曾雅妮到達了新的里程碑─第十座LPGA冠軍盃

以下新聞轉載自China Post

Yani Tseng reaches new milestones with 10th LPGA title

Taiwan's Yani Tseng, the world No. 1 in women's golf, Sunday successfully defended her title at the LPGA Tour's NW Arkansas Championship by making the most of her second chances, rolling in a four-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff.

This earned Tseng her 10th championship as a LPGA golfer and helped her set another milestone, becoming the only LPGA player to defend two titles this season. Early last month, Tseng became the first golfer in a decade to win the Women's British Open in two consecutive years.

Tseng holed the winning putt on the par-five 18th hole to edge South Korea's Amy Yang who failed to convert a six-foot birdie try just moments earlier.

“I almost cried today because in the middle of the round, I felt like, 'Oh, I'm going to lose today.' Because I didn't feel any excitement and I wasn't making any birdies,” Tseng said. “But I just telling myself, 'I need to get excited, need more focus, try to stretch, move around, just feel more.' Like the last three holes, I made some birdies, so that was very important for me.”
The 22-year-old Tseng had her own putting woes on the final hole in regulation after failing to make a five-foot putt that would have given her the victory at the Pinnacle Country Club course.

Instead the pair headed to a playoff after they both closed with three-under 68s to finish at 12-under 201.

Tseng leads the LPGA Tour with five wins this season, including major titles at the LPGA Championship and Women's British Open.

Successfully defending her title at the LPGA Tour's NW Arkansas Championship made Tseng become the first LPGA golfer to have earned US$2 million in a single season since 2008.

Tseng took the US$300,000 first prize after beating Yang on the first hole of a playoff at the Pinnacle Country Club course, bringing her winnings on the LPGA Tour to US$2.116 million.

Tseng was far ahead of second-ranked Cristie Kerr of the United States, who has earned US$1.348 million so far this year.Tseng was the first LPGA golfer able to crack the US$2 million mark in a single season since Mexican Lorena Ochoa attained the milestone in 2008 before retiring.

In the past two years, South Koreans Jiyai Shin and Na Yeon Choi led the money list with winnings of US$1.81 million in 2009 and US$1.87 million in 2010, respectively.

Tseng's earnings to date for 2011 would be the seventh highest on record for a single season since the LPGA began compiling annual money lists in 2000, and there are still nine tournaments left to be played this year.
She could conceivably challenge Annika Sorenstam's personal high of US$2.86 million in earnings set in 2002, but will likely fall far short of the LPGA record of US$4.36 million set by Ochoa in 2007.

In her 16 LPGA events this year, Tseng has earned an average of US$132,253 each, the third-highest in history behind only Ochoa in 2007 (US$174,599) and Sorenstam in 2004 (US$141,372).

The Arkansas victory was the fifth LPGA title Tseng has won this season and the 10th of her career. She has captured two majors — the LPGA Championship and the Women's British Open — and also won the Honda LPGA Thailand and the LPGA State Farm Classic.

With five victories this year, Tseng has joined an elite group of women who have accomplished that feat in a season, including Louise Suggs, Mickey Wright, Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez and Pat Bradley.

Tseng has also won three other non-LPGA events this year — one in Taiwan and two in Australia early this year.

In the 16 LPGA tournaments Tseng played during this season, she carded an average of 4.61 birdies, outshining all other players.

生字

birdie                    noun      [高爾夫]博蒂(低於標準竿一竿近洞)

putt                       verb       [高爾夫]推球入洞

playoff                  noun      錦標賽;延長賽;最後決賽

decade                 noun     十年

consecutive         adj.        連續不斷的

stretch                  verb      傾注全力

woe                      noun      逆境;悲痛

far ahead              ph.        遙遙領先

attain                    verb       達到;獲得

compile                verb       彙編;收集(資料)

tournament           noun      錦標賽;聯賽

conceivably          adv.        可相信地;想得到的

elite                       noun      精英

feat                       noun       功績

card                      verb        把...記入卡片

outshine               verb         使...失色;比...優秀

Yahoo 開除了執行長Bartz

以下新聞轉載自China Post

Yahoo fires chief executive Bartz

SAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo Inc. fired Carol Bartz as CEO Tuesday after more than 2 1/2 years of financial lethargy that had convinced investors that she couldn't steer the Internet company to a long-promised turnaround.

