聯合翻譯有限公司/聯合翻譯社

Vase Rock is the most famous tourist attraction on Liuqiu. It was formed by the rising of the coastal coral reefs. The coral formation looks like a vase because its lower part becomes thinner as a result of being eroded by the sea for a long period of time.

A widespread drought in the Amazon rain forest last year was worse than the "once-in-a-century" dry spell in 2005 and may have a bigger impact on global warming than the United States does in a year, according to British and Brazilian scientists.

More frequent severe droughts like those in 2005 and 2010 risk turning the world's largest rain forest from a sponge that absorbs carbon emissions into a source of the gases, accelerating global warming, the report found.

Electric Bikes Clean Up

In Taipei, scooters are both popular and ubiquitous. They offer quick, cheap transportation and easy parking. However, they are also responsible for air and noise pollution. Is there any alternative to these two problems? The answer may be the electric bicycle. On Xiamen Island in China, the government has banned scooters but allows people to purchase electric bicycles. These machines carry people around silently and do not emit any exhaust. According to China’s environmental protection standards, Xiamen’s air is classed as first rate. Is every one happy? No, they are not. Both the Xiamen traffic department and local residents agree that the growing number of electric bicycles is causing more accidents. Banning them seems unlikely. Instead, better driver education and stricter enforcement of existing laws are necessary. This should help this quiet and clean alternative to the scooter continue to transport people around Xiamen.

TAIPEI -- After a very long wait, Washington Nationals pitcher Chien-Ming Wang of Taiwan will finally return to the Major Leagues with a start against the New York Mets on July 30 Taipei time, the Nationals said.  

“It would mean a lot,” Wang said in an interview with the New York Times of his return to a Major League mound. “A lot of people tell me, this kind of injury, no one comes back.”

In the interview with the newspaper published July 24, Wang said he still could add 2 or 3 mph to his sinker and guessed that he was 80 to 90 percent as effective as he used to be in his long journey to regain the vaunted sinker that once tied up big league hitters.

A：雖然這兩句的結構不同，I worry about you. 中的 worry 為不及物動詞，而 I am worried about you. 中的 worried 為分詞形容詞，但它們的意思幾無不同，皆為「我擔心你」或「我為你擔憂」；此外，它們的文法都正確。 然而，它們的含意並不相同。I worry about you. 是一般性或普遍性的陳述，是指說話者一直以來或大多數時間都為此人擔憂，是一種長期或持久性的擔憂，而 I am worried about you. 則有一項「現在」的元素存在，表示說話者對說話當時所見所聞或最近所發生的某一特殊情況的憂慮、擔心。為了讓讀者瞭解它們之間的語意差異，茲將這兩句加以延伸如下： I worry about you because I’m your mother. (我擔心你，因為我是你母親) I’m worried about you; you’re looking very thin. (我為你擔憂；你看起來好瘦哦) 母親向來都為子女操心，所以在第 1 句中，母親為子女擔憂是一種普遍性的情況，不是特殊情況。第 2 句為特殊情況，因為你平常可能體重很正常，但此時此景你看起來瘦巴巴的，所以我為你擔心。

http://blog.cybertranslator.idv.tw/archives/category/grammar-qa-words

After taking a hit recently because of Apple’s patent lawsuits, HTC shares went limit up Wednesday, propelled by support from Google and a stock buyback program. Its performance helped the Taiwan Stock Exchange rise 2.13 percent to close at 8,706.17 points.

(Someone) can’t get a good signal：收訊不良
(Someone) can’t hear one’s phone (mobile, cell phone)：沒有聽到手機響

寫在前頭:
作者是一位在新竹任教的英文老師

China and Taiwan may be separated by just a narrow body of water but, like many other aspects of the cross-Strait relationship, the two film markets have remained largely separate from each other.

That is now changing with Night Market Hero, the first Taiwanese film to be allowed to enter the Chinese market under a broad trade deal signed last year.

The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) raised the minimum liquidity ratio for financial institutions to 10% from 7%.  The move will come into effect from 1 October 2011, and is designed to bring the statutory liquidity ratio in line with where most banks are currently operating (i.e. not in response to any rise in banking system risks).  The latest figures from the central bank indicated an overall liquidity ratio of 32.5% at the end of May.  The move is expected to strengthen risk management in the banking system over the longer term.