§ Tainan Earthquake

At least 18 people were killed and more than 500 were injured Saturday morning when a magnitude-6.4 earthquake hit Taiwan, the official Central News Agency reported.

More than 350 people were rescued from damaged structures, many from a 16-story residential building that collapsed in Tainan, officials told CNN. At least 16 of the dead were from the Weiguan Jinlong building, CNA said.

As of Saturday night, dozens of children were among at least 153 people still unaccounted for in Tainan, CNA reported, citing the local fire department. A cold wave moving into the area added to their sense of urgency.

CNA reported earlier that a 10-day-old girl and a 40-year-old man had been killed in Tainan.

More than 60 people in the city remain hospitalized, disaster officials said.

Seven other buildings in Tainan were damaged.

"This was strong enough to not only be felt here in the [Taiwanese] capital city of Taipei but also in the southern provinces of China," Elise Hu, an NPR correspondent who was in Taipei when the quake hit, said in an interview with CNN. "Taiwan is very used to earthquakes and tremors, but this is far more significant than the island has seen in quite a while."

Pop star Madonna told concertgoers in Taipei that she felt the tremor in her 17th floor hotel room and it was scary, CNA reported. At the Saturday night show she offered her condolences and asked the audience to keep the victims in their thoughts.

More than 1,500 people are involved in rescue efforts, the disaster center said.

A man who was staying in a three-story apartment building in Tainan told Chinese state media CCTV the building was shaking violently when the quake hit before sunrise. His room tilted 45 degrees, and items inside his room spilled all over the floor.

Unable to use the stairs, he managed to escape from the window of the second floor.

Keywords

unaccounted下落不明

urgency. 緊迫性。

hospitalized住院

provinces 省

correspondent通信者

concertgoers參加音樂會

spilled灑

thoughts思念

violently猛烈

condolences慰問

Who: people in Tainan

When: February

Where: Tainan

Why: A big earthquake

What: Many people were injured and died.

How: Rescue victims immediately

§WeekThree 北韓氫爆：North Korea, hydrogen bomb test

(CNN)The U.S. now believes North Korea might have attempted to test components of a hydrogen bomb on January 6, after further review and analysis of the latest intelligence information.

A U.S. official directly familiar with the latest U.S. assessment said there may have been a partial, failed test of some type of components associated with a hydrogen bomb.

The assessment comes after careful examination of the latest intelligence analysis of the test data. But the official emphasized there is no final conclusion.

Immediately following the test earlier this month, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the initial analysis that have been conducted was "not consistent" with a successful hydrogen bomb test.

The U.S. still does not accept North Korea's claim that it tested a hydrogen bomb, but air sampling conducted after the test has proved inconclusive, the official said. That prompted another look at the seismic data.

That analysis shows the test was conducted more than two times deeper underground than originally assessed -- at a depth consistent with what might be needed for a hydrogen bomb.

However, the size of the seismic event and other intelligence indicates it was not likely a fully functioning device. The official said it's possible the North Koreans believe they conducted a full hydrogen bomb test, but the U.S. believes it was likely only some components, perhaps a detonator, that exploded.

Keyword:

hydrogen bomb氫彈

assessment評定

partial局部

components組件

initial初始

inconclusive尚無定論

sampling採樣

detonator雷管

fully functioning device全功能設備

seismic地震

Who North Korea Government

Where North Korea

Why: North Korea might have attempted to test components of a hydrogen bomb.

How: Not given

When: on January 6

What: hydrogen bomb

§ National Taichung Theater

National Taichung Theater is located in Xitun District, Taochung. It is a very characteristic performance area. The theater is designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito. Using the concept of the primitive caves and holes, Toyo Ito designed the world first and only Sound Cave Curved Wall for National Taichung Theater. There are no vertical and horizontal structures and it’s the world’s first curve surfaced hanging structure architect. Due to the complexity, it is known as the most difficult architect to complete. Five years and NT$ 4.36 billion, the theater finally open in November 23rd, 2014. The theater is organized into a large theater, medium theater and experimental stage, which hold up to more than 3000 guests.

