Tycoon gives Tsang apparent bargain on flat

Feb 24, 2012, excerpted from SCMP

Donald Tsang Yam-kuen appears to have found the bargain¹ of a lifetime¹³, following disclosure⁶ by his landlord¹⁰ that he will be charging Hong Kong's chief executive only 80,000 yuan (HK$98,444) a month for his luxury¹² apartment in Shenzhen¹⁵ despite spending more than 10 million yuan on its decorations⁵ and fittings.

But at that rate of rent, the landlord will need at least 10 years to recover¹⁴ his decoration costs alone, though Tsang has signed a lease for only three years. He had paid a million yuan in advance⁸ for the first year, Wong said.

Legislators have expressed concern³ over Tsang's possible conflicts of interest⁴ and have increased the pressure on him to disclose details of all the favours he has received from his tycoon friends.

The Democratic Party has urged the Independent Commission Against Corruption⁷ to investigate⁹ the lease, and has called on the Legislative Council to invoke its powers to force full disclosure⁶. Joseph Wong Wing-ping, former secretary for the civil service², questioned Tsang's judgment.

Vocabulary

1. bargain 特價商品, 便宜貨
2. civil service 公務員
3. concern 關心的事, 利害關係
4. conflicts of interest 利益衝突
5. decoration 裝飾, 裝潢
6. disclosure 揭發; 透露; 公開
7. Independent Commission Against Corruption 香港廉政公署
8. in advance 預先的, 事先的
9. investigate 調查, 研究
10. landlord 房東; 地主
11. lease 租約, 租賃
12. luxury 奢侈, 奢華
13. of a lifetime 千載難逢的
14. recover 挽回, 彌補, 取得(賠償等)
15. Shenzhen 深圳

〈金庸俠客行〉 (吳宏一)

笑傲江湖¹俠客行²，雪山³大漠⁴會群英。
神鵰⁵仙侶倚天⁶外，碧血⁷鴛鴦⁸入漢營。
書劍⁹何曾干鹿鼎¹⁰，天龍¹¹自始價連城¹²。
更將越女¹³飛狐傳¹⁴，付與西風¹⁵送有情 。

University places no longer assured

Feb 11, 2012, Excerpted from SCMP

Attending an elite secondary school will no longer be a guarantee of a university place, teachers warn.

As more pupils sit the new Diploma of Secondary Education, schools that have in the past enjoyed a university admission rate of close to 100 per cent say they expect to have to answer to parents disappointed when their children miss out.

Traditionally, only about a third of pupils continued their studies and took A-levels after the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination papers at the end of Form Five. Under the "3+3+4" system introduced in 2009, pupils will complete three years of junior secondary education and three years of senior secondary education. Those qualified to go on to university will take four years to complete standard courses.

Nancy Chan Woo Mei-hou, principal of King's College in Sai Wan, an elite government school, said it was difficult to predict how pupils would perform in the new exam or assess the strength of competition from other schools.

A study by the Federation of Education Workers which showed that pupils found subjects such as accounting, English and the new, compulsory liberal studies paper among the most difficult in mock exams. "What is also surprising is that people are telling us that even the Chinese language papers are hard," the spokesperson said.

Vocabulary

1. 3+3+4 system 三三四學制
2. admission 許可入場[入學、入會]; 承認
3. assure 確保, 保障
4. competition 競爭
5. compulsory 強制的, 必須做的; 必修的
6. Diploma of Secondary Education 香港中學文憑
7. disappoint 使失望
8. elite 精華; 精英; 優秀分子
9. Federation of Education Workers 香港教育工作者聯會(簡稱教聯)
10. guarantee 保證; 擔保
11. Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination 香港中學會考
12. mock 假的; 假裝的; 模擬的
13. predict 預言; 預料
14. qualified 具備必要條件的; 合格的; 勝任的
15. spokesperson 發言人
16. traditionally 傳說上; 傳統上; 習慣上
17. warn 警告; 告誡; 提醒

黃蓉的算術 (解)

現以 A, B, C, D, E 來代表羊、牛、豬、獐和兔 5 種材料。

洪七公發現有部分肉條是用上了種材料來做的，用列舉法可得下列 10 種組合:

AB
AC
AD
AE
BC
BD
BE
CD
CE
DE

雖然小說中沒有提及，但估計當中也有用上種材料的肉條。再用列舉法，又可得下列 10 種組合:

ABC
ABD
ABE
ACD
ACE
ADE
BCD
BCE
BDE
CDE

再加上原來的 5 種材料，將所有有組合（變化）加起來便是:

10 + 10 + 5 = 25

原來黃蓉除了造菜有創意之外，數學也還不賴呢!

