North Korea halts all communications with South in row over leafleting
北韓因散發傳單問題切斷與南韓所有聯繫。

North Korea has said it will cut off all inter-Korean communication lines with the South, including a hotline between the two nations' leaders.
北韓表示將切斷與南韓之間的所有兩韓通訊管道，包含兩位領導人之間的熱線。

Daily calls, which have been made to a liaison office located in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, will cease from Tuesday.
位於北韓邊界的開城聯絡辦事處，此處的兩韓日常聯繫，將從周二起停止。

The two states had set up the office to reduce tensions after talks in 2018.
南北韓兩國在2018年會談後設立了辦事處，以和緩彼此間緊張的氣氛。

North and South Korea are technically still at war because no peace agreement was reached when the Korean War ended in 1953.
嚴格說來，南北韓之間仍處於戰時狀態，因為從1953韓戰以來，兩國並未達成和平協議。

圖為位於開城的南北韓聯絡處。

新聞來源︰節選BBC 6月9日新聞
照片來源︰NK News

單字補充
row over 因某事物爭吵
leaflet (V) 散發
liaison (N.) 聯絡
cease (V.) 停止
border (N.) 邊界
technically (Adv.) 嚴格
-------------------------------------------------------
更多單字這裡學
https://reurl.cc/exmEQx

#EZTALK #你不知道的美國大小事
#KimJongUn

Is Kim Jong-un Critically Ill? 👀
💬 金正恩病危❓

最近這幾天最常看到的新聞，除了新冠肺炎外，就是北韓領導人突然消失的新聞，今天就來聊聊這件事。進入文章前，先來看看單字～

【✍主題單字】
1. critically ill「病危的」：critically 常用來形容「病情危急地」。
2. absent「缺席的」
3. speculation「猜測，推斷」：當名詞，動詞為 speculate。
4. credible「可信的」
5. severity「嚴重性，嚴重程度」：當名詞，形容詞 severe。
6. North Korean defector「脫北者」：defector「叛逃者」，指脫離原本國家、逃到對立政治立場的另一個國家者。
7. obesity「過胖」
8. decline「拒絕，謝絕」：比 reject 跟 refuse 要婉轉一些。
9. in light of「有鑑於」

--

On April 15, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was absent from the celebration of his grandfather Kim Il-sung’s birthday. Kim Il-sung was the founder of North Korea, and the anniversary of his birth is the nation’s most important holiday. Ever since then, there has been speculation about Kim Jong-un’s health. Kim’s last known appearance was at a Politburo meeting on April 11.
4 月 15 日，北韓領導人金正恩缺席祖父金日成的誕辰。金日成是北韓國父，所以他的誕辰可說是北韓全國上下最重要的國定節日。自此之後，有關金正恩健康堪慮的傳言四起。而金正恩最後一次現身，是參加 4 月 11 日勞動黨中央政局會議。

According to a U.S. official, Kim is in grave danger after undergoing surgery. And another U.S. official told American media that the concerns about Kim’s health are credible, but the severity of his condition is hard to access. What kind of surgery? Daily NK, a newspaper run by North Korean defectors, reports that Kim received heart surgery because of “excessive smoking, obesity and overwork.” On the other hand, two separate South Korean government sources have said that the reports about Kim’s health aren’t true, and that there have been no unusual signs coming from North Korea.
一名美國官員指出，金正恩術後病危，而另一名美國官員告訴媒體，有關金正恩健康的揣測是可信的，不過嚴重程度還不得而知。那麼，金正恩做的是什麼手術？由脫北者經營的韓國媒體《Daily NK》指出，金正恩所接受的手術是心血管手術，因為他有「嚴重煙癮、過重而且過勞」。不過另一方面，兩個不同的南韓政府消息來源指出，有關金正恩的健康傳聞並非屬實，北韓看起來並沒有任何不正常的徵兆。

When asked about Kim’s health condition, the U.S. National Security Council and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment. The State Department and the CIA have also made no public statements. But in light of the military exercises carried out by North Korea on April 14, which included the launch of several missiles, U.S. intelligence agencies are continuing to closely monitor the situation.
當被問及金正恩的健康狀況，美國國家安全委員會與國家情報總監都拒絕評論。國務院與中央情報局也沒有做任何公開聲明。不過，鑑於北韓在4月14日執行軍事演習，其中還發射數枚導彈，美國情報單位仍密切關注情勢發展。

【📎美國新聞相關】
1. the U.S. National Security Council「美國國家安全會議」：簡稱國安會，是由美國總統主持的最高級別國家安全及外交事務決策委員會，處理外交與安全事務。
2. the Office of the Director of National Intelligence「國家情報總監」：處理有關國家安全的情報事務時的主要諮詢對象，統領 16 個美國情報體系。在建立國家情報總監之前，美國情報體系龍頭是中央情報局（CIA）總監。
3. the State of Department「美國國務院」：美國政府負責外交事務的行政部門。

--
🔔 按下「搶先看」，每週五【美國大小事】，由 Judd 編審分享最即時美國新鮮事！想知道更多美國文化，請看 👉 http://bit.ly/EZTalk嚴選

[時事英文新聞] Elaine Lan Chao (趙小蘭)!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

同學認識趙小蘭嗎？

她是美國歷史上第一位進入內閣的華裔!