During the urban renewal in Taichung, Taichung city government tried get the Guggenheim Museum to join the museum project in Taichung. Unfortunately due to the budget shortage, the project was canceled. After Architecture Design Competition for the later idea to build a national theater, Toyo Ito’s design was selected. But the difficulty of building this monster in reality caused investments backing out over and over. But after conquering the obstacles, they finally broke the ground in the end of 2009.

The acoustic engineering was carefully designed. In the large theater, guests will see the round curve on the ceiling; this will reflect the sounds perfectly in every angle to every seat. A cat walk is organized on the top for maintenance purposes. The view to the stage will not be blocked in anyway. Everything is designed to what a theater may need in the best way. The exterior shapes like a tea pot during the day with the extraordinary curves. When the night falls, lightings will put the theater under the spot light.

Keyword:

Characteristic特性

Primitive原始

Vertical垂直

Horizontal橫

Monster怪物

backing out 停止不幹

Conquering征服

Exterior外觀

Extraordinary非凡

Who: Taichung city government

When : Since 2008

Where: Taichung

Why: Finical problem

What: There was a finical problem about National Taichung Theater, so it took a lot of time. And in 2014, it finally started to work.  

How: Toyo Ito’s design decided to build this monster.

§week6 歐洲難民潮 :Shoot us or help us': stories from refugee crisis you need to read

Hundreds of migrants stuck in no man's land at the Greek-Macedonian border stand next to these heartbreaking words scrawled on a piece of cardboard.

On Turkey's border with Syria, a man fleeing unbearable violence in his homeland is allegedly beaten by a guard and forced back into a war zone.

In Sweden, the deputy prime minister struggles to contain her tears: Her country can no longer cope with the influx of people and is closing its doors to all but a few.

These are three snapshots of life for refugees and migrants trying to find a new home in a continent consumed by terror and overwhelmed by the human cost of Syria's war.

The attacks in Paris earlier this month may have overshadowed the so-called refugee crisis -- but the greatest migration of people on the European continent since World War II continues unabated.

Keywords:

Migrants 移民

heartbreaking 心碎

scrawled潦草

flee逃離

unbearable不堪忍受

allegedly據稱

deputy副

influx輻輳

overwhelmed不堪重負

homeland家園

§Week5火星探險

Potentially(淺在) life-giving water still flows across the ancient surface of Mars from time to time, NASA scientists said Monday (September 28) in revealing(揭示) a potential breakthrough(突破) in both the search for life beyond Earth and human hopes to one day travel there.

While the discovery doesn't by itself offer evidence of life on Mars, either past or present, it does boost hopes that the harsh landscape still offers some refuge for microbes微生物to cling依偎to existence.

"The existence of liquid water, even if it is super salty briny water, gives the possibility that if there's life on Mars, that we have a way to describe how it might survive," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator管理員for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA.

NASA researchers using an imager aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter confirmed確認the watery含水flows by looking at light waves returned from seasonal dark streaks on the surface, long suspected to be associated with liquid water.

The investigation調查showed the streaks條紋absorb light at specific wavelengths 波長 associated with chemicals known to pull water from the Martian atmosphere in a process known as deliquescence潮解, said Georgia Tech doctoral博士student Lujendra Ojha, who first discovered the streaks while still an undergraduate本科student at the University of Arizona in 2011.

The chemicals allow the water to remain liquid at lower temperatures but also help keep it from boiling off in the thin atmosphere 大氣 of Mars, the researchers said.

Keyword:

microbes微生物

cling依偎

administrator管理員

watery含水

deliquescence潮解

undergraduate本科

confirmed確認

wavelengths波長

breakthrough突破

atmosphere 大氣

Structure of the lead

Who: NASA

When: 9/28
Where: Mars
What: NASA found liquid water in Mars

Why: NOT given

How: Not given

§Week4太空新發現

A range of majestic雄偉mountains meets with endless plains. On Pluto冥王星, billions of miles from the sun's reach, they are likely both made of ice.

And this week, we are seeing close-ups特寫of them with unprecedente空前的clarity. Finally, two months after the New Horizons spacecraft宇宙飛船flew by the dwarf矮人planet at close range, new higher resolution images have arrived.

It has taken that long for NASA to download them. The transfer speed of data from the spacecraft at 2,000 bits per second makes an old dial-up modem with its 56,000 bits per second look like a speed demon.

