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缤纷世界精典短篇文选八则

吃剩快餐贻鼠患？
'g"fb ^M^k7k)f 　　Fast Food Scraps Threaten Rat Plague? (Y2Q y-A B&a A;V

!J Y2t'D{E 　　Britain is facing a sharp rise in its rat population as growing numbers of people leave fast food scraps in the street, an environment group warned. Keep Britain Tidy said the rodents were abandoning their traditional haunts underground and were roaming the streets, enticed by discarded remnants of burgers, pizzas and crisps. "The rat population is on the rise and soon it'll be as common to see a rodent on our street as it is to see a dog or a cat," said group Director, Sue Nelson. The practice of dumping fast food litter and scraps on the street rather than in the trash - with young men the worst offenders - was behind the rise. According to the National Rodent Survey in 2001, Britain's rat population has grown by nearly one quarter since 1998 and is now estimated at 60 million, two million more than the human population. On average a rat can give birth every 24-28 days and just a single pair of rats can produce a colony of 2,000 a year. Around 200 Britons a year contract Weil's Disease - an infection which can lead to kidney or liver failure and eventually death and which is carried in rat's urine. To highlight the issue, Keep Britain Tidy launched a cinema advert entitled "How close do you want them to get?" The ad culminates in a shocking image of a young woman sleeping in a bed of rats - echoing the nightmare scenario from James Herbert's classic horror tale The Rats, in which mutant rodents begin to prey on humans.
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　　一个环保组织发出警告：由于越来越多的人把吃剩的快餐扔在大街上，英国的老鼠数量正在急剧上升。“保持英国清洁”组织说，人们抛弃的汉堡包、比萨饼和土豆条残渣正在诱使习惯在地下活动的鼠类转而到大街上漫步。“老鼠数量正在增长，很快在街上看到老鼠就会和看到猫狗一样平常，”该组织负责人苏-尼尔森说。老鼠增多的背后是往大街上而不是垃圾箱里乱扔快餐垃圾和残渣的行为--年轻人是其中的罪魁祸首。根据2001年的国家鼠类调查，英国的老鼠数量自1998年来增长了将近1/4，目前估计为6千万只，比英国人口还多2百万。老鼠平均每24至28天就可生产一次，仅仅一对老鼠一年就能繁殖出一个2000只的鼠群。每年大约有200个英国人感染威尔氏症--一种能导致肾或肝功能衰竭直至死亡的传染病，病源在老鼠的尿液中。为引起人们对这一问题的注意，“保持英国清洁”推出了名为“你希望它们靠得多近？”的影院宣传片。宣传片的高潮是一幅令人震惊的画面：一个年轻妇女睡在一张满是老鼠的床上--这是对詹姆斯-赫伯特的经典恐怖故事《老鼠》中梦魇般的景象的模拟。在那个故事中，变异的老鼠开始捕食人类。
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　　Remarks：冒着人人喊打的风险上街的这些老鼠显然没有继承到前辈的智慧--在《伊索寓言》中，一只乡下老鼠选择了田间粗茶淡饭的太平日子而不是城里担惊受怕的奢华生活。IaP T5a
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[[i] 本帖最后由 tofu 于 2006-4-1  23:16 编辑 [/i]]

百岁大奖
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i%}*H3Cb d8r 　　100-Year-Old Rewards Doctor CX~{EIl
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　　Israel Haimowitz made a deal with his doctor 15 years ago - get me to 100 and I'll buy you a European vacation. On Sept 5, 2002, Haimowitz is celebrating his 100th birthday. And Dr. Robert Drimmer and his wife are looking forward to a trip to London next summer. "I hate to take his money," Drimmer said, but Haimowitz "would be mad if I didn't go." Haimowitz, a retired furniture salesman, said it's the least he can do. The native of Brooklyn, N.Y., is in good health, complaining only occasionally of fatigue. He moved to Florida 16 years ago. "To get a doctor down here that's considerate of his patients is difficult," Haimowitz said. He credits his longevity and health to drinking two ounces of cognac daily, along with eating five Danish butter cookies. Haimowitz, who just renewed his driver's license, said he plans to stick around awhile. "When I don't feel good, I don't want to be here. But when I feel as I do now, I want to live to 120," he said.

