英文的學習不能等

英文面試時，如何談論失敗經驗

面試官會很重視你對失敗經驗的說明。對方在意的不僅僅是你的失敗，還包括你如何描述這些經驗，因為藉由觀察你回答這個問題的恰當與否，面試官便能從中對你做出很大的判斷。所以，你應該對曾經經歷的失敗據實以告，但務必強調從中學到的教訓，才能為自己加分。

betcha是bet you的口語唸法，後來成為一種拼法，請勿用在正式寫作英文裡。You betcha.就是I will bet you.的意思，表示一口答應，「絕對沒問題」。

A: Will you help me with my presentation today?
今天的提案報告你願意幫忙我嗎？
B: You betcha! I love giving presentations.
沒問題！我喜歡做提案報告。

  (哈新聞新主播 曾之喬)    

Journey to the Bugs with Nigel Marven　動物們，我把身體變小了　

In the jungles and deserts of Africa, people can take safaris and see wild animals in their natural habitat. This month, National Geographic Channel takes a safari in a place a lot closer to home—a backyard garden. Nigel Marven leads his crew on this expedition right outside the door. However, this is no ordinary journey. The three explorers have been shrunk with the help of CGI. Instead of watching animals in the wild, Nigel will be observing insects.

Humans encounter a lot of trouble when they are the size of a fingernail. Nigel weighs less than a pea and is in constant danger of becoming a meal for bigger insects. Normally, a millipede looks like a harmless creature to humans. However, for the micro-sized crew, a millipede is of great danger due to its deadly fluid.

During Safari: Journey to the Bugs with Nigel Marven, the team almost got attacked by ants and caught in spider webs. The three tiny scientists not only had to worry about giant bugs, but also monitor their own health conditions all the time.

在非洲的叢林和沙漠中，人們可以來趟觀獸之旅，欣賞自然棲息地中的野生動物。本月份，國家地理頻道要在離家非常近的地方觀獸－－後院的花園。奈吉爾‧馬文帶領他的隊員就在門外探險。但是，這並非一趟普通的旅程。藉由電腦繪圖之助，三名探險家被縮小。奈吉爾所要觀察的，不是野外的動物，而是昆蟲。

當人類和手指甲一樣大時，會遇到的麻煩可不少。奈吉爾的體重比豌豆還輕，而且經常身處被大型昆蟲獵食的危險中。平時，馬陸看起來像是對人類無害的生物。但對於微小的探險隊員而言，身懷致命毒液的馬陸可是危險至極。

在《動物們，我把身體變小了》節目中，探險隊差點遭蟻群襲擊，並身陷蜘蛛網中。三位迷你科學家不僅要擔心巨大的蟲族，還得隨時監測自己的健康狀況。

    (溫州最帥的醫生) 但其實只是工讀生啦!

Is It Real 3　奇聞大揭秘3

by Jerri Graham

Most people have some common sense. When we see something suspicious on TV, in the newspaper, or on the Internet, we roll our eyes and wonder how anyone could believe something so stupid. Nevertheless, there are stories that even educated people still believe. These tales may or may not be true, but they leave us wondering whether they are real or not. On National Geographic Channel, these stories are dissected in full detail in the series Is It Real 3.

Thousands of years ago, aliens landed on Earth. They tampered with the evolution of humans and the results of this can be seen practically everywhere. Sound ridiculous? Not to some people. Believe it or not, there are those who believe that alien astronauts had a hand in making the human race what it is today. Travel back in time with Ancient Astronauts and visit our "alien ancestors."

In the autumn of 1888, Jack the Ripper roamed the streets of London's East End. After his reign of terror was over, five women had been butchered. To this day, the mystery of who slaughtered these ladies remains unsolved. No one knows for sure, but the truth may be revealed on Jack the Ripper.

Vampires. Just the thought of these fictional beasts is enough to make your blood run cold. While we may think that they only come to life in books and movies, vampires are actually based on real people. Historians, folklorists, scientists, and doctors all work together to investigate the plausibility of vampires. Take a bite into this juicy mystery on Vampires.

