女性單獨度假有顧慮？網站推女性專屬租房軟體 Travel website launches women-only flat rental app to smooth holiday safety concerns.

The solo female traveler market is an increasingly powerful sector in the travel industry. But while solo travel is usually rewarding, safe, and eye-opening, women who take to the road alone usually have more issues to take into account than men. A minority of horror stories of dodgy Airbnb and Couchsurfing hosts can see women flocking to the nearest female-only floor in a hotel. 女性單獨旅行的市場在旅遊業日益蓬勃。儘管獨自旅行一般來說挺安全，往往值回票價也讓人大開眼界，但隻身上路的女性一般要比男性考慮更多的問題。國際租房平臺愛彼迎和沙發客就傳出少數狡猾房東的駭人事件，導致女性房客蜂擁入住最近酒店的女性專屬樓層。

But now one peer-to-peer accommodation site has decided to do something about that, by launching a sub-group dedicated to female hosts and guests.不過現在，一個點對點住宿網站決定改變這種情況。它推出了一個分組功能，承租者和出租者僅限女性。

Overnight – a site and app similar to Airbnb, which allows you to book accommodation with local residents – has teamed up with Girls Love Travel, a women-only online community, to launch "Groups", which will allow home-sharing through trusted networks."過夜"是一個類似於愛彼迎的網站和應用軟體，可讓旅客向當地住戶租房。它已經與專屬女性的網路社區"女生愛旅行"達成合作，推出"小組"功能，讓屋主和旅客利用可靠的社交網路共用住家。

The feature will connect travellers and hosts who share friends or social networking groups in common. With 350,000 members of Girls Love Travel located around the world, it's a promising start. Other networks are in the works to collaborate, too.這個功能可將有共同好友和共屬同一社交網路的旅客和屋主相互連結。與"過夜"平臺合作的"女生愛旅行"社區在全球擁有35萬用戶，前景看好。目前"過夜"平臺也正積極促成與其他網站的合作。

Overnight said in a statement: "While cost is a key issue for travellers, trust is perhaps even more important – both for travellers and home-sharing hosts. This is especially true for female travellers."
租房平臺"過夜"在聲明中表示："旅費對旅客來說很關鍵，但信任對屋主和旅客則更為重要，對女性旅客更是如此。"

Girls Love Travel founder Haley Woods told The Independent:"女生愛旅行"社區的創辦人海莉•伍德茲告訴英國《獨立報》：

"Within the Girls LOVE Travel community, we empower women to go out, travel, and explore the world. The problem is that, when choosing to house-swap or couch-share with a stranger, safety can be a real concern for many of our members. Alternatives such as hotels or hostels can often be pricey, and may delay trips due to budget."女生愛旅行'社區讓女性放心出門旅行，探索世界。但問題是，如果選擇跟陌生人互換房屋或分享沙發，安全問題確實是許多用戶的現實顧慮。入住酒店或旅館往往花費較高，也可能因為預算不足而耽誤行程。"

"Building this partnership between Girls LOVE Travel and Overnight presents members with a peer-to-peer network platform to help answer those concerns by providing members a cost-effective opportunity to stay with ladies they have met within our online community. Overnight provides our members the added benefit of moving beyond the computer with other female travellers, and creating lasting relationships."伍德茲還表示， "'女生愛旅行'社區和'過夜'平臺達成合作，讓使用者利用點對點網路平臺與在網路社區認識的女性同住，藉此消除她們的顧慮。這無疑是一個經濟划算的方法。除此以外，'過夜'平臺也讓用戶從線上走到線下，建立長久的友誼。"

The Groups feature also allows hosts to use tiered pricing, offering lower rates to travellers from their own networks. Overnight says that it discovered hosts were willing to drop prices for guests they have a connection to."小組"功能讓屋主可以採取分級定價的方式，給自己社交網路中的旅客提供更優惠的價格。"過夜"平臺也表示，屋主很願意為這些旅客降價。