To fill the void, Yahoo's board named Tim Morse, its chief financial officer, as interim CEO. Bartz lured Morse away from computer chip-maker Altera Corp. two years ago to help her cuts costs. Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, said it is looking for a permanent replacement.
Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock, also a target of shareholder frustration, informed Bartz about the move over the phone, according to an e-mail the outgoing CEO sent from her iPad that was obtained by the All Things D technology blog. The blog first reported Bartz's ouster.

A Yahoo spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment late Tuesday.

Macquarie Securities analyst Ben Schachter called the handling of Bartz's departure “unseemly” and interpreted it as a sign of even more drama to come at Yahoo.
In a research note late Tuesday, Schachter predicted there will be a wide range of conjecture about Yahoo's future, with the most likely speculation centering on Yahoo as a takeover target during a vulnerable time.
Alternatively, Yahoo could make a bold move itself by trying to buy the online video site Hulu.com, which is already talking to suitors, or trying to sell its 43 percent stake in the Alibaba Group, one of China's most prized Internet companies. Bartz's tense relationship with Alibaba CEO Jack Ma had fed investor dissatisfaction about her leadership.
In a Tuesday statement, Yahoo said it is undergoing a “comprehensive strategic review” in its latest effort to give investors a reason to buy its stock but didn't offer details.
Bartz, 63, led an austerity campaign helped boost Yahoo's earnings, but the company didn't increase its revenue even as the Internet ad market grew at a rapid clip.
The financial funk, along with recent setbacks in Yahoo's online search partnership with Microsoft Corp. and the Alibaba investment, proved to be Bartz's downfall. Her ouster comes with 16 months left on a four-year contract that she signed in January 2009.
That contract entitles her to severance payments that could be two to three times her annual salary and bonus, along with stock incentives she received during her tenure. Bartz received a US$2.2 million bonus to supplement her US$1 million salary last year.

Yahoo has now replaced three CEOs in a little over four years. During that time, Yahoo has lost ground in the Internet ad race to online search leader Google Inc. and Facebook even though its website remains among the world's most popular.

Known for her no-nonsense leadership and sometimes gruff language, Bartz arrived at Yahoo as a respected Silicon Valley executive who had won praise for turning around business software maker Autodesk Inc. But she had no previous experience in Internet advertising, the main way Yahoo makes money.

That hole in her resume immediately raised questions whether she was qualified for the job, and those doubts only escalated as Yahoo's revenue continued to sag.
At first, Bartz blamed bad timing; she started the job during some of the bleakest months of the Great Recession. Later, she would say that she inherited such as mess from her two predecessors, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and former movie studio boss Terry Semel, and that it would take time to get Yahoo back on the right track.

At one point, she even compared her challenge to those that faced Steve Jobs when he returned to Apple Inc. as CEO in 1997.

Unlike Jobs, Bartz never was able to articulate a strategy to win over investors.

“She focused on plugging holes in the ship instead of turning it around,” said Gartner Inc. analyst Ray Valdes.

The disappointing performance was reflected in Yahoo's stock price, which closed Tuesday at US$12.91. That's 81 cents, or 7 percent, higher than where Yahoo shares stood when Bartz was hired as CEO. During the same period, Google's stock price has risen by more than US$200, or 66 percent, and the technology-driven Nasdaq composite index has climbed by 60 percent. A group of investors led by Goldman Sachs Group concluded privately held Facebook is worth US$50 billion in an appraisal done earlier this year. That's triple Yahoo's current market value.

Bartz never hit any of the price targets that the board set for her when she was hired. That means none of the 5 million stock options that she received upon signing her contract had vested by the time she was ushered out the door.

Investors seemed happy to see Bartz go. Yahoo shares gained 81 cents, or more than 6 percent, in extended trading late Tuesday.

