Dozens hurt as Kammuri sweeps in and out of city (extract)

(學習重點：加了黃色螢光標記的詞組)

Tropical Storm Kammuri (北冕) blew in and out of Hong Kong yesterday, leaving 37 people injured, thousands of passengers stranded at the airport and ferry terminals and forcing top attractions such as Disneyland and Ngong Ping 360 to close.

Within two hours of the hoisting of strong wind signal No. 8, the window panes of a commercial building at 18 Westlands Road (華蘭路) in North Point were shattered, sending shards of glass across the street and damaging the windows of four flats.

There were no injuries.

Meanwhile, a KMB bus veered off its course while trying to avoid a minivan on Lung Cheong Road (龍翔道) near Chi Wan village and crashed onto a barrier. The driver, Lee Cha-yui, 50, was taken to hospital with chest pains.

A five-story-tall tree fell across Choi Hung Road in Choi Hung district, blocking traffic. There were 30 cases of fallen trees reported.

In Cha Kwo Ling village, the roof of a two-story tin shack was blown off.

The majority of bus services were suspended in the morning and MTR services were reduced with trains at 10-15 minute intervals, causing more crowded carriages and inflated minibus fares as people scrambled for alternative transportation.

Ferry and tram services were also disrupted.

Adele Wong
The Standard, 7 August 2008

真性情、真本色

在【舞動激情】的原聲大碟中，自己頗喜歡以下這首主題曲：

Shining Through - Fredro Starr & Jill Scott

有留意歌詞的朋友，應該會重複聽到 I see your true colours 這句。colour (顏色) 這個字，大家應不會感到陌生，但留意 true colours 在這裡並非說一個人的膚色，而是說別人的「真性情、真本色」。據聞此成語的由來，是因為輪船在安全水域航行時，若遇見友船，便不怕展示其真旗幟、真顏色。

既然有人 show true colours，當然亦有人 give false colour。不過，後者並非解作「虛偽」(真性情的相反)，而是指令事情失實，例如：The newspaper is giving false colour to the event. (報章對賽事的報導不盡不實。)

廣東話有「我俾啲顏色你睇」這樣的說法 (即「我要讓你好看」)，有人貪好玩，將之直譯成英文，變成 I give some colours you see。這句當然是胡說八道，但英文真是有 give colour to sth 這種說法，指「顯示」，或是「增添細節，令文章更有趣/具說服力」，例如：His experience gives colour to his lessons. (他的經歷為其課堂增添色彩。)

寫了一大通，其實只想帶出一個訊息，就是別少看簡單的英文字。因為在英語世界中，愈簡單的字愈變化萬千。

(如有錯漏，懇請指正)

偶遇的欣喜

之前得淇淇介紹，看了【舞動激情】這齣好電影，並對電影中的配樂念念不忘。惜電影屬半新不舊的片子，又不歸入經典系列，於是找來找去也找不著原聲大碟。

誰知上星期四，到電影中心逛影碟店時，竟看見架子上放了【舞動激情】的原聲大碟，還要是價錢頗商宜呢！於是二話不說便把碟緊緊地握在手中。

本以為當天的好運氣已用罄，但萬料不到，在另一個架子上，又讓我看見【情鍵四分鐘】的原聲大碟！天啊！之前我曾很認真地考慮過，要不要乘飛機過台灣買這張碟呢！(看栗子妹多瘋狂)

幸好有這兩張碟伴著，才覺得案頭的工作沒那麼討厭！

[又一八號風球上班的日子]

Girl lands on soot pile to survive 14-story chimney plunge (extract)

(學習重點：加了黃色螢光標記的詞組；美式英語生字拼法)

A 12-year-old girl just wanted to show her cousin the view from her family's rooftop. Instead, she fell into a chimney and plummeted down the flue for 14 stories, landing in a pile of furnace soot.

Grace Bergere injured her hip and is recovering at a New York hospital. A 60-centimeter pile of ash and dust probably saved her life by cushioning her fall when she crashed into a basement furnace, officials said.

"I broke my leg!" she yelled after rescuers spotted her soot-caked hand reaching out for help.

Fire Chief Austin Horan said the girl emerged relatively unscathed from the accident at the Westbeth Artists Housing complex that houses performers, including Grace's father, Steve Bergere, a jazz guitarist.

"It's a miracle – it's an absolute miracle," he said.

Associated Press
The Standard, 4 August 2008

是做完，還是玩完？

某次兼職，負責替客戶校對文稿。文稿由一位外藉人士撰寫，照理文法應該沒甚麼大問題，誰知讓栗子妹看見這樣的句子：

When you are finished, remember to ...
After you are done, please ...

起初栗子妹以為紅色部分是 have finished 和 have done 的手民之誤，但這種句子在文稿中出現的次數太頻密，開始讓我猶豫起來。

按上文下理，文句是想表達「當完成某件事情後」的意思，但若用被動語態 (passive voice) 書寫，意思應為「被了結」(即廣東話的「玩完」)！英文的文法不是「進化」得那麼快吧？

把這個疑惑帶回公司，與同事討論。同事的分析是：「外國人說慣了，便沒覺著有甚麼問題。他們的文法，絕非我們想像中的好。」

是這樣的嗎？不知各位覺得如何呢？

English for the confused

(學習重點：加了黃色螢光標記的詞組)

Those behind the government's Workplace English Campaign (職業英語運動) may very well benefit from their own program – if their grammatically challenged press releases and confusing slogans such as "Let's Learn and Live" are anything to go by.

