發表文章

目前顯示的是 1月, 2012的文章

New from NPR 科學家是否太愛老鼠了?

圖片
From NPR 你是否想過,老鼠為何是科學家做實驗時最喜歡使用的動物? 蟒蛇,貓咪或是其他的動物難道行不通嗎? 撇開果蠅fruit flies與老鼠mice,科學家是否還有其他選擇? 這篇NPR的廣播探討以老鼠為實驗對象 所可能面對的限制與未來科學研究裡 動物實驗的發展方向 下載聲音檔請點我 Perhaps Scientists Like Lab Mice TOO Much Heard on All Things Considered The modern lab mouse is the most ubiquitous 無所不在 animal in biomedical 生物醫藥 research. In the U.S. and other parts of the world, mice studies have quadrupled 成長了四倍之多 since 1965 . One study found they make up 60 percent of animals used in experiments while studies on dogs and cats, rabbits and guinea pigs 天竺鼠 , zebra, fish and fruit flies 果蠅 have remained about the same. Daniel Engber, in a series of articles for Slate magazine( 美國人文與時事網路雜誌, 1996 年創刊 ) , recently took the time to ask why - why the mouse is such a mainstay 主要的依靠 of science and whether that's a good thing. DANIEL ENGBER: All of this is about standardization 標準 / 常規 . You know, it's easier for scientists, and it's cheaper if everyone's using the same animal,

與口譯班的同學分享!世大運慶祝酒會口譯實況

圖片
口譯完畢後與市長合影 (市長真的很親切喔) 2017年夏季世大運將在台北舉行。這是個規模僅次於奧運的國際體育盛事。台灣申辦了五次,(前三次高雄爭取失敗)台北之前也吞下過一次敗仗,一直到第五次,去年才申辦成功。慶祝酒會是幾周前(2011年12月)在凱悅舉辦。那天是周五,剛好是我當班,所以就接下這次任務(全程以逐步口譯進行Consecutive Interpretation)。我雖然已是一隻老鳥,口譯經驗超過十年,但是類似的場合依舊讓我非常緊張(其實緊張是好事,因為腎上腺素的分泌會讓人變得非常專注,對於口譯員來說是求之不得的)不過大家看我照片裡面的眼睛泡泡的,就是因為前一夜沒有睡好(看資料反覆練習誰睡得著啊...)。 我上課的時候都會跟學員分享口譯經驗,之前我雖然也參與過很多大型的國際盛會(高雄世運會 聽障奧運與INPUT世界公視大展),不過其實這些經驗所累積的資糧,充其量只能用來應變各種狀況,因為口譯的內容每次不同,遇到的情形也不太一樣。我個人最喜歡的還是同步口譯Simulataneous Interpretation,一方面不用寫筆記,一方面同步口譯我的經驗較豐富,感覺上比較順口。 我將這次的口譯心得製作成ppt檔案。提供給上過我課程的學員參考。至於前製資料prep. work會在課堂上進行分享解說。日後有大咖一點的口譯任務我都會儘量設法紀錄。 這次的活動有一個很有趣的花絮,原來很多現場的來賓,都不認識這次前來道賀的美國AIT副處長Eric Madison,因為他非裔美人的外型,還有人以為他是某個非洲友邦的駐華使節呢,直到聽到他開口說流利美語,加上所有AIT主管都慣有的那種優越(改成優雅好了)氣質,一票人等才恍然大悟。 市長則是非常客氣,合影時頻頻稱許我的表現,不過我心知肚明,這次的表現普普,沒有什麼了不起或是值得高興的地方。我的口譯內容通常只能是來賓致詞時間的三分之一(因為大會時間考量)所以要確實將內容去蕪存菁,表達方面也得力求口語,並且言簡意賅。好在凱悅的酒水點心味道不賴,當天下午大家顧著吃吃喝喝,翻譯品質的好壞,除了我的直屬上司或同事會稍加留意之外,大概也沒人在乎吧。 下載或觀看ppt檔案請點我

NPR - Tiger Mom 虎媽的育兒術

圖片
下載聲音檔請點我 Tiger Mothers: Raising Children The Chinese Way Amy Chua is a law professor at Yale who's written big think books on free market democracy and the fall of empires . Her new book, however, is a memoir called "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother," which is about raising her two American daughters in what she describes as the Chinese way. Book critic 書評 Maureen Corrigan says that Chua's approach to parenting is controversial , even scary. But there is no question that her memoir is destined to be 注定要成為 one of the most talked about books of the season. MAUREEN CORRIGAN: Amy Chua may well be nuts 瘋子 . What kind of a mother hauls her then-seven-year-old daughter's dollhouse out to the car and tells the kid that the dollhouse is going to be donated to the Salvation Army 基督教救世軍慈善組織 piece by piece if the daughter doesn't master a difficult piano composition by the next day? What kind of a mother informs her daughter that she's garbage?

New from NPR 果蠅愛啤酒?

圖片
蝦米?果蠅也愛啤酒?不曉得它們會不會喝醉? 下載聲音檔請點我 Beer Or Sugar Water? For Flies, The Choice Is Pale Ale by Joe Palca LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: There are certain scientific studies that call out to NPR science correspondent 負責跑科學新知相關新聞的記者 Joe Palca, because they reveal something fundamental 基礎的 about the natural world. For example, a recent study from scientists at the University of California in Riverside reveals why fruit flies 果蠅 like the taste of beer. Surely that's a fundamental fact of nature. Here's Joe. JOE PALCA, BYLINE: I've drunk my share of beer, but I have to admit I was surprised to learn that fruit flies like beer. Apparently I shouldn't have been. ANUPAMA DAHANUKAR: The attraction of flies to beer was first reported in the early 1920s. PALCA: That's Anupama Dahanukar. She's not in the school of bartending science 酒保學 at the University of California Riverside. There isn't one. No, she's part of an inter-disciplinary program 跨領域計畫 involving neuroscie