Northern Ireland's Paisley steps down

Northern Ireland's Paisley steps down

Ian Paisley, a giant of Northern Ireland politics for 40 years, has
quit as leader of the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
The 82-year-old Paisley handed over the leadership of his party to
Peter Robinson, who becomes First Minister of the British province
next week. Paisley helped bring stability to Northern Ireland after
three decades of civil unrest by finally agreeing to share power
with one-time republican rivals Sinn Fein, formerly the political
wing of the Catholic paramilitary group the Irish Republican Army
(IRA).

佩斯利話別　北愛政治進入新時代

佩斯利告別演說（英語）

北愛爾蘭首席部長佩斯利星期六（5月31日）將正式辭任民主統一黨領袖，標誌當地政治進入新時代。

領導民主統一黨超過40年的佩斯利星期六將把領導權移交給副黨魁羅賓遜。

在將要告別政壇之際，這位北愛政壇大老在貝爾法斯特出席了民主統一黨為他舉行的告別晚宴，並發表了作為黨魁的最後一次演說。

佩斯利表示，他希望愛爾蘭共和軍的軍事委員會能解散，北愛警權也能下放。

他說：“教人驚喜的轉變已經出現了，請上帝讓我們能看到它開花結果。”

“我們期盼能看見警權下放到人民手中，但是在那些迫在眉睫的問題得到完滿解決以前，這不可能實現。”

包括民主統一黨黨員、英國下議院議長、北愛事務大臣和威爾士首席部長等超過350人出席了星期五（30日）晚上的告別晚宴，送別一手創立民主統一黨的佩斯利。

羅賓遜接任黨魁後，得等到星期二（6月3日）才會從佩斯利手中接過北愛首席部長一職。

Ne'er cast a clout till May be out

Ne'er cast a clout till May be out

With most phrases and sayings the meaning is well understood but the origin is uncertain. With this one the main interest is the doubt about the meaning. So, this time, we'll have the origin first.

Origin

'Ne'er cast a clout till May be out' is an English proverb. The earliest citation is this version of the rhyme from Dr. Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732, although it probably existed in word-of-mouth form well before that:

"Leave not off a Clout Till May be out.

Meaning

Let's look first at the 'cast a clout' part. The word 'clout', although archaic, is straightforward. Since at least the early 15th century 'clout' has been used variously to mean 'a blow to the head', 'a clod of earth or (clotted) cream' or 'a fragment of cloth, or clothing'. It is the last of these that is meant in 'cast a clout'. This was spelled variously spelled as clowt, clowte, cloot, clute. Here's an early example, from the Early English Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, circa 1485:

"He had not left an holle clowt, Wherwith to hyde hys body abowte."

So, 'ne'er cast a clout...' simply means 'never discard your [warm winter] clothing...'.

The 'till May be out' part is where the doubt lies. On the face of it this means 'until the month of May is ended'.

There is another interpretation. In England, in May, you can't miss the Hawthorn. It is an extremely common tree in the English countryside, especially in hedges. Hawthorns are virtually synonymous with hedges. As many as 200,000 miles of hawthorn hedge were planted in the Parliamentary Enclosure period, between 1750 and 1850. The name 'Haw' derives from 'hage', the Old English for 'hedge'.

The tree gives its beautiful display of flowers in late April/early May. It is known as the May Tree and the blossom itself is called May. Using that allusion, 'till May is out' could mean, 'until the hawthorn is out [in bloom]'.

Other rhymes in which May is ambiguous are:

- April showers bring forth May flowers.

- Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date. (Shakespeare's Sonnet 18)

The Hawthorn has long been a potent symbol of rebirth and appears, as May, in other old rhymes. For example, 'Here we go gathering nuts in May'. That is probably a corruption of 'here we go gathering knots of May [blossom]'. After all, there are no nuts to collect in England until Autumn - certainly not in May.

Putting the case for the month, as opposed to the flower...

A French proverb - 'En avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil; en mai, fais ce qui te plaît'. This translates as 'In April, do not shed a single thread; in May, do as you please', which has much the same meaning as 'ne'er cast a clout...'.

Captain John Stevens's work, 'A New Spanish and English Dictionary', published in London in 1706, translates a Spanish proverb, as "Do not leave off your Coat till May be past".

Those rhymes may well have originated in England and migrated across the Channel. It is difficult to understand why the Spanish would coin such a proverb, which would seem a little cautious for that part of the world - the average temperature in Seville in May is 20°C.

There is a homegrown version that supports the 'month' theory - a fuller version of the rhyme, which goes:

"Button to chin, till May be in,
Cast not a clout till May be out"

The first line appears to have been added later and can't be found earlier than the 20th century. It clearly refers to the month though, as May blossom can come out, but can hardly be expected to go back in again, which indicates that whoever coined this additional line thought that way.

There's an explicit mention of the month in the version of the rhyme from F. K. Robertson's Whitby Gazette, 1855:

The wind at North and East
Was never good for man nor beast
So never think to cast a clout
Until the month of May be out

Wise words for the North Sea-facing Whitby, which can't match Seville and can be icy cold even in mid-summer.

All in all, although the May blossom interpretation seems appealing, the 'May' in this proverb is the month of May.

It's quite timely that, here in Yorkshire at the end of May, it's turned sunny and warm - having been cold and wet until now. I'm just about ready to take my coat off and head into flaming June.