黃蓉的算術

        洪七公閉了眼辨別滋味，道：「嗯，一條是羊羔坐臀，一條是小豬耳朵，一條是小牛腰子，還有一條……還有一條……」黃蓉抿嘴笑道：「猜得出算你厲害……」她一言甫畢，洪七公叫道：「是獐腿肉加兔肉揉在一起。」黃蓉拍手讚道：「好本事，好本事。」郭靖聽得呆了，心想：「這一碗炙牛條竟要這麼費事，也虧他辨得出五般不同的肉味來。」

　　洪七公道：「肉只五種，但豬羊混咬是一般滋味，獐牛同嚼又是一般滋味，一共有幾般變化，我可算不出了。」黃蓉微笑道：「若是次序的變化不計，那麼只有二十五變，合五五梅花之數，又因肉條形如笛子，因此這道菜有個名目，叫做『玉笛誰家聽落梅』。這『誰家』兩字，也有考人一考的意思。七公你考中了，是吃客中的狀元。」   《射鵰英雄傳》第十二回〈亢龍有悔〉

到底用 5 種肉做材料，是否真的可以拼湊組合出 25 種變化呢？ 請証明。(提示: 可用列舉法)

李煜 與《虞美人》

李煜 （ 937－978 ） 字重光 ，號鍾隱 ，徐州人 ， 南唐最後一個君主 ， 史稱南唐後主或 李 後 主 。 宋滅南漢­後，為表示他不對抗宋朝，對宋稱臣，自稱為江南國主。宋太祖命他往開封時，故托病不去而觸怒了太祖，特派曹彬領軍前往攻打南唐，李煜 被俘後，疾在開封封為違命侯，拜左牛衛將軍，自稱李後駐，即南唐後主也。

《虞美人》是李後主降宋三年後，於他的生日(七月七日)晚寫的 ； 藉著詞作 ， 李後主委婉曲折地道出深藏在心底的故國之思和亡國哀痛 。 據 《樂府紀聞》說 ：《 虞 美 人 》中的詞句 『 問君能有幾多愁 ， 恰似一江 春水向東流 』 ， 使舊臣聽了下淚 ， 宋太宗讀了這首詞大怒後 ， 便命人將他毒死。 此詞如王國維所云「以血書者」（《人間詞話》），凝聚著後 主 的心血和生命。有人稱此詞為後主的絕命詞。


春花秋月何時了，
往事知多少？
小樓昨夜又東風，
故國不堪回首月明中。
雕欄玉砌應猶在，
只是朱顏改。
問君能有幾多愁，
恰似一江春水向東流。


注釋

1. 了：完結，結束。
2. 往事：指自己作南唐國王時的事情。
3. 故國：過去自己的國家。
4. 不堪：受不了，不能。
5. 雕欄：雕花的欄杆。
6. 砌：台階。
7. 朱顏：紅潤的臉色。
8. 幾多：多少。 

Callers praise, blame Tsang on budget

Excerpted from SCMP, Feb 02, 2012


Middle-class callers praised the new budget – and the poorest condemned it – when the financial secretary spoke with Hongkongers on a Thursday morning radio show.


John Tsang Chun-wah, who delivered his budget in the legislature on Wednesday, heard from one caller who was crying, saying she and other poor people had one more been ignored.


Many middle-class callers, meanwhile, thanked Tsang for the wide range of tax relief measures, which they said would ease their burden.


Some of them urged the government to roll out more measures to help the poor.


Tsang said they would be helped through recurrent government spending on such areas as education.


Vocabulary

1. budget 預算
2. burden 重擔
3. condemn 責難, 責備
4. financial secretary 財政司司長
5. ignore 不顧, 不理會, 忽視
6. legislature 立法會
7. middle-class 中產階級
8. praise 讚揚, 稱讚
9. recurrent 定期重複的; 週期性的
10. relief 緩和, 減輕; 解除; 救濟; 補助
11. urge 催促; 力勸; 激勵; 慫恿