生字

lethargy                  noun      低迷;不活潑;昏睡
steer                       verb       掌舵
turnaround              noun      徹底改變
interim                    adj.         暫時的
lure                         adv         引誘
shareholder           noun       股東
frustration              noun       挫敗
outer                      noun       罷黜;驅逐
handling                 noun       處理;操作
departure               noun       離開
unseemly               adj.         不合適的;不得體的
interpret                  verb       解釋;說明;詮釋
drama                    noun       戲劇性事件
conjecture              noun      猜測;推測
speculation             noun      臆測
vulnerable               adj.        易受傷的
bold move               ph.         大膽舉措
suitor                       noun      請求者
stake                       noun      股份
feed                         verb       餵養
undergo                   verb       經歷;忍受
comprehensive       adj.        廣泛的
austerity                  noun      嚴酷
funk                         noun      畏縮
downfall                  noun       垮台
entitle                      verb        給...權力(資格)
severance              noun        區別;不同;分開
incentive                 noun         激勵;刺激
tenure                     noun        任期
supplement            verb         增補
gruff                        adj.          粗魯的;板著臉孔的
resume                   noun        履歷
escalate                  verb         逐步上升
sag                         verb          下降
bleakest                  adj.           嚴峻的;荒涼的;單調的     
inherit                      verb         繼承
predecessors         noun        前任
articulate                 verb         清晰說明
appraisal                 noun        評價
vested                     ph            歸屬
usher                      verb          引;領

台塑工廠再度突發火警

以下新聞轉載自China Post

Another fire breaks out at FPG plant

Another fire broke out yesterday at petrochemical complex run by the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) in Mailiao, Yunlin County, the eighth in the past year at the same industrial zone. 

The group made an open apology but stressed the brief blaze was caused by alkymer leakage and was quickly put out, inflicting no harm to anyone and posing no other threats.

FPG executives reported the small fire at the No. 3 refinery plant at 4:31 p.m.
Firefighters put out the blaze by 4:50 p.m.

FPG management said that the blaze started during the process of transporting alkymer, which is an element of gasoline and is used to make petroleum products.

Certain amount of alkymer ended up in a ditch at the plant because of the leak. Water and chemical foams were immediately used to contain and snuff out the fire, said FPG executives.

Only a small section of the ditch was affected by the small blaze.

The executives said that staff members of all plants at the complex have maintained maximum security to prevent any possible industrial hazards, including fires.

This was the reason why the fire was put out so soon without affecting any manufacturing equipment.

Residents in the Mailiao area were alarmed by the new fire, expressing shock and concern over new industrial hazards and environmental contamination.

But FPG executives said residents should not panic, since alkymer is a part of gasoline but not toxic. The chemical will not release any toxic substance after burning, they explained.

They said the incident took place when the manufacturing and processing operations at the petrochemical complex were temporarily closed for inspection and equipment maintenance.

They said the FPG will cooperate with firefighters to determine the cause of the fire.

FPG and its petrochemical complex in Yunlin have been placed under unprecedented public scrutiny after seven other fires were reported at the petrochemical complex over the past year.

Protests from residents and the Yunlin Provincial Government in southwestern Taiwan prompted the Ministry of Economic Affairs to temporarily shut down the facilities on safety concerns.

The government has also asked FPG to carry out a phased suspension of operations at its production facilities in the compound over a one-year period.

Manufacturing operations cannot resume before FPG completes a safety overhaul and passes examination by a panel organized the ministry.

生字

petrochemical                     adj       石化的

complex                              noun    集團

blaze                                   noun    火災alkymer                                 noun     烷化油
leakage                                  noun     洩漏
put out                                   ph.        撲滅
inflict...on sb.                         verb       使遭受(損失)
refinery                                  noun      精鍊廠
petroleum                              noun      石油
ditch                                     noun      溝;渠
contain                                  verb       遏制;控制
snuff out                                verb       熄滅(火);扼殺;消滅
hazard                                   noun      危害之源;危害物
contamination                        noun     污染
panic                                     verb      恐慌
toxic                                      adj.       有毒的
unprecedented                        adj.       空前的;前所未有的
scrutiny                                  noun     監督;審查
protests                                  noun     抗議
Ministry of Economic Affairs     ph.       經濟部
temporarily                             adv.      暫時地
compound                              noun    複合物

歐洲股市暴跌5%

以下新聞轉載自China Post

European stocks plunge 5 percent

LONDON -- European stocks plunged by about 5 percent in mid afternoon trading on Monday, hit by acute tension over the risk of recession in leading economies and over eurozone debt.