---

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“ordinary”bitters

“ordinary”bitters

工黨政府危機

英國報摘

英國不少報章今天都大篇幅報道了駕駛者對汽車燃料費不斷上漲和工黨政府計劃推行新道路稅的憤懣。

《每日電訊報》說，2009年推行的新道路稅將會影響70%的駕車者，增加了他們"經濟上的痛苦"。

該報說，根據這項計劃，汽車將會根據排放二氧化碳的程度劃分為13個組別。駕車者每年繳納的道路稅最高將達到440英鎊。

報道說，雖然排放量少於100克的汽車豁免道路稅，，但是受惠的只有406人。

《每日電訊報》說，受這個政策影響的人數多達2600萬人。

汽油價格不斷上漲

《每日鏡報》說，首相布朗汽車的儀表盤上的警號應該亮起，因為後坐議員們已經威脅對這個問題作出反抗行動。

《每日電訊報》說，工黨議員們將會對財相達令說，除非擱置這個收費，否則他們也不用想能繼續保留自己選區的席位，因為在郊野地區，汽車是老人和家庭的"生命線"。

此外，《每日快報》說，數以千計的示威者準備今天在倫敦發動大規模的示威，抗議燃料費不斷上升。他們呼籲布朗擱置原定在10月增收每公升2便士汽油稅的計劃。

奧運回收

《衛報》報道，倫敦奧運的主辦者想出了前所未有的計劃來減低成本。

報道說，他們正在和舉辦2016年奧運的熱門城市芝加哥商討，計劃在倫敦奧運之後拆卸大部分主要場館，然後運送到芝加哥重新使用。

奧運籌辦當局說，尋找機會收回部分公帑是應該的。

《衛報》說，這將會是奧運的新方向，讓他們更像一個巡迴演出的馬戲團。

"無收據開支"

議會議員們每年有23000英鎊的第二房子津貼

英國議會議員的收入與開支最近成為了人們關注的焦點。《泰晤士報》報道，議員們現在更要求修改開支制度，不用他們公開他們申領開支詳情。

報道說，議員們建議他們領取第二個房子的全部津貼都不用提供收據。

資深議員們還要求在新一屆大選之後，薪金從目前的61820英鎊增加到75000英鎊。

《每日郵報》的評論員大力抨擊議員申領津貼的制度，他說，前首相布萊爾向銀行重新抵押自己的房子，向納稅人領取利息，"說明瞭這個制度的一切"。

殘疾人

《泰晤士報》報道，北京奧運當局向10萬名奧運志願助理人員發出的指南把殘疾人形容為"不合群、頑固和自我保護的"引起了殘疾人團體的憤怒。

該指南形容殘疾人是一個"特殊人群"，有"獨特的性格和思維方式"。

《泰晤士報》援引英國殘疾人委員會的阿斯皮說，這不是語言的問題，這是觀念的問題，在2008年他們還是被看成不同的種類。

該報說，中國近年在法律和社會上對殘疾人的觀念和態度已經有很大的改善，已經不再稱之為殘廢。上周，長城和北京故宮首次開通了升降機和無障礙通道讓輪椅通過。

工黨兵敗如山倒 英相下台壓力加劇

【歐洲日報╱本報綜合倫敦二十四日專電】 2008.05.26 04:51 pm

英國工黨昨天在具有重要指標意義克魯與南特威治地區國會議員補選落敗，工黨幾十年來首次在這個選區失利，顯示自五月初以來的三個地方選舉全部敗選，工黨內部要求首相布朗下台的壓力加劇，部分資深黨員指出，如果工黨要贏得下屆選舉，布朗必須改變，否則就應該退位換人做。 就工黨在選舉中接連受挫，分析人士說，英國首相布朗不得民心；反對黨保守黨宣布「新工黨時代走到盡頭」；工黨內部即將開會，確定是否「請」布朗下台。一時間，「布朗說再見的時刻到了？」之類標題遍布英國報刊頭版。 保守黨提名的提普森，在克魯與南特威治選區以兩萬零五百三十九票，輕鬆擊敗拿下一萬兩千六百七十九票的執政黨工黨候選人譚辛．敦伍迪。 這是保守黨一九八二年以來首度在補選中擊敗工黨，也是克魯與南特威治一九八三年創設選區以來，第一位在該區獲勝的保守黨候選人。 工黨在鐵票區再嚐敗績，連同五月一日在英格蘭與威爾斯地方議會選舉，及倫敦市長選舉敗選，「所戰皆敗」，布朗去年六月底才接下首相職務，他的領導能力受到嚴重質疑。 前外相貝凱特今天表示，古魯與南特威治補選，及三週前的地方選舉結果，都明確顯示選民對於經濟的前景十分關切，並透過選票向政府傳達警告，如同過去他們不滿前任政府表現時，也以選票表達抗議。 貝凱特說，如果工黨要贏得第四次大選勝利，布朗必須改變，同時勾勒明確的政策方向；工黨資深黨員、上議院國會議員德賽也呼應指出，布朗不僅要改變而且要「改善」，這才是工黨繼續執政的唯一希望。 工黨國會議員史特林格是第一位開砲要求布朗下台的黨員。他說，要預防工黨下次大選再遭逢「災難」，工黨需要新的領導人。 衛生部副部長路易斯說，工黨在克魯與南特威治原本有七千票的優勢，最後卻被保守黨以近八千票擊敗，這個結果可以說是「工黨結束的開始」。

“hybrid” embryos

Inside Europe | 24.05.2008 | 15:05

Britain enters a brave new world of hybrid embryos

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: British scientists to create part human, part animal embryos

This week the British parliament took a step into a brave new world of scientific research.

