一 Unit 1: 家鄉的生活 Hometown Life
家鄉的生活, 需要你我一起關心. 住家和附近的鄰里, 是家鄉居民日常生活的中心. 讓我們一步一腳印, 從鄰, 村里, 鄉鎮市區生活來認識家鄉. We should all care about our hometown life. Our homes and neighborhoods are where most of us spend our time. Let's take a closer look at our neighborhoods, villages, townships, municipalities, cities, and zones as a way of understanding our hometowns.
第1課 Lesson 1: 敦親睦鄰
認識我們的家鄉 Getting to Know Our Hometown
每個人都有一個居住的地方. 用來稱呼這些居住地方的單位, 有鄰, 有村, 里, 有鄉, 鎮, 市, 區. 這些單位的範圍, 就是我們主要的活動場所, 也就是我們的家鄉. 要認識我們的家鄉, 可以先從鄰開始. Every person has a place where they live. These places where we live are called neighborhoods, villages, zones*, townships, municipalities, cities, and districts. These places are where most of the important things in our lives happen, and they are also our hometowns. If you want to understand our hometowns, you can start from our neighborhoods.
鄰的組成 Composition of a Neighborhood
"鄰" 是有許多相連或相近的住戶所組成. 這些相連或相近的住戶, 就是我們的鄰居. 為了能和鄰居彼此融洽相處, 應該養成各種良好的生活習慣. 平常碰面時, 要親切問好; 日常居家活動, 不要製造噪音, 破壞鄰居安寧等. A "neighborhood" is the people that live with us or live close to us. These people [that live with us or close to us] are our neighbors. In order to have good relationships with our neighbors, we should cultivate good habits. When we meet neighbors, we should greet them properly. When we are doing things at home, we should try not to make too much noise and disturb our neighbors.
與鄰居相處 Getting Along with Neighbors
當生活上需要幫助, 或遇到緊急事故時, 我們和鄰居可以互相協助, 彼此幫忙. 遠親不如近鄰, 就是這個意思. 因此, 守望相助, 敦親睦鄰, 可以讓我們生活得更愉快. When we need help or we're in danger, we can get help from our neighbors. We should help each other, for this is the meaning of [the saying] "neighbors close at hand are better than distant relatives." For this reason we look out for each other as if we were family. This makes our lives happier.
日常生活中, 我們也有可能會遇到不容易相處的鄰居. 有的是缺乏公德心, 有的則是自私自利, 這種鄰居往往會降低大家的生活品質. 因此, 要如何與他們相處, 也是我們應該學習的課題. In our daily lives there is the possibility of running into neighbors that are difficult to get along with. Some people lack compassion, while others are very selfish. These types of people reduce the quality of everyone's lives. For this reason getting along [with these types of people] is a problem that we should learn how to deal with.
第2課 Lesson 2: 村里生活 Village Life
村里的組成 Composition of a Village
村里是由許多鄰組成的行政單位, 與居民關係密切. 通常村里設有辦公處, 居民遇到大小事情, 可以找村長, 里長商量或幫忙. A village has many administrative divisions, and [these administrative divisions] play an important role in people's lives. Most villages have a village office, so that when people have issues they can visit the head of their village or zone to discuss things or get help.
村里內, 居民們常有接觸的機會, 感情比較親近. 所以, 維護村里的安全與環境衛生, 是每個村里民應該做的事. In a village people often have opportunities to work together, and their relationships are more cordial. For this reason, villagers must work together to ensure the safety and hygiene of their village.
保障村里安全 Ensuring Village Safety
保障村里的安全, 平時要加強防盜救災, 守望相助的工作. 例如: 陰暗角落容易發生危險, 應裝設照明設施; 防火巷要保持暢通, 不堆放物品; 颱風豪雨來臨之前, 危險地區居民要及時疏散. 村里居民也可以成立巡守隊, 共同維護村里安全. People must work together to ensure the safety of their village by suppressing crime, and by improving access to emergency services. For example, they can install lighting in dark areas, clear fire lanes of debris, and evacuate dangerous areas before typhoon rains arrive. Villagers can also form community safety teams as a means of working together to ensure village safety.
