http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/nov/18/today-int6.htm

◎魏國金

The Dutch government said it wants to introduce a "green" road tax by the kilometer from 2012 aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent and halving congestion.

荷蘭政府指出，從2012年起，希望推行依行車公里計算的「綠色」道路稅，以期減少二氧化碳排放量10％，並使塞車情形減半。

The Cabinet approved a bill calling for drivers of an average passenger car to pay a base rate of 0.03 euro per kilometer, beginning in 2012. Drivers of heavier, more polluting vehicles will pay more, and the cost will go up for driving in peak hours.

荷蘭內閣通過一項議案，要求普通客車的駕駛人於2012年開始，支付每公里0.03歐元的基本稅率。車子較重、污染較大的駕駛人將付更多費用，在尖峰時段開車的成本將攀升。

GPS will track the time, hour and place each car moves and send the data to a billing agency.

衛星定位系統將追蹤每部車開動的時刻、時數與地方，並發送資料到一個計費單位。

But the annual road tax and purchase tax for new cars will be abolished, reducing the price of a new car 25 percent, the Transport Ministry said.

不過年度公路稅與新車購買稅將廢除，如此減少新車價格25％，運輸部指出。

Nearly 6 out of 10 drivers will benefit under the system, the ministry said, but government revenue would remain the same. Public transportation, including taxis, will be exempt.

10名駕駛人中近6人將受惠於此制度，運輸部說，然而政府稅收將維持一樣。公共運輸工具，包括計程車將免稅。

The ministry calculated that overall traffic will drop about 15 percent, peak-hour congestion will be halved, traffic deaths will fall 7 percent and carbon emissions from road travel will be cut by 10 percent.

運輸部估算整體交通量將下降15％，尖峰時刻的壅塞將減半，交通死亡案件將下降7％，並且交通產生的碳排放將減少達10％。

新聞辭典

levy︰動詞， 強索、徵收。例句︰The judge livied a $3 million fine against the factory for polluting the river.（法官因該工廠污染河流，處以300萬美元罰鍰。）

congestion︰名詞，壅塞、密集。例句︰I don’t like driving through Bangkok because there’s too much congestion.（我不喜歡在曼谷開車，因為交通太壅塞了。）

call for︰片語，要求、規定。例句︰The regulations call for working in three shifts.（章程規定按三班制工作。）

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/nov/11/today-int5.htm

◎魏國金

A 68-year-old woman in South Korea has passed the written test for her driving licence after 950 attempts.

南韓一名68歲婦女在950次的嘗試後，已通過駕照筆試。

Cha Sa-Soon finally scored the 60 percent required after sitting the exam nearly every day since April 2005, said officials at the drivers’ licensing agency in Jeonju.

自2005年4月以來幾乎每天應考的車七順（譯音），終於獲得及格所要求的60分，全州駕照監理處的官員指出。

Yonhap news agency said she had spent more than five million won in the process. But it’s not over yet for Cha, who has to take the road driving part of the test before she can be given a licence.

南韓聯合通訊社說，在此過程中，她已耗費逾500萬韓元。但對車女士而言，這尚未結束，在能獲發駕照前，她必須參加路考。

"I felt so ashamed of myself for failing so many times but I simply could not give it up," Cha told Yonhap. "My four children were overjoyed at the news that I finally passed it," she said.

「落榜這麼多次，我感到非常難為情，但我就是不能放棄，」車女士告訴聯合通訊社說。「我的4個孩子對於我終於通過筆試的消息欣喜若狂，」她說。

"I still have to pass the real driving test but I think it will be easier for me to pass than the paper test," she said, adding that she needed a driver’s licence for her vegetable-selling business.

她說：「我仍然必須通過真正的駕駛測驗，但我認為，這對我而言，將比通過筆試容易。」她補充說，為了賣菜生意，她需要一張駕照。

新聞辭典

sit the exam︰參加考試。英式英文中，sit有應考之意，例句︰He’s sitting his bar finals.（他正參加律師資格考的複試。）

ashamed︰形容詞，慚愧的、害臊的。I’m ashamed for you.（我為你感到慚愧。）

overjoyed︰形容詞，萬分高興的，例句︰She was overjoyed to see me.（她見到我非常高興。）字首over有超過、超越之意，例如overpressure（過大的壓力。）

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/oct/10/today-int6.htm

◎ 陳成良

U.S. researchers said on Thursday they have found a way to make large-scale flexible display screens that can be stretched to fit the contours of a bus yet are transparent enough so riders can see out windows.

