草泥馬夫妻

Cheese made from human toe jam¹, belly-button² bacteria
by Amanda Kooser November 21, 2013 1:20 PM PST



　　What makes a truly fine blue cheese so spectacular can be partly due to particular kinds of bacteria that are encouraged to grow on it. Now, imagine if those bacteria came from someplace unusual... like food author Michael Pollan's belly button. Yep, you get human-flavored cheese. Hungry yet?
　　Scientist Christina Agapakis and scent specialist Sissel Tolaas came together for a project that combines art and synthetic³ biology. They collected bacteria samples from donors and used them to create unique cheeses for each person.
　　The Selfmade project is described as "a series of 'microbial⁴ sketches,' portraits reflecting an individual's microbial landscape in a unique cheese." Sculptor Olafur Eliasson offered up his tears, art curator⁵ Hans-Ulrich Obrist gave a nose swab⁶, and Pollan contributed a swab from his toes.
　　Even cheesemaker Seana Doughty got her own cheese using a swab from her mouth. The sampled microbes⁷ were allowed to grow on various cheese rinds⁸, generating some very different cheeses. Doughty expressed her hope that a cheese made from her bacteria would be "flavorful and a little bit funky⁹."
　　Agapakis told Dezeen the cheeses smell and taste like the body odors of the people the bacteria came from. That's right. We've just escalated human cheese to human-body-odor cheese.
　　Agapakis and Tolaas hope to show how little difference there is between bacteria on the human body, which we are constantly trying to wipe out with cleaning products, and bacteria in the cheese we eat all the time. Selfmade is currently part of an exhibit at the Science Gallery in Dublin.
　　If you could make a cheese from any famous person's belly-button bacteria, who would you choose? I'm thinking of a nice cave-aged¹⁰ George Takei called Lieutenant Blue-lu. Perhaps Patrick Stewart would allow us to make a Captain Parmesan to go on a cheese plate alongside a Commander Raclette from Jonathan Frakes.

1 jam: 堵塞物

2 belly-button: 肚臍

3 synthetic: 合成的

4 microbial: 微生物

5 curator: 館長

6 swab: 擦

7 microbe: 微生物

8 rind: 外皮 /aɪ/

9 funky: 臭臭的

10 cave-aged: 洞穴中陳年的?

Tongue electrode¹ lets you taste flavor that isn't there
by Michelle Starr November 25, 2013 2:46 PM PST



　　What if you could play, say, the game Cooking Mama and virtually taste the dishes you make? Or watch "Iron Chef" (still the best cooking competition ever on TV) and taste the dishes alongside the judges?
　　Nimesha Ranasinghe and his team at the National University of Singapore have built what they call the Digital Taste Simulator², an electrode that sits on the tip of the user's tongue and re-creates flavors.
　　It works by sending tiny alternating currents³ and slight temperature changes into the tongue that fool it into "tasting" four flavors: sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. "We have found noninvasive⁴ electrical and thermal⁵ stimulation of the tip of the tongue successfully generates the primary⁶ taste sensations⁷," Ranasinghe said.
　　At the moment, the setup is still in its early stages, quite large and awkward, but the team is redesigning it so that the electrode can stay in contact with the tongue even when the user's mouth is nearly closed. They are also working on simulating smell and texture, although, as you can probable imagine, this is rather more complicated.
　　The team is also working on something called the Digital Lollipop. It works along the same principles to deliver different taste sensations -- perhaps sent from one user to another -- and is currently undergoing testing to see how it affects different regions of the tongue.

