返回網站

回顧星期天LBS - 墨西哥相關時事趣聞 All about Mexico

· 每日跟讀單元 Daily English,國際時事跟讀Daily Shadowing

Hi there!歡迎收聽Look Back Sunday回顧星期天,在這個節目John老師會彙整過去不同國家與主題的熱門跟讀文章,讓你可以在十五分鐘內吸收最精華的世界時事趣聞!我們這週聽聽墨西哥相關的文章,Let's get started!

Topic: Oldest and largest ancient Maya structure found in Mexico

Scientists using an aerial remote-sensing method have discovered the largest and oldest-known structure built by the ancient Maya civilization — a colossal rectangular elevated platform built between 1,000 and 800 BC in Mexico’s Tabasco state.

科學家日前利用空中遙測技術,發現馬雅古文明迄今所知最大規模、最古老的建築結構。該遺址是一座巨大的長方形高台,位在墨西哥的塔巴斯戈州,建造於西元前一千年到前八百年間。

The structure, unlike the soaring Maya pyramids at cities like Tikal in Guatemala and Palenque in Mexico erected some 1,500 years later, was not built of stone but rather of clay and earth, and likely was used for mass rituals, researchers said on June 3.

研究人員六月三日表示,該遺址迥異於馬雅文明一千五百多年後於瓜地馬拉的提卡爾和墨西哥的帕倫克等城市建造的高聳金字塔,並非由巨石堆砌而成,而是用黏土和泥土建成,可能是用來舉行大型祭祀活動。

Located at a site called Aguada Fenix near the Guatemalan border, the structure measured nearly 400m wide and 1,400m long and stood 10m to 15m high. In total volume, it exceeded ancient Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza built 1,500 years earlier.

此建築座落於一處稱為「阿瓜達芬尼克斯」的遺址,靠近瓜地馬拉的邊界,長一千四百公尺、寬幾乎達四百公尺,高度約為十到十五公尺。從總體積來看,此結構超過古埃及早一千五百年(即西元前兩千五百年)建造的吉薩大金字塔。

There were no signs of sculptures depicting high-status individuals, suggesting Maya culture at this early stage was more communal and only later developed social inequality and a hierarchical society led by royalty, the researchers said. “Because it is so large horizontally, if you walk on it, it just looks like natural landscape,” said University of Arizona archaeologist Takeshi Inomata, who led the research published in the journal Nature. “But its form comes out nicely in lidar.”

研究人員指出,這處遺址並未出現刻畫身居高位的個人雕塑,意味著馬雅文化在這個早期階段較為偏向「共治」,直到稍晚才發展出社會不平等的現象,以及由王室主導的階級制社會。美國亞利桑那大學的考古學家豬俁健是研究主持人,他表示:「因為這個結構和地面平行,規模又如此巨大,當人走在上面時,感覺就像是走在自然形成的地理景觀上。」豬俁健進一步補充說:「不過,透過光學雷達,遺址的結構就清楚地展現出來。」這份研究日前刊登於《自然》期刊。

Lidar, short for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote-sensing technique that employs a pulsed laser and other data obtained flying over a site to generate three-dimensional information about the shape of surface characteristics. Nine large causeways and a series of reservoirs were linked to the structure. Some parts of the rural Aguada Fenix site today are covered with cattle ranches. Other parts are wooded.

「光達」是「光線檢測與測距」的簡稱,是一種運用脈衝雷射的遙測技術,配合受測地點上空獲得的其它資料,產生地貌特徵的3D資訊。這次發現的大型結構,與九條大型堤道和一系列蓄水設施相連。地處鄉間的阿瓜達芬尼克斯遺址,今日部分地區被養牛的牧場覆蓋,其它部分則被繁茂的樹林遮蔽。

“It is probable that many people from surrounding areas gathered for special occasions, possibly tied to calendrical cycles,” Inomata said. “The rituals probably involved processions along the causeways and within the rectangular plaza. The people also deposited symbolic objects such as jade axes in the center of the plateau.”

豬俁健表示:「許多來自周圍地區的人,可能會在特殊場合在此聚會,或許和曆法的週期有關。」他進一步推測:「這些儀式可能包括沿著堤道、在矩形廣場內列隊遊行。這些人也會在高台中央放置玉斧這類具有象徵性的物品。」

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/06/21/2003738560

Next Article

Topic: Doggy ice cream has tails wagging in Mexico City

Dogs with a sweet tooth can finally satisfy their ice cream cravings - at the Don Paletto parlor in Mexico City.

愛吃甜食的狗狗們,終於可以滿足牠們對冰淇淋的渴望了─在墨西哥市冰淇淋店「倍樂托先生」的接待廳。

Owners can satisfy their pets’ sweet cravings at the shop in the Mexican capital, which offers a variety of frozen cone and lollipop treats especially made for the animals.

飼主可以滿足他們寵物的甜點魂,在這間位於墨西哥首都的商店裡,它提供各式各樣特別為動物製作的甜筒與棒棒糖點心。

Made of natural yogurt and lactobacilli bacteria, it can help digestion while normal ice cream can cause pain and diarrhea in dogs, according to shop owner Mauricio Montoya, who said the food is also safe for humans.