No other channel can offer this type of programming other than National Geographic Channel. In this unique series, they've stripped away 12 myths that have stood the test of time to expose the truth and find out the answer to the question, Is It Real?

     (連狗都征服的帥警)

英文面試時，如何談論成就

面試官會很重視你對成就的說明。對方在意的不僅僅是你的成就，還包括你如何描述這些事情，因為藉由觀察你回答這個問題的恰當與否，面試官便能從中對你做出很大的判斷。所以，談論自己的成就時若過於高傲，將會留給對方惡劣的印象，不可不謹慎。

現在我們就來看看職場新手Kevin如何談論他的成就吧。

Interviewer：Tell me about one of your successes.
面試官：請談一談你的一項成就。

  (排球正妹)  (網路男模)

　Dialogue A　
Gordie and Melissa are hanging around at the airport.
Gordie：You're going to fall in love with Toronto. It's a really cool city.
Melissa：How do you know?
Gordie：I have a cousin who went to university there, so I toured around Toronto last year.
Melissa：Great! You can be my guide. Now, let's do some shopping at the Duty Free stores!
Gordie：Good idea. I'll buy a gift for my cousin. But first, let's finish up all of this airport security.

　Dialogue B　
A security guard is talking with Melissa.
Guard A：Where are you traveling today, ma'am?
Melissa：Toronto, Canada.
Guard A：And what is the nature of your visit?
Melissa：What do you mean?
Guard A：Are you traveling for business or pleasure?
Melissa：I'm just taking a vacation there.
Guard A：And are you a Canadian citizen?
Melissa：No, I'm American. Anything else?
Guard A：You've been picked for a random security check. Please cooperate and step over here.

(竹科美女)   

氣象A片

今日單字：
中文意思：對天氣變化過度危言聳聽的誇張報導
climate porn

China's Pay Rises 中國薪資提升

Salaries in China are on average still just a quarter of those in Brazil, another emerging economy.
Will Foxconn's wage rise force salaries up?
Factory owners elsewhere don't believe wages will rise across the board.
While they may not make the same products that Foxconn does, they compete for young workers from the same shrinking pool.
Yet they say Foxconn's 70% pay rise, done to stabilize a workforce that showed an alarming tendency to commit suicide, only goes to show that they weren't paying their workers enough in the first place.

Foxconn workers needed to do overtime to make enough money to take home.
Other companies believe that it is enough to ensure that their staff develop new skills, remain happy and not want to leave.
Labor activists agree.

While they welcome increased pay packets at companies like Foxconn, they warn that it is equally, if not more, important to treat their workers better.
Otherwise, the gains will be short-lived.

There needs to be an improvement in working conditions, because people don’t just need more money.
They are human beings who need their dignity and need to be treated more fairly.
Just as Foxconn has realized after complaints of overwork, insults and late breaks, it is important that there are support programs in place that meet the needs of its employees.
 
Yet much of the international and local media are largely ignoring another issue.
It is very unfair that the double-digit salary increases given to the workforce at big companies are making headlines, yet meanwhile millions of others are getting left behind.
 
Low wages are a fact of life for many people in China, and there's no sign this will be changing anytime soon. 
People like street cleaners haven't seen their wages rise, and their bosses are extremely unlikely to give up profits to fund a pay increase.

Higher wages might be on the cards for a small minority, but many poor Chinese still suspect that society in China is becoming less equal and more unfair.

Small Nuclear Reactors the Next Big Thing
下一件大事，小型核子反應爐

When most people think of nuclear power plants, massive industrial sites come to mind.

Yet several companies are now working on a new generation of reactors that are about the same size as a refrigerator.

One such company is Hyperion Power Generation.

Within a year, this Santa Fe-based company should be applying for a license for downsized nuclear reactor units that could provide electricity for small factories or towns too remote to be connected to the grid.

Hyperion claims that, provided its technology gets a US government license, it has over 150 purchase commitments from customers ranging from mining to telecom companies.

According to the International Energy Agency World, global electricity demand is estimated to grow annually by 2.7 percent until 2015, and then by 2.4 percent until 2030.