1 electrode: 電極

2 simulator: 模擬器

3 alternating currents: AC 交流電

4 noninvasive: 非侵入性的

5 thermal: 熱的

6 primary: 初級的

7 sensation: 感覺

Nokia: iPad will put women off
by Chris Matyszczyk November 25, 2013 3:46 PM PST



　　How many times has Microsoft tried to explain to you that iPads are terrible?
　　Well, if you've just been bought by Microsoft you might as well fall in line, might you not?
　　So here's a new ad for the Nokia Lumia 2520 that suggests that if you buy an iPad you are a drippy¹, paranoid² numbskull³ who's never going to understand anything. Especially women.
　　Initially, our man tries to impress with his new tablet that's "thinner than a pencil." Now which tablet could that be?
　　But as his inner monologue⁴ reveals his true self, we see that he's delusional⁵.
　　He tells his friends that with an iPad he doesn't need a keyboard. But he does. He's unproductive, you see, and he knows it.
　　Sadly, the blonde girl of his dreams catches him in the act. She realizes that he's all talk and no keyboard. She sees that he has an iPad and a laptop. Now she knows that he's something of an embarrassment -- and, of course, a cheat⁶.
　　Worse, all the typing he's tried to do on his iPad has apparently worn⁷ the battery down.
　　But then he sees that the blonde has a new, red Lumia 2520. He doesn't even know what it is.
　　When she unfurls⁸ it, he notices that that it has a power keyboard. "Did I buy the wrong tablet?" he asks himself.
　　Clearly the answer is yes. Although he might be able to save some face by, say, buying a keyboard that works with his iPad.
　　Male iPad buyers need to take heed⁹. If women see you as unproductive with your tablet, they will pity you.

1 drippy: 潮濕、多雨的

2 paranoid: 偏執的

3 numbskull: 傻瓜

4 monologue: 獨白

5 delusional: 妄想的

6 cheat: 騙子

7 worn sth down: 損耗、磨損

8 unfurl: 展開

9 heed: 注意

Eurozone economic growth slows to 0.1%
14 November 2013 Last updated at 11:58 GMT



　　The economy of the eurozone grew by just 0.1% in the July-to-September period, down from 0.3% growth in the previous quarter.
　　The figure marks just the second quarter of a growth phase that replaced an 18-month recession, the longest period of contraction to affect the single currency area.
　　It shows the eurozone's recovery is extremely tentative¹.
　　Europe's Central Bank last week cut interest rates to 0.25% to lift growth.
　　Europe's economy is taking far longer to recover than the other advanced regions affected by the credit crisis of 2008.
　　Although its debt levels are not dissimilar² to those in the US and the UK, for many countries they are more politically important.
　　Weaker countries in the eurozone have been propped³ up by bailout⁴ money, advanced on condition they cut government spending sharply to reduce their debts.
　　Moves to do this have hit directly at voters, through large-scale job cuts, reduced wages and pensions⁵, higher taxes and widespread changes to public services.
　　With the resulting higher unemployment and fall in living standards, few economists think there is much there to drive forward a robust⁶ recovery.
　　Growth of 1.1% is being predicted by the European Commission for next year and 1.7% in 2015.
　　The US, with its own giant government debt, is currently growing at an annualised rate of 2.8%, compared with the eurozone's rate so far this year of about 0.4%.
Activity
　　Even figures from the region's strongest and most important economies, France and Germany, proved disappointing.
　　France shrank 0.1% in the third quarter of the year, while German growth slowed to 0.3% from 0.7% in the previous quarter.
　　Figures from Italy, the third most important country, showed its economy shrank by 0.1%, after a 0.3% contraction⁷ in the second quarter.
　　There were better signs of economic activity from some of the worst-hit countries in southern Europe.
　　Spain returned to quarter-on-quarter growth for the first time since the first quarter of 2011, albeit⁸ with growth of just 0.1%.
　　Portugal's economy grew by 0.2% in the quarter.
Weak exports
　　When France's economy grew by 0.5% in the second quarter of the year, it pulled the country out of recession, although economists had not expected that level of growth to be sustained.
　　Figures from the national statistics agency Insee showed that exports dropped by 1.5% in the third quarter, while business investment fell by 0.6%.
　　However, France's Finance Minister, Pierre Moscovici, said he still believed the economy would grow by 0.1-0.2% over 2013 as a whole.
　　"The productive forces are starting up again, production is recovering," Mr Moscovici told French radio.
　　"We knew the third quarter would mark a pause, it's not a surprise, it's not an indicator of decline, it's not a recession."
Contrast
　　Germany's statistics office, Destatis, also cited weak exports as a factor holding back growth.
　　"The positive impulses⁹ in the third quarter came exclusively from within Germany," Destatis said.
　　"Private household and public spending were somewhat higher than in the preceding quarter. And investment in equipment and construction also increased compared with the second quarter.
　　"By contrast, the trade balance put a brake¹⁰ on GDP growth. While imports continued to rise, exports showed little momentum¹¹ compared with the preceding quarter," it said.
　　Economists greeted the news with mixed views.
　　Chris Williamson from Markit said: "The region's periphery¹² continues to show signs of reviving, and the region is on course to expand at a slightly stronger, though still modest, pace in the fourth quarter.
　　"The data go a long way to vindicate¹³ the ECB's decision to cut interest rates to re-stimulate growth across the single currency area."
　　But Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, was more downbeat¹⁴: "The near-stagnation¹⁵ of the eurozone economy in the third quarter underlines the fragility¹⁶ of the recovery and the growing dangers of a damaging bout¹⁷ of deflation¹⁸ in the region."