美國研究人員週四說，他們發現了一種製作大尺寸、可彎曲顯示螢幕的方法，讓螢幕可延展到符合一輛巴士的輪廓，且透明度足以讓乘客看透窗玻璃。

The thin, light screens might be used to make brake light indicators that follow the contours of a car, or health monitors or imaging devices that wrap around a patient like a blanket, said John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, whose study appears in the journal Science.

這種輕薄的螢幕可以依據車子的輪廓來製造煞車指示燈，或製作可像毯子一樣將病人裹起來的健康監控器或造影儀器，伊利諾大學香檳分校的約翰．羅傑斯說。他的研究成果公布在「科學」期刊上。

He said the large display screens combine the scale and durability of light-emitting diodes, or LED technology, used to make flat, lighted billboards, with the flexibility of screens made using organic — carbon-containing — materials.

他說，這種大型螢幕結合了用來製作平面薄型告示板的發光二極管（LED）技術的尺寸與耐用性，以及有機含碳材料所製螢幕的彈性特點。

Rogers said current technology using inorganic materials produces chunky individual LED lights that need to be arranged piecemeal with a robotic arm. Screens made using organic materials can be sprayed or painted onto a film surface, but they are not as bright or durable, he said.

羅傑斯說，目前利用無機材料的技術可製造大量單獨LED光束，這些光束需要通過機器手臂逐一排列。而有機材料做成的屏幕可噴灑或塗於膠片表面，但卻不夠明亮與耐久，他說。

新聞辭典

stretch：名詞，（口語）誇大；誇張；吹牛。另一個常見解釋是「伸長」，標題中的stretch是雙關語。

contour：名詞，輪廓、外形、結構，如contours of a building（建築的輪廓）。

piecemeal ：副詞，一件件地，逐個地；逐漸地；零碎地。例句：The reforms were implemented piecemeal. （改革在零零星星地進行。）

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/oct/8/today-int6.htm

《中英對照讀新聞》’Booze therapy’ for brain injury 腦部創傷的酒精治療

◎鄭寺音

A dose of alcohol may be a good treatment for people with head injuries, emergency doctors suggest. Their basis for this is the discovery that people appear less likely to die following brain trauma if they have alcohol in their bloodstream.

急診醫師認為，一劑量的酒精，對有腦傷的人來說或許是好的治療。他們是根據如果人在腦部創傷之後血液中有酒精，似乎比較不會死亡的發現，來得出上述結果。

It could be that alcohol dampens the body’s inflammatory response to injury, the US team told Archives of Surgery. But they stressed that alcohol can cause medical complications and is contributory to many accidents.

這個美國團隊告訴外科文獻，這有可能是酒精抑制身體對受傷的發炎反應，但他們強調，酒精可能造成醫療併發症及許多意外。

Experts cautioned people should not interpret the findings as an excuse to drink more alcohol. The amount of alcohol consumed appears to be important – too little and there is no effect, too much and the beneficial effects are lost, studies on animals suggest.

專家警告，人們應該不要將這份發現，解讀為喝更多酒的藉口。動物研究顯示，喝酒的量顯得很重要，太少的話沒有效果，太多的話，好處就會流失。

Experts believe the right dose of alcohol, however, stops the cascade of swelling, inflammation and further destruction of brain cells, known as secondary brain injury.

但專家認為，喝酒的量對了，可阻止接連發生腫脹、發炎以及腦細胞進一步毀滅，也就是俗稱的腦部二次傷害。

The latest work, based on more than 38,000 moderate-to-severe head trauma patients, is the largest yet to look at the effects of alcohol on brain injury survival.

這份最新研究是根據3萬8千多名中度到重度頭部創傷病患的研究而來，是目前針對酒精對腦部創傷生還影響的最新研究。

新聞辭典

dampen：動詞，抑制，使沮喪。例句：The bad news dampened our spirits. （這個噩耗讓我們沮喪。）

complication ：名詞，併發症。例句：A hospital’s ability to rescue patients from postoperative complications may be a key factor in surgical mortality rates, researchers said. （研究人員說，一家醫院挽救病人手術後併發症的能力，可能是手術致死率的一個關鍵因素。）

contributory：形容詞，促成的。例句：Too little exercise is a contributory factor in heart disease.（太少運動是促成心臟病的因素。）