jenny's blog

作为一个多种族国家，新加坡庆祝主要种族和宗教信仰的多个节日，其中比较重要的节日更是成为了公共假日，其中就包括了圣周五。
As a multiracial country, Singapore celebrates the festivals of all its major ethnic groups and religious groups, among which the more important ones become public holidays, Good Friday included.

2015年新加坡人口报告显示，基督教徒占据了新加坡人口的19%，其中包括大约38%的天主教徒和大约60%的清教徒，只有很少的一部分属于其他的基督教分支。
According to the demographic report of 2015, Christians take up 19% of Singapore’s population, among which there are about 60% of Protestants, 38% of Catholics, and a very minor percentage follows other branches of Christianity.

18日中午1时，台湾东部发生了规模达6.1级的地震，地震中央位于花莲县秀林乡。海峡对面的中国大陆的众多省市都有震感，包括福建、江苏、浙江、安徽和上海。

A strong earthquake with a registered magnitude of 6.1 shook the east of Taipei around 1 pm local time on 18th Apr. The center of the earthquake is near Hualian county. Multiple provinces and city in mainland China also have detectable traits and feelings of the earthquake, including Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Shanghai.

一共有17人因地震受伤。地震发生时，两人位来自日本的游客正在登山，余下15人处于两座受影响较大的建筑物内。目前没有死亡。

当地时间17日，印度尼西亚迎来5年一次的总统大选。这是总统佐科·维多多退役与普拉博沃·苏比安托自2014年总统大选以来的第二次对决。
Local time 17th Apr, Indonesia Presidential Election, which happens every five years, took place. This election is the second time where Joko Widodo run against his rival, Prabowo Subianto since 2014.

目前，多家私营民调机构的非官方统计显示现任总统佐科以至少七个百分点领先，预计会成功连任。
Currently, multiple privately-run polling organization released their unofficial result, which shows that Joko Widodo leads by at least 7% and is expected to be successfully re-elected.

巴黎圣母院的大火在10多个小时后终于扑灭。顶部三分之二惨遭焚毁，包括它号称“森林”的木质框架、尖顶和尖顶上的公鸡形状的风向标和三件圣人遗物。
The massive fire at the Notre-Dame cathedral was put out after more than 10 hours. Two-thirds of the roof was destroyed in flames, including the medieval wooden structure, the iconic spire together with the rooster-shaped wind vane and three relics of the Saints on top.

不过也有一部分标志幸免于难：
Silver lining, some managed to survive from the fire

1. 当地时间4月15日下午6时50分左右，法国巴黎圣母院发生严重火灾。
在现场，消防队员疯狂地从起重机抽水灭火，试图挽救教堂里面的无价艺术珍宝、历史文物，但是，火势实在是太厉害了，人们即使是从塞纳河对岸，也可以感受到火场的温度。
At about 6:50 pm local time on April 15th, there was a serious fire in Notre Dame de Paris.
At the scene, the firefighters frantically pumped fire from the cranes, trying to save the priceless art treasures and historical relics in the church. However, the fire was so powerful that people could feel the temperature of the fire even from the other side of the Seine.

1. 4月14日消息，西安女奔驰车主哭诉维权事件持续发酵，奔驰4S店西安利之星除了此前回应表示“已与女车主消除误解，达成共识”之外，暂未有最新正式声明。
On April 14th, Xi'an female Mercedes-Benz owner cried that the rights defense incident continued to ferment. In addition to the previous response, Mercedes-Benz 4S shop Xi'an Lizhixing said that it had "completed misunderstandings with female car owners and reached a consensus". There is no official statement yet.
2. 西安发布”微博发文表示，引起关注的“某女士购奔驰车消费纠纷”一事，西安市高新区市场监管部门对外发布了有关工作进展情况：已对“利之星”立案调查，责成尽快退车退款。

斑鳖（bānbiē – Yangtze Giant Softshell turtles），全世界最大的淡水鳖（dànshuǐ biē – freshwater turtles）。它曾经在长江区域颇为常见。但是自从上个世纪70年代起，由于不合理的污染、猎杀、水坝和水资源开发，斑鳖濒临灭绝（bīnlín mièjué – close to extinction）。
Yangtze Giant Softshell turtles are the world’s largest fresh water turtle. They were once very common in the Yangtze River region. However, since the 1970s, they were pushed towards extinction due to pollution, hunting, dam and development of the water resource.

前提是这样的：2017年12月21日晚上，美国特拉华州，一名名为迈克尔·罗哈纳的男子潜入已关闭的富兰克林科学博物馆(bówùguǎn – n. museum)。当时馆内正在展出一系列从中国借来的珍贵文物(wénwù – n. artifacts)。据监控视频(jiānkòng shìpín – n. surveillance videos)显示，他不仅做出了开着闪光灯看展览、随意触碰展品的行为，他竟然掰下了一个兵马俑(bīngmǎyǒng – n. Chinese Terracotta Warrior)的大拇指并逃出博物馆！

You should know these trivia regarding chopsticks! #burger king chopsticks ad #chopsticks (1)

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2. 筷子是一种绝妙的礼物 Chopsticks are wonderful gifts!

筷子不仅是礼物，它甚至是万能的礼物！

They not only are gifts, they are kind of like the all-purpose gifts!

送爱人时，成双成对的筷子有“永不分离”的寓意；送新人时，筷子不仅可以祝愿新人百年好合，谐音“快子”有“快快生子，早生贵子”的寓意。

To your significant other, a pair of chopsticks represents ‘never apart’. To the newly-wed, they not only can wish them ‘be together for hundreds of year’, ‘kuai zi’ also sounds alike ‘kuàizǐ’, meaning ‘have a baby early’!

1. 北京时间今晚21点整，全世界的太空迷们翘首以盼，人类首张黑洞照片即将揭开神秘面纱。黑洞究竟长什么样?物理和天文学者眼里的黑洞和普通人看到的有什么不一样?高能“剧透”来了。
At 21 o'clock in Beijing time tonight, the world's space fans are looking forward to the first black hole photo of human beings will be unveiled. What does the black hole look like? What is the difference between the black hole in the eyes of physics and astronomers and what ordinary people see? High-energy "spoiler" is coming.
2. 黑洞的超强引力能够将周围的气体撕扯到它自己身边，产生一个围绕黑洞旋转的气体盘，这就是吸积盘。黑洞有时候也会“打嗝”，一部分吸积气体会沿转动方向被抛射出去，形成喷流。吸积盘和喷流两种现象都因气体摩擦而产生了明亮的光与大量辐射，这就是我们在以往各种黑洞模拟中见到的一圈圈的光亮。