1 tentative: 試驗的、暫時的

2 dissimilar: 相異的、不同的

3 prop: 撐起、扶持

4 bailout: 紓困、救助計劃

5 pension: 養老金、退休金

6 robust: 健全的、健壯的

7 contraction: 收縮

8 albeit: 儘管 /ɔlˋbi ɪt/

9 impulse: 衝動

10 brake: 煞車

11 momentum: 氣勢

12 periphery: 外圍、週邊

13 vindicate: 辯護

14 downbeat: 悲觀

15 stagnation: 停滯

16 fragility: 脆弱 /dʒ/

17 bout: 回合

18 deflation: 通貨緊縮

Google extends helping hand to Philippines typhoon survivors
by Dara Kerr | November 11, 2013 8:21 PM PST



　　The most powerful typhoon ever recorded slammed into the Philippines four days ago, leaving mind-boggling¹ destruction² in its wake. Not only were homes, city centers, and farms crushed, but also tens of thousands of people are missing and presumed³ dead, according to The New York Times.
　　In an effort to help people find loved ones, along with much needed food, shelter, and water, Google launched several tools on its Typhoon Yolanda Crisis Page on Monday (the typhoon is also referred to as Typhoon Haiyan). The idea is to help survivors and emergency responders gather and relay⁴ information in the aftermath⁵ of the catastrophe⁶.
　　Among the tools is a Google Person Finder, which is an app that lets people post and search for the status of family or friends who were on the ground when the typhoon hit. People can click on "I'm Looking for Someone" and type in the person's name; or they can click "I have information about someone" and type in any names or details. Google also made the Person Finder available on mobile phones by letting people text message the word "search" and the missing person's name.
　　"As the number of names and records build, the tool will hopefully make it easier for those who are safe to pass on their news to anyone worried about them," Google Southeast Asia's outreach⁷ program manager Aileen Apolo wrote in a blog post.
　　Google is known for creating crisis relief tools after natural disasters, like earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and hurricanes. It made interactive maps for both Hurricane Isaac, which hit the southern US in August 2012, and for Superstorm Sandy, which struck the East Coast in October 2012. Google also built crisis tools for Japan after the earthquake and tsunami hit in March 2011 and for Chile after its massive earthquake in February 2010.
　　Google made its Typhoon Yolanda crisis tools open to anyone to embed on their Web sites. "The more people who contribute to them, the more useful they'll be," Apolo wrote.

1 boggle: 驚奇 (v.)

2 destruction: 毀壞

3 presume: 假定

4 relay: 接力、傳達

5 aftermath: 後果

6 catastrophe: 災難

7 outreach: 推廣

Street lights to spy on everything that happens in Vegas?
by Chris Matyszczyk | November 9, 2013 9:51 AM PST