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　　伊斯里尔-海莫威茨与他的医生达成了一项交易--让我活到100岁，我就送你去欧洲度假。2002年9月5日，海莫威茨在庆祝他的百岁寿辰，而罗伯特-德雷默医生和他的妻子也在期待着来年夏天的伦敦之旅。“我真的不想花他的钱，”德雷默说，可是海莫威茨“会因我不去而发疯。”退休家具推销员海莫威茨说这是他所能做的最起码的事。海莫威茨是纽约布鲁克林人，他健康状况良好，只是偶尔为疲劳所苦。16年前，海莫威茨搬到了佛罗里达。他说：“在这儿找一个会悉心照料病人的医生可不容易。”海莫威茨把自己的长寿和健康归功于每天的两盎司白兰地和5块丹麦牛油曲奇。刚刚更新了驾驶执照的海莫威茨说，他打算再活上一段时间。“如果感觉不好，我就不想再逗留了。不过，在感觉如现在般良好的时候，我希望活到120岁，”他说。
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+Y'gB'Cm/S 　　Remarks：也许这位老先生没有意识到：“感觉良好”才是他长寿的真正秘诀--如果活得没了感觉，想“逗留”也不太容易哩。

生在秋天的好处G+i:};lYI1[G!kO"T

8M_*]:N\0x_5W 　　People Born in Autumn Live Longer ]yP,R-U

z-r*^ fb6u*N 　　People born in the autumn live longer than those born in the spring and are less likely to fall chronically ill when they are older, according to an Austrian scientist. Using census data for more than one million people in Austria, Denmark and Australia, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in the northern German town of Rostock found the month of birth was related to life expectancy over the age of 50. Seasonal differences in what mothers ate during pregnancy, and infections occurring at different times of the year could both have an impact on the health of a new-born baby and could influence its life expectancy in older age. "A mother giving birth in spring spends the last phase of her pregnancy in winter, when she will eat less vitamins than in summer," said Gabriele Doblhammer, one of a team of scientists who carried out the research. "When she stops breast-feeding and starts giving her baby normal food, it's in the hot weeks of summer when babies are prone to infections of the digestive system." In Austria, adults born in autumn (October-December) lived about seven months longer than those born in spring (April-June), and in Denmark adults with birthdays in autumn outlived those born in spring by about four months. In the southern hemisphere, the picture was similar. Adults born in the Australian autumn - the European spring - lived about four months longer than those born in the Australian spring. The study focused on people born at the beginning of the 20th century, using death certificates and census data. Although nutrition at all times of the year has improved since then, the seasonal pattern persists, Doblhammer said. h+RWaV3w1M
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　　一位奥地利科学家认为，秋天出生的人比生在春天的人活得长，在上了年纪的时候也更不容易得慢性病。马克斯-普朗克人口研究学院位于德国北部城市罗斯托克，该学院的科学家们通过分析奥地利、丹麦和澳大利亚3国超过100万的人口普查数据得出结论，人们50岁以后的平均寿命与出生月份之间存在关联。母亲在怀孕期间所吃的东西因季节而有不同，一年里不同时间流行的传染病也不一样，两者都会对新生儿的健康发生影响，并进而影响他们到老年时的平均寿命。进行此项研究的科学家小组成员加布里埃尔-多布哈默说：“春天分娩的母亲孕期的最后阶段适逢冬季，因此她摄入的维生素要比夏季时少。她停止哺乳开始让婴儿正常进食的时候又正好赶上夏天最热的那几个星期，这时候婴儿容易发生消化系统感染。“在奥地利，秋天(10至11月)出生的成人大约要比春天(4至6月)出生的多活7个月，而在丹麦这一差异大约是4个月。南半球的情况也差不多。生于澳洲秋天--欧洲的春天--的成人寿命比春天出生的长大约4个月。研究者们使用死亡证明和人口普查数据作为参考资料，主要对象是20世纪初出生的人。多布哈默说，尽管人们在一年中各个时期的营养状况与那时相比都已经有所改善，这样的季节性差异却依然存在。U ^&d+f2`c#^