Bonds issued by Greece and Italy fell, and the cost of insuring against default by Italy and France, as indicated by the market for credit default swap (CDS) instruments, rose sharply.

German stocks were down by nearly 6 percent, while in London, the FTSE index fell by 3.06 percent to 5,129.97 points.

The euro fell below 1.41 U.S. dollars. The price of gold jumped back above US$1,900 an ounce on demand for a safe haven 

The head of the European Central Bank (ECB) Jean-Claude Trichet warned of an immediate and imperative need for a second debt rescue for Greece, and for tightened discipline in the management of eurozone economies.

He also spoke of an eventual “confederal” disciplined management of eurozone national finances.

And the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde repeated her warning that banks in Europe need extra capital to withstand any contagion from the eurozone debt crisis.

The move against stocks was exacerbated by a decision by U.S. authorities to take legal action against 17 international banks for trading in the securitized mortgage products at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, traders said.

Bank shares fell heavily in Europe.

The Frankfurt stock market was showing a fall of 5.55 percent from the closing level on Friday to 5,230.84 points on the DAX index with Deutsche Bank shares down 9.59 percent.

In Paris the CAC 40 index was down 5.1 percent to 2,987.96 points and in Milan, the FTSE Mib index was showing a fall of 5.30 percent to 14,263 points.

Asian stocks also fell sharply, with the Tokyo market shedding 1.86 percent.

The U.S. legal moves are aimed at recouping billions of dollars lost in the financial crisis.

ECB data showed that eurozone banks have deposited record amounts of overnight funds with it, a signal of reluctance by banks to lend to each other.

“The banking sector continues to remain under pressure today as it underperforms across Europe,” said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital.

“The chances of a near-term recovery remain slim as eurozone debt concerns, structural reform and a lawsuit for allegedly mis-selling mortgage debt all weigh heavy on the sector,” he added.

“The U.S. decided to drop a bombshell on the banking sector ahead of their extended weekend by announcing a US$200 billion (141-billion-euro) lawsuit across the whole industry for the miss selling of mortgage backed assets, the dreaded subprime loans,” said Simon Denham, head of London-based trading group Capital Spreads.

U.S. firms targeted in the suits included Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, General Electric, Ally Financial and First Horizon.

The foreign banks were Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Credit Suisse, Barclays, Nomura, Royal Bank of Scotland and Societe Generale.

Traders also continued to digest weak U.S. data from late last week.

The jobs data for August were the worst since September 2010, when the economy shed more than twice the number of jobs it created. The pace of job growth remains far below the numbers needed to reduce the high unemployment rate.

生字

plunge                                        verb/noun       急降

acute                                          adj.                 劇烈的

tension                                       noun               緊張情勢

recession                                   noun               (經濟)衰退

eurozon                                      noun               歐元區

bond                                           noun               債券;公債

default                                        noun                違約

credit default swap                     ph.                   信用違約交換(移轉信用風險的衍生性金融商品)
instrument                                  noun                工具;手段
imperative                                   adj.                  緊急的;極重要的
discipline                                     noun                紀律;懲戒
confederal                                   noun
International Monetary Fund        ph.                   國際貨幣基金會
withstand                                     verb                 抵擋; 反抗
contagion                                    noun                感染;壞影響
exacerbate                                  verb                 使惡化;使發怒
authorities                                   noun                官方;當局
securitized                                  adj                   證券化的
mortgage                                    noun                抵押
shed                                            verb                瀉
recoup                                         verb                收回;償還
overnight fund                             ph.                  過夜待付基金
reluctance                                   noun               勉強;不情願
near-term                                    ph.                  近期
reform                                         verb                改良;重組
lawsuit                                        noun              訴訟(非刑事)
bombshell                                 noun               炸彈;突發事件
dreaded                                     adj                  令人畏懼的
subprime loans                         ph.                  次級貸款
pace                                          noun               一步;牛步

上千人跳進日月潭游泳

以下新聞轉載自China Post

Thousands splash into Sun Moon Lake swim

TAIPEI -- The annual mass swim across Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County took place Sunday in crisp weather and under blue autumn skies.