　　Las Vegas is truly one of the world's great cities.
　　It's a place where you can let your hair down, or even wear someone else's, without anyone thinking this is abnormal¹.
　　Now, though, there's a frisson² of doubt as to whether what happens in Vegas will stay there. Or, more accurately, whether what happens in Vegas will all fall into the dancing laps³ of the authorities.
　　Las Vegas, you see, has invested in Intellistreets. These aren't streets that carry you along, so that you don't have to put one foot in front of the other.
　　Instead, this is a lighting system that, as MyNews3 reported, enjoys "all sorts of fancy features."
　　These lights can broadcast messages and play music. Which sounds very Vegas.
　　However, they have other aspects: they can shoot video and record sound.
　　So, in these days of rampant⁴ surveillance⁵ and ruptured⁶ trust, some are feeling a touch concerned that this is just covert spying.
　　This being Vegas, you will understand the words of Neil Rohleder of the city's Public Works Department: "We want to develop an experience for the people who come downtown."
　　But what kind of experience are they truly developing? The company behind Intellistreets, Illuminating Concepts has as its motto: "Assisting in the Creation of Memorable Environments since 1981." The word "memorable" might interest some.
　　Las Vegas public works Director Jorge Cervantes told MyNews3 that this was all entirely innocent: "Right now our intention is not to have any cameras or recording device. It's just to provide output out there, not to get any feed or video feed coming back."
　　Those who feel their privacy has been co-opted by everyone from a Mark Zuckerberg to a nameless spy of a nameless government will focus only on two of Cervantes's words: "Right now." Every disruptive⁷ technology brings with it the potential for disruption of an uncomfortable kind.
　　In the case of Intellistreets, it is controlled from an iPad. So should anyone have nefarious⁸ intentions, they ought to be able to enact them quite easily.
　　Indeed, the explanatory⁹ video of how the system works spends most of its time presenting a compelling¹⁰ case for its excellence.
　　Near the end, however, there is this phrase: "Intellistreets also enables a myriad¹¹ of homeland security features."
　　We're never truly safe, are we? Not even from ourselves.
　　Some, then, will be hoping that what happens in Vegas won't be so interesting that it might fascinate, well, someone out there?

1 abnormal: 異常、畸形的

2 frisson: 戰慄、顫抖

3 lap: 膝蓋、下擺

4 rampant: 猖獗的

5 surveillance: 監控

6 rupture: 弄破、破裂

7 disruptive: 破裂的、破壞的

8 nefarious: 邪惡的

9 explanatory: 解釋的

10 compelling: 引人注目的

11 myriad: 無數的、五花八門的

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen likes idea of company breakup
Dara Kerr by Dara Kerr November 5, 2013 5:36 PM PST



　　As Microsoft's board hunts for a new chief executive officer, one of the tech giant's co-founders is throwing in his two cents¹ on what that successor should do with the company: break it up.
　　The chief investment officer for co-founder Paul Allen said Microsoft should consider spinning off some of its businesses, according to the Financial Times. Paul Ghaffari manages Allen's $15 billion fortune and was speaking on behalf of Allen during the Financial Times Investment Management Summit on Tuesday.
　　Ghaffari said that consumer businesses, like search advertising and Xbox, are a distraction to Microsoft's success. The majority of the company's earnings come from its software and business customer services, he said.
　　"The search business and even Xbox, which has been a very successful product, are detracting² from that. We would want them to focus on their best competencies³," Ghaffari said, according to the Financial Times. "My view is there are some parts of that operation they should probably spin out⁴, get rid of, to focus on the enterprise and focus on the cloud."
　　Allen, who founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975, still holds a $2 billion stake in the company.
　　Microsoft has already spun out some of its businesses in the past. In 2009, it broke off a business that licensed its software protection technologies to other companies. The new venture⁵ was dubbed⁶ InishTech and is based in Ireland. Microsoft retained a stake in the company as well as an observer seat on its board of directors.
　　Other past spin-offs include Inrix and Zumobi (formerly ZenZui), which have come from technologies developed within Microsoft's research labs. Microsoft also spun out a social-networking technology, known as Wallop, in 2006.
　　Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced in August that he would be stepping down⁷ from his position within the next 12 months, but recent reports say the seat change could happen as soon as the end of this year. Possible successors⁸ include Ford CEO Alan Mulally, former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, and Microsoft Executive VP Tony Bates.