MPs approved the most liberal framework in the world for experiments in human biology. Under a wide ranging piece of legislation British scientists will be allowed to create part human, part animal embryos.

Supporters say this research could save millions of lives. But critics argue that creating so-called “hybrid” embryos is deeply immoral.

英首相稱將嚴格控制倫敦奧運會預算

On budget and on time.

英首相布朗稱將嚴格控制倫敦奧運會預算

http://news.sina.com 2008年05月24日 05:21 中國日報

　　（倫敦二十二日電）英國首相布朗22日在首次參觀倫敦奧林匹克公園時表示，將嚴格控制倫敦2012年奧運會目前已高達93億英鎊（約184億美元）的預算。

　　倫敦奧運會的預算已從最初申辦時的34億英鎊激增到93億，引來英國輿論和民眾的普遍不滿。而為奧運會修建體育場館和基礎設施的資金大部分來自英國政府撥款。

　　布朗22日同視察倫敦奧運會籌備情況的國際奧委會協調委員會成員一起出席了倫敦奧運會主會場的奠基儀式。有「倫敦碗」之稱的主體育場比原計劃提 前三個月動工。布朗說：「奧林匹克公園的提前建設是個好消息，讓我們離2012年奧運會更近了一步。但我想向人們確認的是，奧運會籌備工作是按照預算、按 時進行的。」

　　他承諾耗資5億英鎊修建的「倫敦碗」不會成為「白象」工程，稱75％的費用都花在保証場館在賽後的再利用上，因此「即使在奧運會結束後，這個體育場也不會有一天閒置」。

　　「倫敦碗」是倫敦奧林匹克公園的主體工程，計劃于2011年，即倫敦奧運會前一年完工。

governess in Queen Victoria’s reign

‘Poor, Obscure, Plain and Little’

By SUSANN COKAL

Published: May 25, 2008

Early in Queen Victoria’s reign, 30 percent of adult Englishwomen were single — and considered, as one social commentator put it, “redundant.” If of gentle birth and no means, without a family to care for, an extra woman naturally sought work as a governess. Living in another family’s home made romance unlikely and isolation inevitable, with poverty and unemployment always on the horizon. It was a grim life, grimmer still because it was the only choice open to many. As Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre decides, “I want this because it is of no use wanting anything better.”

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BBC

Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre in the “Masterpiece Theater” production.

GOVERNESS

The Lives and Times of the Real Jane Eyres.

By Ruth Brandon.

Illustrated. 303 pp. Walker & Company. $25.99.

In “Governess: The Lives and Times of the Real Jane Eyres,” Ruth Brandon covers about 80 years in the profession, concentrating on the era when a rising cadre of nouveaux riches and an abundance of single women came together to make the at-home lady educator a household staple. Few of the 25,000 governesses in England in 1851 were employed past the age of 40, since most families preferred to hire malleable young things, despite the dangers of youth: husbands and sons could always be tempted. (Witness Mr. Rochester.)

A governess had to be a lady. Part of her function, as Brandon puts it, was to “impart a veneer of class to the ‘wild and unbroken’ ” family members, including parents. But the presence of a bona fide lady might threaten a mistress uneasy with her new social status, so governesses had to be kept in their place. (This problem was peculiarly British; America’s looser class system made governessing quite different.)

Relegated to the nursery, where she spent 12 or more hours a day educating, feeding and otherwise looking after her charges, a British governess might expect to earn between £8 — barely enough to keep herself in books and clothing — and £100 a year. She taught multiple languages (including French, naturellement), simple arithmetic, music, drawing and history, but perhaps none of them well. Lessons came from what she had learned from her own governess or at a school for girls, thereby perpetuating an impoverishment of female education that roused the ire of several of Brandon’s subjects.

Brandon calls her choice of representative women “rather arbitrary,” as well as “small and random.” The reader might also add “uneven,” since the book devotes much attention to the famous feminist writers Mary Wollstonecraft and Anna Jameson, as well as to Anna Leonowens (best known from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical, “The King and I,” inspired by her memoirs of teaching in Siam). More obscure governesses, whose lives are harder to unpuzzle — and might thus be more intriguing — get less time.

It’s surprising that Brandon didn’t devote a chapter to Charlotte Brontë and her sisters, given her frequent references to the governesses in novels like “Agnes Grey” and “Jane Eyre.” Those famous novels could have benefited from an analytical eye. Brandon is also a fiction writer, and she leans heavily on the novels of the period to provide cultural background; she might have spent more time exploring the ways in which a novelist’s imagination transformed the governess’s actual experience.

Instead, Brandon devotes more than 50 pages each to chapters on the Wollstonecraft sisters and Claire Clairmont, all of whom led fascinating lives — but not while they were governesses. Mary Wollstonecraft, in fact, was a governess for less than a year before she turned to writing essays, children’s stories, a novel and works on the education of women. Brandon concentrates more on Wollstonecraft’s achievements and adventures than on her work in the schoolroom. We don’t need to know quite so much about her romantic comings and goings in order to understand how her brief stint as a governess affected her later life, or to understand the place of governessing among the limited options for women at the time. (Wollstonecraft, after all, was exceptional.) We certainly don’t need to know about Clairmont’s mother’s paramours. Clairmont was a governess for decades, but her early life with Byron, Shelley and her stepsister, Mary Shelley (daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft), gets the most attention. How many other governesses had these kinds of experiences?

