每日口說挑戰【CNN10】2020年回顧篇 (A Look Back at 2020)

Hey folks, it’s so nice to hear from you for the first time in 2021. Happy New Year once again. This is Ken Miao and here’s our news briefing. In today’s special program, we’re looking back at 2020 and listing out some of the biggest events that have happened.

【A Look Back at 2020】

1. The BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement.

In May, 46 year-old George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis. During the arrest, a police officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes, suffocating him and eventually leading to his death. Though the four officers now face charges related to killing George Floyd, the African American community called for racial justice which fueled a movement in the US. Protests, marches and calls for changes followed controversial encounters between police and African American civilians. Some of the demonstrations were peaceful, but some were violent, with cars and buildings being damaged and stores being looted.

2. Death of NBA legend, Kobe Bryant

A California helicopter-crash in January shocked the world and broke the hearts of millions of basketball fans. Retired Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, died in the crash with the pilot and six more passengers on their way to Gianna's basketball game. Kobe Bryant, the five-time NBA champion had been a hero and role model in the hearts of his fans worldwide. Bryant and his daughter were honored at a star-studded public memorial on Feb. 24 at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, with 20,000 in attendance at the arena where Bryant spent most of his two-decade career with the Lakers. The date 2/24 corresponded with the No. 24 jersey he wore and the No. 2 worn by Gianna.

3. Spotlight on Women

Supreme court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of pancreatic cancer on September 18. Ginsburg spent a lifetime flourishing in the face of adversity before being appointed a Supreme Court justice, where she successfully fought against gender discrimination and for social jus
tice.

And then we have the election of Kamala Harris as the first female, African American and South Asian vice president of the US.

4. We have a liftoff

In May, SpaceX, a company of Elon Musk, marked the first successful commercial launch, taking two NASA astronauts to the ISS, International Space Station, from US soil. The US space agency paid more than $3 billion for SpaceX to design, build, test and operate its reusable Dragon capsule for six future space round trips.

5. COVID-19 Pandemic

The Coronavirus was first identified in China and soon began to spread first around Asian countries, then around the world. The pandemic has changed life as we know it in many and some unexpected ways, including an international shortage of toilet paper and other paper products, and people have to work from home, even till this day. The pandemic also led to the US Government passing a package worth $2 trillion, a record amount of money to stimulate the American economy.

Since COVID-19 broke out in December 2019, 82 million people have been tested positive around the world with approximately 1.8 million deaths globally. What’s worse, a new variant of the coronavirus has been identified by the UK government, which is 70% more transmissible than the current one.

Luckily, Taiwan has been one of the top countries battling the pandemic, ranking second place among all other countries on the Bloomberg list of COVID resilience ranking. Bloomberg columnist Tim Culpan even said “To put it bluntly, life in Taiwan this year has been ridiculously normal”.
Yes, it’s simply a blessing to be living in Taiwan in a time like this. Let’s all work together and keep it that way.

And now, here’s our sentence of the day.

Some of the demonstrations were peaceful, some were violent, with cars and buildings being damaged and stores being looted.

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【Vocabulary】

1. demonstration
an occasion when a group of people march or stand together to show that they disagree with or support something or someone

Ex: The students are holding a demonstration against government corruption.

2. violent
using force to hurt or attack

Ex: The violent man who kicked Lisa’s dog was very drunk when he was arrested by the police.

3. damage
to harm or spoil something

Ex: Many buildings were badly damaged during the war.

4. loot
to steal something from a place or person

Ex: Many shops were looted during the riot.


【Vocab Smoothie】

Ingredients: demonstration/violent/damage/loot

A small group of violent protestors damaged and looted the shopping mall halfway during the Black Lives Matter demonstration.