1 throw in sb.'s two cents: 給意見

2 detract: 減損

3 competency: 競爭力

4 spin out: 旋出、失去

5 venture: 企業

6 dubbed: 被稱為 (dub: 配音)

7 step down: 退下來

8 successor: 繼任者

Key numbers to know before Twitter's IPO
by Jennifer Van Grove | November 5, 2013 4:14 AM PST



　　Twitter becomes a public company on Thursday, but if you don't have the time or the stomach to leaf through¹ the 200-plus page prospectus² before then, here's a guide to get you past the clutter³.
Price range: $23-$25
The social network is being far less conservative⁴ than initially planned, which should affect if much the stock pops on opening day. The range makes Twitter worth as much as $13.9 billion. The company may even price higher on the eve of its IPO.
Proceeds: $1.62 billion-$1.86 billion
This is how much Twitter will net from the sale of 70 million shares in the offering at a midpoint⁵ price of $24 per share. The larger amount includes proceeds from 10.5 million additional shares that underwriters⁶ have the option of selling.
Monthly active users (MAUs): 231.7 million
While Twitter continues to grow -- MAUs are up 39% from the year-ago quarter -- the company's annual user growth rate is in decline. Twitter is also still less than one-fifth the size of Facebook.
Mobile MAUs: 175 million, or 76% of MAUs
With more than three-fourths of Twitter's audience accessing the social network from smartphones or tablets, Twitter is, by definition, a mobile company. Investors need not worry about whether the company can monetize⁷ its massive mobile audience. In fact, 70% of Twitter's advertising revenue in the 3rd quarter was generated from mobile devices.
Daily active users (DAUs): 100 million
If you calculate engagement⁸ as the ratio of daily active users to mobile active users, as Facebook does, then Twitter's engagement rate is around 43%. That's not bad, but it's also not great. Facebook, for comparison, has an engagement rate of 61%.
US MAUs: 52.7 million
Twitter makes an extremely disproportionate⁹ amount of money from its US members. More than three-fourths of Twitter users (78%) are overseas, yet only 25% of its year-to-date¹⁰ (YTD) revenue -- or $106.7 million -- came from its international audience.
YTD revenue: $422.2 million
Twitter has grown revenue by 106% year over year, but the growth rate has decelerated from the previous year.
YTD advertising revenue: $374.9 million, or 89% of revenue
The company made a paltry¹¹ $47.3 million from its only other business: data licensing. One could argue that Twitter needs to diversify its business in order to continue to grow revenue at a fast enough clip to please Wall Street.
YTD net loss: $133.9 million
Losses are increasing -- up 89% year over year -- and Twitter is a ways away from turning a profit.
YTD adjusted EBITDA: $30.7 million
If you exclude Twitter's expenses (stock, taxes, interest, depreciation¹²), this is the amount the company would have earned in the first 9 months of 2013.
Average revenue per timeline view: 97 cents
This is Twitter's primary metric for calculating the health of its business, and is a measure of advertising revenue for every 1,000 timeline views. The metric, when broken down by US and international timeline views, shows just how lopsided¹³ Twitter's business is. In the US, average revenue per timeline view is $2.58. Overseas, Twitter makes 36 cents per 1,000 timeline views.
Q3 timeline views per MAU: 685 
Timeline views are Twitter's be-all¹⁴, end-all¹⁵ metric for measuring attention. The company noticed just an 8% year-over-year growth in timeline views per user. Growth in US timeline views was just 2% from the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, growth in timeline views in the rest of the world, where Twitter isn't adept¹⁶ at monetizing member attention, was 11%.
Off-Twitter impressions: 48 billion
Tweets have appeared on more than 1 million third-party Web sites, accounting for the 48 billion impressions taking place off Twitter. The additional exposure is good for Twitter. However, it's unclear if the extra attention has any affect on revenue as Twitter makes a majority of its money from the ads it serves to people inside its own desktop and mobile applications.

