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【中英】數字轉換，為什麼難？
中文習慣用的是「萬位分位」，但英文慣用的是「千位分位」，在單位的命名上不同，大數字轉換就需要一點技巧！
小知識：英式英語裡以前"billion"叫做"milliard"，不過，因為容易產生誤會，後來也就採用了美式"billion"的用法。另外英式英語裡，有時"one billion"也會說成"a thousand million"。
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這則貼文是由中國信託贊助製作
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小編快報
《柏林脈動》（The Berlin Pulse) 今天出刊了。這是德國一年一度的外交及國際關係專刊。作者群包括學者、智庫專家、政府官員。
這一期談歐洲問題的作者有波蘭外長、Moldova 總理、德國國防部長等等等。
今年《脈動》特別做了中國專題，作者有五位，分別是：
中國的全國人大外事委員會副主任委員傅瑩、日本眾議會議員Minora Kiuchi、巴黎的中國問題專家Francois Godement、曾任澳洲駐華大使，現任外交及貿易秘書長的Frances Adamson，以及台灣的龍應台。
德國編輯在文末放了一個德國的民意調查圖表，提問是：「面對中國，你認為德國應該更強力保護自己的政治利益，即使犧牲經濟利益？」
答案：贊成 76%
反對 19%
小編把龍應台文章翻譯成中文，跟讀者分享。英文原文附在後面。如果嫌我翻譯得不好，那那那，那表示你英文很好，你就看英文吧......
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兩千三百萬人在獨木舟上
——為什麼歐洲應該關切台灣的未來
反對黨公布2020總統候選人名單的那一天，我在台北和知識圈的朋友們午餐。那悲觀的，用問句來表達自己的悲觀，譬如，「你覺得台灣還有多少年?」那樂觀的，用黑色幽默來表達樂觀，譬如，「感謝老天。香港讓他們太忙了，沒時間管台灣。」
跟德國一樣，台灣對中國大陸和香港的貿易順差，在2018年是831億美元。百分之四十一的對外貿易針對中國，中國大陸市場對台灣的重要不言而喻。然而，隨著近年來台灣海峽兩岸的關係緊張，反對黨(國民黨) 憂慮市場的優勢無法持續，而執政黨(民進黨) 則選擇強化選民對北京的不信任來抵制中國的影響力。執政黨最近提出的國安新法可能將任何被認定為為中國宣傳者入罪。
和歐洲一樣，台灣人對中國的感受也是複雜的。 當中國代表的是活躍的經濟機會時，很多台灣人就容易所謂「親中」，當中國代表的是壓迫和可能的入侵時，很多台灣人就是所謂的「反中」。問題是，中國兩者兼備。後果就是，台灣內部的分歧遠遠超過了僅只是政治和經濟的層面。
如果你知道台灣是如何一路走來的，你會覺得它今天變成一個民主社會真是一個不得了的成就。沒有革命，一黨獨裁四十年的國民黨，不管你說它是自願還是被迫，放下了政權，分享權力。沒有流血，昔日牢裡的政治犯變成今日的立法者和政治領袖。1987年解嚴以後，政權的交替基本上公平而有序地進行了三十年。
台灣安靜地進行了三十年的民主，時間幾乎和它的國際孤立一樣長。美國不承認台灣的國家地位，但是，就如同當年對於德國，美國也扮演了安全守護者的角色。令人不安的是，在美國宣布要把軍售台灣常態化的同時，中國也宣布，它在台灣海峽及其領空，要把軍艦和戰機的演習常態化。
所以台灣民主的威脅其實是雙重的。比較明顯的是中國的威脅，這個威脅，往往超出台灣本身的控制能力。一個不那麼明顯的威脅，卻是內部自製的。台灣的政治人物和政黨熱切拿這個威脅做為政治資本，刺激集體恐懼來強化部落式的愛國主義。這種操作的成功，對台灣的民主制度和機構本身，是個真實的危險。
國際上那些純粹為了攻擊中國而故意把台灣捧在手心讚美的人，其實讓我坐立不安。一代又一代的台灣人為民主付出了代價，很大的代價，而得到今天的成果。這個成果，太珍貴了，不可以變成別人或別國為了自己的利益而拿來玩弄的籌碼或棋子。
德國的歷史是特殊的。德國的人民親身目睹了，如果不戒慎恐懼地去維護，一個開放合理的社會制度是如何容易地瓦解，一夜之間可以被獨裁取代。經歷了二戰，又擺脫了共產黨的歷史爭取到自由，德國可能比很多其他國家更容易理解台灣人的困境和追求。道德勇氣的來源往往是歷史的痛苦。身為歐盟的重要成員，德國有責任為世界的和平做出最大的努力，發揮最大的影響力。
但是，歐洲憑什麼一定要關心台灣呢?