Ma#qE8H HPl J 　　Remarks：换一个说法，也就是天秤座和天蝎座的人通常比金牛座和双子座的人长寿，你相信吗？

同病相怜
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　　Love Means Sharing the Same Diseases
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　　Married couples share more than their homes, cars and finances - they are also likely to have some of the same diseases, experts say. If a spouse suffers from asthma, depression, peptic ulcers, high blood pressure or raised cholesterol levels, the chances are their partner will be afflicted with the same illness. "Partners of people with specific diseases are at increased risk of the disease themselves - at least 70 percent increased risk for asthma, depression and peptic ulcer disease," Julia Hippisley Cox of the University of Nottingham in northern England said. Cox and her team said the most likely reason for the shared diseases was environment. Married couples usually eat the same foods, are exposed to the same allergens and often have similar exercise patterns, all of which contribute to ailments such as allergies, high blood pressure and raised cholesterol. The scientists studied the medical history of 8,000 married couples, aged 30 to 74. "The findings could have implications for targeting screening or disease prevention measures at partners of participants with one of these diseases," Cox added.
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　　专家指出，已婚夫妇共同分享的不仅是房子、车子和金钱--他们还容易同时患上一些病症。如果其中一方得了哮喘、抑郁症、消化性溃疡、高血压或是胆固醇过高，那么另一方就很可能会遭受同样疾病的折磨。英格兰北部诺丁汉大学的朱丽叶-希皮斯利-科克斯说：“某些特定疾病患者的配偶罹患同样病症的机率(比别的人)要高--就哮喘、抑郁症和消化性溃疡这几种病来说，其机率要高70%。”科克斯和她的研究小组认为，“共享疾病”最可能的原因是环境。一般说来，已婚夫妇吃同样的食物、接触同样的过敏原，锻炼的模式通常也差不多，而这些都是造成过敏症、高血压以及高胆固醇等症。科学家们分析了8000对30到74岁的已婚夫妇的病历。“这一发现可能意味着我们应该对这类疾病患者的配偶实行定向隔离或采取预防措施。”H yqi`;d$D9A*d:N
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　　Remarks：为什么要隔离或预防呢--这样不是离“同年同月同日死”的目标更近了吗？

过期美味
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9P,@&sPH!T#? ] 　　Firm Sold Out-of-Date Food as It Was 'Tasty' ,XY!l-Hc1H f!F

$l _R/q/sV 　　Fine wines and cheese may improve with age, but Japanese consumers were probably shocked to find that one company executive thought Chinese spring rolls did too. That, at least, is what Reiko Yoshida, head of a small food firm in western Japan, told a news conference when asked to explain why her company sold frozen spring rolls and other products that were well past their sell-by date1. "I was told that the products were past their expiry date, but I gave the order to sell them after I tried them and found them tasty," a spokesman for the company, Shinsho, quoted Yoshida as telling a news conference. The company sold about 2,600 frozen spring rolls to stores even though some were nearly six months past their expiry date, the spokesman said. Yoshida accepted now that the company should have thrown the food away after the sell-by date passed and that it would take care from now on. The firm has voluntarily halted business in 21 of its 23 shops around the country for an indefinite period of time. Japanese consumer confidence in food products has been shaken by several recent scandals, include cases of mislabeling. a(?l Cu

Ct*\V|E5ps 　　美酒和干酪也许是越陈越好，不过日本的消费者可能会震惊于这样的事实：一位公司主管认为这一规律也适用于中国春卷。至少，日本西部一个小食品公司的主管吉田玲子(音)在记者招待会上是这么说的，当时人们要求她解释为何她的公司要出售已过期很久的冻春卷和其他产品。公司发言人新胜(音)引用吉田在记者招待会上的话说：“别人告诉我这些产品已经过了保质期，但我还是下令出售，因为我尝过了，味道很好。”这位发言人说，公司卖了大约2600个冻春卷给各家商店，尽管其中一些已经过期将近半年。吉田现在承认公司应该扔掉过期食品，表示以后会对此多加注意。公司并主动无限期关闭了全国23个连锁店中的21个。日本近日发生了几起这样的丑闻，包括乱贴标签的事情，日本消费者对食品的信心因此大受影响。C5Vp)ocQJ

p(~c:J7s!Cg8h*? 　　Remarks：臭猪头自然有烂鼻子的菩萨爱吃，对过期食品的个人爱好无可非议，但不管别人是否有此同好而强行推己及人的做法就有点过分了。5gY7Lu jb0\F{

