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Hi there! 歡迎收聽 Look Back Sunday 回顧星期天，在這個節目 John 老師會彙整過去不同國家與主題的熱門跟讀文章，讓你可以在十五分鐘內吸收最精華的世界時事趣聞！我們這週聽聽汽車產業相關的文章，Let's get started!

Topic 1: California Is Trying to Jump-Start the Hydrogen Economy

Since President George W. Bush fueled a minivan with hydrogen 15 years ago, the promise of cars and trucks powered by the fuel has come up mostly empty. 15 年前，時任美國總統的小布希為一輛廂型休旅車加上氫燃料，發展氫能小客車和貨車的美好期盼迄今卻大抵落空。

That hydrogen pump, in Washington, closed long ago. But in California, the beginnings of a hydrogen economy may finally be dawning after many fits and starts. 華府的那座加氫站早已停用，然而在加州，氫經濟在幾經周折之後，可能真的要起步了。
Dozens of hydrogen buses are lumbering down city streets, while more and larger fueling stations are appearing from San Diego to San Francisco, financed by the state and the federal government. With the costs of producing and shipping hydrogen coming down, California is setting ambitious goals to phase out vehicles that run on fossil fuels in favor of batteries and hydrogen. 在州政府和聯邦出資之下，從聖地牙哥到舊金山，數十輛氫動力公車緩緩行駛於城市街道，更多且更大的加氫站也一一出現。由於氫製造和運輸的成本下降，加州立定遠大目標，要逐步淘汰化石燃料車，轉向電動車和氫能車。

Some energy executives said they expect investment in hydrogen to accelerate under President-elect Joe Biden, who made climate change a big part of his campaign and proposed a $2 trillion plan to tackle the problem. 一些能源業高管預期，對氫能的投資會在總統當選人拜登上台後加速成長。拜登以遏制氣候變遷為重要政見，並提出一項 2 兆美元的因應計畫。

A recent McKinsey & Co. study estimated that the hydrogen economy could generate $140 billion in annual revenue by 2030 and support 700,000 jobs. The study projected that hydrogen could meet 14% of total American energy demand by 2050. 管理顧問公司麥肯錫最近在一份研究中估計，到 2030 年時，氫經濟每年能創造 1400 億美元營收，支撐 70 萬個工作機會。這份研究預測，到 2050 年，氫將能滿足全美 14% 的能源需求。

The use of hydrogen, the lightest and most abundant substance in the universe, is still in its infancy, and California is determined to be its cradle in the United States. The state now has roughly 40 fueling stations, with dozens more under construction. While those numbers are tiny compared with the 10,000 gasoline stations across the state, officials have high hopes. 氫是宇宙中最輕且最豐富的物質，人類利用氫能還在初始階段，而加州決心成為美國氫能利用的搖籃。加州目前約有 40 個加氫站，還有數十個在興建中。雖然加氫站數量與全加州一萬個加油站相比微不足道，但官員仍滿懷希望。

With about 7,500 hydrogen vehicles on the road, an aggressive state program of incentives and subsidies from cap-and-trade dollars envisions 50,000 hydrogen light-duty vehicles by mid-decade and a network of 1,000 hydrogen stations by 2030. 目前加州約有 7500 輛氫能車上路，州政府積極利用取自「總量管制與排放交易」的財源來進行補貼和獎勵，希望達到 2025 年左右有 5 萬輛輕型氫能車上路，2030 年有 1000 個加氫站的目標。

Hydrogen-powered vehicles are similar to electric cars. But unlike electric cars, which have large batteries, these cars have hydrogen tanks and fuel cells that turn the gas into electricity. The cars refuel and accelerate quickly, and they can go for several hundred miles on a full tank. They emit only water vapor, which makes them appealing to California cities that are trying to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. 氫能車類似電動車，不同的是，電動車的電池很大，氫能車則有氫氣儲存槽和把氫氣轉換成電力的燃料電池。氫能車補充燃料和加速都很快，氫氣槽加滿後能跑幾百哩。氫能車只會釋出蒸氣，對於努力減少汙染和溫室氣體排放量的加州很有吸引力。

