Blog entry by Joanne Chuang

Anyone in the world

本週在美國,民主黨人和拜登的支持者都鬆了一口氣,因為川普終於同意開始 ' transition 過渡/交接 ' 進程,讓拜登的團隊開始獲得情報和其它政府簡報以做準備。儘管川普所有的法律訴訟都慘敗,他至今仍未承認敗選。他如專制者般試圖向行政官員施壓,以推翻投票結果。所幸在民主精神的加持下,此舉也未能得逞。然而,他終於允許啟動過渡是件好事,現在距離拜登就任總統僅剩2個月,他的團隊需要政府和相關資訊來對抗這次的疫情。
In the US, Democrats and Biden supporters breathe a sigh of relief this week, as Trump has finally allowed the 'transition' to a new government to begin, letting Biden's team begin to get intelligence and other government briefings, and get ready for government. Trump still has not conceded the election, despite his legal battles all failing miserably. He has also tried to pressure officials to overturn the people's vote, in a move that is worthy of a dictator. Luckily for democracy, this too failed. But it is good he has allowed the transition as there are only two months now until Biden becomes President, and they need government and information to fight the pandemic.

'Transition 過渡' 一詞來自拉丁字根 'trans- 跨越' ( 試想 'Transformers 變形金剛',可以從車子轉變為機器人)。因此,過渡就是從一件事到另一件事的活動或轉變。以一個較長的單字而言,它具有較為正式的感覺,因此 'transition' 適用於政府和重大事件。
The word 'transition' comes from the latin root 'trans-' meaning to go across (think of the robot 'Transformers' who can change from car to robot). So a transition is a movement or change across from one thing to another. As a longer word, it has a more formal feeling, so it is appropriate for government and serious events.

該怎麼記住它呢? 'trans' 是一個值得記住的拉丁字,因為它在很多詞彙中都被運用 ( 'transport 運輸' 、'transformer 變壓器'、'translate 翻譯'、'transexual 變性/跨性別者'等…)。'sition' 聽來像 'sit 坐'、'station 車站' 的結合。所以,記住這個句子:'Biden sits in the station and talks to a transexual as he waits for the transition. 拜登在等待過渡的過程中坐在車站與一位跨性別者交談' 。trans 跨越 + sit 坐+ station 車站 = transition 過渡。這句子乍聽之下似乎很難 ( 確實如此)!不過,其中有多個記憶串連點,若你忘記其中一部份,其餘的部份有助於幫你回想!而且你還同時學到 'transexual 變性' 這個字!而上述句中呈現的畫面也荒誕到令人難忘 !
How to remember it? Well it is worth learning the latin 'trans' as it is used in many words ('transport', 'transformer', 'translate', 'transexual' etc). 'sition' sounds like 'sit', 'station'. So remember this sentence: 'Biden sits in the station and talks to a transexual as he waits for the transition.' trans + sit + station = transition. This sentence seems hard (and it IS!) but there are multiple memory hooks here so if you forget part of it - the rest of the sentence can help you! And you learn the word 'transexual' for free! The image of Biden sitting in a train station talking to a transexual is absurd enough to be memorable too!

牛津英語大師祝大家接下來的一週持續精進英文!
Have a great week mastering English everyone!