Things you had better know （英文灌水，转载）
13 Things Your TV Weatherman Won’t Tell You
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/13-things-your-tv-weatherman-wont-tell-you/
Here's a prediction: You'll get more accurate insight from your five-day forecast with these secrets from local weather reporters.
By Michelle Crouch from Reader's Digest Magazine | July/August 2012
1. In many cases, the meteorologist is the highest-paid person on the broadcast, because weather is one of the top reasons why people watch local news.
That's probably why the stations with the best weather people usually have the best ratings.
2. Looks do matter when it comes to TV weather.
I've been told to trim my eyebrows and wear more makeup. (Yes, men and women both wear makeup on TV—lots of it!)
3. Bad weather is good for ratings. Really good.
When there's a big storm coming, some TV stations will get three or four times as many people watching as normal. Our news directors love it.
4. The hurricane season forecasts that come out every year predicting the year's storm activity are almost always wrong.
Even I was surprised when I realized how inaccurate they are.
5. Once you're under a severe weather "warning," assume it's going to happen.
Unlike a "watch," a National Weather Service warning means the dangerous weather likely already exists, and you should take action immediately.
6. There's no legal definition of a meteorologist, so anybody can call him- or herself one and get away with it.
Try to get your weather from someone certified by the American Meteorological Society—it just takes a quick Google search.
7. We're not very good at predicting summer showers and thunderstorms, because they're so small.
It can be sunny all day a mile away from you, but you get the rain.
8. The dew point—not the relative humidity—is the best measure of how humid it feels outside.
When it’s raining, for example, you can have 100 percent humidity, but it may not feel sticky. Yet anytime the dew point is over 65 degrees, it will feel humid. And if it’s at 75, that means it’s very wet out there.
9. Summer forecasting is a breeze compared with winter reporting.
The toughest question: Is it going to snow? Unlike warm weather predictions, if I’m off by one degree in the winter, it can mean the difference between rain, snow, and sleet.
10. Partly sunny is actually more gray than partly cloudy.
Here's the scale from least to most sunny: cloudy, mostly cloudy or partly sunny, partly cloudy or mostly sunny, and then sunny or clear
11. Don't take a shower during a thunderstorm.
You can get struck by lightning due to metal plumbing, which conducts electricity.
12. Our long-range forecasts aren't very accurate.
We're quite good at one to three days out and decent five to seven days out.
13. Watch out for phrases like "Shocking forecasts to come" before commercial breaks
We use the hype to get your attention. http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/basics/story/2012-08-09/wedding-costs/56921020/1
Average couple spends $26,989 on wedding; many break budget
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
This summer wedding season, a new song could rival Laura Nyro's bride-yearning classic Wedding Bell Blues.
Call it Wedding Bill Blues.
Even with a slight drop in "I Do" spending during recent tough economic years, many couples are beguiled beyond their budgets.
The average couple has a $26,989 wedding, according to Brides magazine. Even though that's down from a peak of $28,082 in pre-recession 2008, nearly one-third of all brides still bust their budgets, Brides says.
Couples are victimized by their own fantasies, cajoled by media visions of celebrity nuptials, and pressured by friends, family, even strangers posting idyllic photos on Pinterest.
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.................................................. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/12/cop-tucks-100-bill-into-broke-drivers-ticket/
Cop tucks $100 bill into broke driver’s ticket [雷锋精神永放光彩]
By Stephen C. Webster
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 13:43 EST
An anonymous police officer in Plano, Texas made the local news Tuesday night when a driver reported a random gift of $100 he said was tucked into a ticket for an expired registration sticker.
Hayden Carlo told CBS affiliate KTVT-TV in Dallas that when he was stopped in Plano, he told an officer that he hadn’t updated his registration because he was struggling to feed his kids.
When Carlo opened the ticket, however, there was a $100 bill inside. He didn’t initially report it, but upon hearing about the incredible generosity, Carlo’s grandfather wrote a letter to the department saying how grateful they both were.
Carlo reportedly used the money to update the registration on his car and his wife’s car.
It’s not clear how much his ticket was for, but Texas courts will usually dismiss such tickets for a small fee if the registration is updated right away. Otherwise, driving with an expired registration in Texas could cost up to $200.
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http://earlystart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/13/cop-wraps-100-inside-traffic-ticket-and-wishes-public-information-officer-david-tilley-just-something-that-he-was-inspired-to-do/
Cop wraps $100 inside traffic ticket & wishes to remain anon; Public Information Officer David Tilley: ' just something that he was inspired to do'
December 13th, 2012
07:51 AM ET
Being pulled over and handed a ticket by a police officer isn’t usually a pleasant exchange. But for one driver, it was. A police offer showed Hayden Carlo a random act of kindness after Carlo said he didn't have the money for his car's registration. The officer handed him a citation for the expired registration sticker, with a $100 bill wrapped inside it. The officer wishes to remain anonymous, but his Plano, Texas Department is speaking out for him today. Public Information Officer David Tilley joins “Early Start” live from Dallas this morning.
