中英對照讀新聞》The Power "Bomb" That’s Giving a South Korean Mother Nightmares 令南韓媽媽做惡夢的電費「炸彈」

◎茅毅

31-year-old Park Hana says she dreads receiving "poktan" utility receipts at her 83-square-meter home in Gyeonggi province, as the air conditioner roars to shield her toddler from one of the worst heat waves in the North Asian nation.

31歲的朴荷娜（譯音）說，害怕收到電力公司對她位於京畿道的83平方公尺住家所開立的「炸彈（韓文）」收據，冷氣機轟隆運轉，讓她的稚子倖免於這個北亞國家史上最大熱浪之一。

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Park’s household is among those paying more per unit of power than factories, under a program started during the mid-1970s to encourage then-fledgling industries.

朴荷娜的家庭就像南韓其他家庭一樣，支付的每單位電價高於工業用電，這是源自1970年代中期的一項計畫，旨在獎勵該國當時剛萌芽的產業。

"I can’t turn the air conditioner off because my kid won’t be able to sleep, and I can’t resist it either as my whole body soaks with sweat after walking home from work," Park said. "One night I had a nightmare about receiving my bill that stated I had to pay 3 million won."

她提到，「我沒辦法把冷氣關掉，因為小孩會睡不著，我下班後走路回家也是滿身汗，一樣忍受不了」，「有天夜裡我做了關於收到（電費）帳單的惡夢，上面寫說我得付300萬韓圜！」

In South Korea, a policy by the state-owned utility that charges residential customers progressively higher rates as usage increases has fueled protests across Asia’s fourth-biggest economy. Industrial users get a flat rate from Korea Electric Power Corp., and also pay lesser for their consumption during off-peak hours.

南韓國營電力公司（韓國電力公社）對家庭用戶的收費是隨著他們用電的增加採取累進費率政策，該政策已激起這個亞洲第四大經濟體各地的抗議。工業用戶則從韓國電力公社獲得均等費率的待遇，且它們在離峰時間的用電享有優惠。

新聞辭典

dread：動詞，畏懼、害怕、很擔心。I dread to think what they say about me behind my back.（我不敢去想他們在我背後說三道四。）

shield from：動詞片語，保護…、避免…。My mother held her hand above my eyes to shield them from the sun.（媽媽舉起她的手在我眼睛上方，幫我遮陽。）

fledgling：形容詞，剛萌芽的、沒經驗的。The current economic climate is difficult for fledgling businesses.（當前的經濟氣候對新創公司是個難關。）