Life imitated Art!

一言堂終自食其果

建制齊轟梁 田北俊﹕一言堂終自食其果

 

【明報】特首梁振英民望不及格，建制派議員都狠批梁態度強硬、不肯合作。自由黨榮譽主席田北俊昨接受港台專訪，認為梁振英在長者生活津貼問題上，連民建聯、工聯會的意見都沒有聽，「最支持他的兩大政黨的意見都不願聽，這根本不是合作，是一言堂」，認為梁最終只會自食其果。

陳婉嫻﹕梁交代僭建存心說慌

剛重返議會的田北俊，連番批評梁振英，曾形容其特首之位乃「呃番嚟」。他強調評論只針對梁振英大宅僭建的誠信問題，「用圍牆封堵僭建空間就話自己無僭建，根本是賊喊捉賊」。工聯會的陳婉嫻接受商台訪問時亦認為，梁振英月初到立法會交代大宅僭建一事上，存心說謊，尤其是一句「我無講過話我無僭建」，更令人驚訝。對於梁振英的管治風格，陳婉嫻表示，前港督彭定康以至兩名前特首董建華、曾蔭權，都重視與立法會的溝通，但近期的長者生活津貼爭議，立法會福利事務委員會只得4天討論，感到政府制訂政策時忽視程序，不願讓議會就具爭議的議案討論。出席同一節目的立法會九龍東議員謝偉俊更批評梁振英自視過高，視立法會是施政的絆腳石而非拍檔，不願虛心聆聽議員及官員的聲音。

謝偉俊﹕梁視立會絆腳石

在立法會的不信任動議上，工聯會投下反對票，陳婉嫻認為，雖然梁振英在施政、個人誠信上有犯錯，但「罪不至死」，認為他有更多工作要做，包括要與大商家抗衡，不應在此刻將梁振英趕下台。一直要求梁辭職的謝偉俊則認為，只要妥善安排接班，梁振英在一兩年內辭職並無不妥。

Beijing trip a valuable lesson for pupils

(The Standard P.9  28 Dec 2012)Students from the Diocesan Boys' School (拔萃男書院) who visited three Beijing educational institutions (北京教育學院) during the Christmas holidays said the trip widened their horizons (眼界) and enhanced (增加) their cultural understanding(文化理解).

Some in the group of 12 expressed (表示) a desire (渴望) to study in the mainland.

The exchange tour to Peking University, Tsinghua University and Beijing Jingshan School was arranged by the school's Greater China Affairs Office, which was established (建於) in September following inquiries from students about study opportunities in the mainland and Taiwan.

The five-day tour, from December 20 to 25, allowed the Diocesan boys time to check facilities and attend (出席) some classes at Jingshan, a prestigious (有名望的) primary and secondary school.

Secondary Five pupil Jun Ng said he was impressed(受到感動) by the diligence (勤奮) of mainland students.

"They seized every minute to revise what they had learned, even during a short lesson break of 10 minutes. They were very attentive (專心) during their lessons unlike (不像) many Hong Kong students."

However, he was surprised by the absence of flushing (沒有水沖廁) toilets on campus.

Another Secondary Five student, Lawrence Law Chun- kit, said the power supply was shut off at 11pm.

Ng said he is interested in studying law at Peking University, especially as the entrance requirements (收生的要求) for Hong Kong students are lower, the scholarship (獎學金) amount attractive and there is a high chance of being admitted to master's degree programs.

On the minus side, Ng said, there might be difficulty in adapting (適應) to textbooks in Chinese and the living environment.

Law said the differences in the two legal systems are another concern.

Teacher Chan Kam-wing, the office's chief coordinator, said a student told him after the tour that Peking and Tsinghua universities are far more prestigious  than (有名望的遠遠的多於) those in Hong Kong.

Office coordinator Mavis Lam Siu-kit added: "The mainland's curriculum is more knowledge-based (知識庫), which is different to the applied learning (實用的知識) approach (近似) in Hong Kong."

Beatrice Siu

Teen jailed over ketamine folly

(The Standard P.4 28 Dec 2012) A 16-year-old girl who a judge said lost interest in studying after her parents divorced was jailed for more than six years after pleading guilty(承認有罪)to trafficking (非法交易) in ketamine (氯氨酮, K仔) worth HK$85,000. 

In the High Court yesterday, Chow Yue-toa pleaded guilty to trafficking 590 grams of the drug in Yau Tong on June 26 and was sentenced(被判) to six years and seven months in prison.