1 leaf through: 翻閱

2 prospectus: 招股章程、發起書

3 clutter: 混亂

4 conservative: 保守的

5 midpoint: 中點

6 underwriter: 承購人、承銷商

7 monetize: 賺錢

8 engagement: 約束

9 disproportionate: 不成比例的

10 year-to-date: 年初至今

11 paltry: 微不足道的

12 depreciation: 折舊

13 lopsided: 不均衡

14 be-all: 重要的東西

15 end-all: 最終所有

16 adept: 擅長

Fewer LEDs mean leaner iPad Air, researcher says
by Brooke Crothers | November 5, 2013 7:04 PM PST



　　The number of LEDs has been slashed¹ in the iPad Air, allowing Apple to build a sleeker² tablet, according to a new report.
　　More has been revealed about the iPad Air's internals³, revealing a revamped⁴ backlight assembly that helped Apple to slash the battery capacity by 23%, according to a teardown⁵ report released Tuesday by IHS iSuppli.
　　The iPad Air uses only 36 light-emitting⁶ diodes⁷ (LED) to illuminate⁸ the LCD, down from 84 in the earlier-generation iPad, according to iSuppli.
　　"[That's a] big difference [and] has a big impact on the power requirements for the device," Andrew Rassweiler, Sr., director of Cost Benchmarking Services at IHS, said in response to an e-mail query⁹.
　　"In part because there are fewer backlight lamps, the battery now has reduced capacity," he said.
　　As iFixit demonstrated on Friday, the Air's 33 WHr, two-cell battery is "decidedly less monstrous¹⁰" than the previous iPad's 43 WHr, three-cell power plant.
　　Apple didn't stop there, though. The thickness of the display and touch-screen subsystems has been trimmed¹¹ too.
　　"The Air's display is 1.8 mm thick, compared with about 2.23 millimeters for the older-generation iPad. Meanwhile, the touch screen is also thinner with its use of an expensive cyclo¹² olephin¹³ polymer¹⁴ (COP) film sensor versus the thicker and cheaper glass sensor used in the previous models," iSuppli said in its report.

1 slash: 削減

2 sleeker: 光滑的 (sleek比較級)

3 internals: 內部器官

4 revamp: 翻修

5 teardown: 拆解

6 emit: 發射

7 diode: 二極體

8 illuminate: 照亮

9 query: 詢問

10 monstrous: 怪異的、巨大的

11 trim: 修剪

12 cyclo: 環

13 olephin: olefin 烯烴

14 polymer: 聚合物

How to Become a Purchasing Agent
By eHow Contributor




　　If you enjoy buying things, you might enjoy being a purchasing agent. People in this career buy a large number of items for the company they work for. They may buy durable and nondurable goods, farm equipment and services. With a starting salary of around $30,000 per year, the profession is expected to expand by about 7% through 2018.
　　1 Start with on-the-job training. Most purchasing agents begin their career as a junior buyer, trainee, assistant buyer or purchasing clerk. In most companies, you will need a degree to move up to a career as a purchasing agent. Starting out at the bottom will afford you valuable real-world experience. After you get your degree, your resume will look better than those of others candidates who only have a degree.
　　2 Get familiar with financial and supply-chain management software programs that are used within the profession.
　　3 Get a bachelor's degree. Most companies prefer for you to have a degree in business, engineering or economics. Most large companies, however, prefer candidates to have a master's degree. This field is very competitive, so it wouldn't hurt to take any competitive advantage available to you.
　　4 Apply to a company. Once you have the on-the-job training and a degree, you'll need to apply for a job. Once hired, you will go through a training period to learn your new employer's business. Expect to spend up to five years learning all about your new employer's business.
　　5 Gain certification within the profession. Several organizations offer certifications: The Institute for Supply Management confers¹ the Certified Professional in Supply Management designation². The American Purchasing Society confers both the the Certified Purchasing Professional and Certified Professional Purchasing Manager designations. You will need to meet certain education and work requirements as well as pass an exam to receive such certifications.