The shorter chapters about hitherto overlooked women are far fresher. In 1784, Agnes Porter entered the new profession early enough to eke out a quite pleasant existence with an earl’s extended family. Just a couple of decades later, however, Nelly Weeton’s letters and diaries recorded suffering to rival Brontë’s most gothic moments: a cruelly selfish brother, nasty employers with nightmarish homes and a disastrous marriage entered into, apparently, solely for the chance to bear a child of her own. The scene in which rats attack the body of a little girl who has been burned to death ranks with the highest flights of Victorian horror. There’s nothing happy to take away from Weeton’s story, but it makes for titillating reading — if, that is, her journals can be considered a reliable source. As with the novels she discusses, Brandon might have approached these diaries with a more critical eye. Was Weeton really, as she portrayed herself, an entirely innocent victim?

Brandon’s final chapter is devoted to the women who improved female education in the last decades of the 19th century. Without having worked as governesses themselves, Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon founded what would become Girton College, Cambridge, in 1869. Non-governess female employment agencies were also established in London, thereby helping usher the age to an end. “Young women today,” Brandon notes, “grow up in the world that Mary Wollstonecraft dreamed of.” While that may be too sunny (and novelistic) a conclusion, at least we’re better off than poor Nelly Weeton, with more to hope for than Jane Eyre.

Susann Cokal, whose most recent novel is “Breath and Bones,” is a frequent contributor to the Book Review.

British football: We won, so let's make it worse

• British football: We won, so let's make it worse

  A tale of globalisation and its malcontents

malcontent

Football clubs

We won, so let's make it worse

May 22nd 2008
From The Economist print edition

A tale of globalisation and its malcontents

ENGLISH hearts, you would think, are swelling with pride. In Moscow on May 21st for the first time two English teams faced each other in the final of the Champions League, a football competition that pits 32 of the best teams across Europe against each other. Manchester United prevailed over Chelsea, as the rest of the continent looked on.

OffsideRonaldo: not English, but great

This was no one-off fluke but the latest indicator of the growing dominance of England's Premier League, once a poor cousin of Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and Germany's Bundesliga. Each of its big four clubs—Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United—has reached at least one Champions League final in the past four years.

This primacy owes little to home-grown talent. Twelve of the 22 players who started the game in Moscow were foreign. Roughly half of those fielded in an average Premier League weekend are neither British nor Irish. The most celebrated star (Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo) is Portuguese. England's national team failed to qualify for this summer's European championships.

Hosting the world's best without actually besting them is often called “the Wimbledon effect”, after the prestigious tennis tournament that Britain holds each year but is seldom in danger of winning. A better parallel may be with financial services: the City of London thrives on the back of an open market and international talent.

The Premier League's main source of strength is its financial clout. Since the early 1990s, when stadiums were upgraded and lucrative broadcasting deals agreed upon, the league has become a money-spinner. Foreign investors have poured in (Liverpool and Manchester United are owned by Americans, Chelsea by a Russian). England's big four clubs are among the world's ten richest, according to Deloitte, an accounting firm. This allows the clubs to hire the best players, which in turn draws crowds and increases revenues.

In most industries such a virtuous circle would be a cause for celebration. But Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, football's governing body, cites English dominance of the Champions League as proof of the need to restrict how many foreigners a team may field. Michel Platini, the head of UEFA, the European wing of FIFA, concurs. Some old-style hoof-it English managers claim that import restrictions would somehow help the coaching of young British talent.

This is the sort of protectionist tosh that most industries have not dared utter in public since the 1970s. How could a sport get better by limiting competition or lowering standards? English children are bad at football mainly because their training is bad (something other places have fixed). The league football in Britain is unimaginably better than it was. With luck EU labour law will stop Mr Blatter and keep it that way.

tosh, concur, hoof it

跟倫敦學國際金融中心

「北京打造金融中心，不會對建設上海國際金融中心構成競爭。在中國，建立一兩個國際金融中心很正常，關鍵是在城市定位上要有所區別。」睿雷頓稱

　　5月10日，在上海出席「2008陸家嘴論壇」的英國倫敦金融城市長特別代表、英國貿易投資協會金融業咨詢委員會主席睿雷頓(Roy Leighton)接受了本報記者的專訪。