The officer was inspired to help Carlo because "the young man, told him, basically it was either register his car or put food on his family," Tilley says. But this type of act is not uncommon, "not only in our department, but in law enforcement. It's just that you never really hear about these acts," Tilley adds.
Regarding the officer who helped Carlo, Tilley says he doesn't "know as far as how often he's done this in the past. I know this individual personally. He is a very, very upstanding, not only officer, but human being," Tilley says. "This is just something that he was inspired to do." http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21572790-case-against-small-bits-metal-penny-drops
The penny drops
The case against small bits of metal
Mar 2nd 2013 | WASHINGTON, DC
MOST people would not pay two cents for something worth one. But America’s government spent $116m last year doing just that. The money-losing purchase was money itself: the penny, which has cost more than a cent to produce since 2006, due mainly to the price of zinc, the coin’s primary ingredient.
Steel is not much better, as Canada has learned. The government there recently ditched its steel-based penny. American politicians, while loth to take lessons from their northern neighbours, may have noticed. In an online forum on February 14th Barack Obama intimated that the penny was no longer change he believes in.
Fifty years ago a handful of pennies would buy a hamburger at McDonald’s, but inflation means the coin won’t even get you one French fry today. Relegated to jars and lost behind cushions, the penny is failing to perform its primary function: to facilitate commerce. Vending machines and parking meters don’t accept it. Penny scourges note that fiddling with them adds some two seconds to each transaction, costing the economy many millions of dollars a year.
Penny lovers and zinc-industry lobbyists counter that the coin’s demise would cost consumers, as merchants would round prices up to the nearest nickel. Some economists disagree, suggesting that shop keepers might in fact round down in order to avoid moving from a price of, say, $9.99 to $10. Americans anyway seem willing to accept a fee for penny removal, as evidenced by the self-imposed cost of leaving them idle and the success of coin-counting machines, which take a cut when turning them into bills.
Other countries have eliminated low-value coins with less-than-dire results, and indeed, so has America. In 1857 it ditched the half-cent, then worth nearly as much in real terms as today’s dime. This has led some to suggest killing the nickel, which costs about ten cents to make, as well as the penny.
Congress has not authorised coin culling as yet, so the Mint is studying ways to make pennies more cheaply. Mr Obama, meanwhile, is finding value in the penny’s symbolism. “One of the things you see chronically in government is it’s very hard to get rid of things that don’t work so that we can then invest in the things that do,” said the president. “The penny, I think, ends up being a good metaphor for some of the larger problems we got.” 忽然想起个问题：北京的雾霾到底怎么形成的？成品油改成国V标准雾霾会不会消除？ 原帖由 周华 于 2013-3-11 23:07 发表 http://www.cfluid.com/bbs/images/common/back.gif
忽然想起个问题：北京的雾霾到底怎么形成的？成品油改成国V标准雾霾会不会消除？
第二个问题比较专业，我不清楚。第一个问题比较基础，其答案应大致如下。
空气中若有许多水汽，则其达到一定的所谓饱和水汽压时水汽就会凝结成小水滴。小水滴继续吸收空气中的水汽或小（中）水滴之间相互碰撞合并就慢慢地变成大水滴，这大水滴掉到（中间又会破碎）地上就成了“雨”。
但实际上“达到一定的所谓饱和水汽压时水汽就会凝结成小水滴”只是一理想情况。纯水汽凝结成小水滴需要克服形成小水滴时的表面张力做功而使得这一过程的实现非常困难。你可想象一下要成千上万个随机运动的水汽分子同时汇聚到同一点形成一个小水滴几乎是不可能的事。
自然界空气中有不少悬浮的小颗粒，如尘埃、海盐晶粒等，称作“气溶胶”。一些亲水性的气溶胶可用作“凝结核”，即方便吸收水汽或让水汽在凝结核的表面很快地形成小水滴。有了这些小水滴之后，下一步就是上面所说的“继续吸收空气中的水汽或小（中）水滴之间相互碰撞合并就慢慢地变成大水滴，...... 。”
太多的工业及汽车尾气排放在大气中产生了太多的“气溶胶”，太多的“凝结核”。这些“凝结核”之间相互竞夺大气中的水汽分子，形成了各自的小水滴。因为小水滴太多，大气中的水汽分子有限，相互竞夺的结果就是没有了上面提到的“下一步”，即这些小水滴始终长不大，从而行成了雾霾。
下面的一个帖子中说到有关两个大学名称的英文翻译感到“别扭”或不通顺。一个是把“西安翻译学院”翻译成Xi’An Fanyi University。另一个则是把“北京航空航天大学”（北航）翻译成Beihang University。都出现在大学的官方网页上。
