📰 今天我們來讀讀【華爾街日報】
🖐🏽 五分鐘來關心國際時事— 黎巴嫩🇱🇧

📰 Beirut Explosion Caused by Fire Kills Dozens, Injures Thousands
火災造成的貝魯特爆炸，造成數十人死亡，數千人受傷

The blast occurred after a warehouse with highly explosive material caught fire; Trump says U.S. military leaders cite ‘a bomb of some kind’

📌 這篇文章是典型國際新聞報導，標題開宗明義告訴讀者在貝魯特 (Beirut) 發生的大火 (fire) 引致 (caused by) 爆炸 (explosion)， 殺了數十人(dozens) 和傷了幾千人 (thousands)。blast 是explosion的同義詞。副標題引述美國總統的話：美國局方領袖 (military leader) 引述 (cite) 某種炸彈被牽涉的。

BEIRUT—Dozens of people were confirmed dead and thousands more injured after a massive explosion caused by a warehouse fire rocked Lebanon’s capital city of Beirut.

📌 這段改述(paraphrase) 事件的主要細節。capital city 是首都城市。

The warehouse held highly explosive material, said an official with Lebanon’s army who added that the blast was likely caused by a fire and wasn’t an attack. President Trump, however, on Tuesday evening called it a “terrible attack” and said U.S. military leaders believe the explosion was caused by “a bomb of some kind.”

📌 這段引述黎巴嫩軍隊官員就事件的解釋：貨倉容納非常易爆炸的物料 (highly explosive material)，爆炸跟襲擊 (attack) 無關。川普總統則說這是可怕的襲擊。

The explosive material, which Lebanese officials identified as ammonium nitrate, had been kept at the warehouse for the past six years, according to Prime Minister Hassan Diab. “All those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price,” Mr. Diab said.
At least 50 people were killed and 2,750 wounded because of the explosion, Lebanon’s health minister said.

📌 這兩段繼續引述黎巴嫩軍隊官員所提供的資料。ammonium nitrate 是化學品的名稱— 硝酸銨。pay the price 則是指付出代價。

The explosion, which produced a giant orange mushroom cloud over the city, was yet another trauma for Beirut residents who have survived wars and numerous bombings in the past. They now face the challenge of rebuilding at a time of strained resources due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The blast is the latest blow for Lebanon, a country already reeling from multiple crises in recent months, ranging from large street protests over government corruption to an economy on the brink of collapse after years of mismanagement. Before the explosion, which shook the whole of Beirut, Lebanon’s economy was in free fall and ordinary Lebanese citizens were struggling with soaring prices of food and other goods, as well as long daily power cuts.

📌 這兩段解釋這次爆炸對貝魯特居民來說是另一個創傷 (trauma)，並延伸介紹居民所面對的困難：大型上街抗議 (large street protests)、急漲食物和其他物品的價格 (soaring prices of food and other goods) 和長時間停電 (long daily power cuts)。

The explosion destroyed one of Lebanon’s most important international ports and severely damaged Beirut’s cosmopolitan city center, with its neighborhoods of restaurants and concrete apartment buildings, and its iconic corniche on the Mediterranean. The city’s core neighborhoods, home to countless cafes, bars, and artist studios, are at the heart of Beirut’s role as a regional cultural hub with global aspirations.

📌 這段說這次爆炸毀壞港口(port) 和破壞市中心 (city center)。corniche是個很少用的字，但是精準地描繪地中海的濱海道路。

未完待續...
📰 全文請至
https://reurl.cc/kdGD03

📰 作者
Nazih Osseiran and Jared Malsin

📰 訂閱請至
https://bit.ly/3j82Q3W

💁🏻‍♂️ 每日多了解一些國際時事，豐富您的世界觀，邊看新聞邊學英語，語言能力更上一層樓！

👇🏻底下點👍 + 留言 + 分享👇🏻
#拓展國際視野來抽世界明信片

🎊上則貼文中獎名單
📮 Jan Lin
📮 Doris Lee
📮 Jessy Chu

(請私訊您的真實姓名 + 電話+地址，之前得過明信片的學員請告知國家，避免重複)
(集滿十張明信片，英語學習書籍送給您！有三位粉絲已達標囉！)
🎁 領獎期限: 08/07 20:00

Good Night （晚安）

👇中文版本在英文下👇

This song’s about 3 months’ old. I posted a few weeks ago that I recorded a new song I’d written for a TV show theme song. Good Night is actually the song I wrote for that TV show, but they chose a different song of mine instead.

The show has quite a dark theme, so the song’s verse is quite dissonant and menacing. I tried to imagine what happens when an evil person dies - do fallen angels take him down to Hell? If so, why would a truly evil person be punished there? More likely the demons would enjoy his company and appreciate his wrongdoings, but also mourn his passing because he cannot continue doing terrible things on Earth.