Their message is not much clearer when they turn to celebrities such as actress Liza Wang Ming-chun for support.

"We will win client's confidence with good English," Wang said – or at least what the translator of the press release claimed she said. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah has another take. "Good English brings you business opportunities everywhere," he said.

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp chairman (匯豐銀行主席) Vincent Cheng Hoi-chuen, on the other hand, "encourage(s) young people to 'earn' opportunities with their efforts to improve their English."

If one didn't know better, one might think English is a currency rather than a language.

Central Station
The Standard, 4 August 2008

寫網誌練英文

得蒙蕭 sir 的啟發，決定要我那個蠻有危機意識¹ 的補習學生寫網誌練英文。

既然上網已成了生活的一部分，每天抽十分鐘出來，看看學生寫了甚麼，然後給她一點意見和鼓勵，對我來說應該沒大問題。況且我相信教學相長，說不定我隨時從學生身上學到東西呢！²

看了學生四篇網誌，發覺她在作文時所犯的錯誤，竟跟我讀中學時所犯的沒兩樣，例如：

1. 誤將形容詞當作動詞使用，如 I afraid that ... (應為：I am afraid that ...)

2. 誤將副詞 every day 寫成形容詞 everyday

說起來，學生有很多錯誤，都是因為分不清英語八大詞類 (Parts of speech) ³ 所造成。不明白為何現今的英語課程，半點也不著重詞類學習。如果能在小學時打好這方面的基礎，到中學時學生便不會學得暈頭轉向。既然中文科要學主謂賓⁴，為何英文科要對這些避之則吉？

~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~‧~

¹ 學生最擔心的是，若不幸要留級，便要多讀兩年數學……
² 看小學的常識書，確實是可以學到很多東西呢！
³ 英語八大詞類，分別是名詞 (nouns)、代名詞 (pronouns)、動詞 (verbs)、形容詞 (adjectives)、副詞 (adverbs)、前置詞 (prepositions)、連接詞 (conjunctions) 和感嘆詞 (interjections)。
⁴「主謂賓」即「主語」(subject)、「謂語」(predicate) 和「賓語」(object)。

書信情誼

(以下內容涉及電影【查令十字路84號】的情節，敬請留意。)

上次寫【隔世俏佳人】時，小月在回應中提到【網上有緣】，讓栗子妹想起一齣舊電影【查令十字路84號】。

電影改編自同名書信集《84, Charing Cross Road》，該書收錄了作者 Helene Hanff 與在倫敦 Marks & Co. 書店工作的 Frank Doel 的書信。查令十字路84號是 Marks & Co. 的地址，該書店專門售賣絕版書。

別以為由書信集改編而成的電影，一定是沉悶非常。這齣電影拍得親切可喜，甚至可以說是扣人心弦。兩位同樣是書癡的男女主角，因著買賣舊書而結識，然後維持長達二十年，橫越大西洋的書信往來。那份逝水長流的情誼，聽起來已教人怦然心動。

電影中有很多平淡但感人的情節，譬如有一段戲，講述女主角得知英國實施食品配給，二話不說便訂了一大箱肉食和雞蛋，郵寄到 Marks & Co.，讓男主角與書店其他職員分享。女主角爽朗豪邁的性格，與男主角的溫文拘謹，相映成趣。

男女主角做了二十年筆友，卻始終緣慳一面。像栗子妹這種「猴急」兼八卦的人，很難想像他倆怎能按耐住內心的好奇。但回心一想，當年 (1949-1969) 交通和通訊並不發達，二人又不富有，不按耐住好奇心也不行吧？

電影的結局教人低徊，但未嘗不是一個好結局。二人以書結緣，把情誼停留在書信上也算是恰當。見了面，破壞了內心美好的印象，倒成了憾事。

在何安達的《華洋書莊II》中，讀到這齣電影和書信集的介紹。當中引錄了 William Butler Yeats 的一首情詩，容栗子妹轉引：

He wishes for the cloths of heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

柔柔情意，盡在字裡行間表露無遺。(按這裡，聽安東尼鶴健士親自演繹。)

電影預告片：

Sunday assignment

Choose an article from the following section:

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_sec.asp?we_cat=16&d_str=20080722&fc=4

Leave me the link and tell me what you think about the article.

不再癡情

能看見這一篇的朋友，對栗子妹來說算是「心」交；正因為是「心」交，於是我覺得有必要向大家澄清一件事。

之前跟朋友通電話，給他說了我一大通，叫我別再對某人癡情。於是我便跟朋友解釋，我已經沒再在網誌中提及某人，我對他不再迷戀。可恨朋友卻借用了栗子妹的邏輯，說我沒提並不表示忘了。那好吧，就讓我以這一篇來表明心跡，我不會再對某人癡情。

本以為要斷絕那份情並不容易，但原來一封不知是有心還是無意的電郵，便能讓自己下定決心。現在，我只想盡快跟某人劃清界線，脫離所有關係。

別誤會我柔情似水、癡情無限；炒股票的人，絕對可以很狠。