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空气动力学学报不是EI了吗
http://www.cfluid.com/BBS/viewthread.php?tid=123630&extra=page%3D1&page=2
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我现在就从英语语法或习惯用法的角度来说说为什么这是“别扭”的、不通顺的、或不合理的翻译。
英语中的一个单词，若其含义并不出现在通常的英语词典中，且之中的每个字母又不是通通大写了，则该单词通常是指地名、人名等含义。这地名中有少数是比较有名的，如北京，南京，西安，上海，纽约，伦敦，等等。大多数地名是没什么名气的，例如很少人会知道“番义”，“杯杭”，或其它类似的小城、小县或小社区等等的地名。这么一来的话，就针对Xi’An Fanyi University同Beihang University，若不对其作沉繁的额外解释，则其自然含义就应该是两个坐落在不知名地区的社区大学（community college）。Xi’An Fanyi University看来是在西安市的一个叫“番义”区的社区大学，而Beihang University则可能是在中国一个叫“杯杭”县或“杯杭”市的社区大学。
真的很别扭。
[ 本帖最后由 coolboy 于 2013-3-15 19:53 编辑 ] 北航这么翻译也就算了，毕竟是所工科院校，西安翻译学院把自己的校名翻译成这样，真是有失专业水准啊。 原帖由 周华 于 2013-3-15 21:30 发表 http://www.cfluid.com/BBS/images/common/back.gif
北航这么翻译也就算了，毕竟是所工科院校，西安翻译学院把自己的校名翻译成这样，真是有失专业水准啊。
我在的解释中用到了“社区大学（community college）”这一词。那么什么是“社区大学（community college）”呢？还是让我来用一个实例说明。
几年前在美国的杜克大学发生了一起不少中国留学生考试集体舞弊的丑闻，有约二十名中国留学生同时受到处分。其中有八人被开除，五人停学一年，六人需重修该课程。我对这件事发了一个评论，中间就用到了“社区大学（community college）”这个词：
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A story about Harvard University library
http://blog.yeshj.com/coolboy/archive/2005/06/28/77831.html
Coolboy(2007-05-05)：
Duke University is one of the best universities in USA (top 10). However, I believe now that it is also a general consensus in many other universities in USA that cheating in school exams/tests is not a good behavior and should receive severe punishments. A few months ago, I leant that a friend’s son was studying in a local community college. I felt very strange because I knew he was accepted by a state university about two years ago. That state university is ranked within top 50 or so in USA and is far better than the local community college he was in. Then, I was told that he was expelled last year from that state university because he cheated in an exam. He had to start his college life over again from this local community college.
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上面这段英文评论的意思是：我还听说了有个朋友的孩子原本考上了挺好的、正规的州立大学。但最近却在上社区大学了。据说是在州立大学考试作弊被退学了，就上社区大学了。
一般来讲，不少的社区大学并不是很正规的全四年制大学。通常有不少是没考上正规或国立、州立大学的或跟不上正规大学课程退学之后所上的进修学校。相对而言，社区大学得到社会的认可性要差一点。
又看了一下“西安翻译学院”的官方介绍，原来是一所民办学校，确实与真正的社区大学的通常含义挺匹配的。例如，该校拿得出手的《英语教育》课程主要是用于高职教育，直到2009年才准于授学士学位，等等。北航大学即使是所工科院校，毕竟是直属教育部，可授予博士学位，也还是要比西安翻译学院强多了。
回复 8# 周华 的帖子
其实能想通啊，站在老外的角度上来看，Fanyi比起translation就有含量得多了。:lol 原帖由 hawking2006 于 2013-4-14 11:26 发表 http://www.cfluid.com/bbs/images/common/back.gif其实能想通啊，站在老外的角度上来看，Fanyi比起translation就有含量得多了。:lol
大概确实是“有含量”这个理。好像“西安翻译学院”的创办人校长原是一中学英语老师，后辞职下海创办了这所民办学校，让那些高考落榜生能继续上学。中学英语老师应该会知道translation这词的。
我上面主要是从英语语法的角度来解释为什么有人会感到类似的翻译“别扭”或不通顺。
Like Barley Bending
By Sara Teasdale
Like Barley Bending
In low fields by the sea
Singing in hard wind
Ceaselessly
Like Barley Bending
And rising again
So would I，unbroken
Rise from pain
So would I softly
Day long，night long
Change my sorrow
Into a song
大麦俯身偃，海滨有低地，巨风动地来，放歌殊未已；
大麦俯身偃，既偃且复起，颠仆不能折，昂扬伤痛里；
我生也柔弱，日夜逝如此，直把千古愁，化作灵风曲。
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Coolboy (2013-05-13):
我本来并没有怎么关心过朱令案。碰巧前两天看到了说是朱令高中时翻译的《大麦歌》，当时马上就联想到了几年前万维上的“枯木朽株”曾用中文古诗歌体翻译过另一首英文名诗：
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http://bbs.lasg.ac.cn/bbs/thread-35297-1-1.html
Do not stand at my grave and weep
Mary Elizabeth Frye
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
莫洒茔前泪，为母尚未归。
魄化风千缕，魂莹雪上辉。
丽日明金粟，秋霖暗紫薇。
寂静儿晨起，心惊母乍飞。
徘徊无语鸟，阑珊晓夜星。
莫下坟前涕，为母犹未行。
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我知道“枯木朽株”是很有一些功底的。想着摆花架子容易，显真功夫是要有内力的。这朱令大学的专业是物理化学，又专游泳和弹琴，但在高中就能如此翻译出这首诗确实是很难令人相信的。记得读到好象有一当事人的母亲是外交部给首长做翻译，想着就目前国内的大环境是不是类似韩寒那样是捉刀文章的又一个例子。就还google查了一下，结果发现外交部给首长做翻译的并非朱令的母亲。这两天还真有点内疚，感到是以小人之心度才女之腹了，天外有天，天才辈出。哪知道我那内疚还没喘过气来就看到说其实那古体诗是李敖翻译的。
结果，就在这里感叹了几句：所谓“信用危机”就是现在的中国或中国人无论是什么事（大事，小事，刑事），对说假话已完全不当回事（这也是韩寒能成功的社会基础了）。 Encounter with a member of Communist Party USA