1 confers: 授予

2 designation 指定

Airbus chief eyes overtaking Boeing
AFP, BERLIN



　　Airbus chief Fabrice Bregier says the European planemaker will overtake its US rival Boeing to become the world's biggest producer within 4 or 5 years, in an interview with a German Sunday newspaper.
　　Bregier told Welt am Sonntag that Airbus would step up¹ production through its new A320Neo and long-haul² A350 models.
　　"In 2017-2018, we will therefore again be able to gain the lead also in deliveries," the Airbus chief executive said according to an extract of the interview that was to appear in German in yesterday's edition.
　　Airbus will deliver more than 600 aircraft this year and more next year, he said, adding that in terms of orders, it would also beat its target.
　　"2013 is becoming an excellent year for Airbus," he said.
　　Airbus last week announced a US$9.5 billion deal with Japan Airlines, its first jet order from the carrier, challenging Boeing's dominance in the Japanese market as it struggles with the troubled Dreamliner.
　　The fuel-efficient aircraft, marred³ by years of production delays, faced a global grounding order in January after lithium⁴-ion⁵ batteries overheated on two different planes, with one of them catching fire while the aircraft was parked.
　　Bregier also criticized the comfort of the 787 Dreamliner, telling the Welt newspaper he had seen a cabin with 9 seats in a row.
　　"For me, it's clear that as a passenger, I wouldn't like to sit 12 hours long in there," he said.
　　Referring to the Dreamliner's technical problems, he said: "From my team, I expect the commissioning of the A350 to run much smoother."
　　Like Boeing's Dreamliner, the Airbus A350 is to be made mainly of lightweight composite⁶ materials to save fuel, which can currently account for more than half of overall airline operating costs.
　　In November 2011, Airbus announced a six-month delay in the first delivery of the A350 to the first half of next year. In July last year, it said there would be another delay of about 3 months to the second half of next year.

1 step up: 加緊腳步

2 haul: 拖拉、運送 (long-haul: 長途)

3 mar: 損壞

4 lithium: 鋰

5 ion: 離子

6 composite: 綜合的

China Airlines considering low-cost carrier
By Amy Su / Staff reporter



　　China Airlines Ltd., Taiwan's largest carrier, yesterday said it is mulling¹ creating a new budget airline² with a final assessment³ to be finalized by the end of the year.
　　That will make China Airlines the first local carrier to operate a low-cost carrier (LCC).
　　Facing tougher competition from budget airlines globally, the carrier said it should also keep an proactive attitude toward the issue of establishing a new LCC.
　　"Everyone is doing it," CAL chairman 孫洪祥 told reporters after the opening of the Taipei International Travel Fair yesterday.
　　Sun said the company is considering various ways to form a new budget airline, either by itself or in cooperation with other partners.
　　In addition, establishing a new budget airline, or transforming Mandarin Airlines — a subsidiary of CAL focusing on domestic and cross-strait passenger routes — into a LCC, may both be options, the carrier said.
　　Under the current limitations set by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), the minimum annual operating revenue for a company willing to operate an international airline is set at NT$6 billion (US$203.76 million), which would be "no problem at all" for CAL, Sun said.
　　However, once CAL decides to enter the LCC market, it may need extensive fleet⁴ expansion to raise its total transport capacity, Sun added.
　　For the carrier's business this quarter, Sun said passenger demand may remain strong on the back of momentum⁵ driven by the travel fair.
　　In the first 9 months of the year, consolidated sales stood at NT$104.6 billion, down 1.31% from a year earlier, CAL statistics showed.
　　The firm aims to sell more than 10,000 sets of tour packages at the travel fair this year, nearly doubling the 5,000 to 6,000 sets sold at the same fair last year, Sun said.
　　The four-day travel fair — which opened yesterday and will run through Monday — has 1,350 booths⁶ at the Taipei World Trade Center, with 900 stands from 60 countries or areas.
　　The fair, organized by the Taiwan Visitors Association (TVA, 台灣觀光協會), is expected to draw a record-high 280,000 visitors this year. Last year, the event attracted a total of 260,000 visitors, with NT$1.5 billion of tour packages sold during the four-day fair.

1 mull: 仔細考慮

2 budget airline: 廉價航空

3 assessment: 評定

4 fleet: 艦隊、船隊

5 momentum: 氣勢

6 booth: 攤位