International Day of Peace 國際和平日

Vocabulary: Self study/Review here

1. Global (adj)
2. Headquarters (n.)
3. Commitment (n.)
4. Workshop (n.) 研討會，討論會
5. Speech (n.) 演說；發言；談話
6. Celebrate (v.)
7. Individual (n.)
8. Support (n.)
9. Colleague (n.)
10. seriously (adv.)
11. something devoted to something: 將…貢獻給，把…奉獻給 EX: September 21st is devoted to peace.
12. war torn: 飽經戰亂的；受戰爭蹂躪的
    EX:It is a long-term task to rebuild the infrastructure of a war-torn country such as Angola.重建像安哥拉這樣飽受戰爭蹂躪的國家的基礎設施是一項長期的任務。

13. prayer: 禱文，禱詞

EX: a prayer of thanks 表示感謝的禱文

She always says her prayers (= prays) before she goes to sleep. 她睡前總要念禱文。

The International Day of Peace should be one of the most important days of the year. It occurs annually [every year] on September 21st. It is dedicated to peace as well as the absence [不存在；缺乏]of war. This day also serves as a global ceasefire [停火協定] day. Many countries, political groups and military groups observe [obey a custom] it. The day starts when the U.N. rings the “Peace Bell” at its New York headquarters. This bell was a gift from the people of Japan. There is a message on the side of the bell that says: "Long live absolute [total] world peace." The U.N. said: "Peace Day should be devoted to commemorating [officially respect] and strengthening the ideals[理想；標準極高的原則] of peace [and] that our permanent [長久的；永久的] commitment, above all interests [利益，好處] or differences of any kind, is to peace."

Thousands of Peace Day events take place around the world every year. These include concerts involving rock superstars to football tournaments [錦標賽] for peace and baking cakes for peace. Many organizations hold educational workshops in schools, especially those in war-torn countries. Nobel Peace Prize laureates [諾貝爾獎得獎者] also make speeches to show the world their work has not finished. Anyone can celebrate Peace Day. It can be a simple, individual act such as lighting a candle and saying a prayer. For those who want to be more active, it can involve getting the support of friends and colleagues to plan a large event. Hopefully, this day will take off and people will think about peace more seriously.

++ This is taken from my 8th grade Social Studies class.

讓我們花片刻時間靜靜思考一下。Peace Meditation

Ex-boyfriend in Facebook rage attack臉友惹惱前男友 國三生毆國三生

Is Facebook the cause of this calamity? A male high-school student from Hsinchu, surnamed Wu, and a female student, both in the same grade, intimately interacted on Facebook. The female student’s ex-boyfriend, surnamed Lin, also in the third grade, became aware of this and unbelievably, together with classmates and wielding a wrench, dealt a blow to Wu’s head, causing injuries.

(Video for parents)

The judge found that Lin, on seeing Wu’s frequent intimate interaction on Facebook with his ex-girlfriend, became resentful and decided to wait for an opportunity to teach Wu a lesson. On the afternoon of March 2 last year, in league with fellow third-grade classmates surnamed Lo and Tsai — and carrying a wrench used for vehicle maintenance, approximately 40 centimeters in length — waited for Wu next to the Jiew Sheh Elementary School basketball court.

After Wu had been invited to the court, he was surrounded by the three students. Lin suddenly took out the previously concealed wrench and struck Wu on the right temple and left cheekbone twice in quick succession, then ran off. Wu’s face, scalp and neck were bruised and there was an open wound to the right side of his face two to three centimeters wide. The attack also caused nervous anxiety, insomnia, recurring thoughts of the incident, associated post-traumatic stress reaction and mental and physical illness. Lo and his father have been asked to pay NT$200,000 in joint damages.

(Liberty Times, Translated by Edward Jones)

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. interact v. 互動 

例: John never interacted with anyone outside of his close circle of friends.

(約翰從不與自己親密交友圈外的人互動。)

2. in league with phr. 夥同 

例: We suspect the mayor was in league with the construction industry.

(我們懷疑市長與建築業同流合污。)

3. surround v. 包圍 

例: The police surrounded the criminal, forcing her to surrender.

(警察包圍罪犯迫使她投降。)

都是臉書惹的禍？新竹市吳姓國三男學生與一名同年級女學生在臉書上互動熱絡，女學生的林姓國三前男友得知，竟與同學持鐵扳手痛擊吳生頭部成傷。

法官調查，林生疑因看到吳生在臉書常與其前女友互動熱絡，心生不滿，計畫伺機教訓他，去年三月二日下午攜帶長約四十公分鐵製修車用扳手，夥同羅姓與蔡姓國三生在舊社國小籃球場旁等候吳生。

吳生被約出到場後，遭三人包圍，林生突然拿出預藏鐵扳手，朝吳生右額頭太陽穴與左邊臉部顴骨連續重敲二下後逃逸，吳生臉部、頭皮及頸部挫傷，右臉開放性傷口達二至三公分，且造成精神焦慮、失眠、反覆回想事件等創傷後壓力反應，身心受創，訴請羅生與其父親連帶賠償二十萬元。

（自由時報記者蔡彰盛）