While large-scale and unpopular multi-gigawatt nuclear plants have a price tag of around $6 billion, the cost of a 25-megawatt Hyperion reactor, which could power 20,000 homes, is $50 million.

Each unit is transportable by lorry, could fit inside a small room and would require less maintenance, making it a super safe, small and simple micro-grid solution.

Environmentalists are concerned that terrorists could hijack a reactor and directly use it to cause a meltdown or use it to fabricate fissile materials for later use in a weapon.

Hyperion dismisses those concerns, saying that the units are fitted in multiple sealed chambers that would be put in an underground vault.

This would protect it from natural threats and unwanted tampering, especially as guards and dogs would be on the scene.

 (日本第一偶像 戶田惠梨香)

Yet More Scuffles among Taiwanese Legislators台灣立委上演全武行

The opposition is attempting to prevent a review of two controversial bills that would give recognition to Chinese degrees and allow Chinese to study in Taiwan,
and a brawl broke out again over the issue on the legislative floor.

As legislative staffers of the Education and Culture Committee were trying to read through minutes and have legislators confirm that the preliminary review of the proposals had been completed, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators staged a filibuster.

Despite pushing by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators, they besieged the legislative staffers and occupied the convener’s podium.

A brawl subsequently broke out.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) chased KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), shouting that the KMT and Ma Ying-jeou should be ashamed.

Lu replied that Chiu should mind her manners as a woman, and then pushed her to the ground.
Another DPP legislator William Lai asked Lu to apologize for pushing a woman, but Lu refused because he had been accused him of being shameless.

Then KMT Legislator Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲) burst into tears, protesting that they are paid to get a job done, not fight.

     (東亞運跆拳道銀牌 曾敬翔)

Recently news broke out of a debt crisis in Dubai, which is known as the "New New York".

  This [transformed] this city [from] an oasis in the desert, for corporations and celebrities all over the world to rush towards, [into] a bomb which could create a serious impact to the economy.

Dubai is the second largest nation in the seven member nations of the United Arab Emirates.

  In order to reduce its dependence on income from petroleum, it has been aggressively developing the banking, logistics, real estate, and tourism industries in recent years.

  It's artificially constructed palm island has become a popular topic of discussion in tourism, while the Burj Al Arab Hotel had become the new benchmark for top grade hotels.
 
  However, the financial tsunami has placed Dubai in a major crisis this time.
 
Recently a state-run financial group in Dubai, Dubai World, made a public announcement without any forewarning that they will be delaying their debt of nearly US$60 billion for six months.

  As soon as this news [got out], stock markets dropped drastically all over the world.
 
  Several days later, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates issued a statement saying that they are prepared to provide additional fund flow to local and international banks within the country.
 
  The bank also emphasized that it will serve as a strong source of support for these banks.
 
  Though the statement did not clearly point out that it would be offering Dubai financial assistance, it did indeed raise the level of confidence amongst investors and caused fairly good, small-sized rebounds in global stock exchanges.

急速人脈網路

今日單字：
中文意思：供商業人士快速認識別人的活動
speed networking

‧英文原文：

There was a shepherd who was fond of playing practical jokes. He would drive his flock some distance from the village and then shout to the villagers for help, saying that wolves had attacked his sheep. Two or three times the inhabitants came rushing out in alarm and then went back with the shepherd laughing at them.

 (日本海女)  

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Services for Sen. Edward Kennedy will be Saturday morning at a Boston church before his burial in Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, his office announced Wednesday.

September 17, 2008

The Arctic Ocean's sea ice has shrunk to its second smallest area on record, close to 2007's record-shattering low, scientists report.

The ice is in a "death spiral" and may disappear in the summers within a couple of decades, according to Mark Serreze, an Arctic climate expert at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

   (葡萄姐姐)     (今年二大滿貫網球新球王 Nadal)

Helen Jonsen 09.12.08, 12:01 AM ET

First it began as little night pains in the leg, the kind most parents associate with growing pains. We told our little girl, "Don't worry, it will go away," and the next morning it seemed fine. She ran and played and enjoyed the days of summer, like her friends did.