20070203, Article, Picture, Feedback

[Murphy Yang]

Happy English Club 電子報 本報由EVP Team編審
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Time：第93次例會，2007年02月03日（週六）下午2:00~5:00
Place：
viewtopic.php?t=15

14:00~15:00 (Free Talks)
15:00~15:30 (Speaker Session)
15:30~16:45 (Topic Discussion)
16:45~17:00 (Happy Time)

Host: Grace Lee
Assistant Host: Amy Kao


Topic: Star of Africa




Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jh ... prio13.xml

Leonardo DiCaprio talks to John Hiscock about 'Blood Diamond', his thriller with a conscience set in Sierra Leone

What does a diamond symbolise? Love, glamour, wealth? "To me," says Leonardo DiCaprio, "the diamond is a symbol of war."

For decades, the film industry has been a natural ally of the diamond business, boosting the jewel's allure through regular onscreen appearances – as the ultimate object of desire in a gripping heist, or glittering alluringly on the ring-finger of a rom-com starlet.

DiCaprio's latest film, however, dares to shows an altogether less attractive facet of the diamond industry. With its unsparing depiction of the trade in "conflict diamonds" in war-torn Sierra Leone, and the violent repercussions of this illegal business, Blood Diamond has left Hollywood's long-standing love affair with this sparkling stone well and truly on the rocks.

The film doesn't shy from violence: the cast includes a dozen child amputees, actual victims of civil war in Sierra Leone fuelled by the conflict diamond trade; the action is peppered with scenes of horrific carnage.

At the heart of the story is an international diamond cartel named Van Der Kaap that buys conflict stones from rebels in Africa and stockpiles them in their European vaults to prevent them entering the market and causing a drop in diamond prices. "This is a real depiction of things that went on," says DiCaprio. "This is not an exaggeration."

In response to the film, the World Diamond Council and De Beers, which produces more than 40 per cent of the world's diamonds, have reportedly launched a campaign, at a reported cost of £10 million, to reassure consumers that the diamond business is good for Africa.

The sale of "blood" or "conflict" diamonds – stones smuggled out of countries at war which are then used to fund more arms – has, they insist, been virtually eradicated.

For DiCaprio, this instant reaction, coupled with moves to tighten up the industry-regulated Kimberley Process (which requires diamond-exporting nations to certify that their stones were not taken from a war zone), is proof that the film's powerful message is already getting through. "To me the industry response is a triumph," he says, clearly delighted. "It shows the movie is already having a social impact."

Directed by Ed Zwick (Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai), Blood Diamond is that rare thing, a big-budget action thriller with a conscience.

DiCaprio stars as Danny Archer, a diamond-smuggling mercenary chasing a rare pink diamond, Djimon Hounsou as a fisherman searching for his kidnapped son and Jennifer Connelly as an idealistic reporter who sets out to expose the underbelly of the diamond industry.

"What got me really excited about this film was that Ed wanted not just to make an entertaining adventure film, but also to mix in some complex, highly charged political statements," says DiCaprio, an ardent campaigner for environmental and humanitarian causes who was shaken by the conditions he encountered on location.

"It changed me, it really did. You can't help but be affected. You go to orphanages and see things like a young girl who was in the movie whose parents have died because of Aids.

"But what moved me the most was the resilience of the people's spirits in Sierra Leone. It makes you realise how fortunate we are and what privileged lives we lead, to watch these people who are so affected every day by hardships but still manage to literally dance in the streets. It was amazing."

His hopes for Blood Diamond are that it will not only be seen by big audiences but that it will also raise awareness of the conflict gem issue. "If people are affected by the story, I think they will think carefully before buying diamonds in future," he says.

"I know I was affected and my family and friends who have seen it were pretty astounded because they had no idea this was going on: the warlords funded by conflict diamonds, the child soldiers, the millions killed. If I ever do buy a diamond, I am definitely going to get written proof that it's not a conflict stone."

