通勤學英語 15Mins Today

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K328: Online scammer sold electronic gadgets, sent rotten bananas   A man surnamed Fang has been charged with concocting several nicknames to sell consumer electronics goods on social networking platforms concerned with second-hand items such as cellphones and game consoles. After one of his victims remitted payment for a graphics card, the buyer actually received a bunch of banan...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K327: How European Royals Once Shared Their Most Important Secrets   To safeguard the most important royal correspondence against snoops and spies in the 16th century, writers employed a complicated means of security. They’d fold the letter, then cut a dangling strip, using that as an improvised thread to sew stitches that locked the letter and turned the flat writing paper into i...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K326: About NFT - Bored Ape NFT worth $284,495 accidentally sells for just $2,844   A distracted trader accidentally sold a non-fungible token (NFT) for a hundredth of its market price. 一位分心的虛擬幣交易員意外地以市價百分之一的價格賣出一枚非同質化代幣（ NFT ）。 NFTs are the latest cryptocurrency phenomenon to go mainstream. In the simplest terms, NFTs transform digital works o...

Topic: Water-Stressed India Seeks a Tap for Every Home   The pipes are laid, the taps installed and the village tank is under construction — all promising signs that, come spring, Girja Ahriwar will get water at her doorstep and finally shed a lifelong burden. 管子鋪好，水龍頭裝好，村子的水槽正在建造。這些充滿希望的跡象顯示，春季來臨時，吉爾嘉．艾里瓦可以在家門口取到水，而且終於解除長期以來的負擔...

Reference article from Business Insider : Questions to kickstart meaningful conversations with new people If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be? 如果你可以改變世界上的一件事，那會是什麼？ This question can reveal where someone stands with their passions or social causes they care about.   Alternative / 也可以說: If you could only keep one thing in the world, what would it be...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K325: Leftists Replacing Right-Wing Leaders Across Latin America   In the final weeks of 2021, Chile and Honduras voted decisively for leftist presidents to replace leaders on the right, extending a significant, multiyear shift across Latin America. 在2021年的最後幾周，智利和宏都拉斯果斷地投票支援 左翼總統取代右翼領導人，延續 了整個拉丁美洲長達數年的重大轉變。 This year, leftist p...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K324: Billionaires and Big Checks Shape Battle for Congress   Billionaires cut giant checks to super PACs. Small donors gave online in mass quantities. And both political parties announced record-setting hauls in 2021. 億萬富翁向超級政治行動委員會削減巨額支票。小捐助者在網上大量捐贈數量。兩個政黨都宣布了 2021 年創紀錄的成果。 The 2022 midterm elections were awash in political mone...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K323: ‘Baby Shark’ becomes first video with 10 bn views   Hit children’s song “Baby Shark Dance” has set a new record by becoming the first YouTube video with 10 billion views. The catchy singalong by Pinkfong, a South Korean educational brand, was uploaded in June 2016. The song is so popular that it has inspired celebrity singalongs around the world and been adapted into an anim...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K322: Ex-official: Space station ‘largely isolated’ from tensions   Tensions in eastern Ukraine and heightened Western fears of a Russian invasion should not have a significant impact on the International Space Station or US-Russia cooperation in space, the former head of the National Space Council told The Associated Press. 烏克蘭東部的緊張局勢以及西方對俄羅斯入侵的擔憂加劇，不應...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K321: With new home for strays, Keelung pushes pet-friendly plans   Keelung City Government has in recent years been promoting animal-friendly city policies. To reduce the number of stray dogs, it has been promoting measures such as pet registration, birth control and vaccinations. Statistics from the end of last year show that the number of registered pets in the city had reached...

Topic: Restaurants Have Lavish Setups for Outdoor Winter Dining   A Latin fusion restaurant in Queens will serve crispy arepa cups and ropa vieja at an outdoor dining chalet with rustic wood beams and sparkling chandeliers. 紐約皇后區一間拉丁無國界料理餐廳，將在有鄉村風木梁和閃亮枝形吊燈的戶外用餐木屋裡，提供杯裝的酥脆玉米餅和燉手撕牛肉。 In the Bronx, an Italian place has winter-proofed its back...

主題: 食物相關慣用語 Food related idioms   COOL AS A CUCUMBER 冷靜 Meaning: This is another way to say that someone is calm and composed. Example: "The exam is next week and I'm as cool as a cucumber."   BIG CHEESE 大人物 Meaning: An influential person. Example: "Tony is the boss of the whole sales and marketing department. He is a big cheese."   BRING HOME THE BACON 賺錢回家 Meaning: The person w...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K320: About COVID - COVID-19 creates dire US shortage of teachers, school staff   One desperate California school district is sending flyers home in students’ lunchboxes, telling parents it’s "now hiring." Elsewhere, principals are filling in as crossing guards and schools are moving back to online learning. 一個絕望的加州學區正在學生的便當盒裡寄傳單回家，告訴家長它"現在正在招聘"...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K319: Hollywood Tests the Limit of Marquee Names a Single Film Can Hold Last December, Netflix began streaming “Don’t Look Up,” a big-budget satire starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Tyler Perry, Ariana Grande, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett and Timothée Chalamet. 去年12月，Netflix開始播放大預算的"Don't Look Up"。 主演者包括李奧納多迪卡皮歐、珍妮佛勞倫斯、泰...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K318: About Germany - Inmates fined over prison potato mash fight   Two female inmates at a German prison have been served a hefty fine for a brawl that began with a food fight. 德國一所監獄的兩名女囚犯因一場始於食物大戰的鬥毆而被處以巨額罰款。 German news agency dpa reported Wednesday that the cellmates at a prison in Augsburg began throwing potato mash at each other following a...

每日英語跟讀 Ep. K317: A Global Effort to Bring Rare Books In Rome to an Online Audience   Modern-day church scholars may find the going easier. Some of the texts at the library of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, a graduate school in Rome dedicated to the study of the Eastern branch of Christianity, have just been digitized and will soon be at the fingertips of a global audience. 現代教會學者可...

Jeff Bezos offered Tom Hanks a ride to space on his Blue Origin rocket, but it came at a price. （亞馬遜創辦人）傑夫‧貝佐斯曾邀請（好萊塢男星）湯姆‧漢克搭乘他的「藍源」火箭上太空，但要付出代價。 The actor confirmed that Bezos had asked him during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Tuesday, saying if he accepted the offer he was expected to pay. 這名男星週二現身（電視節目）「吉米金默現場秀」...

Topic: Russia's Villages, and Their Culture, Are 'Melting Away'   With its winding dirt lanes framed by lilacs, quaint wooden houses and graceful onion-domed church, the tiny farming hamlet of Baruta was once a postcard of Russian bucolic bliss. 俄國西北部普斯科夫區域的巴魯塔小農村曾是俄國田園的幸福象徵，蜿蜒的土路旁盡是丁香、古雅的木屋和優美的洋蔥圓頂教堂。 No longer. More people lie in the tight...