Current featured picks on the website include a private room in West Hollywood for $60, and an apartment in Chicago for $100.目前"過夜"網站上的熱門推薦有：一個位於西好萊塢定價60美元的單間，和一套位於芝加哥定價100美元的公寓。

Sun to strike NY streets in magical ‘Manhattanhenge’ 夕陽映照紐約街景 形成「曼哈頓巨石陣」美景

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. align v.對齊 

例: The various parts of the machine are not aligning properly. (此機器多處零件未能適度對齊。)

2. speculate v.預測 

例: It’s still too early to speculate about which candidate will win the election.(現在預測哪位候選人會當選還言之過早。)

3. effect n.效應 

例: What sort of effect do you think these changes will have in the near future?

(你認為這些改變會在不久的將來帶來什麼樣的效應呢？)

It is dubbed “Manhattanhenge” and happens semiannually when the sun aligns at dusk with streets in a glowing magic trick as rays of sunlight span across New York perfectly, from west to east.

“Manhattanhenge may just be a unique urban phenomenon in the world,” says astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, of the American Museum of Natural History, who officially discovered the phenomenon.

The name “Manhattanhenge” is a play on Manhattan, this city’s most famous borough, and Stonehenge, the megalithic monument in southern England with large stone blocks set out in concentric circles.

At Stonehenge, the sun crosses the site’s central axis during the summer and winter solstices, leading experts to speculate that the site could have been used as a sort of sun calendar, as well as for religious ceremonies.

But in Manhattan, the phenomenon takes place before and after the summer solstices when at dusk but before sunset, the sun neatly matches up with the even-numbered streets running west and east, sending out fingers of light.

“As a kid I visited Stonehenge in the Salisbury Plain of England and did research on other stone monuments across the British Isles,” deGrasse Tyson told AFP.

“So I was, in a way, imprinted by the emotional power that terrestrial alignments with the sun can have on a culture or civilization.”

“Any city crossed by a rectangular grid can identify days where the setting sun aligns with their streets. But a closer look at such cities around the world shows them to be less than ideal for this purpose,” he stressed.

DeGrasse Tyson first started thinking about the “Manhattanhenge” effect back in 1996. It was not until five years later, July 2001, that he took a photo of the sun-meets-skyscrapers display.It and others were published in 2002 in a special edition of Natural History Magazine called “City of Stars,” he said. And the effect began to become better known.

(AFP）

美國自然歷史博物館天體物理學家尼爾‧德格拉斯泰森說：「『曼哈頓巨石陣』可能只是世上一個特殊的都會現象。」德格拉斯泰森也是此現象的正式發現者。

在紐約最負盛名的曼哈頓區內，「曼哈頓巨石陣」是該區上演的一齣劇。這名稱類似英國南部的巨石陣，這些巨石遺跡以同心圓排列。

太陽光在夏至與冬至正好穿越英國巨石陣的中心軸線，引起專家們做出預測，認為巨石陣可能被當作一種日曆與宗教儀式的用途。

但在曼哈頓，此現象發生於夏至前與後，日落前的黃昏，這個時間，太陽日落軌跡恰巧與紐約棋盤式東西向的偶數街道，不偏不倚地對齊，放射出指針般的光芒。

德格拉斯泰森告訴法新社說：「我小時候去過英國索爾斯堡平原的巨石陣，並對其他遍及不列顛群島的巨石遺跡做過研究。」

他說：「陸地與太陽軌道對齊的現象，從某方面來說，對於文明也扮演重要的角色，也就是這種撼動人心的力量，讓我銘記在心。」

他強調說：「只要有棋盤式道路的城市，太陽照射軌跡與街道對齊，就能得知今天是什麼日子。但細究世界上的這些城市會發現，這並非是個理想預測日子的方法。」

德格拉斯泰森早在一九九六年，首度想到「曼哈頓巨石陣」的現象。直到五年後，也就是二零零一年七月，他才用影像記錄太陽遇見摩天大樓的景象。

他說，這與其他標題為「星光之城」的攝影作品集，於二零零二年以特刊方式，刊載於《自然歷史雜誌》。自此之後，該效應更廣為人知。

（法新社／翻譯：林亞蒂）

Nonagenarian volunteers to help younger seniors 九十多歲阿嬤志工 服務年輕老人

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. enthusiastic adj. 熱情的；熱烈的

例: Investors are enthusiastic about the new free trade agreement.

