week 5-still Alice

Still Alice

Alice Howland, a linguistics professor at Columbia University, celebrates her 50th birthday with her physician husband John and three adult children. Giving a lecture, Alice forgets the word "lexicon", and during a jog becomes lost on campus. Her doctor diagnoses her with early onset familial Alzheimer's disease.
Alice's eldest daughter, Anna, tests positive for the Alzheimer's gene. Anna's unborn twins test negative, as does Alice's son Tom. Alice's younger daughter, aspiring actress Lydia, decides not to be tested.
As Alice's memory begins to fade, she daydreams of her mother and sister, who died in a car crash when she was a teenager. She memorizes words and sets a series of personal questions on her phone, which she answers every morning. She hides sleeping pills in her room, and records a video message instructing her future self to commit suicide with the pills when she can no longer answer the questions. As her disease advances, she becomes unable to give focused lectures and loses her job. She becomes lost searching for the bathroom in her own home and wets herself, and does not recognize Lydia after seeing her perform in a play.
John is offered a job at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Alice asks him to postpone it, but he feels this is impossible. At her doctor's suggestion, Alice delivers a speech at an Alzheimer's conference about her experience with the disease, using a highlighter to remind herself which parts of the speech she has already spoken, and receives a standing ovation.
Alice begins to have difficulty answering her phone questions. She loses the phone, causing her anxiety; John finds it a month later in the freezer, but Alice thinks it was only missing for a day. She visits Anna in the hospital to meet her newborn twin grandchildren, but does not recognize her daughter.
After a video call with Lydia, Alice inadvertently opens the video with the suicide instructions. With some difficulty, she finds the pills and is about to swallow them, but when she is interrupted by the arrival of her caregiver she drops the pills on the floor, quickly forgetting her suicide plan.
John resolves to move to Minnesota and Lydia moves back from California to care for Alice. Lydia reads her a section of the play Angels in America and asks her what she thinks it is about. Alice, now barely able to speak, responds with a single word: love.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_Alice
Structure of the Lead：

      WHO-Alice

      WHEN-not given

      WHAT-Alzheimer's disease

      WHY-can't remember thing

      WHERE-not given

      HOW-not given

 

Keywords：

   1. linguistics：語言學

   2. lexicon：詞庫

   3. onset：發病

   4. familial：家族

   5. instructing ：指示

   6. advance：提前

   7. ovation：歡呼

   8. inadvertently：不經意間

   9. caregiver：護理人員

 10.  resolve ：做出決議

week 4-Hong Kong bookseller

Hong Kong booksellers: One of five missing men returns home

Lui Bo and four others associated with publisher Mighty Current, which produced books critical of Chinese leaders, went missing last year.
Mr Lui, the general manager of Mighty Current, disappeared on 15 October while in Shenzhen in southern China.
All five men later surfaced in custody of Chinese police.
The men appeared on Chinese television on Sunday, with four of them, including Lui Bo, saying they had been detained for "illegal book trading".
Public confessions have long been a part of China's criminal law although experts say many confessions are forced.
Hong Kong police said in a statement that they met Lui Bo on Friday.
Mr Lui told Hong Kong police he did not need any assistance from them or the Hong Kong government, and asked police to cancel the missing persons case related to him, they said.
"He refused to disclose other details," the statement added.
Pro-democracy lawmaker Albert Ho told AFP he believed Mr Lui "must be very scared", and that his request that police drop his case was "just to show the mainland authorities that he will keep quiet".
Hong Kong's missing booksellers and 'banned' Xi Jinping book
Causeway Bay Books, the Hong Kong shop owned by Mighty Current, closed following the disappearances.
The case has sparked accusations of China violating Hong Kong's judicial independence.
Two of the men, Gui Minhai and Lee Bo, were outside mainland China when they disappeared. Mr Gui was in Thailand and Mr Lee in Hong Kong - where Chinese police do not have jurisdiction.
Mr Lui's two other colleagues, Cheung Chi Ping and Lam Wing Kee, are also expected to be released on bail in coming days.
Mr Lui's release comes just a day before the opening of China's annual parliamentary session, the National People's Congress, in Beijing.
The UK has previously expressed concern about the disappearances. It said last month that Mr Lee, who has a British passport, was probably "involuntarily removed" to China in what would have been a "serious breach" of the Hong Kong handover treaty.
However, China's foreign ministry has said its officials would not behave illegally, and urged other countries not to meddle in its affairs.
Mr Lee was shown on Chinese state TV on Monday, denying he had been abducted by Chinese officials, and saying he would renounce his British citizenship.
However, his supporters believe the interview was done under duress.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35729143