Elaine Lan Chao is an American who served as (擔任) the 24th United States Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, and Deputy Secretary of Transportation (美國運輸部副部長) under President George H. W. Bush. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, she was the first Asian-American woman and the first Taiwanese-American in U.S. history to be appointed to a U.S. president's cabinet (美國總統內閣).

On November 29, 2016, it was announced that President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate (提名) Chao for Secretary of Transportation (美國運輸部長) when he takes office (上任).

serve as 擔任
Deputy Secretary of Transportation 美國運輸部副部長
nominate 提名
Secretary of Transportation 美國運輸部長
be appointed to... 被委派...到
U.S. president's cabinet 美國總統內閣
take office 上任

Audio: https://soundcloud.com/eric-yang-51/elaine-lan-chao

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

美國媒體對她的評價:

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Chao…is exactly the kind of person you would expect to see serve as transportation secretary in a Republican Party administration.

exactly the kind of person 正是那種人

--Vox.com

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Elaine Chao is just as much an American as any of the rest of them,” he told Republican supporters at a dinner in 2013. “In fact, she had to go through a lot more to become American.”

just as much an American as any of the rest of them 就像其他任何一個美國人一樣

go through a lot 經歷很多

--Fortune.com

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Secretary Chao’s extensive record of strong leadership and her expertise are invaluable assets in our mission to rebuild our infrastructure in a fiscally responsible manner,” said President-elect Trump. “She has an amazing life story and has helped countless Americans in her public service career.”

extensive record 廣泛的紀錄
invaluable assets 無價資產
fiscally responsible manner 財政保障(負責任)的方式
public service 公共服務

--The Guardian

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Secretary Chao’s experience transitioning to a new country has motivated her to devote most of her professional life to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to build better lives.”

transition to… 適應…; 過渡到
build a better life 打造更好的生活

--The Guardian

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

She is a woman and an immigrant, a fixture of the Republican establishment for two decades. She is a savvy and professional practitioner of the capital’s inside game.

establishment 建立的機構
a fixture of… …的常驻人物; 固定在某位置的人或物

--NY Times

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

He also admired her no-nonsense attitude.

no-nonsense attitude 正經的態度; 態度嚴肅而認真

--NY Times

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

「 趙小蘭1961年初抵美國時，一個英文單字都不會。1975年，她以優異成績畢業自著名的文理學院、曼荷蓮女子學院，獲得經濟學學士學位。1979年於哈佛商學院取得企業管理碩士學位。」

...Now, I am more motivated than ever!

--Wikipedia

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Sources:
http://www.vox.com/2016/11/29/13776786/elaine-chao-transportation-secretary

http://fortune.com/2016/11/29/donald-trump-elaine-chao/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/29/elaine-chao-trump-transportation-secretary-nominee

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/us/politics/elaine-chao-transportation-trump.html?_r=0

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%99%E5%B0%8F%E8%98%AD

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

[11.30.16 Daily Headline 每日頭條]

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每天早上花個3分鐘多了解世界大事和學習英文 :D
SK's Political Crisis: https://soundcloud.com/eric-yang-51/113016-headline-daily

★★★★★★★★★★★★

"South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday asked parliament to decide how and when she can give up power over an influence-peddling scandal, taking the country's political crisis deeper into uncharted terrain."
parliament 國會; influence-peddling scandal 關說醜聞; give up power 放棄權利; political crisis 政治危機; uncharted terrain 未知的領域/地形

★★★★★★★★★★★★

Source and full story: http://www.reuters.com/…/us-southkorea-politics-idUSKBN13O0…

★★★★★★★★★★★★

[12.01.16 Daily Headline 每日頭條] UN Tightens Sanctions on NK

★★★★★★★★★★★★
Audio: https://soundcloud.com/eric-yang-51/1201-nk-sanctions
★★★★★★★★★★★★

"The UN security council has voted to further tighten sanctions on North Korea in response to their fifth and largest nuclear test yet.

The council unanimously approved the sanctions resolution on Wednesday following months of diplomatic wrangling over how best to respond to North Korea’s latest nuclear test in September and their repeated defiance of international sanctions and diplomatic pressure."

tighten sanctions 加緊制裁
nuclear test 核試驗
unanimously approve 一致地批准/認可
sanctions resolution 制裁決議
diplomatic wrangling 外交角力; 外交爭論
repeated defiance 一再的蔑視/挑舋
international sanctions 國際制裁
diplomatic pressure 外交壓力

★★★★★★★★★★★★
Full story: https://www.theguardian.com/…/un-north-korea-sanctions-nucl…
★★★★★★★★★★★★

Let me know in the comments if this is useful!