Yoga for Hangovers 解宿醉的方法

An elephant grazes at Amboseli National Park, approximately 220km southeast of Nairobi, Kenya on Oct. 7 last year.
一頭大象去年十月七日在肯亞奈洛比東南方兩百二十公里的安博塞利國家公園內吃草。

Photo: AFP
照片：法新社

Elephants get ‘drunk’ on fruit 大象吃果子「醉了」

We all know what we get like after one too many glasses of wine, but we were quite surprised to see a group of elephants appear to be drunk.

The herd of young calves were captured stumbling around Singita Kruger National Park in South Africa, acting like they had just had a boozy night out.

Instead of downing too many glasses of wine, however, the elephants had been nibbling marula fruit.

Ross Couper, a field guide at Singita Kruger National Park, witnessed the animals move through the bush, feeding on the fruit strewn across the ground — the older and wiser elephants teaching the young what to eat.

One of the adult cow elephants forcefully knocked the fruit down from a tree, shaking it back and forth for the young to feed on.

As they had already snacked on marula throughout their journey, it was not long before the youngsters started to behave as if they had been knocking back the beers.

According to African myth this sweet fruit can have an intoxicating effect on large mammals when they eat large amount.

(Liberty Times)

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. one too many phr. 過量 

例: Joe has had one too many.   (喬喝多醉了。)

2. drunk adj.

喝醉的；醉心的 

例: Many politicians are drunk with power. (許多政治人物醉心於權力。)

3. knock back v. phr.喝光 

例: Steve knocked back four shots of vodka in five minutes.

(史蒂夫在五分鐘內乾掉四杯伏特加。)

我們都知道喝酒喝多了會怎樣，但看到一群大象顯然喝醉了，還是讓我們相當驚奇。

這群年幼大象被拍到在南非克魯格國家公園跌跌撞撞地走著，彷彿牠們剛喝了一整晚的酒，喝得酩酊大醉。

但是，這群大象並非灌下太多杯酒，而是吃了馬魯拉果。

克魯格國家公園嚮導羅斯．庫柏目睹大象穿過灌木叢，吃著掉得滿地的果子，年長、較有智慧的大象教小象什麼可以吃。

其中一隻成年象還猛力搖晃樹幹，硬把果子從樹上搖下來讓年幼的大象吃。

但是就在他們一路吃著馬魯拉果，沒多久年幼大象的舉止便開始有如喝光所有啤酒一樣。

根據非洲傳說，大型哺乳動物吃下大量這種甜味果實會出現酒醉反應。

（自由時報／翻譯：管淑平）

If Santa were salaried...如果耶誕老人支薪 年薪可賺四百萬

A child has his picture taken with a Father Christmas who turned up bearing gifts in Greater Tainan on Dec. 17.
十二月十七日在台南耶誕老人突然造訪送禮，小朋友驚喜，開心合影。

Every Christmas Eve is Santa’s busiest time. Santa Claus does not have an easy job. He not only has to prepare gifts for each of the world’s children, he also needs to deliver them to the kids in a single night. But if we were to actually calculate Santa’s salary, how much would he earn?

The latest labor survey announced on an insurance Web site discovered that, if you combined all of his festive activities, from the management and distribution to tasks such as checking off name lists of how good or naughty children have been, altogether Santa should get an annual salary of US$139,924, approximately NT$4.4 million.

The Web site explained that Santa’s tasks include managing the reindeer, reading kids’ letters, wrapping presents, keeping a stealthy check on whether children have been good, sweeping chimneys, driving the sleigh, and singing Christmas carols.

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. naughty adj. 淘氣 

例: He was always a very naughty child.

(他以前是個非常淘氣的小孩。)

2. stealthy adj. 偷偷 

例: He stole a stealthy look at the presents.

3. carol n.耶誕歌 

例: We will sing Christmas carols tonight.

(我們今晚會吟唱耶誕歌。)

(Liberty Times, translated by Paul Cooper)

每年耶誕節前夕就是耶誕老人工作的旺季。耶誕老人工作並不輕鬆，不僅須要為世上每個孩子準備禮物，還要在一個晚上之內送到孩子手上！但若現實一點估算耶誕老人薪水，他能賺多少？

一份由保險網站公布的最新的勞動力調查發現，綜合整個耶誕慶祝活動，從管理送貨系統到檢查小孩子的乖寶寶和淘氣名單等各項工程，加總起來耶誕老人一年應可賺到十三萬九千九百二十四美元（約新台幣四百四十萬元）薪水。

該網站解釋，耶誕老人的工作內容包括，管理馴鹿、閱讀孩子寫的信、包裝禮物、偷偷調查孩子乖不乖、掃煙囪、駕駛雪橇、唱耶誕歌等等。

（自由時報)

Lost sleep leads to loss of brain cells, study suggests 研究：喪失睡眠導致大腦細胞流失

South Korean marines sleep on a ferry in the Yellow Sea on April 10.
南韓海軍陸戰隊隊員四月十日在黃海海域，於渡船上睡覺。

Photo: Reuters
照片：路透社

Sleep loss may be more serious than previously thought, causing a permanent loss of brain cells, research suggests.