Structure of the Lead：

      WHO-Hong Kong bookseller

      WHEN-15 October

      WHAT-missing

      WHY-taken by China

      WHERE-Hong Kong

      HOW-illegally

 

Keywords：

   1. detained：被拘留

   2. disclose：透漏

   3. accusations：指責

   4. Pro-democracy ：民運

   5. judicial ：司法

   6. jurisdiction：管轄權

   7. parliamentary ：會議

   8. involuntarily：不由自主地

   9. abducted：綁架

 10. duress：脅迫

week 3-comfort women

Japan and South Korea agree WW2 'comfort women' deal

Japan and South Korea have agreed to settle the issue of "comfort women" forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War Two, in their first such deal since 1965.

Japan has apologised and will pay 1bn yen ($8.3m, £5.6m) - the amount South Korea asked for - to fund victims.
The issue has been the key cause for strained ties. South Korea has demanded stronger apologies and compensation.
Only 46 former "comfort women" are still alive in South Korea.
The announcement came after Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his counterpart Yun Byung-se in Seoul, following moves to speed up talks.

Later Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe phoned South Korean President Park Geun-hye to repeat an apology already offered by Mr Kishida.
"Japan and South Korea are now entering a new era," Mr Abe told reporters afterwards. "We should not drag this problem into the next generation."
Ms Park issued a separate statement, saying a deal had been urgently needed - given the advanced age of most of the victims.
"Nine died this year alone," she said. "I hope the mental pains of the elderly comfort women will be eased."
It is estimated that up to 200,000 women were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during WW2, many of them Korean. Other women came from China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.

Japan will give 1bn yen to a fund for the elderly comfort women, which the South Korean government will administer

The money also comes with an apology by Japan's prime minister and the acceptance of "deep responsibility" for the issue

South Korea says it will consider the matter resolved "finally and irreversibly" if Japan fulfils its promises

South Korea will also look into removing a statue symbolising comfort women, which activists erected outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011

Both sides have agreed to refrain from criticising each other on this issue in the international community

 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35188135


Structure of the Lead：

      WHO-'comfort women'

      WHEN-not given

      WHAT-apologized

      WHY-not given

      WHERE-Japan and South Korea

      HOW- pay to fund victims

 

Keywords：

   1. brothel：妓院

   2. strain：應變

   3. compensation：賠償金

   4. counterpart：對方

   5. drag：拖動

   6. deep responsibility：深度的責任

   7.  irreversibly：不可逆

   8. erect：直立

   9. embassy：大使館

 10. refrain：避免

week 2-Paris Climate Change Conference

Paris Climate Change Conference

The pact is the first to commit all countries to cut carbon emissions.
The agreement is partly legally binding and partly voluntary.
Earlier, key blocs, including the G77 group of developing countries, and nations such as China and India said they supported the proposals.
President of the UN climate conference of parties (COP) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said: "I now invite the COP to adopt the decision entitled Paris Agreement outlined in the document.

"Looking out to the room I see that the reaction is positive, I see no objections. The Paris agreement is adopted."
COP21: In summary
As he struck the gavel to signal the adoption of the deal, delegates rose to their feet cheering and applauding.
US President Barack Obama has hailed the agreement as "ambitious" and "historic", but also warned against complacency.
"Together, we've shown what's possible when the world stands as one," he said.
And although admitting that the deal was not "perfect", he said it was "the best chance to save the one planet we have".
China's chief negotiator Xie Zhenhua said the deal was not perfect. But he added that "this does not prevent us from marching historical steps forward".
Nearly 200 countries took part in the negotiations to strike the first climate deal to commit all countries to cut emissions, which would come into being in 2020.
The chairman of the group representing some of the world's poorest countries called the deal historic, adding: "We are living in unprecedented times, which call for unprecedented measures.
"It is the best outcome we could have hoped for, not just for the Least Developed Countries, but for all citizens of the world."