首先，如果沒有台灣模式，全世界大概就都得接受一種說法，就是，儒家文化和民主制度是無法相容的，而所謂「中國模式」就是唯一邏輯、不可避免的現代中國。台灣的存在證明了一件事：未必如此。
第二，台灣本身的努力值得世界的尊敬。沒錯，如果中國是一艘航空母艦，那麼台灣只不過是一葉孤零零的獨木舟。可是在這個獨木舟上有兩千三百萬人正在追求一種有自由、有尊嚴的生活方式。如果台灣是歐盟的一個成員，就人口論，台灣就是二十八個成員國(英國脫歐後二十七國)中第七大國，比波蘭稍小，但比荷蘭和比利時大。以經濟購買力來看，台灣更是名列全球第二十二。所以，歐洲可以想像剝奪波蘭人或者荷蘭人對生活方式和政治體制的選擇權利嗎?
23 Million People on a Canoe
—Why Europe should care about Taiwan’s future
Lung Yingtai
On the day when the opposition party announced its presidential candidate for the 2020 election, I was sitting at a lunch table in Taipei listening to my intellectual friends uttering their concerns about the future of Taiwan. The pessimists phrased their pessimism in the form of questions such as “How many years do you think Taiwan has left?” The optimists expressed their optimism with dark humour, “Thank God they will be too busy with Hong Kong and the US for a while.”
Like Germany, Taiwan operates a trade surplus with mainland China and Hong Kong, amounting to $83.1 billion in 2018. With 41% of Taiwan’s exports going to China, Taipei’s economy depends on trade with the mainland. However, given the increasing tension across the Taiwan Strait, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) in particular has been worrying whether Taiwan will be able to sustain these figures. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party, on the other hand, is capitalizing on voters’ intense distrust of Beijing, stepping up measures to “contain” China’s influence. Taipei recently drafted a national security law that would make it a punishable offense to spread “political propaganda” for China.
As in Europe, Taiwanese feel highly ambivalent about mainland China: When China signifies economic opportunities, most Taiwanese are 23 Million People on a Canoe Why Europe should care about Taiwan’s future “pro-China”; when China represents oppression and potential invasion, most Taiwanese are “anti-China”. The problem is that China resembles both. The result is a deep division among Taiwanese extending far beyond the political and economic spheres.
Given the circumstances under which Taiwan emerged and evolved, its evolution into an authentic democracy represents an extraordinary achievement. It was without a revolution that the KMT, which had ruled Taiwan for more than 40 years, put an end to martial law and, whether convinced or compelled to act, opened the country’s political system to sharing power. Without bloodshed, dissidents who had once sat in jails became legislators and political leaders. Since the lifting of martial law 1987, power has changed hands fairly and orderly, following the results of each election.
Taiwan has been a quiet democracy for more than thirty years, nearly as long as the four decades during which it has been isolated by the international community. The US does not formally recognize Taiwan but, as with Germany, acts as the country’s security guarantor. While Washington has indicated that arms sales to Taiwan will become more of a routine, China has devised a routine of its own by holding long-range combat drills and ordering its fighter jets to cross the maritime line.
However, the threat to Taiwanese democracy is twofold. The obvious one comes from China, and to a large extent lies beyond Taipei’s control. The less obvious threat is home-made, as the looming China threat tempts domestic politicians to mobilize the population’s collective fear to foment a tribal nationalism. Their success would pose a real danger to Taiwan’s democratic institutions.
Those who applaud Taiwanese democracy for the sole purpose of criticizing China make me nervous. Generations of Taiwanese fought and ultimately achieved a democracy – it is simply too precious for other people’s agendas, internal or external.
Germany has a unique history: its people have experienced first-hand how easily democratic institutions may fall apart when not meticulously guarded. Having received democracy as a gift following World War II and struggled to regain their freedom from Communist rule, Germans are in a unique position to understand both the predicament as well as the aspirations of the Taiwanese. Moral courage often comes from past sufferings. As a leading EU member state, Germany has a responsibility to maximize its own efforts as well as to influence others’ efforts for world peace.
