1부
World News Overview
(content provided by NYT)
<1>
Melinda French Gates to Resign From Gates Foundation
Melinda French Gates is leaving the behemoth foundation she and her former husband Bill Gates founded nearly a quarter-century ago to devote herself fully to her work on behalf of women and girls, which has been the focus of much of her recent philanthropy. Her move, announced Monday, marks the end of an era for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — henceforth known as the Gates Foundation — that she and her former husband founded in 2000, and transformed into a juggernaut that shook up the world of philanthropy and reshaped the fields of global public health and development.
▶ behemoth : 거대 기업[조직체]
▶ end of an era : 한 시대의 끝
▶ juggernaut : (통제할 수 없는) 비대한 힘[조직]
<2>
OpenAI Unveils New ChatGPT That Listens, Looks and Talks
As Apple and Google transform their voice assistants into chatbots, OpenAI is transforming its chatbot into a voice assistant. On Monday, the San Francisco artificial intelligence startup unveiled a new version of its ChatGPT chatbot that can receive and respond to voice commands, images and videos. The company said the new app — based on an AI system called GPT-4o — juggles audio, images and video significantly faster than the previous version of the technology. The app is available starting Monday, free of charge, for both smartphones and desktop computers. “We are looking at the future of the interaction between ourselves and machines,” said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer.
▶ voice commands : 음성 명령
▶ juggles : (두 가지 이상의 일을 동시에) 곡예하듯 하다
▶ free of charge : 무료로
<3>
Spain’s Socialists Win Catalan Vote Dominated by Amnesty for Separatists
Spain’s governing Socialist party emerged Sunday as the winner of regional elections in Catalonia that had been widely seen as a litmus test for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s polarizing amnesty measure for separatists. The Socialists are celebrating what they claim is a momentous victory, although they did not clinch enough seats to govern on their own. They most likely face weeks of bargaining, and possibly a repeat election if no agreement is reached. But for the first time in more than a decade, they may be able to form a regional government led by an anti-independence party.
▶ litmus test : 진정한 척도, 시금석
▶ separatists : 분리주의자
▶ momentous : 중대한
<4>
Woman Made Her Home Inside a Grocery Store’s Rooftop Sign, Police Say
A woman found living in the rooftop sign of a grocery store in Michigan had set up the small space to call home with flooring, a Keurig coffee maker and a computer, authorities said. The unidentified 34-year-old woman, who was not formally charged with anything, had been living there for about a year, said Brennon Warren, a spokesperson for the Midland Police Department. Police were called by store staff members April 23 after contractors who were working on the roof found her, Warren said. It is unclear how she was getting into the triangular sign on the rooftop of a Family Fare store, he said.
▶ charged with : ~로 기소된
▶ contractors : 계약자, 도급업자
▶ triangular : 삼각형의
<5>
Flash Flooding in Afghanistan Kills at Least 300, With More Missing
Heavy seasonal rains have set off flash floods across Afghanistan, killing more than 300 people in the northern Baghlan province and destroying thousands of homes, according to United Nations officials. The floods have displaced thousands of others and engulfed villages, Afghan officials say. The toll in Baghlan was likely to rise. Flooding also killed at least one person in Badakhshan, a mountainous eastern province, where homes, dams and bridges were destroyed and 2,000 livestock were killed. The provinces of Ghor and Herat, in central and western Afghanistan, were also affected by flooding, according to Taliban authorities.
▶ set off : 유발하다[일으키다]
▶ engulfed : 완전히 에워싸다, 휩싸다
▶ livestock : 가축
2부
News Coverage
(content provided by NYT)
Up, Up and Not OK: Letting Go of Balloons Could Soon Be Illegal in Florida
Balloons released in the sky don’t go to heaven. They often end up in oceans and waterways, where they’re 32 times more likely to kill seabirds than other types of plastic debris. Despite this, humans like to release them en masse, be it to celebrate a loved one’s life or a wedding, or to reveal the gender of a baby.
The practice is on the verge of becoming illegal in Florida, where the Legislature has joined a growing number of states to ban the intentional release of balloons outdoors. The Florida ban is expected to be signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and would take effect July 1.
[Expressions]
(제목) Up, Up and Not OK: 풍선을 타고 하늘 높이 날아간다는 내용의 노래 "Up-Up And Away"를 활용한 제목
(제목) let go of: [쥐고 있던 것]을 놓다, …에서 손을 놓다
▶en masse = (보통 많은 수가) 집단으로[일제히] (all together and at the same time, in large numbers)
▶be it ... or ~ = ...이든[하든] ~이든[하든] (= whether it be ... or ~)
ex) I love autumn in Korea, be it for the nice weather or the KBO playoffs.
reveal the gender of a baby: 미국에서는 아이를 낳기 전에 아이의 성별을 발표하는 파티(gender reveal party)를 여는 편인데, 이때 아들이면 파란색, 딸이면 분홍색 풍선을 날려 올리는 이벤트를 많이 함.
