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'918' anniversary inflames anti-Japan rage “九一八”周年 反日怒火燒
( 2012-10-05 )



  Anti(adj.反對的)-Japanese (adj.日本的) protesters (n.示威者) returned to the streets in 100 cities across China (n.中國) yesterday to mark (v.紀念) the 81st anniversary (n.周年) of the Japanese invasion (n.侵略).
  Japanese firms Honda (n.本田), Nissan (n.日產), Canon (n.佳能) and Panasonic (n.松下電器) temporarily (adv.暫時地) closed factories while Japanese business leaders, headed by Toyota (n.豐田) chairman Fujio Cho (n.張富士夫), cut short a China visit for safety reasons.
  Thousands shouted slogans (n.口號) outside the Japanese embassy (n.大使館) in Beijing (n.北京) while calling for (v.呼籲) a boycott (n.抵制) of Japanese goods.
  The demonstrations (n.示威) marked the anniversary of the September 18 Mukden (n.盛京、奉天) Incident (n.事故、事變) ("918"), a staged (adj.策劃的) Japanese explosion (n.爆炸) by a railway line - at what is today Shenyang (n.瀋陽) - that was used as a pretext (n.借口) for the invasion of northern China in 1931.
  Security (n.戒備工作) was tight (adj.嚴謹的) in Guangzhou (n.廣州), where the Garden Hotel (n.花園酒店) was vandalized (v.肆意破壞) by a mob (n.暴民) two days ago. Yesterday, thousands gathered (v.聚集) outside the hotel, which is next to the Japanese consulate (n.領事館) general (adj.總的).
  Footage (n.片段) from state (adj.國營的) television showed sirens (n.警報器) being sounded (v.響起) at 9.18am - the date - to "remember history and not forget the national (adj.國家的) disgrace (n.恥辱)."
(The Standard, September 19)

  中國的反日示威者,昨天再次走到一百個城市的街上,紀念日本侵華八十一周年。
  本田、日產、佳能、松下電器等日本公司把工廠暫時關閉,而由豐田主席張富士夫領導的日本商界領袖,則為了安全理由而縮短了中國的訪問行程。
  成千上萬人在日本駐北京大使館門外叫喊口號,並呼籲抵制日貨。
  這些示威是為了紀念九月十八日的“盛京事變”(“九一八”)。一九三一年,日本策動在今天瀋陽的一條鐵路爆炸,借故入侵中國北部。
  廣州花園酒店兩天前遭一群暴民肆意破壞,市內因而戒備森嚴。昨日有數千人在酒店外聚集,而隔鄰便是日本總領事館。
  國營電視的片段顯示,在代表當天日期的早上九時十八分,警報器響起了,以提醒國民“牢記歷史,毋忘國恥”。   (《英文虎報》,九月十九日)

      閱讀指引
      1. inflame (v) /In'fleIm/,in-FLAME      
      激起強烈情緒、使憤怒
      解讀:名詞flame解作火焰,引申指強烈的情緒;動詞inflame因而指激起強烈情緒,尤指使某人憤怒、怒火中燒;標題的inflame(s) ... rage是一種說法,而另一種更簡單的說法是inflame somebody。
      2. incident (n) /'InsIdənt/,IN-si-dunt
      事故、事變
      解讀:incident指事故、特別事件,中文有時也叫事變;九一八事變,文中第四段叫作Mukden Incident,這是英語世界的慣常稱謂,也叫Manchurian Incident(滿洲事變),當中的Mukden指盛京、奉天,是瀋陽的別稱,而Manchurian則是Manchuria(滿洲)的形容詞。
      3. pretext (n) /'pri:tekst/,PREE-text
      借口、託辭
      解讀:pretext的前綴pre-解作前面,而後半部分則與texture(質地)有相同字源,因此pretext的字面意思是放在前面的虛飾,實際上解作借口,即相當於excuse或false reason;短語at / on the slightest pretext指千方百計找借口。     

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