根據商店老闆毛里奇奧.蒙托亞的說法,這食物對人類也安全,由天然優格與乳酸菌製成,它能幫助消化,一般冰淇淋則可導致狗兒疼痛與腹瀉。

Flavors such as "Gentleman" and "Lucky Lucky" are advertised on the shop’s board, where the pets lick the treats off a stick, a cone or out of a bowl.

諸如「紳士」和「幸運幸運」口味,被該店看板拿來打廣告,寵物們就在那裡把棍上、甜筒或碗裡點心舔掉。

"To eat the same food every day must be pretty boring for them," customer Liliana said, holding an ice cream lollipop for her dog. "I come (here) to pamper him a bit."

「每天吃一樣的食物,對牠們而言一定是相當無趣」,幫她的狗狗拿著一根冰淇淋棒棒糖的顧客莉莉安娜說。「我來(這裡)小小縱容牠。」

Source article: http://iservice.ltn.com.tw/Service/english/english.php?engno=1094368&day=2017-04-15

Next Article

Topic: Near Mexico City, Cable Car Lets Commuters Glide Over Traffic

Coasting above Mexico City’s infernal congestion is normally a prerogative of the well-heeled, who take helicopters or pay to use the upper deck of two-tier highways to avoid the chaos below.

In October, however, thousands of residents of this ragged industrial suburb began getting to work or school in brightly colored pods that glide along the city’s first commuter cable-car route.

從墨西哥市地獄般壅塞交通的上方越過,通常是有錢人的特權,他們乘坐直升機或付費使用雙層高速公路的上層,避開下方的混亂世界。

然而,去年10月,這破敗工業郊區的數千居民,開始可以坐在色彩亮麗的車廂內,沿該市一條通勤纜車線滑動,去上班上學。

The Mexicable, a seven-stop line that runs just over three miles through a furrow of poor hillside neighborhoods, is part of a growing constellation of cable cars around Latin America that links marginalized communities to their cities’ metropolitan hearts.

In Ecatepec, the largest and most dangerous municipality in the 21 million-strong expanse of greater Mexico City, the Mexicable has brought new visitors, shorter commutes, a burst of street art and a new sense of inclusion in city life, residents said.

「墨西哥纜車線」是條有7個站、穿越一片貧窮山坡社區的路線,全長僅略多於三哩,是拉丁美洲日益星羅棋布的纜車線之一,用以銜接邊緣社區與城市的都會心臟。

整個大墨西哥市人口逾2100萬,埃卡堤佩是這廣大區域中最大最危險的市區,居民說,墨西哥纜車線帶來新遊客,縮短通勤時間,街頭藝術蓬勃發展,還予人一種融入城市生活的新歸屬感。

“It’s great,” said Marco Antonio Gonzalez, who used to spend an hour in a cramped bus to get from his home in San Andres de la Canada, the Mexicable’s final stop, to his job at a warehouse in the center of Ecatepec. He now has a smooth, 17-minute cable ride over dun-colored rooftops, half-bald soccer pitches and narrow streets strung with glittery bunting.

The new transport system has made him proud. “People never build something as impressive as this in a neighborhood like ours,” he said.

馬可.安東尼奧.龔薩雷茲說:「這真的很棒。」以往,他必須花1小時擠公車從他在聖安德列斯德拉加拿達的家,也是墨西哥纜車線的終點站,前往埃卡堤佩市中心的一座倉庫工作。現在他可以搭纜車,順暢地花17分鐘,穿越過一個個暗褐色的屋頂、半禿的足球場,以及掛著閃亮彩旗的狹窄街道。

新的運輸系統令他引以為傲。他說:「人們從沒有在我們這樣的社區,建造過這麼令人感動的東西。」

Ecatepec stretches north from the tip of the capital’s subway network into steep hills where square cinder-block houses are stacked like Lego pieces. Many who use the cable car also catch a bus and then a subway to reach jobs — at restaurants, homes, offices or construction sites — in more affluent parts of town.

Nancy Montoya, a housekeeper who lives in Esperanza, near the sixth Mexicable stop, said she saved about two hours per day using the new system — time she spends doing homework with her children or buying groceries.

Over the past 12 years, gondola systems have been built in cities that include Cali and Medellin in Colombia; Caracas, Venezuela; La Paz, Bolivia; and Rio de Janeiro. There are plans to build systems in half a dozen other Latin American cities, according to the Gondola Project, which tracks cable car programs worldwide.

埃卡堤佩從首都墨西哥市地鐵網的頂端向北延伸到陡峭的山丘地區,在那裡,正方形的煤渣塊房子如樂高積木般堆疊。許多纜車使用者得再搭一段公車並再換一次地鐵,才能抵達位在墨西哥市較富裕地區的工作地點,如餐館、住家、辦公室或建築工地。

南西.蒙托亞是名管家,家住靠近墨西哥纜車線第六站的艾斯佩蘭沙。她說使用新系統每天約可節省2小時,她拿這些時間陪子女做功課或購買雜貨。

過去12年,建造纜車系統的城市包括哥倫比亞的卡利和美德殷,委內瑞拉首都卡拉卡斯,玻利維亞首都拉巴斯,巴西里約熱內盧。據追縱全球纜車計畫的「纜車計畫」,另有6個拉丁美洲城市欲興建纜車系統。

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/309111/web/