It will take NASA a year to transfer all the photos and data. The dump傾倒began arriving over the Labor Day weekend. Some of the pictures that NASA released were not single snapshots快照but compilations編譯synthesized合成 from multiple多種photos.

Judging by the first, crisp digital close-up images, the wait was worth it. They reveal a planet not frozen in place but with a complex landscape景觀still developing.

Pluto probe gets new assignment

Dunes? 沙丘

The photos taken from New Horizons' closest approach of Pluto on July 14 -- at about 50,000 million miles away -- reveal some surprises.

For example, there may even be dunes blown up by winds. But that would seem impossible on a planet with barely an atmosphere.

"Seeing dunes on Pluto -- if that is what they are -- would be completely wild, because Pluto's atmosphere today is so thin," said astronomer天文學家William B. McKinnon from Washington University in St. Louis.

"Either Pluto had a thicker atmosphere in the past, or some process we haven't figured out is at work. It's a head-scratcher."

And those gargantuan blocks of ice the size of mountains might be floating in flows of frozen nitrogen.

Key words

majestic雄偉

Pluto冥王星

close-ups特寫

unprecedented空前的

spacecraft宇宙飛船

dump傾倒

snapshots快照

dunes沙丘

synthesized合成

compilations編譯

Who: NASA

When : July 14

Where: Pluto

Why NO mention

What:NASA took a snapshots about Pluto

How: New Horizons spacecraft flew by the dwarf planet at close range

§Week3 美同性婚姻合法

Opinion: Why I support gay marriage in Washington

Editor’s Note: Rev. Mike Denton is a conference minister of the United Church of Christ working with congregations in Washington, Northern Idaho and Alaska. He supports gay marriage.

On Wednesday afternoon, Washington's House passed a same-sex marriage bill, 53-43. The state Senate has already passed it, and Gov. Chris Gregoire has promised to sign it. Opponents of  the bill are promising to put the issue on the ballot this November.

By. Rev. Mike Denton, Special to CNN

(CNN) - It was a little more than 15 years ago when two friends of mine - I’ll call them Amy and Christine - asked me to officiate at their wedding. Actually, at the time, I’m not sure we called it a “wedding.” Fifteen years ago, gay and lesbian folks were still stepping gingerly around the words “wedding” or “marriage.” It didn’t feel safe and just didn’t seem to be worth the fight so words like “union service” or “commitment service” were used instead.

I grew up in church but I don’t remember homosexuality being talked about all that much. I thought it was wrong because that’s just what I heard the most from those Christian voices that were best able to garner media attention. The same six biblical verses referred to seemed, at the time, pretty clear. The Sodom and Gomorrah story was one that came up a lot. Quotes from chapters 18 and 20 of Leviticus, as well as the first chapter of Romans, too.

In the years that followed, this clarity only increased. I met more and more and more gay individuals and couples. I heard their stories of self-realization; falling in love; and their struggle for self, family and societal acceptance and realized how far they were from the deviant parodies I’d been exposed to while growing up. The identity labels began to fall out of the way as friendships began.

The Washington state legislature just gave gay and lesbian couples access to the same rights that straight couples have under state law. This law also gives the state the ability to provide the same supports, as well as require the same responsibilities, of gay and lesbian couples as any other couple. As someone who, in a pastoral role, sees the stress and strain this legal ambivalence puts on gay families and the communities they are part of, I know how important this law is.  Also, regardless of what some may suggest, this law will not force pastors who oppose gay rights to officiate at the marriages of same-sex couples or sign a wedding license for them. However, it will allow me to treat gay or straight couples equally by being able to sign a wedding license for both.

The opinions expressed are solely those of  Rev. Mike Denton.

Structure of the lead

Who: Mike Denton

When:2015/6/26

Where: America 

What: Mike Denton talked his opinions about same-sex wedding.

Why: He has seen many comrades who want to get marriage with their lover, but they mustn’t do that.

How: Don’t given

Key words:

Conference minister 會議部

Congregations畢業典禮

Officiate主持

Lesbian女同性戀

Gingerly戰戰兢兢

homosexuality同性戀

biblical verses聖經經文

deviant parodies離經叛道的蠢事

 labels標籤

 pastoral  牧歌