What makes someone become a monster – is it intrinsic, or created behaviour? Do they know what they are doing is wrong and try to stop themselves, is it uncontrollable? If so, do they regret what they do, do they hate themselves for it? If so, then they are also victims, and death may be a relief to them. So the chorus lyrics are about a descent into Hell, but they also represent relief of worldly pain, hence the lighter melody.

I then started thinking about forgiveness - if Christianity says anyone is capable of redemption, then why can’t an evil person love and be loved? I tried to represent this by putting a dissonant verse melody and notes at odds with the lyrics, which are quite sweet, and show that some even this monster is cared for on his death bed, and will be missed.

This was written just as Covid-19 was getting very serious, and I guess the situation affected what I wrote.

這首歌是我最近三個月內寫的，原本是為了一部電視劇創作的主題曲，但最後他們選了另一首我的歌。

電視劇的主題有點黑暗，所以這首歌也是比較沉重的。我在想，罪惡的人死了之後到底會什麼發生。是墮落天使見到他， 把他的靈魂帶去地獄嗎？如果那個人真的罪惡那為什麼下去是種懲罰？魔鬼跟罪惡的人應該彼此欣賞吧，很開心在一起，魔鬼也應該不希望這個壞人離開凡間，因為在地球上，罪惡的人可以做魔鬼喜歡看的事。

魔鬼又是怎麼來的呢？ 是與生俱來的嗎，還是後天遇到什麼讓他變成魔鬼？魔鬼知道他們在做惡嗎，還是無意的，無法控制的？如果說不能控制，那他們會後悔自己做過的惡嗎，或者會因此恨自己嗎？如果會，那魔鬼其實很可憐的，他們也是受害者，死亡對魔鬼來說有可能也是減輕他的負擔。所以雖然副歌的歌詞代表這個惡人下地獄，旋律還是比較輕快的。

然後我在想，寬恕是什麼？ 如果基督教說所有的人，不管有多罪惡都可以被救贖，那為什麼這個罪惡的人不值得被愛？ 所以雖然主歌的旋律比較沉重，歌詞其實比較甜蜜，罪惡的人快死掉的時候還會有人陪著他，愛上他。

我寫這首歌的時候，剛好是新冠狀病毒很嚴重的時間， 我覺得這也有影響到這首歌的歌詞和旋律。

Lyrics 歌詞：

Blossom falling early, watched from our bed,
Gently, you stroke my hair and kiss my head,

Knowing what you love you cannot keep，
Your hot tears fall and burn,
they sear my cheeks,

The cards are down,
Read them and weep,
Read them and weep

Fallen angels guide me,
Lay roses at my feet,
As I’m slowly fading,
they cradle me as they weep

She knows (I can’t breathe), she knows;

I’ll soon be gone

Delirious dreams give way to serene strains,
A quiet sadness lurks ‘midst their sweet refrain,

The cards are down,
Read them and weep,
Read them and weep

Now the light shines through me, shade soothes my aching limbs,
Lost soul released into the arms of keening Seraphim

She knows (I can’t breathe), she knows (I can’t breathe), she knows

That I’m gone.

Chain：
Guitar:
Gibson SJ100
Korg Tuner
Zvex Superduper
68 Pedals Klone
Zoom MS50

Vox:
Sennheiser MD431 MK1
Cusack Pedal Cracker
HoF 1
Both into Saramonics Smart Rig+
iPhone 5SE

眾所皆知我在去年老當益壯，戴起了隱適美牙套。成為一個每天穿得破破爛爛，一張口就是一個鉑金包的女人。

從每兩週到每週換上一副新的牙套，讓我經常有感而發、洋洋灑灑。例如：

「牙套緊到我覺得我的牙齒在做凱格爾運動。」

「每隔一週就又要進入磨合期。

牙齒真是比我還適合婚姻。」

「伍迪艾倫說過一段話：『My love life is terrible. The last time I was inside a woman was when I visited the Statue of Liberty.』

喔那麼以一個生過孩子的女人來說，我全身最緊緻的就是我的牙口。」

今天走出牙醫診所的時候，我為我先前的無病呻吟道歉，我牙套草莓族、我戴牙套沒有狼性。因為，我打了骨釘！打在牙齦上的骨釘！還隱隱作痛，還看見你下手，這回憶多麼沒力，刺痛我牙口、我牙口。

怡登唯美的蔡男技術很好，拔牙和打骨釘都很俐落，過程其實不會痛，是麻藥退去才會悶痛。有矯正需求的可以找他，是他和蔡女讓我得知，身為平民的我們不要太服從（？）醫生，醫生裡面還有更厲害的醫生。先前被兩個牙醫放棄的我，被蔡男矯正還不到一年，臉就正回來了。「正」是動詞，形容詞尤佳（？）

也是他們兩個讓我放心，很會唸書的醫學院學生，也不太會談戀愛嘛！因為他們都有買過我的書。LOL

（圖說為他拔牙那麼麻利，就是為了趕著玩fb.）（大誤）
（本篇不是業配，他沒給我錢，他只給我面子，吧！）
（打完骨釘後我納悶了起來，我這麼淒美是為了什麼？是有想要改嫁嗎？）