Week 1 美國同志婚姻合法化

Supreme Court Declares Same-Sex Marriage Legal In All 50 States.

''Same-sex marriage supporters rejoice outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday after the U.S Supreme Court handed down a ruling regarding same-sex marriage. The high court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry in all 50 states''

States cannot keep same-sex couples from marrying and must recognize their unions, the Supreme Court says in a ruling that for months has been the focus of speculation. The decision was 5-4.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, seen as a pivotal swing vote in the case, wrote the majority opinion. All four justices who voted against the ruling wrote their own dissenting opinions: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

"They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law," Kennedy wrote of same-sex couples in the case. "The Constitution grants them that right."

Comparing the ruling to other landmark decisions, NPR's Nina Totenberg says, "This is probably right up there with Brown v. Board of Education, and Roe v. Wade — if you like it or hate it — and today, Obergefell v. Hodges. This was a historic moment."

who : the Americans
when : 2015/06/26
where : the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.
what : Legalize the same-sex marriage

Keywords:

1. pivotal : 關鍵的；中樞的 (adj.)

2. dissenting : 不同意的 (adj.)

3. speculation : 思索；沉思；推測 (adj.)

4. constitution :  憲法 (n..)

5. grant : 授予；同意 (v.)

Week7

Nice terrorist attack on Bastille Day

How the attack unfolded ?

A truck smashed into a crowd in the French resort of Nice, killing at least 84 people in what President Francois Hollande on Friday called a "terrorist" attack on revelers enjoying a Bastille Day fireworks display.

The driver, named by authorities as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel,  barreled the truck two kilometres (1.3 miles) through the crowd on the palm-lined Promenade des Anglais, sending hundreds fleeing in terror and leaving the area strewn with bodies. 

Bouhlel then opened fire on police before they shot him dead, said the regional president in Nice Christian Estrosi . Two guns, a number of fake weapons and grenades were discovered in the vehicle. 

As the sun rose on Friday morning, the lorry could still be seen where it finally came to a halt, its windscreen peppered with bullet holes. Bouhlel's apartment was raided by police later on Friday.

Police vans blocking promenade withdrawn hours before attack.

Police vans which had been blocking off the promenade were withdrawn by the French authorities hours before a 19-ton truck ploughed into a crowd of revelers leaving at least 84 people dead.

Despite France being on heightened alert only 60 officers were on duty, even though there was concern that Nice could be the target of a terrorist attack.

Eye witnesses said the vans, which had sealed off the Promenade des Anglais to protect a military parade were removed before the attack.

when: 14 July, 2016

where: Nice

who: people in Nice and ISIS

what: terrorist attack

keywords:

unfolded 展開的 adj.

Bastille Day (Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July each year) 巴士底日(法國國慶日)

raid 襲擊 v.

plough into 撞上 v.ph

Week6

With Obama Visit to Cuba, Old Battle Lines Fade

HAVANA — For decades, Cuba and the United States have framed their relationship as a conflict of opposites: Communism vs. capitalism; Cuban loyalists vs. Cuban exiles; the state vs. the individual.

But last week’s visit to the island by President Obama — the first by a sitting American president since Calvin Coolidge — made clear that the old lines of battle are breaking down. Here in a place known for its rigidity, ruled since 1959 by a single family, a confounding mash-up of what was once held apart now defines how life works.

Just watching the awkward dance between Mr. Obama and his Cuban counterpart at a news conference on Monday left many Cubans stunned. Young and old remarked that their president, Raúl Castro, did not deliver a strong performance. But there he was, a Castro, admitting he had agreed to take only one question, then stumbling through three — about human rights, no less — as an American president nudged him along in a classic ritual of a more open society.

It was awkward to watch, the octogenarian guerrilla and the younger American, especially the missed handshake-hug at the end, precisely because it showed Mr. Castro moving into uncomfortable territory.

Mr. Obama’s engagement policy and Mr. Castro’s minor opening to free-market ideas and careful criticism have together created a new dynamic for Cuba that is just beginning to reveal what it could become.

“While I’m confident that history will judge Obama’s visit and speech as a unmitigated home run, in the Cuban context he’s only a pinch-hitter or a warm-up batter,” said Ted Henken, a Cuba scholar at Baruch College. “The real contest can only be decided through a frank, respectful and broadly inclusive national dialogue among Cubans themselves.”

who: Obama and Raúl Castro

when: March 26, 2016

where: Cuba

what: Obama visited to Cuba

Keywords

communism 共產主義 n.

capitalism 資本主義 n.

Week5

NASA Licenses New Communication Technology for Unmanned Aircraft

NASA has developed technology that may enable large-scale unmanned aircraft to fly safely in the national airspace along with piloted aircraft.  The patent-pending integrated communications and control system is capable of collision warnings as well as real-time traffic and weather updates.