"Almost any objective analysis for getting to zero emissions includes hydrogen," said Jack Brouwer, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. 爾灣加州大學國家燃料電池研究中心主任傑克‧布勞爾說：「幾乎所有關於如何達到零排放的客觀分析都會提到氫。」

Topic 2: Wheels falling off China's 'deep fake' car manufacturer

Chinese automobile manufacturer Zotye Auto is a household name in China. The company is famous for manufacturing copies of car models by luxury international brands including Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini. After a long delay, on June 22, Zotye Auto finally released its 2019 year end financial results. The report revealed that last year, the automaker suffered losses of 11.2 billion yuan (approximately NT$46.6 billion), or an average of 30 million yuan per day. The company's market value also shrank from 30 billion yuan to a mere 3.6 billion yuan. Even worse, because the company is unable to guarantee the authenticity, accuracy and completeness of its financial report, Zotye Auto has been issued with a "risk of delisting warning" by Shenzhen Stock Exchange. 以模仿奧迪、保時捷、蘭寶堅尼等高級進口車，在中國家喻戶曉的車商眾泰汽車，六月二十二日終於發布二○一九年財報，顯示全年慘虧一百十二億元人民幣（以下同），約新台幣四百六十六億，相當於每天平均虧損三千萬，市值也由逾三百億縮水至僅剩三十六億元；更慘的是，該公司因為無法保證年報的真實性、準確性和完整性，已被深圳證券交易所實施「退市風險警示」。

Seemingly without a care for the outside world, Zotye Auto has been audaciously building slavish copies of imported luxury car models. The company became a household name in China after producing facsimile versions of the Audi Q3 (Zotye SR7), Porsche Macan (Zotye SR9) and Lamborghini Urus (Zotye Concept S). Due to Zotye Auto's uncanny ability to produce lookalike cars, there is a joke currently doing the rounds in China: "If you want to get behind the wheel of a Lamborghini, pay a visit to Zotye Auto." 眾泰汽車因為不顧外界觀瞻，大膽模仿進口名車，而在中國家喻戶曉，該公司推出的眾泰 SR7 模仿奧迪 Q3，眾泰 SR9 模仿保時捷 Macan，眾泰
Concept S 模仿蘭寶堅尼 Urus。由於模仿能力出眾，中國坊間甚至流傳著一句調侃話：「這輩子能不能開蘭寶堅尼，就看眾泰了！」

However, having relied on imitating the work of others, the company lacks home-grown innovation, while the quality of its vehicles has not kept pace with the sophistication of its copycat designs. Annual sales have been steadily falling too: in 2016, the company sold 330,000 vehicles. This fell to 310,000 in 2017 and only 230,000 in 2018. Zotye Auto initially set a sales target of 480,000 vehicles per year, yet in 2018 it failed to reach even half that figure. Last year, sales declined at an even steeper rate with the company only managing to shift 116,600 vehicles. 但靠著山寨別人，缺乏自主創新，且品質也未同步提升的營運模式畢竟無法持久。眾泰汽車二○一六年、二○一七年的年銷量還分別有三十三萬輛、三十一萬輛，但此後每況愈下，二○一八年僅剩二十三萬輛，為四十八萬輛的目標的一半不到，二○一九年進一步跌至十一點六六萬輛。

To make matters even worse, Zotye Auto chief executive Lou Guohai has stated that he cannot guarantee the authenticity, accuracy and completeness of his company's year end financial report, citing various reasons including uncertainty over the company's ability to continue operating, multiple lawsuits and outstanding obligations. 雪上加霜的是，眾泰汽車董事婁國海表示，無法保證該公司年報內容的真實性、準確性和完整性，理由包括：公司的持續經營能力存在較大不確定性，公司面臨眾多訴訟及擔保事項等。

Topic 3: Despite High Hopes, Self-Driving Cars Are 'Way in the Future'

