week3(期末)-Paris terror attacks

PARIS ATTACKS: Government condemns ‘terrorism’

By Alison Hsiao and Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporters, with CNA

The government yesterday condemned the series of attacks in Paris on Friday and expressed condolences, with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) saying that Taiwan stands side-by-side with the people of France.

According to the Tourism Bureau, 145 tourists from five Taiwanese tour groups in France were all safe, adding that no Taiwanese travel agencies had reported being affected by the attacks.

The foreign ministry said it would not raise the travel alert level for France, but called for people to be alert to security problems and refrain from unnecessary travel to Paris.

The foreign ministry and its representative office in France are to continue observing developments after the attacks, which have claimed at least 128 lives.

Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) also expressed her sympathy for the French.

“The terrorist attacks in Paris are not only attacks on France, but also on the values of freedom and democracy shared by the international community,” Tsai said in a press release. “At a troubling time like this, we would like to extend our support to France and the French people to overcome the difficulties.”

She condemned the attacks, while extending sympathy to the people affected, adding that she gives her best wishes to the people of France that they might return to a normal, peaceful life as soon as possible.

“Acts of terror and violence that destroy people’s lives and threatens freedom are to be condemned by all,” Tsai said. “It’s something intolerable in a civilized society.”

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), who is in the US, expressed his “gravest protest” against the attacks.

The whole world is now on high alert over national security and public safety, which are every nation’s greatest concern, Chu said.

Chu said he hopes policies drawn up would aim for “better harmony” and “not allow terror attacks to happen in Taiwan.”

Security is the most vital aspect of a nation, he said, adding that every crisis would be costly for society.

The Taipei 101 skyscraper joined New York in putting on red, white and blue lighting displays to show solidarity with people affected by the attacks.

The lighting — turned on at 5:30pm — symbolized the French national flag, while elsewhere six games of baseball’s Premier 12 competition across the nation observed minutes of silence to honor those who lost their lives.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/11/15/2003632488

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Paris,Taiwan

WHEN-2015

WHAT-Paris was attacked and Taiwan condemned the terrorism.

WHY-not given

WHERE-Taiwan

HOW-we would like to extend our support to France and the French people to overcome the difficulties.

Keywords：

1. condemn：譴責

2.terrorism：恐怖主義
3.representative：代表

4.sympathy ：同情

5. intolerable：無法忍受

6. harmony ：和諧
7. security ：安全

8. solidarity ：團結
9. symbolize ：象徵

10. observed ：觀察

week2(期末)-Singles' Day

Chinese consumers splurge on ‘Singles Day’ spree

Thu, Nov 12, 2015

ONLINE FRENZY:Alibaba said shoppers spent more than US$10 billion in the first 14 hours of yesterday’s sale, surpassing last year’s day-long total of US$9.3 billion

Chinese Internet users yesterday spent billions of dollars in the planet’s biggest online shopping splurge, as “Singles Day” hit new heights, despite slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

The cumulative national bill for the day-long orgy of commerce dwarfed what Americans spent online over the five-day frenzy from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday last year.

Singles Day is not a traditional Chinese festival, but e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) has been pushing Nov. 11 — a date heavy on ones — since 2009 as it looks to tap the country’s huge, and expanding, army of Internet shoppers.

At first it was marketed as an “anti-Valentine’s Day,” featuring hefty discounts to lure singletons and price-sensitive buyers.

However, with sales hitting new highs year after year, it has become a massive — and highly lucrative — business opportunity embraced by the nation’s digital retailers.

Competition for a slice of China’s online population of 668 million is turning increasingly fierce.

Alibaba kicked off this year’s mammoth event with a television spectacular at Beijing’s Water Cube Olympic swimming venue, featuring Chinese and foreign celebrities, including James Bond actor Daniel Craig, and US actor Kevin Spacey.

And the company’s efforts were paying off in spades, with shoppers splashing out more than US$10 billion in the first 14 hours of the sale.

This year’s tally had already outstripped last year’s gangbusters effort, with the last year’s total of US$9.3 billion matched a little more than 12 hours after the promotion’s midnight start.

In comparison, desktop sales for the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday in the US last year stood at US$6.56 billion, according to Internet analytics firm comScore.

“The 2015 sale has eclipsed last year’s final results in a little over half the time,” Alibaba said.

In an earlier release, Alibaba’s chief executive officer Daniel Zhang (張勇) said: “The whole world will witness the power of Chinese consumption this November 11.”

Another one of China’s main online retailers, JD.com Inc (京東), said it had completed more than 10 million transactions by 10am. That was almost twice as many as last year’s total.

The task of putting customers’ purchases into their hands is huge. Alibaba said its logistical arm and its partners would use more than 1.7 million personnel, 400,000 vehicles, 5,000 warehouses and 200 airplanes to handle deliveries.

The event has received vocal support from the government at a time when China’s economic expansion is slowing and Beijing is trying to transform its growth model into a more sustainable one driven by consumption.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s (李克強) office phoned Alibaba chairman Jack Ma (馬雲) hours ahead of the promotion, “congratulating and encouraging the creation and achievement of the 11.11 event,” said a posting on a social media account of Tmall (天貓), the group’s business-to-consumer arm.

Chinese Internet users yesterday showed off their acquisitions — with many lamenting that they had spent far too much money.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2015/11/12/2003632235

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Alibaba

WHEN-2015

WHAT-shoppers spent more than US$10 billion on singles's day

WHY- it was marketed as an “anti-Valentine’s Day,” featuring hefty discounts to lure singletons and price-sensitive buyers.