☺Some of the demonstrations were peaceful, some were violent, with cars and buildings being damaged and stores being looted.
有些示威活動是很和平的，但有些卻是很火暴的，汽車和建築物都被破壞，商店也被洗劫一空。
【心得】一起祈禱新的一年否極泰來!!!
■demonstration [͵dɛmənˋstreʃən] (informal demo)示威、遊行
演示、示範；表示；表達；表現；表明；論證、證明[+(that)]
■violent [ˈvaɪə.lənt] 激烈的；猛烈的；強烈的；由暴力引起的；暴力；極端的、極度的；狂暴的、兇暴的；(顏色)極其鮮艷的、明艷刺眼的
■damage [ˋdæmɪdʒ] 損害、損失[(+to)]
賠償(金)
the damage{口語}費用
損害、毀壞
■loot [lut] 搶劫；洗劫；掠奪
(總稱)戰利品；掠奪物；贓物；劫掠、搶奪；{口語}錢、值錢的物品

Dear Ken, Thanks for preparing this long episode! Here I have two questions for you, and I appreciate your time of answering.
1. (Today’s video of 5:56) It sold an estimated 50 million copies.
後面的copies 是複數，為什麼用an?
2. 常看到YouTuber的影片標題有feat.加上嘉賓的名字，這裡的feat.是指feature 嗎？中文翻譯是？

5:40
Sentence of the day: Some of the demonstrations were peaceful, some were violent, with cars and buildings being damaged and stores being looted(v.洗劫).

1. demonstration [demənˋstreiʃən] (n.)示威；遊行an occasion([əˋkeʒən]n.時刻) when a group of people march(n.遊行) or stand together to show that they disagree with or support something or someone
Ex: The students are holding(v.舉行) a demonstration against government corruption([kəˋrʌpʃən]n.貪污).

+ corruption [kəˋrʌpʃən]n.（尤指當權者的）貪汙，腐敗，墮落-> The film is about a young police officer and his struggle to expose(v.使曝光) corruption in the force.

2. violent [ˈvaɪə.lənt] (adj.)暴力的using force to hurt or attack
Ex: The violent man who kicked(v.踢) Lisa’s dog was very drunk when he was arrested(v.拘捕) by the police.

3. damage [ˈdæm.ɪdʒ] (v.)損壞；破壞to harm or spoil(v.損壞) something
Ex: Many buildings were badly damaged during the war.

4. loot [lut] (v.)搶劫；洗劫to steal something from a place or person
Ex: Many shops were looted during the riot([ˋraɪət]n.暴亂).

+ riot [ˋraɪət] n.暴亂；騷亂
-> Food protests and riots have erupted([ɪˋrʌpt]v.爆發) in more than 30 countries.

Alright, dear listeners, to enhance([ɪnˋhæns]v.增加) our English proficiency([prəˋfɪʃənsɪ]n.熟練) on vocabulary and sentence structuring, allow me to buy you a cup of Vocab Smoothie. Our ingredients of the day: demonstration, violent, damage, loot. Here we go!
A small group of violent protestors(n.抗議者) damaged and looted the shopping mall halfway(adv.在途中) during the Black Lives Matter demonstration.

Alright, that’s all the time we have for today. 2020 has been tough year, let’s work together to help the world recover. Also, if you’ve made the New Year’s resolution, I hope you dreams do come true.

有些是為活動變得暴力，可能是有心人混在裡面鬧事

【in a bind】處境艱難、陷於麻煩中
－ In a particularly difficult or awkward situation, especially one that is not easy to resolve or escape.
■ Sorry I'm late, Fred was in a bind and needed me to drive him home.

Some of the demonstrations were peaceful, some were violent, with cars and buildings being damaged and stores being looted.

Thank Ken and every friend who listens to my recordings.

Day86
Some of the demonstrations were peaceful,some were violent,with cars and buildings being damaged and stores being looted.

Some of the demonstrations were peaceful, some were violent, with cars and buildings being damaged and stores being looted.

1. back road n. 小路

2. trooper n. 州警察

3. casket n. 棺材, 靈柩 coffin

4. trailblazing a. 開創性的

5. dawn n. v. 拂曉, 黎明, 破曉, 開始

# Day 469
Some of the demonstrations were peaceful, some were violent, with cars and buildings being damaged and stores being looted.