A year ago, Detroit and Silicon Valley had visions of putting thousands of self-driving taxis on the road in 2019, ushering in an age of driverless cars. 一年前，底特律和矽谷曾有 2019 年讓數千輛自動駕駛計程車上路的願景，要開啟無人駕駛車的時代。
Most of those cars have yet to arrive — and it is likely to be years before they do. Several carmakers and technology companies have concluded that making autonomous vehicles is going to be harder, slower and costlier than they thought. 這些車大多數還沒上路－而且很可能還要等好多年才會上路。數家汽車製造商和科技公司已作出如下結論：製造自動駕駛車將比他們以為的更困難、更緩慢且更花錢。

"We overestimated the arrival of autonomous vehicles," Ford's chief executive, Jim Hackett, said at the Detroit Economic Club in April. 「我們對自駕車問世的評估過於樂觀。」福特汽車執行長吉姆．哈克特今年 4 月在底特律經濟俱樂部這麼說。

In the most recent sign of the scramble to regroup, Ford and Volkswagen said Friday that they were teaming up to tackle the self-driving challenge. 福特和福斯周五宣布要合組團隊以迎接自駕車的挑戰。這也是業界忙著重新組合、再次出發的最新跡象。

The two automakers plan to use autonomous-vehicle technology from a Pittsburgh startup, Argo AI, in ride-sharing services in a few urban zones as early as 2021. But Argo's chief executive, Bryan Salesky, said the industry's bigger promise of creating driverless cars that could go anywhere was "way in the future." 這兩家汽車製造商計畫使用匹茲堡新創公司「亞果人工智慧」的自駕車技術，最快於 2021 年在一些都會區提供共乘服務。但是亞果的執行長布萊恩．薩勒斯基說，這個產業更大的承諾，也就是創造可去到任何地方的自駕車，「還在遙遠的未來」。

He and others attribute the delay to something as obvious as it is stubborn: human behavior. 他和另一些人將這個延誤歸咎於顯而易見且難以應付的一項因素：人類行為。

Researchers at Argo say the cars they are testing in Pittsburgh and Miami have to navigate unexpected situations every day. Recently, one of the company's cars encountered a bicyclist riding the wrong way down a busy street between other vehicles. 亞果研究人員說，他們在匹茲堡和邁阿密測試的車輛，每天都須經歷無法預期的狀況。最近，這家公司一輛車遇到一名自行車騎士，在一條車多的街道上逆向行駛在車輛間。

Another Argo test car came across a street sweeper that suddenly turned a giant circle in an intersection, touching all four corners and crossing lanes of traffic that had the green light. 另一輛亞果的測試車遇到一輛掃街車，在一個十字路口突如其來大轉彎，碰到四個街角，而且橫越已經轉為綠燈的車道。

"You see all kinds of crazy things on the road, and it turns out they're not all that infrequent, but you have to be able to handle all of them," Salesky said. "With radar and high-resolution cameras and all the computing power we have, we can detect and identify the objects on a street. The hard part is anticipating what they're going to do next." 「你在路上見到所有瘋狂的事，而且發現它們並非那麼不常見，但你必須有能力處理所有狀況。」薩勒斯基說。「我們擁有雷達、高解析度鏡頭和所有電算能力，可偵測並識別街道上的物體。困難的部分是預測它們下一步會做什麼。」

Salesky said Argo and many competitors had developed about 80% of the technology needed to put self-driving cars into routine use — the radar, cameras and other sensors that can identify objects far down roads and highways. 薩勒斯基說，自駕車進入日常使用所需技術，亞果和許多競爭對手約已開發成功 80%－雷達、攝影鏡頭及其他可在一般道路和高速公路識別遠方物體的感應器。

But the remaining 20%, including developing software that can reliably anticipate what other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists are going to do, will be much more difficult, he said. 但是剩下的 20%，包括開發能夠可靠預測其他駕駛人、行人和自行車騎士下一步行動的軟體，會難得多。

