Was sagst du? 樣樣都德

My trip to mainland China allowed me to have an appreciation of what's going on in this vast country, although it may not be very deep in such a short time. 這次到國內一遊，除了遊山玩水外，也可瞭解一下國情——那管祇是匆匆一瞥，不是太深入。 The slogans and government advertisements offered glimpses into what life was like and the concerns of the populace in the various places we visited. Interestingly, the focusses were all different depending on the part of the country, according to my local friends. 祇要留心四周的標語和宣傳，大概對不同地方的民情和關注的社會問題都可以略知一二。當我嚮導的朋友說，在國內不同地方的題材都有所不同。 On our way from Shanghai to Xitang , we changed buses in Jiashan County which was full of publicity for the military. We wondered why that was; could it be that there were many military personnels living there? 從上海往 西塘 ，在嘉善縣倒車時，到處都看到支持軍隊的宣傳，究竟是不是那裡軍人較多？ Translations: Top left - wide, deep and continued effort to support the military, care for relatives of the personnels, support the government and care for the ordinary people. Top right - your love for the count...

During a seminar this Wednesday (13th May), a female scientist who studies sex chromosomes in a wide range of animals predicted that the human Y chromosome might disappear in 5.8 million years’ time! The male audience among us could do nothing other than smiling rather wryly at this female specialist, but the female audience need not rejoice too early. The scientist further predicted two fates of the human species: either we will die out because of inability to reproduce, or new human species will evolve. The latter is actually not as far-fetched as it seems, because there’s a type of mouse called mole vole which has split into two lineages because of changes to sex chromosomes. So why are humans heading down this predicament? It is thought that the sex chromosomes for mammalians, to which humans belong, evolved about 160 millions ago. There are two sex chromosomes X and Y, with two X’s giving rise to females and the X, Y combination to males. When reproductive cells are produced by a ...

The perfect weather in Easter was best used for going out and about. 復活節時天公造美，當然是出外逛逛的時候。 On Easter Sunday (12th April), my parents and I went for a side trip to the Docklands area right beside the CBD before visiting some relatives. Docklands is a relatively new part of the city, and is slowly taking shape as a trendy residential district with a cluster of discount outlet shops. A Ferris wheel was added some time last year, but at the moment it’s nothing more than a standing decoration due to structural damages inflicted by the extreme heat back in January and February. The repair work is supposed to need about a year, but afterwards I don’t think I would have much interest in going on it. From what I can see at its base, the scenery isn’t really anything to write home about. 復活節星期日（4月12日）我和家父、家母探親戚前先住毗鄰市中心的船塢區（Docklands），那裡近十來年才逐步開發，逐漸成為混合住宅和名牌特賣場的地區，去年還建了個摩天輪，不過竟因為一、二月時天氣異常酷熱而令結構受損，要一年時間才可修復！就摩天輪的地點所見，景色也不算有啥特色，將來我也不會特別有興趣上去看看。 Trendy residential buildings 設計新穎的住宅大廈 The future in a ...