In mice, prolonged lack of sleep led to 25 percent of certain brain cells dying, according to a study in The Journal of Neuroscience.

If the same is true in humans, it may be futile to try to catch up on missed sleep, say US scientists.

They think it may one day be possible to develop a drug to protect the brain from the side-effects of lost sleep.

The study looked at lab mice that were kept awake to replicate the kind of sleep loss common in modern life, through night shifts or long hours in the office.

A team at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine studied certain brain cells which are involved in keeping the brain alert.

After several days of sleep patterns similar to those followed by night workers — three days of night shifts with only four to five hours sleep in 24 hours — the mice lost 25 percent of the brain cells.

(Liberty Times)

研究顯示，喪失睡眠會導致大腦細胞永久流失，可能比過去想像的還要嚴重。

針對老鼠的實驗顯示，長期缺乏睡眠導致百分之二十五的特定大腦細胞垂死，根據《神經科學期刊》刊登的研究。

如果相同的情況發生在人類身上，試圖彌補失去的睡眠可能沒有用，美國科學家說。

他們認為，未來或許可能研發出能保護大腦不受喪失睡眠副作用影響的藥物。

這份研究觀察保持醒覺的實驗室老鼠，複製現代生活中因上夜班或長時間工作而常見的喪失睡眠情況。

賓州大學醫學院的團隊，研究與保持大腦警覺相關的大腦細胞。

經過幾天類似夜間工作者的睡眠模式，也就是三天上夜班、每二十四小時只睡四到五小時，老鼠喪失百分之二十五的大腦細胞。

（自由時報／翻譯：自由時報國際新聞中心）

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. prolonged adj. 長期的 

例: Prolonged use of the drug is known to have harmful side-effects.

(長期使用藥物已知會有不良副作用。)

2. futile adj.無益的 

例: It’s quite futile trying to reason with him. He just won’t listen.

(跟他講理沒有用，他不會聽。)

3. catch up v. phr.趕上

例: He was off school for a while and is finding it hard to catch up.

(他離開學校一陣子，現在發現很難趕上。)

BONUS:

A : We have to go back to work tomorrow.

B : I know. It feels like the weekend goes by so incredibly fast.

A : It’s kind of depressing.

B : Try to get to bed earlier tonight. Be sure to get plenty of rest so you can give it your best tomorrow.

A : 明天又要上班了。

B : 對啊！感覺假日時間過超快的。

A : 真令人提不起勁。

B : 今晚早點休息養足精神，明天好好加油吧！

Happy Thanksgiving! 感恩節快樂

感謝

I'm so lucky to have you as my____.

我真幸運有你這樣的____.

*friend 朋友
*boyfriend  男朋友
*girlfriend 女朋友
*husband 老公
*wife 老婆
*colleague  同事
*teacher 老師
*student 學生
*boss老板  

Third of women suffer domestic violence: WHO 世衛︰三分之一婦女承受家暴痛苦

Women hold pictures of victims of violence during a protest to denounce domestic violence against women in Ankara, Turkey on May 11.
女性民眾五月十一日於土耳其安卡拉，在一場抗議對女性家暴的活動中，高舉遇害女子的照片。

Photo: AFP
照片：法新社

About a third of women worldwide have been physically or sexually assaulted by a former or current partner, according to the first major review of violence against women.

In a series of papers released by the World Health Organization and others, experts estimated nearly 40 percent of women killed worldwide were slain by an intimate partner and that being assaulted by a partner was the most common kind of violence experienced by women.

The WHO defined physical violence as being slapped, pushed, punched, choked or being attacked with a weapon. Sexual violence was defined as being physically forced to have sex, having sex because you were afraid of what your partner might do and being compelled to do something sexual that was humiliating or degrading.

The report also examined rates of sexual violence against women by someone other than a partner and found about 7 percent of women worldwide had previously been a victim.

Globally, the WHO review found 30 percent of women are affected by domestic or sexual violence by a partner. The report was based largely on studies from 1983 to 2010. According to the UN, more than 600 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not considered a crime.

(AP)

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. domestic adj.

家庭的；愛家的 (jia1 ting2 de5; ai4 jia1 de5)

例: His second marriage has made him very domestic.

(他的二度婚姻使他變得非常喜愛家庭生活。)

2. compel v.

強迫；使不得不 (qiang1 po4; shi3 bu4 de2 bu4)

例: She was compelled to take the responsibility for her husband’s wrongdoing.

(她不得不承擔她丈夫惡行的責任。)

3. degrading adj.

有辱人格的；丟臉的 (you3 ru4 ren2 ge2 de5; diu2 lian3 de5)

例: The poor man believed that accepting charity was degrading.