But why should the world care about the future of Taiwan? First of all, save the Taiwan model, the world might have to accept the claim that democracy and Confucianism are incompatible, and that a communist China presents the only logical and inevitable path to modernity. Secondly, Taiwan deserves respect on its own merits. True, if China were an aircraft carrier, Taiwan would be a lone canoe. But standing on this canoe are 23 million people aspiring for a life with liberty and dignity. If it were an EU member, Taiwan would be the 7th largest of the Union’s 28 member-states (27 after Brexit), smaller than Poland but larger than the Netherlands or Belgium, with a developed economy ranking 22nd in the world by purchasing power parity. Do we really want to return to a world in which it is imaginable that countries such as Poland or the Netherlands should be deprived of their autonomy to determine their own way of life and political system?
The Berlin Pulse 2019
龍應台專文：https://www.koerber-stiftung.de/fileadmin/user_upload/koerber-stiftung/redaktion/the-berlin-pulse/pdf/2019/3_Koerber_TheBerlinPulse_YingTai.pdf
全本：https://www.koerber-stiftung.de/fileadmin/user_upload/koerber-stiftung/redaktion/the-berlin-pulse/pdf/2019/TheBerlinPulse_2019_FINAL.pdf
【黃色一拳超人呀】
《Reuters》獨家訪問被稱為“king of cockroaches” 嘅超人
（唔吟詩，無作對，一個直拳）
其實所謂嘅獨家專訪只係書面訪問，睇黎睇去超人都係答咗幾條問題，然後就由發言人補多一句。不過以佢响地球上嘅地位，啲答案就變成國際新聞。值得留意嘅係，點解咁路透社唔遲唔早，响區選之後所有牛鬼蛇神講完晒偉論先報導呢？重點係今次無拋詩，坦白到非常。受咗咁多拳（佢自己講㗎）唔只係一巴，直情係一拳反車埋去，唔只要打中，仲要打得痛，shhh....好勇武嘅黃色一拳超人！
（因為路透社中英文版嘅報導有啲些少唔同，唯有繼續隨便學英文意譯。）
對於有人出post話你係「曱甴王」，有乜感受呢？
//“In the world of social media, some people are hard at work in sowing toxic doubts and disinformation to undermine trust,” Li told Reuters in a statement. “It is hard not to be drawn into controversies [in] these times.”//
「响網絡世界，緊係有啲人好勤力咁散播有毒嘅思想，錯晒嘅消息去破壞信任嘅。今時今日咁嘅社會環境，好難無爭議嘅。」
（邊啲人？話邊個？係咪區議會選舉輸到爆嗰啲呀？）
主席叫香港嗰班有錢到著唔到襪嘅人，嘔返出黎供獻社會，你有咩睇法呢？
//“I founded a philanthropic foundation in 1980 and have given my utmost support to education, medical research and services. At the time, I have already committed a third of my personal wealth. Around 80% of my foundation’s projects are in the Greater China area. The total contributions have already exceeded HKD 26 billion ($3.3 billion).”//
「我呢...响1980年已經成立咗慈善基金，支持教育、醫療研究同公益事業，等如我自己三份一嘅身家呀。80%都係投放响大中華地區，超過260億嘅。」
（唔知點解中文版多咗一句：「在這敏感時刻，我們不防積極進取，勇於面對問題。」意思係咪即係，嗱，已經捐咗三份一身家出黎，仲想點呢？1980年呀，响時你地响邊？响咁艱難嘅時候，唔該面對返啲問題啦，搞我做乜呢？）
有人話送中條例，係用黎對付啲有錢佬，你覺得呢？
//“The bill has been withdrawn, there is no point doing forensics on it,”//
（呢題咁廢嘅問題，係由超人嘅發言人答：「撤回咗啦，仲攞黎講把鬼咩。」）
（個人覺得呢條最勁）對於中央對香港管治越黎越緊，覺得點呢？
//“There are many differing opinions on ‘one country, two systems’ but the road we are on is fine. It requires a tangible commitment from both sides, calls for institutional innovation and not a merger.”
