Better English skills urged for Taiwan's civil servants

公務人員英文能力有待加強

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20 / Authorities at the Examination Yuan have promised to consider President Ma Ying-jeou's recent suggestion that everyone who wishes to join the civil service should be tested in English proficiency.
It is a good idea to requireapplicants to take an English test as part of civil-service employee recruitment. It should help elevate civil servants' level of English proficiency in this country. This measure would be a significant step toward making our government employees more competent.
In Taiwan, most people speak no English. Lack of English-language ability is likely to cause major difficulties in our everyday life. There is a growing number of foreigners living on this island, yet the vast majority of our citizens neither speak nor understand English. Even college graduates, who are supposed to have studied English for at least 10 years, are mostly unable to make themselves understood in this foreign language.
As we have pointed outtime and again in our editorials, this deplorablesituation is due mainly to the way English is taught in public schools and universities. In this age of the Internet, good English skills are essential for keeping up with what's happening in the rest of the world.
We hope the Examination Yuan will carry out Ma's suggestion at an early date. It is also our hope that the Ministry of Education will do its part in upgrading students'
level of English proficiency.

◎proficiency(n.)精通；熟練
If you want to join the diplomatic corps, you must have good language proficiency.

◎elevate(v.)提高；提升
The professor wished to help his students elevate their general knowledge.

◎competent(adj.)有能力的；能勝任的
Mike is more than competent at his job, and deserves a promotion.

◎deplorable(adj.)糟糕的
The deplorable beating was caught on video.

◎essential(adj.)必要的；不可或缺的
It is essential to have enough money when you travel overseas.

◎carry out實行；實現
A good employee should always carry out his instructions.

◎upgrade(v.)使升級；提升
My computer crashes so much that I am going to upgrade it next week.

◎time and again屢次；一再地
My dad told me time and again to close my mouth when eating food.

◎in this age of something在…時代
In this age of technology, it seems everybody has a mobile phone.

◎keep up with something跟上…；趕上…
Every family should have a computer if they want to keep up with the times.

To believe or not to believe 眼見為憑？

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20 / People say that seeing is believing－really? Take for example the openingceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. It went beyond the pale for organizers to fake a song before a live audience of 91,000 inside the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium, with billions also watching at home. Lin Miaoke, a cute nine-year-old girl, sang "Ode to the Motherland" in an angelic voice. Two days later, the Chinese media broke the news that Lin Miaoke had lip-synched the song, which was in fact sung by a different girl, who is not as cute in appearance.
It is unthinkable that Chen Qigang, general music director of the opening ceremony, could let such a thing happen in the first place. Maybe the pressure was too strong to let him stick to his principles. "The reason was for national interests," Chen said. "The child on stage should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression," Chen added.
It is unacceptable, even immoral, to cheat an audience for whatever reason. The Olympics are about fair competition and sportsmanship. That's why the International Olympic Committee has been strictly enforcing its anti-doping (反藥物) program.
Doping is defined as the use of a performance-enhancing substance by athletes in competition. By extension(延伸), the use of somebody else's voice other than one's own is also an act of performance enhancing. It makes a travesty of the Olympic spirit.

◎fake(v.)偽造；假造

It is pretty normal for teenagers to fake an illness to get off school.

◎angelic(adj.)如天使般的
The choirboy's angelic face lit up the church as he sang the priest's favorite hymn.

◎flawless(adj.)完美無瑕的
The diamond fetched a huge sum when it went to auction because it was flawless.

◎immoral(adj.)不道德的
Without a set of principles for guidance, a person might indulge in immoral activities.

◎enforce(v.)執行；實施The best way to enforce a law is to fine anyone who breaks it.

◎substance(n.)物質
The president's staff alerted the authorities after discovering a white substance in the

mail.

◎travesty(n.)歪曲；曲解
It was deemed a travesty of justice when the court acquitted(宣告...無罪)the

gangster of all charges.

◎beyond the pale越軌；超出界線
Blake went beyond the pale when he started shouting at James in public.

◎in the first place首先；一開始
He only has himself to blame for the accident, as he shouldn't have driven home in the

first place.

◎stick to something忠於…；信守…
By sticking to the plan, the students hoped to finish their project on time.

Upgrading the quality of higher education in Taiwan 提昇台灣高等教育品質

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20 / The number of universities and colleges has grown so rapidly that there are now more places available in Taiwan's institutions than there are students applying. As a result, a college education is accessible to almost everyone.
In fact, that was the dream of the scholars who helped reform the education system. Over a decade ago, they advocated that restrictions on the establishment of schools be lifted. This resulted in some schools even being established from scratch.
However, problems have developed. For starters, many of the new universities are rather inadequate. They don't have enough sophisticated equipment, and faculty members often lack experience. Moreover, there are now so many institutions that schools find it difficult to recruit students, and some have to close down programs. Taiwan's quality of higher learning has therefore declined.
The government has noticed this need to emphasize quality. The Ministry of Education plans to implementa series of measures to check the expansion of higher education. In addition, scholars have called fora freeze on(凍結) the founding of new institutions, as there are already enough schools to satisfy the needs of students. Moreover, given that(假如；考慮到)the birth rate has been steadilyshrinking, the number of young people going to college will decrease in the years ahead. It is urgent that therelevant authoritiestake steps inreaction to this trend.

◎institution(n.)機構
A number of financial institutions around the world are involved in aid work.