Key points

The measures in the agreement included:
• To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century
• To keep global temperature increase "well below" 2C (3.6F) and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C
• To review progress every five years
• $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a commitment to further finance in the future.

Analysis: The BBC's Matt McGrath in Paris

The speeches and the cliches at the adoption of the Paris Agreement flowed like good champagne - success after all has many fathers! The main emotion is relief. The influence of the COP president, Laurent Fabius, cannot be overstated. His long diplomatic career gave him a credibility seldom matched in this arena. He used his power well.
The deal that has been agreed, under Mr Fabius, is without parallel in terms of climate change or of the environment. It sets out a clear long term temperature limit for the planet and a clear way of getting there. There is money for poor countries to adapt, there is a strong review mechanism to increase ambition over time. This is key if the deal is to achieve the aim of keeping warming well below 2C.
More than anything though the deal signifies a new way for the world to achieve progress - without it costing the Earth. A long term perspective on the way we do sustainability is at the heart of this deal. If it delivers that, it truly will be world changing.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35084374

Structure of the Lead：

      WHO-President of the UN

      WHEN-not given

      WHAT-conference

      WHY-green affect

      WHERE-Paris

      HOW-agreement

Keywords：

   1. proposal： 提案

   2. Minister： 部長

   3. gavel：木槌

   4. delegate：代表

   5. hail：冰雹

   6. complacency：自滿

   7. negotiator：談判

   8. march：前進

   9. unprecedented：史無前例

 10. cliche：陳詞濫調

week 1-Russian plane crash

Egypt's President links Russian plane crash to terrorism

(CNN)Egypt's President has publicly linked terrorism to the downing of a Russian passenger jet over Sinai last year - reportedly for the first time.

For months, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had resisted the notion of terror involvement, although ISIS claimed responsibility, and Russian investigators said there had been a bomb on board the plane. In a speech on Wednesday, he alluded to a connection.

"Has the confrontation and terrorism ended? No, not yet. Whoever downed that plane, what did he want?" el-Sisi said at a government conference. "Just to hit tourism? No. To hit relations. To hit relations with Russia, hit relations with Italy."

State-run news site al-Ahram reported that this was the first time the Egyptian President has acknowledged terrorism could be the cause of the crash of Metrojet Flight 9268 on October 31 that killed all 224 people on board.

Egyptian investigators have not yet published a definitive report on the crash or possible terrorism at its root, al-Ahram reported. And el-Sisi did not say directly in his speech that terrorists carried out an attack.

Russia's initial resistance

Shortly after the crash, Western intelligence, particularly in Britain and the United States, pointed to a bomb having ruptured the plane. They said it may have been smuggled aboard in Sharm el-Sheikh, where the plane took off -- possibly with help from an airport employee.

But initially, both Egyptian and Russian authorities resisted the idea that terrorists may have struck, perhaps retaliating for Russia's support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Then, in November, the Russian Federal Security Service said a bomb with 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of explosives had detonated on board the plane. The government offered a $50 million reward for information leading to those responsible.

Russian investigators presented a soda can and circuitry as being components of the device, and after Russia's announcement of the reward, its military flew multiple airstrikes over Raqqa, Syria, the de facto capital of ISIS' proclaimed caliphate.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/24/middleeast/egypt-sissi-russian-plane-sinai/
Structure of the Lead：
      WHO-Egypt's President
      WHEN-last year
      WHAT- linked terrorism to the downing of a Russian passenger jet over
      WHY-Russian plane crash
      WHERE-not given
      HOW-not given
 Keywords：

   1.notion：概念

   2. alluded：暗示

   3. confrontation：對抗

   4. acknowledged：承認

   5. definitive：明確

   6. initial：初始

   7. ruptured：爆裂

   8. retaliate：報復

   9. detonated：引爆

 10. proclaimed ：宣稱的

week 6-巴黎恐攻

France remembers Paris terror victims after Hollande beats war drums

     All across France, blue-white-red national flags flew from buildings on Friday. President Francois Hollande had asked people to hoist the tricolor in patriotic solidarity with the 130 people massacred two weeks ago in Paris.

And in the grand square of the Hotel National des Invalides, Hollande called guests together to mourn the victims in a national ceremony.

