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kjy04_20221009 B F
400 400 THOMAS
Learning English with Thomas
2022.10.09
Working from home or Working at home
遙距辦公或在家工作
Special use of " from" in " working from home " 如何運用Working from home  T : Thomas  J : Jason   J : Excuse me, sir. Have you seen Miss Chan today? I just tried to find her in her office, but she wasn’t there.   T : Hi Jason. Miss Chan is working from home today. Are you looking for her for some business?   J : Right. But why are you saying that she is working from home? Why aren’t you saying that she is working at home, since she is clearly at home, isn’t she?   T : Haha, good question Jason. I can assure you : Miss Chan is really working from home now. This is a common English expression to indicate that, thanks to IT, someone is able to work away from the office or workplace. The preposition from in this case isn’t referring to a place or location, but rather to how she works. On the other hand, the expresion “working at home” is using the preposition at to refer to a place : her home. Can you tell the difference now?   J : Yes, very clear sir. I look forward to more from you sir next time.   J : 老師,你好, 你今天見過陳老師嗎? 我剛才去了她的辦公室卻找不到她。   T : H i  J a s o n , 陳老師今天遙距辦公( w o r k i n g f r o m home),你有甚麼事找她?   J : 為何你說她「working from home」而不是「working at home」? 陳老師現在明明是在家工作,不是嗎?   T : 哈哈,Jason你問得好好。我向你保證,陳老師是在家工作。「遙距辦公」(working from home) 是英文慣用語,意指透過資訊科技在辦公室之外的處所工作——可以在家中或者其他地方。在這種情況下,介詞from不是指一個地方或地點,而是指她的工作方式。 反觀,「working at home」是另一種表達方式,使用介詞at來指出工作的處所——在家裡工作。現在,你能夠區分到兩者的分別嗎﹖   J : 我明白了,非常清晰。下次再向老師請教。
kjy04b_20211219_s_0
400 400 FAMOUS_SAYING
Stories Behind Popular Sayings
2021.12.17
Christmas crackers
Apart from delicious festive food and drinks, there is normally a cracker next to each plate on the Christmas dining table. A cracker does not mean a thin, crisp biscuit. In British culture, a Christmas cracker is a paper tube wrapped with coloured paper. Before dinner starts, you and the person sitting next to you pull each end of the cracker. When it pops open, it will make a mild bang. Traditionally, a Christmas cracker contains a small toy, a paper crown, and a joke or a riddle. This festive table decoration gives young and old a lot of fun.  The Christmas cracker was invented by Tom Smith, a British baker and confectioner, in the 1840s. He tried to sell beautifully wrapped sweets like those in France. They sold very well at Christmas time. To increase the sale, he inserted love messages into the sweet wrappers.  Legend says that Tom Smith got an idea of adding the “pop” element when he heard the crackling sound from a log fire one night. After he died, his son decided to put small gifts into the Christmas cracker.   除了美味的節日食物和飲品,聖誕節餐桌上每個碟子旁邊通常都放著cracker。英文cracker的意思並不是薄脆餅乾,在英國文化中,Christmas cracker(聖誕爆竹)是一根外層以彩紙包著的紙管。在聖誕餐開始前,你和坐在你身旁的人分別拉住聖誕爆竹的一端。當它瞬間爆開時,它會發出微弱的爆炸聲。傳統上,聖誕爆竹內有一個小玩具、一個紙皇冠,還有一個笑話或謎語。這個喜慶的餐桌裝飾品給老老少少帶來許多歡樂。 聖誕爆竹由英國麪包師傅兼糖果製造商湯姆.史密斯於19世紀40年代發明。他嘗試售賣包裝漂亮的糖果, 像法國售賣的糖果那樣,他的糖果在聖誕佳節時十分暢銷。為了增加銷量,他把寫滿愛心的字句夾入糖果包裝紙。 傳說中,湯姆.史密斯在一個晚上聽到柴火發出噼噼啪啪的響聲, 於是萌生了在糖果裡加入「砰」的聲音。他逝世後,他的兒子決定在聖誕爆竹內放進小禮物。     捐款支持公教報  http://kkp.org.hk/donation   
kjy05b_20191124s
ifyouwere
If you were...
2019.11.22
What would you do if you were Owen ?
" Why is the lift stopping at almost every floor ? I will be so late !"  It's the annual(年度)Sports Day today and Owen has to travel to another district for the event. In the morning, his mother listened to the news and learned that there was a bad traffic jam(交通擠塞)and brought to Owen's attention(提醒Owen)that he had to leave some buffer(儲備時間)so as to arrive without delay(延遲). Owen had so much to pack and bring while the clock ticked the minutes(時鐘滴答滴答地報時). He checked an app on his cell phone that the bus he needed to ride on would be coming in a few minutes. He just had to flee(匆忙離開)and rush to the bus stop as fast as possible, otherwise waiting for the next bus would take another 15 minutes.  As Owen lives on the top level(頂層)of the building, the lift of course arrives empty all the time, so getting in is never a problem. But Owen did not know there are so many more neighbours leaving at the same time just half an hour later than his usual hour. The lift stopped at a good number of(好多)floors and was quite packed. Each time the lift stopped, Owen's heart sank(沉)a little. When it reached the fourth floor, the door swung(打開)open again. This time there was an old man in a wheel chair and a caretaker(照顧者)was trying to push the wheelchair in. The caretaker made a few attempts(幾次嘗試)but failed to manipulate(控制)the wheelchair. She was not giving up though. Owen had ants in his pants(心急如焚), and he had to do something in order not to miss the bus.     What would you do if you were Owen ?   I'd tell the caretaker most politely that the lift was full and request her to wait for the next round.  I'd just leave the lift and let them in and I’d run at my top speed(最快速度)down the stairs to the lobby and flee for the bus stop. On one hand, I’d not have to waste time to explain, the other, I’d be doing a kind act making people feel good. 
kjy05a_20191117s
400 400 FAMOUS_SAYING
Stories Behind Popular Sayings
2019.11.15
The ball is in someone's court
The trade war between China and the United States has been ongoing for more than a year. While both countries are negotiating a deal, you may hear the following comments made by either side from time to time.  USA’s delegate: “The ball is in China’s court.”  China’s delegate: “The ball is in the United States’ court.”  The“ball”in this expression may refer to a decision or some responsibility. This means that each side expects their opponent to take the next action.  This modern expression, which has a very short history, started in the 20th century. It is believed that the idea comes from sports such as tennis and badminton. When Player A hits the ball over the net to Player B's court, it is up to Player B to decide the next move.  Its written form appeared as early as 1956 in Time magazine in the USA.  “The newcomer to the [U.S.] State Department…… is advised to remember that ‘when the ball is in your court’ it must be ‘returned rapidly over the net’”.  Nowadays, the expression“the ball is in your court”(球在你的場內; 一切由你決定)is often used in business and politics. It is also quite popular in advertising to promote a product or a service, and to convince consumers to purchase now to take advantage of the best opportunity.  In terms of usage, there are many ways to rephrase this expression.  The ball is now back in the manager’s court, after a meeting with the trade union.  You’ve put the ball in his court. He must give you a reply as soon as possible.    Glossary  Negotiating  談判 Deal  協定 Delegate  代表 Responsibility  責任 Opponent  對手 Advertising  廣告 Convince  說服 Take advantage of  充分利用