Vocabulary:

1. glamour 魅力,誘惑力
2. allure 引誘,誘惑;(強烈地)吸引
3. gripping 握的; 吸引住人的
4. heist 搶劫,攔劫
5. rom-com = romantic comedy
6. starlet 美】剛露頭角的年輕女演員,小女明星
7. repercussion 後果;影響(常複數)
8. amputee 被截肢者
9. carnage 大屠殺
10. cartel 卡特爾,企業聯合
11. stockpiles 儲備物資
12. smuggle 走私,非法私運
13. mercenary 雇佣的; 為金錢的
14. resilience 彈回;彈性

Questions

Q1: Have you ever receiving or sending a diamond to someone? How do you like it?

Q2: Do you think sending a Diamond as a gift to your partner is the way of expressing love?

Q3: How do you think the phrase “Diamond are a girl’s best friend”?

Q4: After knowing some fact of diamond, would you still want to buy diamond?
How does this story change your opinion toward diamond?

Q5: Will you buy a conflict free diamond even it is more expensive?



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[Murphy Yang]

The other article from Grace Lee

Source:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... monds.html

"Blood Diamonds" and How to Avoid Buying Illicit Gems

John Roach
for National Geographic News
December 8, 2006

Growing awareness that a diamond's luster may hide an illicit past is adding another "C"—conflict—into the lexicon of gem buyers already accustomed to gauging color, cut, clarity, and carat.
"Conflict diamonds," also known as blood diamonds, are those sold to fund armed conflict and civil war. Human rights organizations link more than four million deaths and millions more displaced people to the trade in conflict diamonds.
The new Leondardo DiCaprio movie Blood Diamond highlights the role that the illicit diamond trade played in the chaotic 1990s civil war in the African nation of Sierra Leone
The stones also funded armed conflicts in Angola, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Today the illicit diamond trade is believed to fund armed conflict in Côte D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and may finance terrorists groups such as al Qaeda.
Clean Diamonds?
The diamond industry is eager to assure consumers they can confidently purchase one of the precious gems knowing its history is untainted by bloodshed and war.
"We have to start by knowing that 99.8 percent of all diamonds coming into the market are conflict free," said Eli Izhakoff, Chairman and CEO of the New York-based World Diamond Council.
"Everybody agrees on that percentage."
The figure stems a government-to-government certification plan set up in 2003 called the Kimberley Process that requires all diamonds transported across borders to be accompanied by a certificate that they did not fund conflict.
Member countries are banned from trading with nonmembers.
In addition the diamond industry voluntarily includes a warranty on the invoice of every diamond sold stating it is conflict free, Izhakoff said.
The warranties follow the stones from the mine to the factories to the retail stores.
"Those are traceable, making it possible for retailers to give assurance the stone they're selling is conflict free," he said.
But human rights organizations are quick to point out weaknesses in the Kimberley Process that allow conflict diamonds into the international market.
Recent reports by the United Nations and the U.S. government found that an estimated 23 million U.S. dollars' worth of diamonds from Côte D'Ivoire may have been smuggled into the legitimate trade.
Evidence suggests the diamonds are taken into neighboring Ghana, where they are certified as Kimberley Process compliant, according to the Washington D.C.-based advocacy organization Global Witness.
"On the consumer side there's no way to be sure that the diamonds they're buying are conflict free," said Corinna Gilfillan of Global Witness, which has campaigned against conflict diamonds since 1998.
The organization is urging the U.S. to strengthen and enforce a trade act that implements the Kimberley Process as the best way to ensure the diamond trade is 100 percent conflict free. It is also calling for independent verification of the industry warranty system.
Consumer Tips
Until industry self-policing and international law keep all illicit stones off the market, human rights and diamond- industry organizations are telling consumers to ask their jewelers a series of questions about their wares.
Suggested questions:
• Do you know where your diamonds come from?

• Can I see a copy of your company's policy on conflict diamonds?

• Can you show me a written guarantee from your diamond suppliers stating that your diamonds are conflict free?