　　坐在記者身前的睿雷頓是一個典型的英國紳士，親善、睿智、彬彬有禮。他告訴記者，30年前他曾到過這片土地，中國這些年的變化讓人驚喜。

　　大力儲備專業金融人才
　　作為倫敦金融城市長特別代表，睿雷頓在採訪中談得最多的是「如何打造一個成功的國際金融中心」。
　　在他看來，倫敦金融城能夠成為全球金融中心在於它幸運的地理位置。睿雷頓告訴記者，倫敦處於格林威治時區，與世界各個主要城市都有時間交集。
　　「另一個成功的關鍵，是擁有能夠迅速解決問題的高技能人才和金融機構。」為此，睿雷頓跟記者分享了兩星期前的一次親身經歷：週五下午3點(當時曼谷早已下班)，他遇到了一個與泰國石油掉期交易的預提稅有關問題。為了解決問題，他當即給在倫敦的3個稅務專家打了電話，事情很快得到了解決。
　　由此可見，國際金融中心常常會遇到各種各樣的問題，不僅是券商、銀行或股票市場，也涉及到金融服務技能的所有層面，包括律師、會計師、仲裁師、監管機構等。「因此，高技能金融人才的儲備，對打造國際金融中心至關重要。」睿雷頓指出。
　　資料數據顯示，目前，倫敦金融從業人數在25萬到30萬左右，而上海到去年年末大概只有十幾萬人。金融人才短缺已成為上海打造國際金融中心的「軟肋」。
　　錯位發展多個金融中心
　　「北京打造金融中心，不會對建設上海國際金融中心構成競爭。在中國，建立一兩個國際金融中心很正常，關鍵是在城市定位上要有所區別。」睿雷頓稱。日前，北京市委、市政府正式發佈了《關於促進首都金融業發展的意見》，首次明確提出要「建設具有國際影響力的金融中心城市」。
　　睿雷頓認為，目前，北京聚集了大部分中國國有銀行的總部，有較好的金融環境；而上海的工業和金融服務業比較發達，上海證券交易所、期貨交易所等要素市場的金融機構也比較集中。因此，兩者定位不同，共同發展是件好事。
　　事實上，在英國也有倫敦、愛丁堡兩個金融中心。睿雷頓告訴記者，打造成功的金融中心應該在整個司法管轄地提供前台、後台、風險管理、監管等全面的一條龍服務，而不能只局限在某個城市。他進一步指出，像倫敦這樣的大城市，房屋租賃、勞動力成本比較高，比較適合前台服務提供商；而愛丁堡相對比較僻遠，更適合後台服務、風險管理等提供商。
　　「對上海而言，應該更多地考慮提升城市的金融競爭力。」睿雷頓說。
　　循序漸進改革金融監管
　　與睿雷頓這樣一個資深的金融家聊天，自然能迸發出思想的火花。比如，中國的金融監管體系改革。
　　睿雷頓說：「鑒於中國目前的發展階段，我能理解中國實行『三駕馬車』金融監管體制的必要性。但在今後業務更成熟的條件下，我建議中國採取單一的監管體制，因為這樣做效率更高、成本更低、也更加透明。」
　　事實上，他毫不掩飾對「單一監管體制」的偏愛。英國金融業只有一個監管機構，英國金融服務監管局(FSA)。FSA在一個「基於原則的體制」中運作。這不是一種「軟接觸式」的監管，也不是「逐項核查式」的官僚主義監管。基於原則的監管能觸及市場和金融機構管理運作的核心，瞄準大問題，「我相信，對於一個日益全球化體系中的成熟金融中心來說，這是一種正確的監管方法。」
　　「不過，中國政府不需要馬上改變『一行三會』的監管模式，金融監管體系的改革應該循序漸進。」睿雷頓表示。

噪音地圖 一目瞭然

This might be the secold version


噪音地圖 一目瞭然
【歐洲日報╱本報綜合報導╱王先棠編譯】
2008.05.19 04:09 pm

英國環境部十六日推出可呈現英格蘭二十三個都會區環境噪音等級的「噪音地圖」。這個擺在網路上的噪音地圖，利用類似等高線的線條與各種色塊，顯示工業廠房、機場、道路的噪音高到什麼程度，使用者能用郵遞區號搜索各地區全天二十四小時各個時段的分貝數值。

每日郵報說，英國「環境、食品暨農業事務部」推出這個地圖，旨在提供資訊，協助減少噪音汙染，並保護特定區域的公共安寧。

英國環境部長強納森‧蕭說，交通與工業雖是現代生活不可缺少的部分，但政府仍須「以更實際的行動，給民眾更寧靜的生活」。

噪音地圖提供了「英國史上最完整的噪音圖象」，只要以滑鼠點選就可輕鬆取得資料。英國政府將以這些噪音地圖發展足以減少「不合理、不必要噪音」的行動策略。

此噪音地圖的取樣範圍，包括倫敦、曼徹斯特、南安普敦等城市，涵蓋英格蘭境內總長八萬公里的市區道路、近五千公里長的鐵路與十八座機場。地圖明確顯示，機場、高速公路、鐵路與重工業廠房附近的噪音最大，都超過七十五分貝（普通圖書館的噪音約在四十分貝）。
噪音地圖的網址是http://noisemapping.defra.gov.uk。

英國人幽默wit

wit

　"英國作家麥格瑞吉（Malcolm Muggeridge）曾說：「幽默幾乎是英國人唯一認真的東西。」這句話本身就是矛盾的調和。英國小品文最講究的就是wit。此字含義頗廣，可以解為一 般的聰明才智，也可解為風趣、幽默、急智，更可引申為三寸不爛之舌，妙思無窮之筆，亦可逕指才子雅人。從培根到約翰生到王爾德，英國作家的脣槍舌劍，鬥智 逞能，大半都在搏得wit一字。"
余光中說幽默
句短味長

一節課八分鐘

學校一節課只上八分鐘，專家說超短的迷你課對學生幫助最大。

英格蘭東北地方的泰恩賽德（Tyneside）的一所中學將從今年秋天開始針對所有GCSE（中等教育普通證書Wikipedia article "General Certificate of Secondary Education". ）的學生實行這種八分鐘“短小精悍”的迷你課。