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Z?X)NR [[i] 本帖最后由 tofu 于 2006-4-1  22:55 编辑 [/i]]

情书公告牌-@k{U(~gE

/ifW.X/b3X#y 　　Paris Invents New Love Messages G/Cnl&a N(C
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　　Declarations of undying devotion will flash across Paris's municipal bulletin boards every 20 seconds next month as the French capital invents a new way to say "I love you" on Valentine's Day. Bertrand Delanoe, the left-wing mayor known for his innovative city festivals, said the electronic boards would carry the best short love letters on February 14 - Valentine's Day - and throughout that weekend, adding that they would "help Parisians tell each other 'I love you'". He urged Parisians to send in their messages with a note indicating which neighbourhood they wanted them to be posted in. A special committee would pick out the best ones to display. The illuminated boards, which normally announce everything from city festivals to traffic warnings, stand at key squares and intersections all around the French capital. H.t$[W5^ Y"h
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　　法国首都巴黎发明了一种在情人节这天说“我爱你”的新方法，下个月中巴黎市各处的市政公告牌上每20秒就会有表达不渝热爱的宣言闪过。以喜欢组织新奇的城市节庆活动著称的左翼巴黎市长伯特兰-迪拉诺说，这些电子公告牌将会在2月14日情人节这天以及此后的周末刊载最动人的简短情书，并宣称它们会“鼓励巴黎人对彼此说‘我爱你’”。他敦促巴黎人交来他们的爱情讯息，同时注明他们希望在哪个地段公布讯息。一个特别委员会将选出最好的一些情书进行展示。这些发光的公告牌分布在巴黎各个主要广场和十字路口，通常被用于公告从城市节庆活动到交通警示的各类事项。
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　　Remarks：市政当局活跃气氛的动机无可非议，只是我以为，就个人来说，这种“爱要让全世界知道”的做法不过是一种轻浮的炫耀或着内心虚弱者的壮胆行为--如果他/她不是真的失踪了的话。
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[[i] 本帖最后由 tofu 于 2006-4-1  22:53 编辑 [/i]]

世界上最好的工作4W Ay1z:q`%^

)F:@ cTc!t3be\4yH 　　World's Greatest Job, Up for Grabs*
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\pLP9zVj 　　Calling all chocoholics. One of Britain's most exclusive grocery stores needs a new chocolate taster - and will pay 35,000 pounds ($54,400) a year for the successful candidate. Fortnum & Mason in London's Piccadilly - one of the capital's most prestigious addresses - is looking for a chocolate buyer to travel the world, taste as much chocolate as possible and select the best for its discerning customers. Daily Telegraph newspaper said the Fortnum's personnel director Cathy O'Neill has already been bombarded with applications after she advertised the post as the "best job in the world." But not all of those interested have the right qualifications. "We only advertised it a couple of days ago," O'Neill told Daily Telegraph. "But already we have had loads of people writing in saying they have absolutely no experience, or they work in the metal industry or something, but they love chocolate." 8gn,~Z
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"itk$cw*I4hge 　　*up for grabs：俚语，意为可得的，易得的，任何人都可能取得的。;w;vAlv

x,E%_mo.DLk 　　所有巧克力爱好者请注意！英国最高档的食品杂货店之一需要一名新的巧克力试吃员--成功的应聘者将得到3万5千英镑(54,400美元)的年薪。位于伦敦皮卡迪利大街--这个都城最负盛名的地点之一--的福特纳姆及梅森商店正在寻找一名巧克力采购员，其职责是环游世界，品尝尽可能多的巧克力并为该店品味不凡的顾客们选出其中最好的品种。《每日电讯报》说，福特纳姆的人事经理凯茜-奥尼尔在广告中称这个职位为“世界上最好的工作”，随之而来的大量求职申请令她应接不暇。“我们几天前才登出广告，”奥尼尔对《每日电讯报》说。“但是我们已经收到了许多人的书面申请。他们说自己毫无经验，或是就职于金属行业，如此等等，但他们喜欢巧克力。”
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　　Remarks：品尝可解馋，旅游可减肥，果然是好工作！