(那窮人認為接受施捨有辱人格。)

第一份檢視婦女受暴的重要評論指出，全球約三分之一婦女遭前任或現任伴侶施加身體或性攻擊。

在世界衛生組織與其他單位公布的一系列報告中，專家估計全球近百分之四十遭殺害的婦女是死於親密伴侶之手，而被伴侶攻擊是女性所經歷的最普遍暴力類型。

世衛將身體暴力定義為被掌摑、猛推、拳打、掐頸或武器攻擊。性暴力則定義為被迫性交，亦即性交是因害怕伴侶可能的行動，而被迫從事令人羞辱或有辱人格的性作為。

這份報告也檢視不是遭伴侶施暴的婦女性暴力比率，發現全球約百分之七婦女以前就是受害者。

全球而言，世衛的這份評論發現百分之三十婦女受伴侶家暴或性暴力衝擊。這份報告大幅以一九八三年至二○一○年的研究為基礎。根據聯合國的資料，超過六億婦女生活在不把家暴視作犯罪的國家。

(美聯社／翻譯：魏國金）

Severe headaches tied to suicide attempts: study 嚴重頭痛較易企圖自殺

People with severe headaches, whether migraines or not, may be more likely to attempt suicide, according to a US study of more than a thousand people.

A number of studies over the years have found that people with migraines tend to have a higher suicide rate than those without, but it has not been clear if this is related specifically to the “biology of migraines,” said Naomi Breslau of Michigan State University at East Lansing, who led the study.

The study followed nearly 1,200 Detroit, Michigan-area adults. About 500 of them were migraine sufferers, while 151 had severe headaches that were not migraines. The rest were free of serious headaches and served as a control group. In this study, severe non-migraines were defined as intense headaches lasting more than four hours.

Over two years, the migraine and severe-headache groups had similar rates of attempted suicide. Almost nine percent of migraine sufferers said they had tried to kill themselves, as did 10 percent of those with severe non-migraine headaches, compared with a rate of just over one percent in the control group.

(Reuters)

美國一項針對逾一千人的研究發現，患有嚴重頭痛者，不管是否為偏頭痛，可能較易企圖自殺。

位在東南辛市的密西根州立大學的研究領導者布瑞斯勞表示，歷年來多項研究發現，偏頭痛者自殺率較無偏頭痛者高，但不清楚這是否與「偏頭痛生理因素」有特別相關。

研究追蹤密西根州底特律地區近一千兩百名成年人，其中約五百人為偏頭痛患者，一百五十一人有非偏頭痛的嚴重頭痛，其餘是沒有嚴重頭痛的對照組。在這項研究中，非偏頭痛的嚴重頭痛定義為劇烈頭痛持續逾四小時。

兩年間，偏頭痛與嚴重頭痛組企圖自殺的比率不相上下。有近百分之九的偏頭痛病患表示曾試圖自殺，嚴重頭痛的非偏頭痛病患則有百分之十。對照組想輕生的比率僅逾百分之一。

（路透／翻譯：國際新聞中心）

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. attempt n.

嘗試 (chang2 shi4)

例: This is my second attempt at the exam.

(這是我第二次嘗試這個考試。)

2. tend v.

傾向 (qing1 xiang4)

例: Women tend to live longer than men.

(女性傾向活得比男性長壽。)

3. relate v.

使相關 (shi3 xiang1 guan1)

例: Researchers are saying poor exam results are related to large class sizes.

(研究人員試著將考試低分的原因與班級人數多有關。)

Afternoon naps aid children’s learning 午睡幫助孩子學習

A vendor selling watermelons naps as he waits for customers at a market in Taiyuan, in China’s Shanxi Province on July 17.
一位小販七月十七日在中國山西省太原市一處市場等待顧客上門時，小歇片刻。

Photo: Reuters
照片：路透

Getting young children to take an hour-long nap after lunch could help them with their learning by boosting brain power, a small study suggests.

A nap appeared to help three-to-five-year-olds better remember pre-school lessons, US researchers said.

University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers studied 40 youngsters and reported their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The benefit persisted in the afternoon after a nap and into the next day.

The study authors say their results suggest naps are critical for memory consolidation and early learning. When the children were allowed a siesta after lunch they performed significantly better on a visual-spatial tasks in the afternoon and the next day than when they were denied a midday snooze.

(Liberty Times)

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. nap n.

午睡 (wu3 shui4)

例: Grandpa usually takes a nap after lunch.

(阿公吃過午飯後通常會睡個午覺。)

2. persist v.

持續 (chi2 xu4)

例: The cold weather is set to persist throughout the week.

(這一週都將是寒冷的天氣。)

3. deny n.

拒絕 (ju4 jue2)

例: I was denied the opportunity of learning French at school.

(我在學校沒機會學法文。)

一項小型研究顯示，讓小孩子在午餐後打盹一小時，可能有助他們增強腦力，幫助學習。

美國研究人員說，小睡一番似乎能幫助三到五歲的小孩更能記住學齡前的功課。

麻薩諸塞大學阿默斯特分校的研究人員觀察四十名小孩，並在美國國家科學院院刊報告他們的發現。午睡的好處持續整個下午到隔天。

研究作者說，他們的研究結果顯示，午睡對鞏固記憶力與早期學習至關重要。小孩子要是可以在午餐後睡個午覺，他們在下午與隔天的視覺－空間工作表現，會比不能午睡時明顯較好。

（自由時報／翻譯：自由時報國際新聞中心）