• How can I be sure that none of your jewelry contains conflict diamonds?
If the jeweler is unable to produce the paperwork or otherwise prove the diamonds are conflict free, "the consumer shouldn't buy from that store," Izhakoff said.
A more robust system, Gilfillan noted, is to augment the paperwork with technologies such as laser engraving and optical signatures to track every stone individually, "but we are not there yet."
A Washington D.C.-based organization called the Conflict Free Diamond Council has established a set of strict guidelines to guarantee a diamond is 100 percent clean, including laser engraving and ensuring that its entire production was conducted within one country.
So far only one government's diamond certification program—that of the Northwest Territories Province in Canada—meets the organization's standards.

Vocabulary

1. illicit 非法的 adj.
2. gem 寶石 n.
3. luster 光澤;光輝
4. lexicon 詞典;語彙 n.
5. gauge 量,測; 估計,判斷v.
6. untainted 未染污的; 清白的 adj.
7. smuggle 走私v.
8. robust 強健的;健全的 adj.

[bill liao]

If you are interested in Blood Diamonds story
You can refer this
http://city.udn.com/v1/blog/article/article.jsp?uid=WUSIN&f_ART_ID=663297

[Nathan]

Jewelry：珠寶 Personal ornament: 個人飾品 Adornment：裝飾品

Necklace：項鍊 pendant：（項鍊所掛的）垂飾

Ring：戒指。美國人習慣將結婚戒指戴在左手無名指，其實是有緣故的。古代埃及人認為心臟控制人類的思想行為（簡單的說就是古埃及人把心臟當成頭腦），而左手無名指有神經直接通往心臟，所以只要用戒指束住這神經就可以提醒與避免外遇的發生。這個帶戒指以求另一半忠誠的行為隨著其他國家入侵埃及時也跟著被入侵者傳回歐洲及之後的歐美世界。所以跟外國人交往的時候稍微注意一下左手無名指是否有帶戒指的痕跡，以保護自己避免意外的第三者喔。

Bracelet：手環 國人常配戴的玉手鐲可稱為 jade bracelet. 在美國大學社團裡常會有學生藉著設計及販售具有紀念性或特色的手環來賺取外快或是提升對於參與社團的認同感。當然，重點還是外快啦。

Precious metals： 貴重金屬 gold：黃金 silver：銀 platinum：白金 bronze：青銅 Gemstone：寶石 agate：瑪瑙 amber：琥珀 enamel：琺瑯 ivory：象牙 amethyst：紫水晶 jet：黑玉 jadeite：翡翠 opal：蛋白石 emerald： 祖母綠 ruby：紅寶石 cat's-eye：貓眼石 aquamarine:藍寶石

currency：貨幣
Carat：克拉 （鑽石） Karat：K（金）
Amulet：護身符 talisman：護身符 magical wards：護身符 以上三個字都有護身符的意思，但是不一定每個外國人對這三個字的認知都一樣。我有一次在美國搭機返台時，由於911事件剛過8個多月，所以行李檢查很嚴，無意間被安檢人員搜出一個家母向觀音大士求來的符咒，她不斷的問我這是什麼，我當時只記得talisman 這個字，所以就說了：This is a talisman from my mom. 想不到她竟然露出十分詫異的表情: Is your mom a witch? 我當場傻眼，後來解釋半天他才讓我過關。之後我才知道talisman也是符咒的意思。

To ward off evil：避邪

wedding dowries (wedding dowry)：嫁妝 brooch：胸針 earrings：耳環

以下是和戰爭有關的一些字：
Civil war：內戰，或是南北戰爭 coup：政變 genocide：種族屠殺（常發生在落後國家，軍火之王有演到） rifle：步槍，長槍 pistol：手槍，短槍 gun：砲，槍 howitzer：大砲，榴彈砲 machine gun：機關槍 RPG：rocket propelled grenade 火箭彈，恐怖份子和落後國家非常愛用，因為便宜、攜帶方便、可以打天上和地上，電影黑鷹計畫裡面的直昇機都是被這種武器打下來的，跟電玩的RPG不一樣喔 bullet：子彈 grenade：手榴彈 warlord：軍閥 militia：民兵，現在通常指軍閥所豢養的部隊 riot(er)：暴民 mine：地雷[size=18][/size]

[Jammy]