This communication system brings large unmanned aircraft a step closer to flying in the national airspace using the Federal Aviation Administration's, FAA, aircraft tracking system called the Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, or ADS-B, which is to be mandated by the FAA for most aircraft by 2020.

NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate researchers have been working on technologies that would allow these unmanned aircraft to share the national air space with piloted aircraft through its program called Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the National Air Space or UAS in the NAS.

Center Director David McBride for NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, recently signed a license agreement with Vigilant Aerospace Systems of Oklahoma City.

"We are excited to enter into a license agreement with Vigilant Aerospace Systems allowing for the transfer and commercialization of the Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast System for Own-ship, under direct control of the pilot, and Traffic Situational Awareness technology," said Laura Fobel, chief of Armstrong's technology transfer office.

who: David McBride / Laura Fobel

when: Feb. 26, 2016

what:  unmanned aircraft

where: NASA

Keywords:
unmanned 無人操控的；無人的 adj.
commercialization 商業化 n.
tracking system 追蹤系統 n.
transfer 轉換 v. / n.

Week4

The Paris Agreement: Turning Point for a Climate Solution.

when:last2015

who:169 delegates

where:Paris, France

what:solve the problem of global climate change

Today marsolve the problemks an historic turning point in global action on climate change. At the UN Climate Conference in Paris, known as COP21, 196 countries joined together in theParis Agreement, a universal pact that sets the world on a course to a zero-carbon, resilient, prosperous and fair future. While the Agreement is not enough by itself to solve the problem, it places us clearly on the path to a truly global solution.

The Paris Agreement will maintain and accelerate that momentum. It offers clear direction with:

• long-term goals and signals,
• a commitment to return regularly to make climate action stronger,
• a response to the impact of extreme climate events on the most vulnerable,
• the transparency needed to ensure action takes place and
• finance, capacity building and technology to enable real change.

Keywords:

transparency 透明度 n.

capacity 能力；容量；資格 n.

commitment 承諾；獻身；委任 n.

accelerate 加速；加快 v.

momentum 動力 n.

Week3

How do you explain the Paris terror attacks to a child? This father found the most beautiful way.

who: a man and his young son
when: 17 NOV 2015where: in Paris
what: The dad has been praised for how he responded to his young son's comments.

Since Friday, France and the rest of the world have been trying to make sense of devastating terror attacks that rocked Paris , leaving 129 people dead.

We have seen footage of people laying flowers at the site of the massacres, or silently weeping during yesterday's two-minute silence.

But one heartwarming video circulating on social media shows the 'humanity in the face of inhumanity' we have come to recognise in response to the devastation - and is even helping French people come to terms with their grief.

In an interview with Le Petit Journal in front of floral tributes left for the dead, a young boy is asked if he understands what has happened.

He responds: "Yes, because they are very, very, very bad. Baddies are not very nice. We need to be really careful because we will have to move home."

Patting his head and telling him not to worry, his father replies: "We don't have to move home. France is our home."

Still concerned, the boy says: "But they are baddies, daddy," to which his dad responds: "Yes, but there are bad people everywhere."

When the boy expresses a worry that the bad people can 'shoot at us' with their guns, the conversation takes a beautiful turn.

"They have guns, but we have flowers."

"But flowers do nothing," comes the response, to which Dad replies that the flowers are there to fight against the guns.

"It will protect us?" he innocently asks. "And the candles too?"

Suddenly, the boy looks visibly comforted. His worry slowly melting away, he asks again: "The flowers and candles will protect us?" - a heartwarming smile creeping across his face as his father says yes.

The interviewer asks the youngster if he feels better now, to which he replies: "Yes, I feel better."

The man has won praise for the way he dealt with his son's questions and comments - and the beautiful exchange has even enabled some French viewers to come to terms with their own grief.

Week2

Risk of catching Zika during Olympics is 'almost zero,' Brazilian official says

Who:Ricardo BarrosWhen:June 11,2016
Where: Brazil
What: Brazil's health minister said that Zika virus cause zero on Rio Olympic 

Brazil's new health minister stepped up the offensive to convince tourists and athletes that the risk of catching the Zika virus during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is "almost zero."

"We are here to put at ease the minds of all residents and tourists coming to the games," Ricardo Barros said at a news conference Friday.He cited a study by Cambridge University that concluded there was only a very low chance that any of the expected 500,000 foreign tourists would get the virus.

The Zika virus was detected in Brazil last year and has since caused a huge surge in birth defects.Last month, 150 scientists and doctors posted an open letter arguing that the 2016 Summer Games should be postponed or moved.A handful of athletes have expressed concern over the virus. Some have even pulled out of the competition.