神經科學專家的研究顯示，不斷重複短時間的“併發式”學習，對大腦的記憶力發展最為有效，因為孩子很難長時間集中注意力。

泰恩賽德的蒙克西頓中學（Monkseaton High School）此前試行這種八分鐘超短課程，中間搭配10分鐘的體育活動或文字遊戲，結果發現學生的平均成績提高了半個級（half a grade）。

試行

該校校長保羅·凱利（Paul Kelley）表示，試行上課八分鐘的計畫取得成功，今年秋天開始將推廣到所有GCSE課程的學生。

“上課八分鐘，下課10分鐘打籃球，然後再重新開始，這聽起來似乎很荒謬，但卻有效。”

“在實際試行之後發現，不論什麼科目，什麼老師，原來的成績如何，學生們都有顯著的進步。”

改革

有研究顯示，長時間運用大腦對大腦細胞不好，只有在固定休息的情況下，大腦細胞才能有效發展。

與此同時，許多教育專家呼籲放棄傳統的教學時刻表，採用新的教學方法，例如短時間的練習心算和拼字，或者是維持一周的主題式教課。

11歲至14歲的學生將從今年秋天開始接受新的GCSE課程，一些學校可能趁機推出教學改革。

Cheese Rolling at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire!

Cheese Rolling at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire!

Conversation pieces

conversation piece　話題となるもの, 話の種; （一家）団欒(らん)図 ((特に18世紀に流行した風俗画の一種)).

conversation( piece)

This article is about the group portraits. For the song, see Conversation Piece. For the film, see Conversation Piece (film).

Conversation pieces are small-scale group portraits mainly painted in Britain in the 1720s. People in the portrait are portrayed sharing common activities such as hunts, meals, or musical parties. Dogs and/or horses are also frequently featured. Arthur Devis was a painter famous for his conversation pieces. Conversation pieces, sometimes called "Conversation Portraits", typically depict elegant social gathering. The picture tends to portray details of extravagances.

A conversation piece can also be an object that is interesting enough to spark conversation about it. They provide a stimulus for prop-based conversation openers.

References

• Mario Praz, Conversation Pieces: A Survey of the Informal Group Portrait in Europe and America (University Park and London: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1971)

External links

• Tour: British Conversation Pieces and Portraits of the 1700s
• Hogarth's Realm: Family portraits and Conversation Pieces

暴殄天物

《獨立報》說，在全球食物短缺和糧食價格上升之際，英國每年浪費總值100億英鎊的食物。

報道說，根據政府進行的調查顯示，大部分食物都是在完封不動的情況下被棄掉，每天浪費的食物包括：160萬條香蕉、55萬隻雞、510萬塊土豆、120萬條香腸、66萬隻雞蛋、22萬條麵包...等。

《獨立報》說，除了民眾浪費食物，一位學者指出超級市場的情況更糟糕，他形容超市為"浪費的大教堂"。

What a waste: Britain throws away £10bn of food every year

Global food shortages, soaring prices and alarm over the environment. But every day, Britain throws away 220,000 loaves of bread, 1.6m bananas, 550,000 chickens, 5.1m potatoes, 660,000 eggs, 1.2m sausages and 1.3m yoghurts

英國胖子變異基因

Gene sequence puts half of UK population at greater risk of obesity

《每日快報》說，英國科學家負責的一個科研小組發現一種肥胖變異基因，英國一半人口都攜帶這種基因。 《泰晤士報》說，四分之一的英國成年人被定義為肥胖患者，一半的男性和三分之一的女性都是胖子。 《衛報》表示，儘管基因特徵無法改變，但是加強甄別可以幫助那些最易患肥胖症的兒童提早預防。

Robin Hood

Robin Hood 羅賓漢 英國傳說的律綠林英雄

British Cuisine (1)

bastion, stodge, fish and chips

2004/6/17 看報章學點吃喝英文

【本文下兩語請問瑞麟中：Excuse' mois/ cassoulet。屆時再更新。
第一個問題Excuse' mois正確寫法為Excusez-moi=Excuse me
第二個問題可以叫做什錦砂鍋。
cassoulet [kasulɛ]
nom masculin
sausage and bean hotpot

rl
18:00 2004/61/】

****
BBC駐北京記者 林慕蓮：

英 國最經典的一道食品炸魚配薯條，終於在中國的首都北京安家落戶。與喝下午茶相比，炸魚配薯條在英國更受歡迎。儘管炸魚配薯條還不像愛爾蘭酒吧那樣在全球各 地得到普及，不過BBC駐北京記者林慕蓮在她的來信中說，如果這道英國食品能在北京取得成功，那麼也許炸魚配薯條的名聲會徹底改變。 …….

fish and chips noun [U]
fish covered with batter (= a mixture of flour, eggs and milk) and then fried and served with pieces of fried potato

****
There is more to British Cuisine than boiled food as traditional dishes are making a comeback. Rashmi Uday Singh makes a case for the last bastion of the Empire.

bastion

(băs'chən, -tē-ən)
n.

1. A projecting part of a fortification.
2. A well-fortified position.
3. One that is considered similar to a defensive stronghold: You are a bastion of strength. See synonyms at bulwark.

[French, from Old French bastillon, from bastille, fortress. See bastille.]