One day in 1980s, I stopped by a used bookstore nearby a university and found a section full of communism books. I was interested and excited about those books because many of the book titles looked very familiar to me. I pulled out a book and started briefly reading it. Then, a young lady approached me and asked me whether I came from People’s Republic of China or not. I said “Yes”. She then told me that China now had become a revisionism country. She happened to be a member of Communist Party USA. “Deng, Xiaoping was a traitor to the communism movement. Jiang, Qing was Chairman Mao’s good student and she was the loyal follower of Chairman Mao and communism,...” she said. I told her that I lived all my life in China and knew much better than her about China. I said I thanked Deng for him to start economic reform in China and I also thanked Deng for him to give me an opportunity to enter the college and finally also to come to USA. China and Chinese people were certainly much better than before as I could recall when Mao was in power. We had a long and friendly conversation about communism movement. When I left, I bought the following books from her bookstore and these books are still on my bookshelves today:
* “Basic Writings on Politics and Philosophy – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels”, edited by Lewis S. Feuer, published by Anchor Books, 1959, 497 pages.
* “Karl Marx – His Life and Thought”, by David McLellan, published by Harper Colophon Books, 1977, 498 pages.
* “Critique of the Gotha Programme”, by Karl Marx, with Appendices by Marx, Engels, and Lenin
* “The Poverty of Philosophy”, by Karl Marx, with an Introduction by Frederick Engels
* “Wage-Labour and Capital Value, Price and Profit”, by Karl Marx
* “Imperialism – The Highest Stage of Capitalism”, by V. I. Lenin
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Of course, I also bought the well-known, or at least well-known to Chinese people, little red book from the same bookstore:
* “Quotations From Chairman Mao Tsetung”, Published by Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1976, 312 pages.
Many paragraphs in the little red book look so familiar to me even today. The first two paragraphs read:
The force at the core leading our cause forward is the Chinese Communist Party. The theoretical basis guiding our thinking is Marxism-Leninism.
- Opening address at the First Session of the First National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (September 15, 1954).
If there is to be revolution, there must be a revolutionary party. Without a revolutionary party, without a party built on the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theory and in the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary style, it is impossible to lead the working class and the broad masses of the people in defeating imperialism and its running dogs.
- "Revolutionary Forces of the World Unite, Fight Against Imperialist Aggression!" (November 1948), Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 284.
Monday, August 12, 2013: Chinese Valentine's Day (七夕)
I still remember when I was very young as a little boy I read the story about the cowherd and weaving maid twice. The first time was a book about children’s stories where it said that every year on this Qixi (七夕) day, all the peacocks in the world will fly to the Milky Way to form a bridge by using their wings to allow the cowherd and weaving maid to meet each other on this day. The second time was a popular science book in which Milky Way was introduced scientifically and the author also made a rough calculation of how many peacocks and birds needed in order to form a bridge across the Milky Way. It was a very big number. At the time, I felt that the second book was not only interesting but also more reasonable than the first one, which was the partial reason that led me to be a scientist. :)