Strike 罷工
A 3-day-strike on the railway network has started from today. Around 40,000 members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) are involved, which means Network Rail and 14 train operators will be affected by walkouts.
從今日開始，英國的鐵路將會進行為期三日的罷工，大約 40,000 名全國鐵路、海事和運輸工人工會 (RMT) 的成員參與其中，這代表 Network Rail 和 14 家火車運營商將受到罷工的影響。
The demands of the unions are broadly summed up as:
工會向公司提出的要求可以總結為：
- A pay rise which meets the rate of inflation
- A “no compulsory redundancies guarantee”
- No unagreed changes to terms and conditions
- 符合通脹的加薪
- 保證不強制裁員
- 條款和條件不可未經同意更改
Although each rail operator has individual details for the strike days, what can be sure is that almost 80% of services across England, Wales and Scotland are cut off or cancelled.
雖然每個鐵路商的罷工細節都有所不同，但可以確定的，是近80%連接英格蘭、威爾斯和蘇格蘭的鐵路服務都會被取消。
If you have planned to travel by rail in the next two days, you may have to cancel the trip or re-plan your journey.
如果在未來幾日有要乘鐵路的打算，就可能需要取消或重新規劃行程了。
When people living in London are suffering from train disruption, people living in Edinburgh are going to be disrupted by rubbish as the city’s waste workers have launched a 12-day strike.
當倫敦人的生活受交通所困擾，生活在愛丁堡的人就即將要受到「垃圾」影響——因為愛丁堡負責處理垃圾的工人已經發起了為期12天的大罷工。
The Edinburgh strike is the first of a series planned across Scotland. Unions have rejected a pay offer equivalent to a 3.5% increase and the Labour councillor is asking for more money from the Scottish government to allow a better offer for the striking worker.
愛丁堡的罷工是蘇格蘭罷工計劃中的第一場，工會拒絕了相當於3.5%的加薪提議，並要求蘇格蘭政府支付更多工資，以給予罷工工人更好的報價。
If political leaders want to avoid the prospect of more strikes in next few weeks, they must urgently and wisely respond to the request of a significantly improved pay offer.
如果蘇格蘭的領導人希望避免未來幾週發生更多罷工，就必須緊急而明智地回應工會提出的要求了。
Vocabulary
- Strike / Walkouts (Noun) 罷工
- Disruption (Noun) 破壞
- Waste workers (Noun) 處理垃圾的工人
- Equivalent (Adj) 等效
- Councillor (Noun) 議員
- Prospect (Noun) 前景
Train Operators 鐵路公司
- Avanti West Cost
- Greater Anglia
- Gatwick Express
Source
Train strikes: Why are this week’s rail walkouts happening and who will be affected? (https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/rail-train-strikes-dates-unions-why-b2147386.html)
Edinburgh bin workers begin strikes in pay dispute (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-62575005)
Weather 天氣
Flash floods hit parts of London as heavy rain continued. Downpours overwhelmed England’s parched landscape, with yellow thunderstorm warnings issued for the east, south, southeast and southwest of England. The Met Office expects the unsettled weather will continue into the weekend.
因為持續暴雨，倫敦的部分地區遭遇山洪暴發，大雨掩沒了英國的乾旱景觀，英格蘭東部、南部、東南部和西南部地區都發布了黃色暴雨警告，氣象局預計這種不穩定的天氣將會持續到周末。
After weeks of dry weather, heavy downpours swamped London and southern England, with cars stranded, theatres evacuated, parts of London’s Victoria Station flooded and several tube stations forced to close.
經歷數週的乾旱天氣後，大雨淹沒了倫敦和英格南部，汽車擱淺，劇院撤離，倫敦的維多利亞車站部分被淹沒，幾個地鐵站被迫關閉。
Gatwick Airport has issued a warning that severe weather could cause flight delays and cancellations.
蓋特威克機場發出警告，惡劣的天氣可能會導致航班延誤及取消。
Heavy downpours caused mass sewage overflow and traffic chaos. Nearly 40 beach pollution warnings have been issued due to recent downpours that have polluted the beaches. Swimmers are advised against bathing at beaches owing to sewage dumps.
大雨造成大量污水溢出及交通混亂。由於最近的傾盆大雨污染了海灘，已經發布了近40個海灘污染警告。因為污水傾出，建議泳客不要在海灘泡海水浴。
Three people were stranded on the beach as torrential rain turned clay cliffs and slopes into mud baths. A rope rescue technician rappelled from the cliff top to rescue the stranded group.
因為暴雨將黏土懸崖和斜坡變成泥漿浴，有三人因而被困在海灘上。一名繩索救援技術人員從懸崖頂垂降到到被困人群當中把人救出。
As parts of England is suffering from downpours and flash floods, Yorkshire is officially in drought after a prolonged period of unusually dry weather.
當英格蘭部分地區遭受傾盆大雨和山洪暴發時，約克郡在經歷長時間異常乾燥的天氣後正式進入乾旱狀態。
Yorkshire Water has already announced that a hosepipe ban will come into effect later this month. The last drought in Yorkshire was in autumn 2018.
約克郡水務公司宣布，軟水管禁令將於本月底生效，而約克郡上一次乾旱發生在 2018 年秋季。
The driest weather in decades has forced the government to relax strict environmental rules, allowing farmers to feed and graze more easily.