Excuse' mois, you French gourmets, but I am going to make a case for British food and of course also for the food in Britain. Sure! you think that British food is all about boiled meats served up with stodge…

stodge noun [U] UK INFORMAL DISAPPROVING
heavy food, such as potatoes, bread and rice, which contains too much starch and makes you feel very full stodge 1. 【物】 厚膩的[易使人脹肚子的]食物;枯燥乏味的[無聊的]東西[作品];動作緩慢的人 ；. 暴食,飽食;(在泥濘等中)步履艱難地走

2008年4月1日 星期二

Profile: Boris Johnson

【經濟日報╱編譯 陳家齊】 2008.05.05 04:28 am

英國保守黨國會議員、記者出身的強森3日頂著一頭招牌的散亂金髮出現在家門前。他在這次倫敦市長選舉中，意外擊敗現任市長李文斯頓。 歐洲圖片新聞社 記者出身的英國倫敦市長當選人強森（Boris Johnson）向來口無遮攔，他自己也不否認，不過，這位被競選對手斥為「小丑、笑話」的名嘴，現在將治理擁有750萬人口的超級大都會。 43歲的強森畢業於伊頓公學與牛津大學，主修古典文學，是典型英國菁英階層，父親曾任歐洲議會議員，曾祖父曾在帝制土耳其擔任部長，1923年土耳其革命時遇害。 讓強森家喻戶曉的是他離經叛道的言行，這位一頭金色亂髮，即將在5日上任的保守黨人曾說：「我選上首相的可能性，與在火星上發現貓王、或轉世成橄欖樹的可能性差不多。」他年輕時的「志願」是當美國總統，聽來雖然可笑，但在紐約出生的強森直到最近都還是美國公民。 強森的名言多不勝數，例如他在2004年國會大選時說：「投票給保守黨，這會讓你老婆的胸部變大，增加你賺到BMW M3的機會。」還說過：「如果我老是拼命從嘴巴冒出快言快語，這是因為如果不這樣，我會爆炸。」他也因為失言曾向整座城市（利物浦）、甚至整個國家（巴布 亞紐幾內亞）道歉。 對於強森的表現，他的父親史丹利說，如果他兒子能應付拉丁文與希臘文，自然也有辦法應付任何事情，包括治理一座城市。 強森曾擔任著名右翼雜誌《旁觀者》（Spectator）的編輯。在此之前，他曾任每日電訊報駐歐盟記者。2001年強森獲選為英國國會議員，正式開啟從政生涯。 強森與保守黨黨魁卡麥隆（David Cameron）是在牛津大學就認識的老朋友，兩人都騎腳踏車到國會上班，不過卡麥隆幾乎像時鐘一樣準時7點一定到達辦公室，強森則要幾小時候後才會像陣風出現。 強森的工黨對手李文斯頓在選前攻擊強森說，選民們應該「投票給倫敦，而不是投票給笑話」。但強森以48.4%的得票率擊敗李文斯頓，這恐怕也大出卡麥隆意料之外。 英國泰晤士報評論說，強森把自己塑造得有如希臘式的英雄：充滿缺陷但才氣洋溢。現在，這位矢言打擊倫敦犯罪的放蕩奧德賽，必須把他的蓮花舌轉成實際行動。 （綜合外電）

Johnson wins London mayoral race

Boris Johnson's victory speech

Boris Johnson has won the race to become the next mayor of London - ending Ken Livingstone's eight-year reign at City Hall.

The Conservative candidate won with 1,168,738 first and second preference votes, compared with Mr Livingstone's 1,028,966 on a record turnout of 45%.

Wikipedia article "Single transferable vote"

He paid tribute to Mr Livingstone and appeared to offer him a possible role in his new administration.

Lib Dem Brian Paddick came third and the Greens' Sian Berry came fourth.

Mr Johnson is expected to stand down as MP for Henley, triggering a by-election.

'Exuberant nerve'

In his victory speech, he described Mr Livingstone as "a very considerable public servant".

He added: "You shaped the office of mayor. You gave it national prominence and when London was attacked on 7 July 2005 you spoke for London."

Mr Johnson also paid tribute to his "courage and the sheer exuberant nerve with which you stuck it to your enemies, especially in New Labour".

FIRST AND SECOND PREFERENCE VOTES Boris Johnson: 1,168,738 Ken Livingstone: 1,028,966 Analysis: Boris's big win Livingstone's highs and lows

Mr Johnson told Mr Livingstone he hoped to "discover a way in which the mayoralty can continue to benefit from your transparent love of London".

He said he would work to earn the trust of those that had opposed him, or who had hesitated before voting for him.

"I will work flat out to repay and to justify your confidence. We have a new team ready to go into City Hall.

"Where there have been mistakes we will rectify them, where there are achievements we will build on them, where there are neglected opportunities we will seize on them."

Livingstone 'sorry'

He promised to focus on crime by promoting 24-hour policing, transport, including promoting cycling, green spaces, affordable homes and getting value for money for taxpayers.

Mr Johnson's victory crowns the Conservative Party's May Day local election wins in England and Wales.

He said he hoped it showed the party had changed "into a party that can be trusted after 30 years with the greatest, most cosmopolitan, multi-racial generous hearted city on earth".

FIRST PREFERENCE VOTES Boris Johnson (Tory): 1,043,761 Ken Livingstone (Lab): 893,877 Brian Paddick (Lib Dem): 236,685 Sian Berry, (Green): 77,374 Richard Barnbrook (BNP): 69,710 Alan Craig, (Christian Choice): 39,249 Lindsey German (Left List): 16,796 Matt O'Connor, (Eng Democrats): 10,695 Winston McKenzie (Ind): 5,389

Mr Livingstone's defeat ends what Gordon Brown has called as a "bad" day for Labour in which it suffered its worst council results for 40 years.

