Week 3 - 上海跨年踩踏致死

Shanghai new year crush kills 36

1 January 2015

A crush at New Year's Eve celebrations in Shanghai has killed 36 people and injured some 47 others, Chinese officials say.

The crush happened in Chenyi Square in Shanghai's historic Bund district overlooking the Huangpu river.

Thousands of people had gathered to see in 2015.

Social media reports suggest the stampede was triggered by people stopping to pick up fake money thrown from the balcony of a nightclub.

The Shanghai City government said the situation began to deteriorate at 23:35 local time (15:35 GMT) and that a "working group" had been set up to handle the incident.

Many of the dead are believed to be students, with 25 of them women, state media report.

President Xi Jinping has told the Shanghai government to find the causes of the crush as soon as possible, according to state TV.

A traditional new year fireworks display on the Bund had already been cancelled due to official fears of overcrowding, the Shanghai Daily reports.

The BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai says the investigation may focus on why so many people turned out despite the cancellation and whether there were enough police resources in place to look after them.

'Too many people'

English tourist Rebecca Thomas from Manchester told the BBC she had seen dead bodies on the ground.

Another Sino Weibo user, Small Metal Makes Steel, said: "At the time there were lots of people, police at the scene maintained order and wouldn't let people near [the scene of the injuries]."

"Lots of people spontaneously linked hands to block the crowds, so the injured had space to settle down, and to allow a clear passage for ambulances," he added.

In a statement, the Shanghai City government said that those hurt had been transferred to hospitals across the city, and that the Shanghai party secretary had visited some of the injured.

Earlier, Shanghai's police department wrote on its verified social media account that some "tourists" had "fallen over" at the Bund, and urged people to leave the area in an orderly fashion.

According to the Shanghai Daily, close to 300,000 people turned up for New Year's Eve celebrations last year, leading to traffic problems.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-30646918

Structure of Lead :

Who - 83 people from all over the world 

When - December 31th in 2014

Where - Shanghai's historic Bund District

What - A crush at New Year's Eve celebrations in Shanghai has killed 36 people and injured some 47 others.

Why - Because thousands of people had gathered to see in 2015 New Year's Eve celebrations, it caused the incident of trampling

How - Not given

Keywords:

1. overlook 俯瞰

2. stampede 使亂擁 蜂擁

3. trigger 引起 觸發

4. deteriorate 使惡化 

5. overcrowd 使過度擁擠

6. spontaneously 自發地

7. settle down 安頓下來

8. party 政黨

Week 2 - 台中歌劇院

National Taichung Theater brings performance venue to central Taiwan

2014/11/23 21:00:17

Taipei, Nov. 23 (CNA) Central Taiwan's first opera house opened Sunday with a grand ceremony to inaugurate what Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai called "the pride of Taichung."

Designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Japanese architect Toyo Ito, the eye-catchingly modern National Taichung Theater boasts a 2,014-seat grand theater, a 800-seat theater and a 200-seat black box.

The architecturally complex theater was an engineering challenge constructed entirely without beams or columns and relying instead on 58 curved wall units. It is believed to be the first theater in the world to employ such a construction technique.

While the outside walls appear to be smooth surfaces thanks to the installation of glass windows, the basic structure itself is a series of tubular voids connected together.

Called a "sound cave" by Ito, the state-of-the-art opera house took nearly 5 years to complete at a cost of NT$4.36 billion (US$141 million).

President Ma Ying-jeou, who attended the inauguration ceremony, expressed hope that the theater will help his administration reach its goal of "rejuvenating the country through culture."

He gave credit to Taichung Mayor Jason Hu, who is up for reelection next week, for turning the daunting architectural challenge into a reality.

Culture Minister Lung, meanwhile, thanked the workers who helped construct the building along with city government employees.

A series of performances by prominent local groups will take place at the opera house starting this month to celebrate its inauguration.

The series begins Sunday with a production of "Cat Man" by Taiwanese opera troupe Ming Hwa Yuan Arts and Cultural Group.

Paper Windmill Theatre will then perform its production of "Don Quixote" Nov. 27 and Nov. 28, which will be followed by a concert by Taiwanese violinist Hu Nai-yuan and the Taiwan Connection Chamber Orchestra on Dec. 7.

Ju Percussion Group will then give a performance on Dec. 13.

The National Taichung Theater is part of the government's efforts to strengthen support for and improve the quality and international competitiveness of Taiwan's performing arts.

It is being touted as a leg of the "golden triangle" for the performing arts in Taiwan, alongside Taipei's National Theater and Concert Hall and Kaohsiung's Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Arts, the latter of which is set to be completed next year.

The Ministry of Culture will take over the operation of the National Taichung Theater starting in January next year.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aedu/201411230024.aspx

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- National Taichung Theater

WHEN- Nov. 23

WHAT- Central Taiwan's first opera house opened Sunday with a grand ceremony and will then perform its production of "Don Quixote" Nov. 27 and Nov. 28. There were more and more performance showed there.

WHY- The National Taichung Theater is part of the government's efforts to strengthen support for and improve the quality and international competitiveness of Taiwan's performing arts.

WHERE- Taichung

HOW- Designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Japanese architect Toyo Ito, the eye-catchingly modern National Taichung Theater boasts a 2,014-seat grand theater, a 800-seat theater and a 200-seat black box. The architecturally complex theater was an engineering challenge constructed entirely without beams or columns and relying instead on 58 curved wall units.

Keywords：

1. venue 場所

2. inaugurate 為...舉行開幕式

3. architect 建築師

4. beam 橫樑 (裝潢用)

5. column 圓柱

6. curved wall 拱型的牆

7. tubular voids 管狀的空隙

8. rejuvenate 使更有活力

9. daunt 使氣餒 使...膽怯

10. tout 吹捧