英語學習筆記

PayRolls Growth Slowed in July As Unemployment Rate Rose
                                                        by Brian Blackstone
    U.S. employemnt growth slowed and the jobless rate ticked up last month as job losses in manufacturing, construction and government offset healthy gains in many services industries, suggesting that the economy started the third quarter on a softer note after robust growth in the second quarter.
    Wage gains remained largely contained, suggesting that labor markets pose less of an inflation risk. However, while Friday's data suggest more balance between growth and inflation risks, Federal Reserve policymakers will likely want to see more evidence before dropping their anti-inflation bias.
    Nonfarm payrolls increased just 92,000 in July, down from 126,000 in June and 188,000 in May, the Labor Department said Friday. Previous reports showed job growth of 132,000 in June and 190,000 in May. Monthly job growth has averaged 136,000 so far this year.

Issac: You look so depressed. What happened?
Natalia: My boss is so hard on me. I usually have to beat my brains out just to complete the task he assigns me.
Issac: Why not go get some exercise? That should help you to

Apple's Old Standbys, iPods and Macs, Drive Profit
by Nick Wingfield (2007-07-30 工商時報)
    Apple Inc.'s iPhone has been a magnet for hype. But the company's iPods and Macintosh computers were the stars of the quarter.
    The Cupertino, Calif., company said record sales of iPod and Macs helped the company post a 73% increase in its fiscal third-quarter earnings and a 24% rise in revenue. Apple also said it sold 270,000 iPhones in the period and reiterated its goal of selling 10 million of the cellphones by the end of next year.
    The Apple product that investors watched most closely -- the iPhone -- was the one that mattered the least to the company's business during the quarter. The iPhone went on sale on the evening of June 29, just 30 hours before the close of the quarter, but investors were hoping the company still would have belowout sales of the products, even during that brief period.

Isaac: What's that?
Natalie: Say hello to my new panda purse! It's so cute, isn't?
Isaac: You're really a panda fan, aren't you? Oh, that remind me: According to a story I read in the China Post, a research center in Chengdu is going to introduce a special panda-themed

    The name Edgar is of old English and old German origin; its meaning is "fortunate and powerful." In Shakespear's "King Lear," Lear's son is called Edgar. Variants of the name include Ed, Eddie and Ned. Famous people who have the name include prominent poet Edgar Allan Poe and J. Edgar Hoover, former head of the U.S. Federal Bureau

Ned: I'm going to Taipei 101's observatory with my friend later. Do you want to come with me?
Zea: I'm sorry. I have to attend a meeting later. By the way, did you know that Taipei 101 is no longer the world's tallest building?

Eddie: Gas prices have been soaring recently. At this rate, anyone who needs to drive a car to get to work every day is really going to be in a bind.
Zoya: That's right. Luckily, there will be "hydrogen fuel cells

nutmeg n. 荳蔻(作香料)；荳蔻樹
coriander  n. 【植】胡荽；芫荽
volleyball n. 排球
infrasound

scissors n.剪刀
scissor vi. 用剪刀剪開
shear vt.修剪
paint brush 毛筆, 水彩筆

leek n. 【植】蒜
aloe n. 【植】蘆薈
pine n. 松
pine vi. 憔悴；消瘦(away), 望眼欲穿；渴望((for))