South Korean park features talking elephant

　　鼻子助发声 大象会说话？

　　RECENTLY, the Everland amusement park in South Korea said its 16-year-old male Asian elephant, named Kosik, can make sounds imitating up to eight Korean words, including "sit", "no", "yes" and "lie down." Kosik began showcasing his ability to the public on September 9th at the park.

　　The pachyderm produces humanlike sounds by putting his trunk in his mouth and shaking it while exhalingsimilar to how people whistle with their fingers. But the park said it's unclear if Kosik knows the meaning of the sounds he makes.

　　Kim Jong-gap, who has been Kosik's keeper for 10 years, said he first heard the elephant speak two years ago. Spectrograms show Kosik's voice frequency when he makes human sounds is similar to his keeper's. "We are speculating that Kosik learned to speak as he spent a long time with his keeper," said the head of the park's zoo.

　　近日，韩国首都首尔城爱宝乐园的管理人员称， 该乐园的一头大象能清晰地说出8个韩语单词。自9月9日起，它已经开始正式向游客们展示自己“说话”的本领。

　　这头大象名叫科希克，是一头16岁的雄性亚洲象。据已经照顾它10年之久的饲养员金中干介绍，科希克可以说出“是”“不是”“坐下”“躺下”“很好”等8个完整的韩语单词。他说自己是在两年前第一次听到科西克“说话”的。但至于大象是否能理解自己所发出声音的意思，他和他的同事们目前还不确定。

　　科希克“说话”的方式很特别——每次它总是将自己的长鼻子放进嘴里，一边摇晃一边呼气发声，好像人类在利用手指吹口哨一样。通过声谱图对比发现，科希克发出的声音频率与饲养员金中干的非常相似。游乐园的动物园园长说：“我们推测，科西克模仿人说话是因为长期与饲养员相处的结果。”

　　Bank to woo customers with ATM roulette game

　　ATM提款机取钱还能赢钱

　　JAPANESE banks have long had a reputation for poor service but at least one is trying something newwooing customers with an opportunity to try their hand at Lady Luck.

　　A roulette wheel pops onto the screen of automatic teller machines when customers of Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank Ltd. finish transferring funds. A lucky spin and the customer wins 1,000 yen (US $8.50).

　　The new service has started from September 13 at the bank's 134 branches.

　　The roulette game is Ogaki Kyoritsu's second shot at jazzing up its ATM services. It launched an on-screen slot machine game last August, in which customers may win prizes of an ATM fee waiver or 1,000 yen (US $8.50) after withdrawing money.

　　日本银行服务差是众所周知的。为了提高服务质量、使顾客感到愉悦，日本大垣共立银行在自动提款机上安装了轮盘赌游戏。顾客只要使用了该行的ATM自动取款机，常规服务结束后，屏幕上就会自动“跳出”赌盘，供客户进行博彩娱乐，一旦转到中奖的位置，顾客便能获得1000日元（8.50美元）的奖金。据悉，这项新服务已从9月13日起在共立银行的134家分行全面实施。

　　轮盘赌游戏是该银行增加自动取款机服务乐趣的第二次尝试。去年８月，该银行安装了一台“吃角子老虎”机，顾客可以借此赢得自动取款机的免费使用权或1000日元（8.50美元）的奖励。

　　Shoe size mix-up costs thief dear

　　笨贼偷鞋尺码错 调换不成反被捉

　　A BUNGLING German thief stole a pair of shoes in two different sizes and was caught when he went back to the shop to fix his mistakedecked out in the very clothes he had stolen, authorities said early this month.

　　The shop owner said he recognized the 20-year-old shoplifter because the white shoes and sports jacket he wore were available only in his shop, and had been stolen just two days earlier.

　　"You have to wonder why he went back into the shop in the stolen get-up," said a spokeswoman for Bielefeld police. "It seems he may not have been the brightest of thieves."

　　本月初，德国西部城市比勒费尔德的警方在当地一家商店抓获一名愚蠢的小偷。据透露，这名小偷因偷来的白鞋尺码不一致，两天之后竟若无其事地前去调换，同时还穿着一并从商店里偷来的运动夹克，结果被警方毫不费力抓个正着。

　　这家商店的店主说，他之所以认出是这个20岁左右的年轻人偷了他店里的白鞋和夹克，是因为附近只有他们家才出售这两种商品，而且两天前恰好刚刚失窃一大一小两只尺码不同的白鞋及一件运动夹克。

　　比勒费尔德警署的一位女发言人说，”我怎么也想不通他为什么会穿着从商店偷来的衣物再次回到那家商店，他可能是世界上最笨的小偷了。”