Attack survivors appeared alongside grieving families and diplomats representing the countries of foreign victims.

"They were France. They were shot dead because they were freedom," Hollande said of the victims. In the name of the nation, he extended "our compassion, our affection toward the families, the nearest and dearest ... parents who no longer see their children. The children who will grow up without their parents."

Military surroundings

Though the President's words were tender and poetic, the spot chosen for the ceremony was laden with  symbolism.

His call to hoist a flag -- and seize it as a symbol of national solidarity and pride -- carries more undertones in France than it does in other countries.

The French flag symbolizes a more right-wing, militaristic nationalism to many in the country. It was embraced by the Nazi-aligned Vichy regime during World War II and during the country's colonial era. (However, the flag is often prominently displayed during sporting events, like the 1998 World Cup, which the country won.)

Paris has many expansive public gathering places, but Les Invalides is a collection of museums and monuments to centuries of French military might. The remains of Napoleon Bonaparte are interred there.

Dignitaries and mourners were flanked by rows of stern-faced troops in ceremonial dress, holding weapons at attention.

And Hollande directed a threat at ISIS on behalf of the people gathered before him.

"I promise you solemnly that France will do everything to destroy the army of the fanatics who carried out these crimes," he said.

Les Invalides was a fitting place for Hollande to stand at the end of a week filled with beating war drums against ISIS.

France at war

Since the November 13 attacks, France has been at war with the militant group, Hollande has maintained, and he has vowed to destroy it. On Monday, French warplanes flew struck at ISIS from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.

And Hollande's appointment calendar filled with meetings with world leaders, starting with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday and ending with a visit to Moscow to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

Cameron called for Britain "to take action now, to help protect us against the terrorism seen on the streets of Paris and elsewhere." But his Labour Party opposition has said it would oppose the Prime Minister's proposal to expand UK airstrikes on ISIS positions in Iraq to include Syria, citing a lack of coherent strategy.

A conflict of interests

Pulling Russia into the mix has proved testy.

Russia is not a member of the U.S.-led global coalition against ISIS, although on Thursday, Putin said that his country is ready to cooperate with the coalition.

But there is a conflict of interests between Russia's approach to Syria and that of the Western allies. The White House has said autocratic Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go if there's going to be a peace in the nation torn by war since 2011 -- a belief France shares.

But Russia is an ally of Assad's.

France and Britain are already part of a U.S.-led coalition that has been bombing ISIS targets, while Russia is conducting separate airstrikes against ISIS but also against more moderate groups that oppose Assad. And Russia has coordinated with the forces of Syria's President.

However, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Friday that working with Syrian forces could be productive in the fight against ISIS.

"Forces on the ground have to be from the Free Syrian Army, Sunni Arab forces, and why not also from (Syrian) regime forces?" Fabius said in an interview with RTL radio in Paris. He added that Kurdish forces need to be involved.

Fabius later clarified those comments, saying that cooperation with Syria was "desirable" but possible only after a "credible poiltical transition."

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said in Moscow that if Fabius was serious about working with the Syrian Army, the Assad regime would welcome it.

Adding to tensions, Turkey, a NATO member and a staunch Assad opponent, shot down a Russian military jet this week, saying the plane had crossed into its airspace and ignored multiple warnings. Russia says the plane had been in Syrian airspace.

Hollande also spoke with President Barack Obama, but the United States has shown no clear sign of budging from its vow against a U.S. ground incursion against ISIS.

Germany reverses stance

Germany is constitutionally hampered in participating in attacks outside its borders, but when Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Paris this week, Hollande reportedly called out his close ally.

In a reversal of its previous stance, Germany committed four high-tech reconnaissance fighter planes and logistical help to the fight against ISIS, 

"When the French President asks me to think hard about what more we can do, then it is a responsibility for us to think hard about it," Merkel said Wednesday.

As France mourns its dead, a key suspect in the attacks is still at large. It has been more than a week since an international arrest warrant was issued for Salah Abdeslam.

