Visitors queueing on the Great Wall of China
收聽與下載
媒體英語會帶大家一起學習 BBC 撰稿人在報道世界大事時常用到的單詞和短語。
在10月為期8天的公眾假日結束后，數以百萬計的人們在中國重返工作崗位。這個假期是人們外出旅行和消費的時期。然而這次長假特別令人關注的是在公路和主要旅游景點的堵塞情景。請聽 BBC 記者 Viv Marsh 發回的報道：
They called it the "great queue of China", and it went viral on the internet. It was a photo showing a visitor on the Great Wall near Beijing last week, with the famous structure snaking to the horizon behind him completely hidden by a mass of other tourists. The vast imperial palace, the Forbidden City, at one point welcomed more than a hundred-and-eighty-thousand visitors in a single day.
In the desert at Dunhuang, at least two camels transporting tourists reportedly died from overwork. And Chinese media said road traffic was up by thirteen per cent on last year, causing unprecedented jams. Many people in China don't take their leave entitlement because regulations aren't properly enforced: they save their travelling for the two big annual public holidays - the other is at Chinese New Year. Then, it seems as if the whole country has shut down and everyone is on the road or on the train.
There've been renewed appeals for a third public holiday, in May, to be lengthened to spread the strain. And a commentary by Xinhua news agency went further, calling for a proper system of paid leave. It said that as Chinese people's living standards improved, public holidays were no longer enough to fulfil their needs.
Glossary 詞匯表 （點擊單詞收聽發音）
- went viral快速散播
- snaking彎來彎去
- vast龐大的
- overwork操勞過度
- unprecedented從未有過的
- entitlement應有的權利
- enforced被執行
- shut down 關閉
- appeals呼吁
- strain負擔