“Balloons contribute to the increase in microplastic pollution which is harmful to every living thing including humans, polluting our air and drinking water,” Chaney wrote in an email.
Chaney said she first heard about the perils of balloon debris in 2020. Aquatic animals often mistake balloons for jellyfish and feel full after eating them, essentially starving from the inside out. Ribbons affixed to balloons entangle turtles and manatees. Balloons also pose a threat to land animals. In her research, Chaney learned about a pregnant cow that died after ingesting a balloon while grazing. The unborn calf died too.
[Expressions]
▶peril = (심각한) 위험; 위험성, 유해함 (great danger, or something that is very dangerous)
pose a threat to something: …에(게) 위협을 가하다[위협이 되다]
The bill closes a loophole in an existing Florida law that allowed for the outdoor release of up to nine balloons per person in any 24-hour period, a provision that critics say didn’t achieve the goal of reducing marine trash.
The new legislation makes it clear that balloons can pose an environmental hazard, supporters say. It equates intentionally releasing a balloon filled with a gas lighter than air with littering, a noncriminal offense that carries a fine of $150. The ban also applies to outdoor releases of any balloons described by manufacturers as biodegradable.
[Expressions]
▶close a loophole = 빠져나갈 구멍을 막다
- loophole: (법률·계약서 등의 허술한) 구멍 (a small mistake in an agreement or law that gives someone the chance to avoid having to do something)
ex) Lawyers often find loopholes in the law to relieve their rich clients of punishment.
provision: (법률 관련 문서의) 조항[규정/단서] (a statement in an agreement or a law that a particular thing must happen or be done)
▶hazard = 위험 (요소) (something that is dangerous and likely to cause damage)
▶equate = 동일시하다, 동등하게 다루다 (+ with) (to consider one thing to be the same as or equal to another thing)
ex) 10,000 hours of doing something equates to being a master of that craft.
biodegradable: 생분해[자연분해]성의(박테리아에 의해 무해 물질로 분해되어 환경에 해가 되지 않는)
The legislation marks a win for environmentalists hamstrung by Florida legislation known as the “ban on bans,” which prohibits counties and local municipalities from regulating single use plastics and plastic bags.
Jon Paul “J.P.” Brooker, director of Florida conservation for the nonprofit group Ocean Conservancy, said increased concern about the health of beaches, a major driver of tourism, helped conservationists and lawmakers find common ground.
Brooker said while it remains to be seen how vigorously police will enforce the ban, the fact that they will be able to issue tickets was a good thing. “More than anything,” he added,” it gives us in the environmental community an opportunity to educate the public as to why it’s bad.”
[Expressions]
▶hamstring = (동)방해하다, 좌절시키다, 무력하게 하다 (명)(다리 무릎 뒷부분의) 오금줄 (to limit the amount of something that can be done or the ability or power of someone to do something)
▶find middle[common] ground = 합의점을 찾다
- common ground = 공통되는 기반, 공통점 (shared interests, beliefs, or opinions between two people or groups of people who disagree about most other subjects)
▶remain to be seen = 두고 볼 일이다 (something is still unknown or unclear)
ex) She was great in the audition, but it remains to be seen if she'll be offered a contract by the company.
The balloon release ban follows another environmental win in the state. For more than 30 years, Brooker said cigarettes were the No. 1 form of trash found on the state’s beaches. Then in 2022, the state passed a law allowing local governments to restrict cigarette smoking and vaping on public beaches and parks. More than 50 counties and municipalities, accounting for more than 500 miles of the state’s 1,350 miles of coastline, have since outlawed smoking and vaping on beaches, Brooker said.
“This isn’t just the bailiwick of progressives, and it’s certainly not something that draws the enmity of conservatives,” Brooker said. “It’s all Floridians banding together to protect Florida’s beaches that are the backbone of our economy and the underpinning of our cultural identity.”
[Expressions]
outlaw: 불법화하다, 금하다
bailiwick: bailiff(법 집행관, 관리인)의 관할구, 전문 분야 (the area that a person or an organization is interested in, is responsible for, or controls)
▶enmity = 원한, 증오, 적대감 (a feeling of hate)
ex) They may have shaken hands, but it doesn't erase their decades of enmity.