明每個應徵者主要的行為動機,不過他也說,後來就沒做性格評估了。)

“We tried to be ethical but it’s tough because we were hiring for what’s actually a sales position, so if you were a blue-white those traits really didn’t line up,” he said (blues are motivated by desire for intimacy and the whites by peace).

夏皮洛說:「我們想符合職業規矩,但是很難,因為我們其實是在雇用業務人員,所以如果你是藍白色性格,這樣的特質就不適合。」(藍色性格的做事動機是追求親密感,白色尋求平靜。)

The code is just one example of the kinds of psychometric tests now being administered in workplaces. There’s CliftonStrengths, owned by Gallup, which tells you your five best professional qualities; there’s Insights Discovery, which assigns you a color and an associated workplace archetype like coordinator, inspirer or observer.

色彩密碼只是當前職場實施的心理測驗的例子之一。市面上還有蓋洛普公司推出的「克利夫頓優勢」,能告訴你你最好的五項職業特質;有「洞見發現」,會讓你知道你的性格色彩和相關的職業原型,如協調者、激勵者或觀察者。

The DiSC model, which has been used by the Times, diagnoses a person’s dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness. A new test on the scene, Helen Fisher’s Temperament Inventory, identifies whether you’re a testosterone, dopamine, estrogen or serotonin, purportedly in the name of love.

紐約時報採用DiSC模型,測量人的支配性、影響力、穩定性和勤勉責任感。新推出的海倫.費雪「性格量表」,辨認你在愛情的名義下,其實是屬於睪固酮、多巴胺、雌激素或血清素人格。

 
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