「好多人對「一國兩制」有好多唔同嘅意見，但係我覺得依家無問題。呢樣嘢要雙方都要遵守明確嘅諾言，需要制度上革新，而唔係融合。」
（點解睇字睇到幻聽有聲咁呢：本來好地地，簽咗嘅嘢就守信用啦，咁多唔同聲音做乜呢？制度有問題就改啦，融乜合呀？）
《人民日報》出post話你「好的時候同享福，遇到困難卻不能共度難關」，有咩回應？
//“When you are my age, you will know how to cut through the noise. I don’t know if it is a concerted effort, but I am getting used to all the unfounded verbal and text punches.”//
「當你去到我呢個年紀，自然識過濾啲噪音嘅。我唔知呢啲噪音係咪有預謀，不過我已經習慣晒呢語言文上嘅亂拳。」
（官方喉舌係噪音呀喂？亂拳埋黎，重拳出擊！）
#黃色一拳超人
路透社報獨家導傳送門：
英文：
https://www.reuters.com/…/exclusive-in-face-of-criticism-ho…
中文：
https://cn.reuters.com/…/exclusive-hk-tycoon1127-wedn-idCNK…
論文摘要
現今社會，成年人有著來自社會與生活的多方壓力，而這種壓力需要釋放，以慰藉情感，供成年人把玩之玩具就可作為釋放壓力的一個途徑。
過去人們認為玩具是兒童的專利，成年人如果玩玩具就會被認為是不務正業。但隨著時代的不斷變化，人們對於玩具的認識也更加豐富和多元化，成年人在情感需求之要求下，也希望通過玩具來使情感需求得到滿足，
在NPD調查的12個玩具市場中，全球最大的玩具市場—美國2017年銷售額比2016年增長了1%，達207億美元。而中國也僅次於美國成為全球第二大玩具消費市場。
「公仔」(Figure)為玩具之其一分類，這個詞源自70年代香港、澳門，是世界動漫產業興盛發展的新辭彙。然而目前市面上普遍為歐美系與日系公仔居多，相較少有屬於中國文化之公仔。因此，實體化中國文學角色並符合現代潮流的公仔設計為本研究之創作動機。
本創作以少人著墨之鐵扇公主和牛魔王角色為目標，兩角色似中國版美女與野獸，有著獨特的設計與衝突的美感，藉由ZBrush為數位雕刻並以光固化3D列印實體化，創作出古典與現代二款造型之潮流創意公仔。
People are experiencing pressures coming from various sources like, from our society and life. We need ways to release those pressures. Toys made for adults may serve as one of the great ways to release our stress.
Having fun with toys has been regarded as children’s privilege in old days. Adults would be considered childish if they were found playing with toys. As time goes by, however, people now a days, have different points of view about toys. Grownups, now a days are having emotional needs as well, to be met and some of them can be achieved through spending time and energy on toys.
A survey conducted by NPD (NPD Group, Inc.) on the 12 major toy markets over the globe shows that the world's largest toy market—the USA market sales increased by 1% up to a total of 20.7 billion US dollars in 2017 compared to the sales number in 2016. China, though second only to the US market for toys, does not have much of its own culture or literature related in any toy products.
"Figures ", also known as “Gong-zai” in Chinese communities, is one of the toys’ categories. This word, originated from Hong Kong and Macao way back 1970s, it is a relatively new term for the worldwide booming animation industry. American, European, and Japanese figures overwhelming dominate current toy markets and only few Chinese figures can be found among them. In the light of this phenomenon, the ideas to make figures from famous characters in Chinese fictions or literatures that follows the modern features of figures transform the motivation of this research.
The figures created for this research are the roles called “Princess Iron-Fan” and “Bull Demon King” which are famous but less mentioned. They are like the Chinese version of Beauty and the Beast, which are innovative crafted and exhibit the conflicting beauty. The software ZBrush is used for digital engraving and a photo-curing 3D printer modeling. The final products are characters with two different styles--classic and modern ones.
... 千万，亿万( hundred, thousand, million, billion) 英语表达法。 ... 千万，亿万英语表达法( hundred, thousand, million, billion )（ 中文 解释）. ... <看更多>
中文 《十亿消费者》 译者博客地址https://zhouzq1975.wordpress.com/category/one-billion-customers/ 在线GitBook ... ... <看更多>
one billion中文 在 很多人以為「一億」英文是one billion，但... - Prime English ... 的推薦與評價
很多人以為「一億」英文是one billion，但one billion 是「一億」還是「十億」? *** 注：「英語示範課程」最新日期主題： 國際音標法及英語聆聽技巧(費用全免) ... ... <看更多>