A year ago, many industry executives exuded much greater certainty. They thought that their engineers had solved the most vexing technical problems and promised that self-driving cars would be shuttling people around town in at least several cities by sometime this year. 一年前，許多業界高管還展現出遠比當下更有把握的態度。當時他們認為，他們的工程師已解決最困難的技術問題，且承諾自駕車今年之內，至少可在幾個城市輸運民眾。

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📜 單集逐字稿 & 內容摘要（播放器字數有限，完整逐字稿請到官網查看）
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你有沒有遇過那種英文?字面上每個字都看得懂，合在一起卻完全不知道它在說什麼。Well oiled machine—上好油的機器？這跟機械廠有什麼關係？這集從一瓶南非進口橄欖油開始，聊到一個你明天就能在辦公室用上的英文慣用語。

從新竹到開普敦，橄欖油搭上了線

這集有個亮點。節目老鐵粉 Allen哥—新竹在地人，同時也是台灣百大青農——寄來了他們家自產的南非開普省橄欖油。沒錯，同一塊地，隔壁就是世界百大酒莊。

John老師說，其實開普省能種葡萄的地方就能種橄欖，地中海型氣候嘛。意大利、西班牙的橄欖油都快被我們喝光了，下一站就是南非了。那瓶 extra virgin 寄到錄音間，兩個老師討論了半天要不要拿來炒菜——不是不行，但拿 extra virgin 炒菜，有點像拿精品保養品擦腳底。
重點是：Allen哥不只是老鐵粉，他還在考慮把事業延伸到南非，先把小孩送去開普敦大學這樣。把小孩當先遣部隊，聽起來很熟悉，不就是我們台灣人最常見的那種家族事業佈局。

Wait What 系列：那些讓人慢半拍的英文慣用語

如果你在捷運上滑過我們的 IG，可能有看過 Wait What 系列。就是那種你一看到英文、腦袋當機兩秒才反應過來的 idiom，我們做成圖卡讓你一秒懂。

最近幾個做出來的——break the ice、cold turkey、butter someone up——你可能聽過，但你知道在辦公室情境裡怎麼用嗎？在台北的茶水間想跟外國主管拉近關係，光靠「天氣不錯」是不夠的。這些英文慣用語才是讓你顯得自然、不像在背課文的關鍵。

這週的新 idiom 是 Well Oiled Machine。

Well Oiled Machine，不是在說你是個零件
聽到「上好油的機器」別緊張，不是在說你可以被取代。這個說法是在誇一個系統、一個團隊、甚至一個家，所有事情順到像抹了油一樣，不卡、不拖、沒有摩擦。

My family is a well oiled machine. 就是說我們家大小事都協調得很好，小孩準時上學、長輩身體健康、週末不用搶遙控器。放到工作場景就更實用了——向上管理的時候跟老闆說 Our team runs like a well oiled machine，是在說分工明確、效率高、不需要你一直盯著。
更進階一點：My investment portfolio is a well oiled machine. 竹科的工程師聽到這句，大概秒懂什麼叫「錢自己在賺錢」。

這種英文慣用語學起來不難，難的是在對的時機自然地說出來。

一週一個，一年就累積快六十個，明天直接拿去茶水間用，比硬背單字有效多了。
John老師在節目裡說，其實每集 café 的 VIP 學習筆記裡，光是 idioms 就可能有二三十個，跟 Angel老師合作那集更是直接衝到三十個。看到這個數字很多人會想：我要怎麼全部背起來？

不用全部背。真的不用。阿鍵老師說得很直接：常用的學起來，不常用的聽過知道意思就好。在捷運上通勤學英文，不是去準備英文考試，是讓這些字在你腦袋裡有個印象，哪天聽到或看到，你不會當機。

每週一兩個，扎實地用出去，比拿著單字本背了一整頁卻一個都想不起來有意義太多了。

單身租屋族有機會免繳稅？
幼兒、長照扣除額有感大升級
《十樂不設 💰進人生》邀請國稅局局長親自解密報稅大禮包

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省錢出大招，不要白白跟錢說掰掰！💸


—— 以上為 FMTaiwan 與 Firstory Podcast 廣告 ——



Summary:

The story of Ms. Beshara, the founder of Ninjavideo in 2010 was busted by the federal agents for illegally streaming and distributing pirated tv shows on her website. At the time, her site has 2.6m visits a day and 60,000 registered members. File-sharing online amounts to about a quarter of all consumer traffic. In 2012, Megaupload was seized and shutdown with Kim Dotcom arrested in New Zealand, but not extradited.