◎accessible(adj.)可得到的；可及的
Tourists can't drive to the quiet Greek beach, as it is only accessible by boat.

◎advocate(v.)主張；提倡
The right-wing politician advocated zero tolerance toward illegal immigrants.

◎inadequate(adj.)不充分的；無法勝任的
Sarah felt a little inadequate at the contest because she was competing against professionalchefs.

◎sophisticated(adj.)複雜精密的；先進的
The army use sophisticated devices to hit targets kilometers away.

◎expansion(n.)擴展；擴張
Village elders were concerned that the factory's expansion would harm the environment.

◎shrink(v.)縮小；變少
If you wash your clothes too much, they might shrink.

◎from scratch從頭開始；從頭做起
Instead of buying a boat, the two brothers decided to build one from scratch.

◎for starters首先
Weddings require a lot of planning. For starters, you need to find a nice dress.

◎take steps採取行動
After upsetting the teacher, Tommy took steps to get back in his good books.

Disturbing suicide rate among young people 青少年自殺率攀升，令人擔憂

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20 / Suicide has become the third leading cause of death among Taiwan's young people, with 238 teens and young adults committing suicide in 2007, according to the non-profit John Tung Foundation.
It is imperative that the government redouble its efforts to prevent suicide attempts by the island's youth.
Some teenagerssuffering fromdepression do disclose(透露)that they are contemplating suicide, and schools and family members should provide timelyassistance and counseling to avert(防止) such tragedies, foundation officials added. Teachers, parents, and all others who are concerned about the well-being of our young people should pay attention to the rise in the youth suicide rate.
In our culture, adults are inclined to push young people to succeed. This tendency, though well-intentionedin most cases, may be a factor in a young person's coming under too much pressure. Instead of pressuring their children to do well on all tests and examinations, parents and teachers should emphasize the development of mental and physical health in youth and help them cultivatea positive outlook on life.
The rise in the suicide rate among young people is also linked to today's young people receiving so much protection that they are too fragile to withstand(抵擋;禁得起) life's blows (打擊). It is essential that schools provide their students with such training that will mold them into(塑造成)spiritually strong individuals.

◎redouble(v.)使加倍；加強
After the surprise attack, the army redoubled its efforts to win the war.

◎attempt(n.)企圖；試圖
It will take you about 10 attempts to grab the toy out of the machine.

◎depression(n.)抑鬱；沮喪
It's extremely hard to be interested in life when one is depressed.

◎timely(adj.)及時的；適時的
The timely administration of medicine can save a sick person's life.

◎ emphasize(v.)強調
In a speech, our teacher emphasized to us the importance of doing what we love.

◎cultivate(v.)培養；陶冶
Our mother sent us to prep school in the hopes that we will cultivate some manners.

◎fragile(adj.)脆弱的；易碎的
After being sick for so long, his body was too fragile to be able to play sports.

◎be inclined to...傾向於…
Parents are always inclined to think the best of their children.

◎(though) well-intentioned（儘管）出於善意
His actions, though well-intentioned, caused us more work.

◎be linked to...與…有關
The increased prices of bus tickets are linked to the increased prices of gas.

Maternity leave for students 學生請產假

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20 / One thing we don't quite understand is why the local press should hype the maternity leave the Ministry of Education has decided to grant high-school girls. Perhaps there was no other issue the local media thought interesting enough to attract readers and viewers.
Such help is already available in all developed countries of the world, however. In the United States, for instance, high-school mothers can even feed their babies between classes. But, this seemingly insignificant piece of news did not escape the eyes of reporters with a nose for news(對新聞有覺察力), like those of a bloodhound for game. They wanted a hullabaloo(喧鬧).
Fortunately, they did not succeed. The reason is simple. Taiwanese parents mostly agreed that something had to be done for hapless girls carrying babies while attending high school. Awarding them maternityleave is the least the education ministry can and should do to help them. There are not many high-school mothers, but that does not mean the authorities should ignore their predicament. For one thing, they are, as often as not, ostracized by their peers. As a result, many pregnant teens abort unwanted babies. Most of the new mothers drop out of school, with little chance to complete secondary education.
The authorities should also improve sex education. Students must fully understand they are not ready yet for parenthoodeconomically and mentally.
At any rate, it is of paramount(最重要的)importance that all students realize that all newborn babies are welcome.

◎maternity(n.)母性；母親的身分
Many stores sell maternity dresses, which are bigger around the mid-section.

◎hype(v.)大肆宣傳或報導
He knew to hype the fair by placing performers at the entrance.

◎developed(adj.)已開發的；發展成熟的
Humans are normally fully developed by around 18 years of age.

◎bloodhound(n.)獵犬
Airport police sometimes use bloodhounds to sniff out drugs.

◎hapless(adj.)不幸的；運氣不好的
An old grandmother was the hapless victim of a purse-snatcher.

◎predicament(n.)處境；困境
Billy was in a predicament when he couldn't find his passport at the border.

◎ostracize(v.)排斥；排擠
Chubby children are sometimes ostracized by their classmates.

◎escape the eyes of...逃過…的法眼
The thief couldn't escape the eyes of the alert police officers and was promptly

arrested.

◎as often as not往往
She is, as often as not, always grounded for trying to sneak out of the house.

◎as a result結果；因而
We fell asleep, and as a result, missed the countdown.