幾十年來最乾燥的天氣也迫使政府放寬了嚴格的環境規定，允許農民更容易餵養和放牧。
The relaxed regulations mean farmers have the option to relax guidelines in agri-environmental scheme agreements and make it easier to raise livestock.
規定放寬意味著農民可以選擇放寬農業環境計劃協議中的指導方針，並使飼養牲畜更容易。
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the changes were effective immediately and will continue until the end of the year.
環境、食品和農村事務部表示，這些變化會即時生效，並將持續到今年年底。
The change of climate affects a lot. However, not all of them are bad news.
氣候變化影響雖然很大，但並非所有的都是壞消息。
Research on climate resilience in the UK wine sector suggested rising heat will affect grapes and could make Britain a key player in the production of high-quality wine. The UK could become a leading producer of red wine due to rising temperatures from climate change, a new study claims.
對英國葡萄酒行業氣候適應力的研究表明，氣溫升高將影響葡萄，並可能使英國成為生產優質葡萄酒的關鍵參與者。一項新的研究稱，由於氣候變化導致氣溫上升，英國可能成為紅酒的主要生產國。
Vocabulary
- Overwhelm / Swamp (Verb) 淹沒
- Parched (Adj) 乾涸的
- Torrential rain (Noun) 暴雨
- Downpours (Noun) 傾盆大雨
- Stranded (Adj) 滯留的，被困住的
- Mass (Adj) 大量的
- Sewage dumps (Noun) 污水場
- Sewage (Noun) 污水
- Graze (Verb) 放牧
- Agri-environment scheme (Noun) 農業環境計劃
- Livestock (Noun) 家畜
- Resilience (Noun) 彈性
Source
Storms and flash floods hit southern England (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/17/storms-and-flash-floods-hit-southern-england-london)
Watch: Flash flooding sparks chaos as torrential rain lashes South East (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/17/watch-victoria-station-floods-torrential-rain-lashes-london/)
UK weather – live: London’s Victoria station floods amid ‘danger to life’ storm warning (https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/uk-weather-forecast-today-met-storm-warning-latest-b2146674.html)
Lulworth cliff rescue as rain turns beach into ‘mud bath’ (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-62588208)
Yorkshire officially enters drought for first time in four years (https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2022-08-16/drought-declared-in-yorkshire-after-prolonged-dry-period)
Green farming rules to be relaxed to help feed livestock during drought (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/17/green-farming-rules-relaxed-help-feed-livestock-drought/)
UK ‘could become ideal red wine producer’ due to rising temperatures from climate change (https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/uk-red-wine-producer-climate-change-b2146030.html)
Education 教育
Hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will eagerly announce their results today – teenagers in Scotland received theirs last week.
英格蘭、威爾士和北愛爾蘭的數十萬學生今天將熱切地公佈他們的成績——蘇格蘭的青少年上週已收到他們的成績。
The cohorts were the first to sit for the exam since the outbreak of COVID-19, which have thrown the assessment system into chaos.
這批考生是自 COVID-19 爆發以來第一批參加考試的考生，而結果令評估系統一度陷入混亂。
UK students have achieved less A-level grades this year than in 2021 and 2020, but still more than pre-pandemic levels – the last time students physically sat exams.
今年英國學生獲得的 A-level 成績低於 2021 年和 2020 年，但仍高於大流行前水平——這是學生最後一次參加實體考試。
Competition for university places is expected to be fierce this year, as admissions service Ucas acknowledged that universities have been more cautious in their offers.
因為招生服務機構 Ucas 承認大學在錄取時更加謹慎，因此預計今年大學名額的競爭將非常激烈。
Yet the results show a record 425,830 students will be taking up a place at UK universities this year, with disadvantaged 18-year-olds taking more degrees than ever before.
然而結果顯示，今年有創紀錄的 425,830 名學生在英國大學就讀，其中 18 歲的弱勢學生獲得了比以往任何時候都多的學位。
The overall pass rate (A* to E) this year is 98.4%, slightly lower than 99.5% in 2021, but up from 97.6% in 2019.
今年的總體及格率（A* 到 E 級）為 98.4%，略低於 2021 年的 99.5%，但高於 2019 年的 97.6%。
Enrolments at A* and A top grades fell 8.4% to 36.4% from 44.8% last year, but rose 11% from 25.4% in 2019.
獲得 A* 和 A 最高等級的入學率從去年的 44.8% 下降 8.4% 至 36.4%，但比 2019 年的 25.4% 上升了 11.0 個百分點。
The most popular subject this year is Mathematics. Psychology remains the second most popular subject and Biology is again the third most popular one. The number of candidates for the English Literature for a single subject fell the most, down 9.4% compared to last year.
今年最受歡迎的科目是數學。心理學仍然是第二受歡迎的學科。生物學再次成為第三受歡迎的學科。英語文學單科的考生人數下降幅度最大，與去年相比下降了 9.4%。
Vocabulary
- Eagerly (Adv) 熱切地
- Cohort (Noun) 有共同特點的一群人
- Outbreak (Noun) 爆發
- Plunge (Verb) 驟然下降
- Pandemic (Noun) 大型流行病
Source
A-level grades lower than last two years but higher than pre-pandemic levels (https://news.sky.com/story/results-day-a-level-grades-lower-than-last-two-years-but-higher-than-pre-pandemic-levels-12675619)
Key statistics in this year’s A-level results (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/biology-design-alevels-psychology-english-b2147510.html)
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