影院的浪漫角落
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*c}QM G AE 　　Romance Blooms in Cozy Corners of Cinemas
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　　Lovers have it tough in India's teeming financial capital, but some of the city's cinemas are playing Cupid to couples longing for time away from prying eyes. For the first time in Bombay, three upmarket cinemas have each set aside a dozen seats, called "Close-Up Corners," for couples wishing to watch a film together. The seats - priced the same as other cinema seats - are bigger and designed for two people with no arm rests between them. In conservative India, where public displays of affection are frowned upon, young men and women rarely dare to even hold hands for fear of censure or getting a "bad name." "This is the ideal place for couples to spend time together," said Hameed Shaikh, general manager of a suburban cinema, adding the "corners" were proving popular with college students. "This is a progressive step. We can't have culture cops dictating how we should behave," said 21-year-old college student P. Vijay outside a movie hall. "It's stupid to be prudish. This should be extended to more theaters in Bombay." Kamal Sharma, manager of another movie hall, said the romantic corners were a big hit even with married couples who often live in cramped, one-room homes that offer little privacy. $g0{9[+U{H3}

Le%M:bjy 　　印度的金融中心孟买人多眼杂，情侣们的日子不太好过，不过这个城市里的一些电影院为渴望远离窥探眼光的爱侣们充当起了丘比特的角色。孟买的3家电影院各自为希望一起看电影的情侣们留出了12个被称为“亲密角落”的座位，这在孟买是破天荒的事情。这些座位--价钱和普通座位一样--比较大，设计得适合两个人坐，中间也没有扶手阻隔。在保守的印度，当众亲昵会引人非议。由于担心受责难或是得到“坏名声”，年轻男女很少敢在公共场合哪怕是牵一下手。“这是爱侣们共度好时光的理想场所，”郊区一家影院的总经理哈米德-沙哈说。他还补充道，事实证明这样的“角落”很受大学生欢迎。“这是一种进步。我们不能让文化警察来专断我们的举止，”在一间影院外面，21岁的大学生P-维贾说。“蠢人才会假正经。这种做法应该在孟买更多的影院中推广。”另一间影院的经理卡马尔-沙马说，浪漫角落甚至对已婚夫妇也很有吸引力，因为他们的住所往往非常狭窄，只有一个房间，几乎没有隐私可言。
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kcl\zBl&m 　　Remarks：亲密关系是否需要展览是个人选择问题，而尊重个人选择的自由空气是应当鼓励的．

稻草人与笼中鸟
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-uq0U;Ti)z!y 　　Scarecrow Guards Jail Birds
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w!UH ^W;w"Kg1kf 　　A judge on an inspection visit to a Brazilian jail discovered a straw scarecrow dressed in police uniform on the watchtower "guarding" some 735 jail birds, police said. The judge removed the scarecrow, which had apparently been manning the watchtower for days, and took it to the court as evidence. Police opened an investigation. "It is considered a grave breach of security rules," a police spokesman said, adding that a prison guard or a police officer should have been on the tower at all times. The Taubate Provisional Detention Center for prisoners awaiting trial near Brazil's biggest city of Sao Paulo was opened at the end of 2001 and has already had one publicized escape via an underground tunnel. Brazil's prison system is plagued with break-outs and violent riots due to extreme overcrowding, lack of funds and poor pay for prison officers.
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`0?Pf{1|U 　　巴西警方说，一位法官到巴西一座监狱视察，结果发现在了望塔中“看守”着735名囚犯的竟然是一个穿着警服的稻草人。法官拿走了稻草人--显然它已经在这个岗位上呆了不少日子了--并将它呈上法庭作为证物。警方已经展开调查。“我们认为这严重违反了安全条例，”警方发言人说，并指出任何时候了望塔上都应该有一名监狱警卫或是警官。等候审判的陶贝特临时拘留中心位于巴西最大城市圣保罗附近，2001年底才启用，但这里已经发生过了一起广为人知的犯人通过地道逃走的事件。巴西的监狱系统存在着严重的越狱和暴力骚乱问题，原因是监狱极度拥挤、缺乏资金以及监狱管理人员收入过低。H@:Ua;sf8S U


k!s i(a{%\-L5zv 　　Remarks：挖地道逃走的犯人一定感到了莫大的耻辱--居然被稻草人吓到了，没敢堂而皇之地从地面上出去。