 

The defense (被告及其辯護律師) had pleaded for (請求) leniency citing (寬大引用) her age and also suggested she was merely (僅僅) trying to earn HK$300 to pay for a design course.

 

But deputy (代表) High Court judge Anthea Pang Po-kam noted that Chow was not that young when she committed the crime (犯罪). Pang said a non-custodial sentence (沒有監禁期) may encourage drug runners to use youngsters to commit crimes (犯罪), which would have anadverse (不利的) effect on society.

 

The judge thought Chow lost interest in her studies after her parents divorced when she was about 12 and then fell in with drug traffickers (販毒份子).

 

On the day of the crime, a detective (偵探) stopped Chow on finding her acting suspiciously (形跡可疑懷) outside Hong Lai House at Yau Lai Estate, Yau Tong.

 

Chow was found to have the ketamine in three sealed foil packages (密封的箔紙包裝) made to look like they contained tea leaves.

 

Chow told the officer that two days earlier she ran into (偶遇) a man named Ah Hing in a park near her home. She said Ah Hing, who she had known for six months, asked her to help him traffic in drugs after finding out she was jobless.

 

Chow was to deliver the drugs to someone called "Ah Shen" in Yau Tong, for which she would be paid HK$300.

 

The defense said Chow studied at Maryknoll Fathers' School in Sham Shui Po until Secondary Three. Her results were good and she also went to church and helped sell flags.

 

But she dropped out (退學) after her parents separated and worked as a waitress and salesgirl to help her mother, an insurance agent who was left mentally unbalanced (處於精神上錯亂的) by the divorce.

                           

Beatrice Siu and Eddie Luk

 

Comprehension (Part 1 0f 3)

（附音效檔) Writing Skills (Part 4 of 4)

Audio Clip : www.zello.me/q5R  [01A,24-30]

Writing Skills (Part 3 of 4)

（附音效檔) Writing Skills (Part 2 of 4)

(1st Audio Clip : www.zello.me/vzR  [01A,08-11];
2nd Audio Clip : www.zello.me/x0R  [12-16])

（附音效檔) Writing Skills (Part 1 of 4)

Audio Clips : www.zello.me/YdR ; www.zello.me/1uR 
(1st Audio Clip : www.zello.me/ZqR  [01-04];
2nd Audio Clip : www.zello.me/frR   [04-05];
3rd Audio Clip : www.zello.me/jrR    [05-07])

Winter Storm

Major winter storm buries eastern Canada, with more on the way

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/geekquinox/major-winter-storm-buries-eastern-canada-more-way-194127787.html

A powerful, fast-moving storm that spun-up in eastern Texas on Christmas Day and spawned dozens of tornadoes and caused as many as 15 deaths in the U.S., dumped even more snow on regions of eastern Ontario and southern Quebec that had already dug themselves out from heavy snows last week.

In southwestern Ontario, which had been spared any significant winter weather up to this point, residents had their Boxing Day shopping cut short as the storm pushed in from over the lakes in the early evening. Snow fell at a rate of about 1-2 cm per hour in some areas and high winds whipped up that snow, complicating the travel plans of many who were trying get back home after Christmas. The high winds and snow continued overnight building accumulations to 10-15 cm across the region, with some areas getting up to 30 cm by morning.Eastern Ontario and southern Quebec got it even worse starting late last night, with snowfall rates of up to 5 cm per hour at times. Dozens of flights were delayed or canceled at Ottawa's Macdonald-Cartier International Airport and Montreal-Trudeau Airport due to heavy snow and high winds. Environment Canada has issued snowfall and winter storm warnings for these regions, forecasting up to 25 cm of snow for in and around the city of Ottawa, and up to 50 cm of snow for Montreal and areas along the St. Lawrence River, with strong winds reaching up to 90 km/h at times. Snowfall rates in the Ottawa and Montreal areas appear to have tapered off to a more moderate 1-2 cm per hour as of this afternoon, but the snow is likely to continue there tonight and into tomorrow morning.
This wide-ranging storm is also dumping significant amounts of snow on eastern Quebec, and southern New Brunswick, and a mix of rain and snow on southern Nova Scotia this afternoon. Environment Canada forecasts and weather warnings predict between 20 and 50 cm of snow for Quebec City and much of New Brunswick, and a messy mix of snow, ice pellets and rain for Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia for today, tonight and tomorrow. The storm should also dump up to 10 cm of snow on Newfoundland before changing over to rain later tomorrow.
The entire system should have passed by Friday night, but it doesn't look like we're going to be getting much of a break, as another storm looks to be brewing in the southern U.S. that could give us another hit over the weekend.