牛津市將與台灣締結姊妹市
On Monday, the Oxford City Council in England passed a motion to establish sister city ties with a locality in Taiwan.
英國牛津市市議會週一通過提議與台灣城市締結姊妹市的提案。
Oxford City英國牛津市City Council市議會motion(n.)(會議中正式的)提議、動議=a formal suggestion made, discussed, and voted on at a meetingtie(n.)關係、聯繫
Proposed by City Councilor Stephen Goddard and seconded by his ally Elizabeth Wade, members of the Liberal Democrats party, the motion highlighted that Oxford has “sister city” and “town ties” with several places in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, but not in East Asia.
這項由自由民主黨籍議員高達德發起，同黨議員維德附議的提案強調，牛津市目前在歐洲、中東及美洲都有姊妹市，但在東亞地區尚無類似結盟。
proposed by…=While the motion was proposed by…City Councilor市議員second(v.)附議、贊同ally(n.)同黨議員Liberal Democrats party自由民主黨
Now that the motion has been passed, one of Taiwan’s municipalities may become the country’s first twin city in the region.
如今提案通過，台灣的其中一個直轄市可望成為英國在東亞地區的第一個姊妹市。
now that而今、既然municipality(n.)直轄縣市
The motion cited the words by Freedom House, saying that “Taiwan’s vibrant and competitive democratic system has allowed three peaceful transfers of power between rival parties since 2000, and protections for civil liberties are generally robust.”
該提案引述美國官方資助的非政府組織「自由之家」，提到「台灣的民主制度充滿活力且具競爭力，自2000年以來，歷經3次和平政黨輪替，並為公民自由提供強而有力的保護。」
cite(v.)引述Freedom House美國官方資助的非政府組織「自由之家」vibrant(adj.)有活力的competitive(adj.)具競爭力的democratic(adj.)民主的transfer(n.)(v.)轉移rival(n.)競爭對手liberty(n.)自由robust(adj.)強健的
Although the island nation is currently excluded from many major global organizations, including the WHO, Taiwan still demonstrated outstanding Covid-19 containment measures.
雖然台灣被世衛組織等許多主要國際組織排除在外，台灣在新冠肺炎防疫方面仍有亮眼的表現。
exclude(v.)排除、排斥exclude from…排除在外demonstrate(v.)展現
In addition to keeping its Covid-19 deaths to 7, Taiwan has donated more than 7 million surgical masks to Europe as a part of its humanitarian aid amid the pandemic.
除了將疫情死亡人數控制在7名，台灣還捐贈了超過700萬片醫療用口罩給歐洲國家，作為疫情期間人道救援的一環。
in addition to + N or V-ing除了…之外donate(v.)捐贈、捐助humanitarian(adj.)人道主義的
On Monday, the motion was passed after Labor Councilor Mary Clarkson suggested a change to it, meaning that the city will first build up grassroots support before seeking a formal twinning arrangement with a city in Taiwan.
提案經工黨市議員克拉森建議修改後，於週一通過，牛津市將會在正式與台灣某城市締結姊妹市協議前，先尋求地方民意支持。
grassroots(n.)(尤指一個政黨的)基層民眾(adj.)草根的、地方民意的
In response to this, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the country welcomes Oxford’s proposal and that it would help local municipalities interested in the matter to connect with Oxford.
關於牛津市的決議，台灣外交部在一份聲明中表示，台灣歡迎這個提案，且此舉有望促進有興趣的台灣在地城市與牛津市締結姊妹市。
Ministry of Foreign Affairs外交部