The swim, the 29th of its kind since the event was launched in 1983, drew a record number of 27,138 swimmers from home and abroad, including 2,215 foreign nationals from 32 countries, and 266 physically challenged swimmers.

The competitors, who took to the water in stages to prevent overcrowding, swam 3,000 meters from the start line at the lake's Chaowu pier to the finish line at Ita Thao pier.

The last batch of competitors was forced to abandon their effort as the organizers called it off when they saw thick dark clouds gathering over the lake.

The organizers sent out lifeboats at around 3 p.m. Sunday to pick up some 100 swimmers who were attempting the 3,000-meter swim across the lake.

They were the last batch among more than 25,000 people who participated this year in the annual event.

The swimmers were required to enter the water in groups to prevent overcrowding, but when the last group was close to the finishing point at the lake's Chaowu pier at around 2:30 p.m., black clouds began to gather.

The organizers, fearing thunderstorms, called off the swim and sent out the lifeboats.

The event in Nantou County in central Taiwan started in the morning in crisp weather under blue autumn skies, drawing a record number of 27,138 swimmers.

Premier Wu Den-yih, who initiated the event when he was magistrate of Nantou County in central Taiwan, fired the starting gun.

“Go for it! You're creating history by joining this swim!” Wu said to the competitors.

President Ma Ying-jeou, who could not be there because he was visiting the outlying island of Matsu, greeted the swimmers via teleconferencing.

生字

crisp                          adj.       涼爽的

home and abroad     ph.        海內外

in stages                   ph.        分階段

overcrowding            adj.       過度擁擠

pier                            noun    碼頭

abandon                   verb.     中止;放棄

call off                      ph.         取消...

Premier                   noun      總理;首相;行政院長
magistrate               noun      地方首長;官員
teleconferencing     noun      電信會議

八月份消費者物價指數穩定

以下新聞轉載自China Post

August CPI should be stable: DGBAS

TAIPEI -- Taiwan is expected to report only small fluctuations in consumer prices for August, although there were brief spikes in fruit and vegetable prices toward the end of the month when Typhoon Nanmadol hit the country, a government agency said yesterday.



While fruit and vegetable prices rose due to the typhoon damage, they quickly returned to normal as the effects of the storm were limited to southern and eastern Taiwan, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said, citing Council of Agriculture statistics.

According to the Central Emergency Operation Center, the agricultural losses from Typhoon Nanmadol were an estimated NT$33 million (US$1.14 million) at the end of August.

The DGBAS is scheduled to release the August consumer price index (CPI) data Monday, Sept. 5.

In July, Taiwan's CPI rose 1.32 percent from a year earlier, largely on higher food prices and more expensive fuel costs, while the core index, which excludes fish and energy products, grew 1.11 percent year-on-year.

In the first seven months of this year, the CPI gained 1.43 percent and the core index rose 1.01 percent.

Looking ahead, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said consumer prices in the second half of this year are expected to remain stable.

Hu Chung-ying, vice minister of the CEPD, said Friday that with global demand weakening, crude oil prices were hovering around US$85 per barrel and were not expected to rise much in the near future, a positive signal for consumer prices worldwide.

Hu said moderate raw material prices are expected to limit the growth of local consumer prices.

Unless Taiwan suffers more severe typhoon damage in September, consumer prices will face little upward pressure in the second half of this year, Hu said.

In mid-August, the DGBAS lowered its growth forecast for Taiwan's CPI for 2011 to 1.59 percent from its estimate of 1.89 percent made in July, citing the global economic slowdown.

生字

fluctuation                                          noun    波動
spike                                                  noun    急遽升高
Directorate General of Budget        p.n.      行政院主計處
agricultural                                         adj.      農業的
consumer price index                       p.n.      消費者物價指數
CEPD                                                p.n.      行政院經濟建設委員會
minister                                              noun    部長
crude oil                                             ph.       原油
barrel                                                  noun    桶
moderate                                           adj.       適度的