Asked by the BBC what his views were on the poor Labour showing, Mr Johnson said: "The smart thing for Labour to do would be to quietly to remove Gordon Brown and install [Foreign Secretary David] Miliband, is my view, but I don't think they'll do it."

In his speech after the result was declared at City Hall, Mr Livingstone thanked the Labour Party for all its help with his campaign.

"There is absolutely nothing that I could have asked from the Labour Party that it didn't throw into this election, from Gordon Brown right the way down to the newest recruit, handing out leaflets on very wet, cold days.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get an extra few points that would take us to victory and the fault for that is solely my own. You can't be mayor for eight years and then if you don't at third term say it was somebody else's fault. I accept that responsibility and I regret that I couldn't take you to victory."

Conservative Party leader David Cameron praised Mr Johnson for a "serious and energetic campaign" and said his party was "winning the battle of ideas".

Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Paddick paid tribute to Ken Livingstone as "an amazing mayor" and indicated that he would not be interested in working with Mr Johnson.

He said he would be talking to Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg about his future and what he could do for the party.

Analysis: Boris's big win

By Sean Curran Political correspondent, BBC News

Critics had questioned Mr Johnson's seriousness as a politician

Crikey! Boris Johnson is London Mayor.

The Conservative MP and journalist now has the biggest personal mandate of any politician in the country.

Dismissed by political opponents and many in the media as little more than a music hall turn, he confounded his critics by running a gaffe-free election campaign.

This victory gives the Conservative Party a clean sweep: the largest share of the vote; the most councillors; and control of the capital.

Maverick

At first glance the mayoral contest is of little relevance to people living and working outside London but the political parties and the media have invested it with a national significance.

Does Boris Johnson's success mean the country is ready to embrace David Cameron's Conservative Party?

It also vindicates Mr Cameron's decision to back a maverick candidate.

The test now is for Boris Johnson to deliver his policies on the bread and butter issues of transport and crime.

During the campaign the tousle-haired Old Etonian was restrained and professional.

Mr Johnson is now the national and international face of London, one of the world's greatest cities. He will now face media and political scrutiny

There was little evidence of the flamboyant Wodehousian personality that has won him lucrative work as a newspaper columnist and a berth on television quiz shows.

Has the old Boris gone forever? What happens if he returns? And what will it mean for David Cameron and the Conservatives?

The Tory leader does not want to spend the two years in the run-up to the next general election having to defend, or distance himself from, the London Mayor.

Mr Johnson is now the national and international face of London, one of the world's greatest cities. He will now face media and political scrutiny.

As Londoners prepared to vote The Guardian newspaper published a series of articles urging people to reject Mr Johnson.

Similar articles appeared in other papers. The warning was clear: you may think you are voting for a charming Bertie Wooster**-like figure but in fact you are about to hand power to a less pleasant character.

This is moment to trot out what is perhaps the most famous journalistic cliché of all - only time will tell.

For now, though, Mr Johnson's win is a boost for the Conservatives that brings them one step closer to power.

** Jeeves/By Jeeves

《吉福斯》是 P.G. Wodehouse 著名的系列小说。书中的主角是迷迷糊糊英国绅士 Bertie Wooster 和他的聪明机灵、花样百出男仆 Jeeves(吉福斯)。几乎每一个故事都是由主人荒唐的行为转变成不可收拾的困境，但是最后总是由男仆出人意料的机智解决了。1975年，安德鲁·洛伊 ·韦伯 (Andrew Lloyd Webber) 和歌词作家 Alan Ayckbourn 把《吉 福斯》里其中一个故事编成音乐剧《吉福斯》。因为音乐剧十分失败，在1996年，该剧又被重新制作，取名 By Jeeves (《全靠吉福斯》)。可惜这一个版本，也一样没有受到太多好评，也是很快就从伦敦和百老汇的舞台上销声匿迹了。

《吉福斯》的故事由 Bertie Wooster 的班卓琴引起。Bertie 本来计划在教堂的舞台上表演班卓琴，但是临到表演，琴却被 Jeeves 藏起来，Bertie 以为琴丢了而一筹莫展。Jeeves 教他把他和伦敦上层社会小姐们的有始无终的罗曼史演绎出来，然后还可以请听众上台扮演 Bertie 的朋友们。Bertie 既是作者，作曲，导演还是道具师。一场即兴演出就这么开始了。《吉福斯》里滑稽的插科打诨、俏皮敏捷的文字游戏，巧妙富有创造性的舞台设计，以及十三首活 泼愉快的歌曲，都是在其他音乐剧里难得一见的。

原版《吉福斯》于1975年4月22日在英国女皇陛下剧院(Her Majesty's Theatre)公演。新版的《吉福斯》(就是上面提到的《全靠吉福斯》)于2001年10月28日在百老汇的 Helen Hayes 剧院公演，到12月30日结束，只演出了73场。

这两个网站都有关于《吉福斯》的消息，有兴趣的朋友可以去看看：
http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=13272
http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/byjeeves.htm

Ferdinand Mount

Ferdinand Mount,Cold Cream: My Early Life and Other Mistakes

Articles written by Ferdinand Mount