原文章討論: https://www.15mins.today/blog/ep-927-in-culture-of-access-a-frustrating-pursuit-of-bootleggers

Vocabulary and Sample Sentence

Piracy n. the practice of robbing ships at sea. Many movies were pirated and made available online before its actual release. Online piracy hinders the development of the movie and music industries.

Indict v. accuse or charge with a serious crime Kim Dotcom was indicted by the US on charges related to copyright infringement. He was indicted by the prosecutor for theft.

Confiscate v. take or seize someone’s property with authority The FBI confiscated Ms. Beshara’s computer hardware. The school teacher confiscated the student’s smartphone when he was caught using it in class.

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你有沒有覺得隨著年齡增長，自己的腦袋卻越來越不靈光？明明是日常小事，卻老是忘東忘西？這週《英語咖啡館》John 老師和 Angel 老師要來聊聊，我們平常那些「理所當然」的習慣，到底是在保護大腦，還是在偷偷讓它退化？

我們看到的報導說「深夜追劇讓你變笨」？但是John老師強烈反對這個說法，甚至說這會讓你更聰明？Angel老師則坦承自己過度依賴手機和 AI，已經開始影響自己獨立思考的能力。除此之外，我們還有講到一些新時代的網路習慣，像是五分鐘電影recap、doom scrolling無腦滑抖音、以及為什麼多喝水可能比你想的更重要。

Have you noticed that as you age, your brain seems less sharp? You keep forgetting things even though they're just everyday matters? This week on "English Cafe," John and Angel discuss whether those habits we take for granted are actually protecting our brains or secretly causing them to deteriorate.

We've seen reports claiming "late-night binge-watching makes you dumb"? But John strongly disagrees with this claim, even saying it can make you smarter? Angel admits that her over-reliance on phones and AI has already started affecting her ability to think independently. Beyond that, we also discuss some new-age internet habits, like five-minute movie recaps, doom scrolling mindlessly through TikTok, and why drinking more water might be more important than you think.

KUMON Podcast《從學會到會學》
💙解鎖自學力：化被動為主動
💛教養不煩惱：掌握教養關鍵
💜超越滿分：榜樣啟發可能
❤️教育未來式：AI時代能力趨勢
5/18-5/30 免費體驗招生中，立即預約
https://fstry.pse.is/8ynb3z


—— 以上為 FMTaiwan 與 Firstory Podcast 廣告 ——



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國際時事跟讀 Ep. L192: Japan Ends Its Postwar Ban on Lethal Arms Exports

Highlights 主題摘要
Japan scrapped its postwar ban on lethal weapons exports Tuesday, clearing the way for overseas sales of fighter jets, missiles and warships.
The new guidelines replace five narrow non-lethal categories with blanket approval for all defense equipment, subject to government screening.
Defense partners including Australia welcomed the shift; China condemned it as reckless militarisation.

Japan spent eight decades defined by restraint. The postwar constitution that followed Hiroshima and Nagasaki built pacifism into the country's legal and moral architecture, and strict arms export controls became one of its most visible expressions. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet voted to dismantle that framework, approving guidelines that will, in principle, allow Japan to export any category of defense equipment to approved partner nations.