WHERE-China

HOW-featuring hefty discounts to lure singletons and price-sensitive buyers.

Keywords：

1. splurge：揮霍

2.surpass：超過
3.cumulative：累積的

4.orgy ：狂歡

5. lure ：餌

6. singletons ：單身
7. lucrative ：賺錢

8. embrace：擁抱
9. desktop ：桌面

10. spectacular：壯觀

week1(期末)-Dengue

Taiwan Grapples with Record Outbreak of Dengue Fever

Ralph Jennings

October 27, 2015 4:23 AM

TAIPEI—Taiwanese officials are reporting their most severe outbreak of dengue fever ever. More than 100 people have died despite the efforts of a robust healthcare system, putting Taiwan on a level with poorer Asian countries that grapple every year with the mosquito-borne disease.

Dengue fever has touched nearly every part of Asia and regularly threatens about 1.8 billion people in the region. Subtropical Taiwan always gets a few cases, but this year the western Pacific island is fighting its biggest outbreak ever, with more than 23,000 sick people as of mid-October.

Dengue fever cases spiked this year from the annual average of 1,000 to 2,000 because of high heat and the Taiwanese habit of collecting fresh water - that quickly breeds mosquitoes as it stands. Lin Sheng-che, health department director in Tainan, the Taiwanese city with the most dengue fever cases this year, points to standing water as the chief aggravator.

He said one source of standing water are water vessels people often have outdoors, such as scoop basins and water bowls for their dogs, and that those are being taken back in. He suggested people look around their home for any such containers and dump out the water as soon as possible.

Around Asia dengue fever cases have grown over the past 45 years because of population growth, migration to cities and warmer temperatures. Heat combines with standing water to breed disease-carrying mosquitoes, which quickly spread the disease in places with low awareness of insect control, including prevention of bites.

Taiwan has one of Asia's most professional and affordable healthcare systems. But this year was extra hot in southern Taiwan, where most of the cases have occurred. People are also just beginning to realize that their own standing water breeds disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Health authorities expect the outbreak to end with the island's seasonal mild winter. 

http://www.voanews.com/content/taiwan-grapples-with-record-outbreak-of-dengue-fever/3024431.html

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Taiwanese people

WHEN-2015

WHAT-Dengue fever has touched nearly every part of Asia

WHY- because of high heat and the Taiwanese habit of collecting fresh water - that quickly breeds mosquitoes as it stands.

WHERE-Taiwan

HOW-not given

Keywords：

1. grapple：抓住，抓牢

2.Subtropical：亞熱帶
3. spike：扎透

4.healthcare ：醫療保健

5. basin：盆

6. container：容器
7. migration：遷移

8. awareness ：意識
9. prevention：預防

10. affordable：負擔得起的

week3-mers

MERS infectees may have worsened outbreak: WHO

Sun, Jun 14, 2015

Reuters, SEOUL

 

The WHO yesterday said that South Korea’s outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) was “large and complex” and more cases should be anticipated, but there is no sign the disease is spreading in the community.

 

There was also no indication that the MERS virus in South Korea had mutated to make it more transmissible, WHO Assistant Director-General Keiji Fukuda told a news conference at the South Korean Health Ministry in Sejong, south of Seoul.

 

The virus has infected 138 people in South Korea and killed 14 of them since it was first diagnosed on May 20 in a businessman who had returned from a trip to the Middle East.

The outbreak is the largest outside Saudi Arabia, where the disease was first identified in humans in 2012, and has stirred fears in Asia of a repeat of a 2002-to-2003 scare when SARS killed about 800 people worldwide.

 

“Because the outbreak has been large and is complex, more cases should be anticipated,” said Fukuda, who is leading a WHO team that is conducted a joint review with South Korean officials of the country’s response to the outbreak.

 

He said he was encouraged that South Korea’s control measures were having an impact.

The businessman who brought MERS back to South Korea visited several health centers for a cough and fever before he was diagnosed, leaving a trail of infection in his wake.

All of South Korea’s cases have been linked to health facilities.

 

Fukuda cited crowded emergency units and wards, together with the custom of friends and family visiting patients as aggravating a less than optimal initial response to an unfamiliar infection.

 

A tendency for sick people to visit more than one health facility, as the businessman did, was also likely to have been a factor, he said.

“The practice of seeking care at many different medical facilities, so-called ‘doctor shopping,’ may have been a contributing factor,” he said.

However, the spread was confined to hospitals.

 

“At present, the mission has found no evidence to indicate there is an ongoing transmission in the community,” Fukuda said.

Authorities have sealed off at least two hospitals and about 4,000 people are in quarantine, either at home or in medical facilities. Quarantine has been widened to isolate anyone who may have come into contact with a MERS patient.

 

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/06/14/2003620650

 

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- The WHO

WHEN-not given

WHAT-MERS infectees may have worsened outbreak

WHY- not given

WHERE- South Korea

HOW- It was first diagnosed on May 20 in a businessman who had returned from a trip to the Middle East.

 

Keywords：

1 respiratory：呼吸

2. anticipate：預期

3. mutate： 變異

4. transmissible：傳播

5. diagnose：診斷

6. aggravating：惱人的

7. sealed off：封鎖

8. quarantine：隔離

9. tendency：趨勢

10. isolate：隔離