維護村里環境 Protecting the Village Environment
村里環境的維護, 除了居民平日對居家周圍環境的整理外, 村里有時也會訂定清潔日, 大家一起動手清掃, 維護公共區域的整潔. 例如: 疏通村里水溝, 撲滅蟑螂老鼠, 清除巷弄垃圾等. Aside from villagers cleaning the areas around their houses on a daily basis, the upkeep of a village's environment can also involve a set clean-up day in which all of the villagers work together to maintain the cleanliness of public areas. For example: cleaning up the village gutters, exterminating cockroaches, mice, and other vermin, and clearing garbage from lanes and alleys.
參與村里活動 Taking Part in Village Activities
大家共同參與村里活動及建設, 不但可以提升生活品質, 也可以增進居民之間的情感, 培養愛護村里的情感, 更能夠創造出優質的生活環境. When everyone takes part in village activities and building projects, it not only raises everyone's quality of life, but also promotes good feeling between residents and a proprietary feeling toward one's village. It helps create the best living environment for everyone.
第3課 Lesson 3: 鄉鎮市區生活
鄉鎮市區的組成 Composition of Townships, Municipalities, Cities, and Districts
鄉鎮市區是由許多村里組成的行政單位, 包含的範圍及服務的項目比村里還要廣, 和居民的生活關係相當密切. Townships, municipalities, cities, and districts are administrative divisions comprised of many villages [or zones]. This means that the range of services they provide is much bigger, and that these services are very important in residents' lives.
行政機構與居民的關係 The Relationship Between Administrative Divisions and Residents
在鄉鎮市區中, 可以看到許多和居民生活關係密切的行政機構, 例如公所, 戶政事務所, 衛生所等, 為居民提供各項服務. In townships, municipalities, cities, and districts you can see many administrative divisions that are intimately connected to residents' lives. For example offices, the household administration office, the department of hygiene, and other services residents need.
在日常生活中, 清運垃圾, 清掃道路, 環境消毒, 資源回收等環境問題, 可以請清潔隊來處理. 有關老人和小孩的疫苗注射等, 則是衛生所的服務項目. With regard to daily needs, cleaning up garbage, keeping roads clean, cleansing the environment of pollutants, recycling, and other environmental problems are the responsibility of the cleaning teams. Vaccinations for older and younger residents is the responsibility of the department of hygiene.
維護治安, 打擊犯罪, 是警察機關的任務. 發生天然災害時, 公所, 警察和消防單位, 都有救災的責任. Keeping the peace and fighting crime is the police department's responsibility. If a natural disaster occurs the [township or municipality] office, the police, and the fire department are all charged with assisting people.
行政機構的責任與人民的權利 The Responsibilities of Administrative Divisions and People's Rights**
家鄉中的各種行政機構, 要善盡責任, 盡心盡力為人民服務. 如果沒有依法執行各種公務, 則可能會損害人民的權益. 此時, 人民有權要求政府改善或賠償. Every type of administrative division in our hometowns must fulfill its responsibilities and provide services to the utmost of its ability. If it fails to provide promised services it impinges upon people's right [to such services]. In such a situation people have a right to request that their government either improve or offer compensation.
為了讓家鄉更美好, 居民也可以主動表達意見, 向行政機構提出建議或解決問題的方法, 共同提升大家的生活品質. As a way of making our hometowns the best they can be, people should make their thoughts on how to solve [community] problems known to [the relevant] administrative divisions. This will improve the quality of everyone's life.
*Some of these divisions aren't used in many English-speaking countries. I've translated 里 as "zone," even though 區 could just as easily be "zone." I tend to translate 鄉 as "township" and 鎮 as "municipality," though some people do the reverse. In general terms, Taiwan is divided into cities and counties. The cities are divided into districts (or zones), and the counties are divided into cities, townships, and municipalities. Villages and "zones" (里) are smaller divisions within cities, townships, and municipalities. Many kids (and even adults) in cities couldn't tell you what "zone" (里) they live in.
**Can I say something here? A lot of people like to complain about Taiwan's educational system, but I think it does a great job of teaching people about representative democracy. Sure, improvements could be made, but the schools here do a better job of creating informed, participating citizens than my own country does.
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