日本在克制原則下走過了八十年。廣島與長崎之後誕生的戰後憲法，將和平主義深植於國家的法律與道德根基，嚴格的武器出口管制正是其中最鮮明的體現。週二，首相高市早苗的內閣投票通過廢除這套框架，批准新版指導方針，原則上允許日本向核准夥伴國出口任何類別的國防設備。

The rules being replaced dated to 1967 and were formally enacted in 1976, limiting permissible exports to five non-lethal categories: rescue, transport, surveillance, warning and minesweeping equipment. Decades of incremental adjustments had chipped away at the edges — a 2014 opening for non-lethal military supplies, a 2023 revision allowing licensed weapons to be sold back to originating countries such as the United States — but the core prohibition on lethal weapons remained intact. The new guidelines scrap those category restrictions entirely and allow exports of fighter jets, missiles and destroyers, subject to National Security Council approval and post-transfer monitoring.

被廢除的舊規範可追溯至1967年，於1976年正式施行，將許可出口項目限定於五類非致命性裝備：救援、運輸、偵察、預警與掃雷器材。數十年來歷經多次局部調整，逐步鬆動邊界，包括2014年開放非致命性軍事物資，以及2023年允許將授權生產的武器賣回原始授權國（如美國），但對致命性武器的核心禁令始終未鬆動。新版指導方針全面取消這些類別限制，允許出口戰鬥機、飛彈與驅逐艦，並須經國安會議核准，出口後亦受政府持續監管。

Takaichi has framed the overhaul in twin terms: security necessity and economic strategy. Her government lists defense as one of 17 strategic growth sectors, and manufacturers including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are already expanding their workforce in shipbuilding and missile production in anticipation of new contracts. At least 17 countries that have signed bilateral defense agreements with Japan are immediately eligible to purchase; that list may grow. Australia last week signed for three Mogami-class frigates with eight more to be jointly built in Australia, and New Zealand, the Philippines and Indonesia have also signaled interest.

高市早苗將這次改革定位為安全需求與經濟戰略的雙重考量。日本政府已將國防列為17項戰略成長產業之一，三菱重工等製造商也已擴編造船與飛彈生產部門，提前布局新訂單商機。目前至少17個與日本簽署雙邊國防協議的國家可立即採購，名單未來可能持續擴充。澳洲上週正式簽約，確認採購三艘最上級巡防艦，另外八艘將在澳洲境內合作建造；紐西蘭、菲律賓與印尼也相繼表達採購意願。

The reaction from Beijing was swift and sharply worded. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China would firmly resist what it called Japan's reckless new-style militarization, pledging that the international community would remain highly vigilant. Critics inside Japan echo those concerns, arguing the shift erodes the constitutional commitment to pacifism and risks drawing the country into conflicts beyond its borders. The government maintains that weapons will not be exported to countries currently at war, though exemptions are permitted under special circumstances where national security interests apply.

北京的反應迅速而強硬。外交部發言人郭嘉昆表示，中方將強力抵制所謂日本「輕率的新型軍事化」，並強調國際社會將保持高度警覺。日本國內批評者也有同樣的憂慮，認為此舉侵蝕了憲法確立的和平主義承諾，可能使日本捲入境外衝突。對此，日本政府重申不會向交戰國出口武器，但在涉及國家安全利益的「特殊情形」下可予以豁免。

Keyword Drills 關鍵字
Pacifism [noun, the belief that war and violence are never justified]: The constitution was rooted in pacifism after the war.
Dismantle [verb, to completely abolish or take apart an existing system]: The new law will dismantle years of trade restrictions.
Chipped away at [verb phrase, to gradually weaken or reduce something over time]: Budget cuts have chipped away at the programme.
Bilateral [adjective, involving two countries or parties]: The two nations signed a bilateral defense agreement.
Militarization [noun, the process of building up military power and capabilities]: Rapid militarization in the region has raised tensions.

Reference article:
1. https://www.npr.org/2026/04/21/g-s1-118178/japan-ban-lethal-weapons-exports
2. https://www.dw.com/en/japan-loosens-long-standing-curbs-on-arms-exports/a-76874734
3. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/21/japan-lifts-ban-on-lethal-weapons-exports-in-major-shift-of-pacifist-policy