(投資家熱烈期待新的自由貿易協定。)

2. optimistic adj.樂觀的 

例: We are optimistic about the future. (我們對未來樂觀。)

3. depressed adj.沮喪的；憂鬱的 

例: Since Helen’s cat died, she just lies in bed all day. I think she’s depressed.

(海倫的貓死了之後，她每天躺在床上都不起來。我覺得她很憂鬱。)

At the ripe old age of 91, Ho Chao-chih is one of the most enthusiastic volunteers serving at the local care center in Liouying District’s Bawong Village in Greater Tainan. She cheerfully wields a hoe to plant fruits and vegetables, which are administered to the needy. “She’s the oldest grandmother [here], and all of the people she helps are younger than her, but she’s more serious about her work than anyone.”台南市柳營區的八翁社區關懷據點志工何招治雖已九十一歲，仍積極投入志工服務，還拿著鋤頭栽種蔬果分送其他老人，樂在其中。「阿嬤的年紀最大，服務對象都比她小，但她當志工比誰都認真！」

Last week the Tainan City Government organized an educational training course about volunteering in Hsiaying District, inviting experts to talk about skills used when serving as a volunteer. Many volunteers from care centers in Siaying, Liouchia and Liouying registered and attended the event. Attracting the most attention, however, was “elder volunteer” Ho. 台南市政府上週在下營舉辦志工教育基礎訓練課程，請學者專家傳授志工服務技巧，不少下營、六甲、柳營等區的社區關懷志工報名參加，其中最受矚目的，就是「老志工」何招治。 八翁社區發展協會總幹事彭月葉表示，社區關懷據點在十二年前成立時，熱心助人的何阿嬤就擔任志工，幫人量血壓，並身兼環保志工，幫忙打掃社區環境；逢年過節也和大家一起做菜包和碗粿，再分送獨居老人和關懷對象。

Bawong Community Development Association president Peng Yue-yeh says that when the village’s care center was first established 12 years ago, the altruistic Ho began serving as a volunteer right away, helping people check their blood pressure and keeping the environment clean around the community. During the Lunar New Year and other festivals, she joins everyone in making vegetable steamed buns and bowled rice cakes, delivering them to seniors who live alone or people in need.
Ho says that staying optimistic naturally keeps you in good health. Her children have invited her to live with them, but she cannot bear to be separated from her neighbors of many years, so she still lives alone. No one has to worry about her and she even has enough energy to serve as a volunteer. She often jests, “Farming is an exercise for the others but for me it is labor,” but everyone knows that she actually enjoys doing it. 何阿嬤強調：「心情開朗，身體自然就會好。」子女邀她同住，但她捨不得老鄰居，迄今仍自己住，完全不用人操心，還有餘力做志工。她目前仍拿著鋤頭耕種二分地，種了不少蔬果，除了給自己和家人吃，還送給附近的老人。「別人種田是運動，我種田是勞動啦！」她常這樣調侃自己，周遭的人都知道其實她樂在其中。

Ho is always happy to help others. One time when all of her old neighbor’s children had passed away and the neighbor was depressed and stayed at home all day, Ho noticed this and would come up with any reason she could think of to visit the neighbor every day to lift her spirits. Ho spent a lot of energy taking her to participate in community activities or to chat with people at the care centers until finally the neighbor came out of her depression and made a social comeback. 樂於助人的她，先前看到一位老鄰居因為子女過世而陷入憂鬱，整天關在家裡。為免對方想不開，何阿嬤每天都找盡理由，強拉對方參加社區活動，或到關懷據點和大家聊天，費了不少心力，終於把老鄰居拉進人群，且慢慢變開朗。

(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat) （自由時報記者黃博郎）