Investigators haven't detailed what they believe his role was in the coordinated series of attacks, but police say Abdeslam may have dropped suicide bombers off at the Stade de France and then made his way to another Paris neighborhood. His fingerprints were found in a car connected with the attacks.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/27/world/paris-attacks/index.html

Structure of the Lead：

      WHO-Attack survivors 

      WHEN-Friday

      WHAT-Not given

      WHY-terror attack

      WHERE-France

      HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. hoist：召回

   2. tricolor：三色

   3. patriotic ：愛國

   4. solidarity：團結

   5. alongside：靠

   6. ominous：不祥

   7. militaristic：軍國主義

   8. expansive：擴張

   9.  flanked：兩側

 10.  coordinated：協調

week 5-光棍節

China's Alibaba breaks Singles Day record as sales surge

E-commerce giant Alibaba has broken its own record for sales on China's Singles Day, the world's biggest online shopping event.

By the close of trade, the site had seen sales worth 91.2bn yuan ($14.3bn; £9.4bn), a 60% increase from last year.

In comparison, sales on Cyber Monday, which is the biggest online shopping day in the US, hit $1.35bn, according to data analytics firm ComScore.

Singles Day is held every year on 11 November.

The day is also referred to as Double Eleven because of its date.

The reaction to China's Singles Day shopping bonanza reflects the drama and excitement of China's capitalist holiday.

"I wanted two different coats, but they both sold out in the first three minutes of the sale!", complained one young woman online.

"I spent 2,000RMB last night ($315; £207)" exclaimed another. "Now I'm going to have to eat dirt if I'm hungry because I'm broke!"

But don't mistake the rush to spend as a sign the Chinese economy is turning around.

Many shoppers are well aware the economy is slowing. It is common for people to wait to spend on Singles Day to save money.

New data supports nagging concerns about the economy. Inflation is down: non-food prices dropped 0.3% in October, indicating that consumption continues to fall in China - a long-term trend that Singles Day won't fix.

'Power of Chinese consumption'

Singles Day has grown tremendously since Alibaba began promoting it as a shopping day in 2009, and now includes many retailers such as rivals JD.com that stage sales promotions.

This year, Alibaba said there would be more than 40,000 merchants and 30,000 brands from 25 countries selling goods on its platforms.

More than 130 million users have already visited its marketplace app, Taobao, which exceeds the peak from last year.

In the lead up to the event, the firm hosted a four-hour TV variety show featuring Chinese celebrities and Western entertainers such as British actor Daniel Craig of James Bond fame.

American actor Kevin Spacey appeared as his character President Frank Underwood from the Netflix series House of Cards to wish shoppers a "happy Singles' Day" in a two minute video.

Alibaba chief Executive Daniel Zhang had said in a statement that the event would mean "the whole world will witness the power of Chinese consumption".

He promised consumers "a new surprise every hour" over the 24-hour marathon, especially mobile users.

The firm said more than 27 million purchases came via mobile devices in the first hour.

Although its competitors offered attractive discounts, Fangting Sun, China-based analyst at market research firm Euromonitor International said that consumers' attention was still focused on Alibaba's online marketplace Tmall.com.

"[It's] not only due to the wide choices and competitive prices, but also the heavy marketing campaigns especially the successful gala evening which invited lots of famous entertainment stars," she said.

Kitty Fok, China manager for market research firm IDC said online shopping had become a comfortable channel for most consumers.

"China is a big market with close to one billion smart connected device users - it is a good news for both Alibaba and their competitors," she said.

Massive scale

Alibaba accounts for more than 80% of China's internet sales market.It predicts that 1.7 million couriers, 400,000 vehicles and 200 planes will be making deliveries of products that range from electronics goods to cosmetics despite slowing growth in China.

Economists will be looking for clues about domestic consumption in Wednesday's sales as the world's second-biggest economy heads for its slowest growth in nearly a quarter of a century.

Ms Sun of Euromonitor said the shopping event would not only stimulate domestic demand but also trade.

"Alibaba aims to both attract more international players selling products to China and the domestic players to expand to the overseas markets," she added.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34773940

Structure of the Lead：

      WHO-Alibaba
      WHEN-every year on 11 November
      WHAT-shopping
      WHY-not given
      WHERE-not given
      HOW-shopping online

Keywords：

   1. analytics：分析

   2.exclaimed：驚呼

   3. nagging：嘮叨

   4. capitalist：資本家

   5.  tremendously：異常

   6. retailers：零售商
   7.exceeds：超過
   8.consumption：消費

   9.via：通過

 10. Inflation：通貨膨脹