Diocesan Boys' School Library

04/09/2018

Storm Surge

Under the influence of Typhoon Jebi, Kansai International Airport in Japan, which opened just 24 years ago (on 4/9/1994), is temporarily shut down today.

The runway of the airport is flooded with seawater, and the connecting bridge between the airport island and the mainland Japan has become inaccessible due to an accidental hit of a tanker. (You may refer to the photo of the post as well as that in the comment section.)

As mentioned, Kansai Airport was built on an artificial island. The typhoon was very close to the island and brought a severe storm surge which flooded the airport.

So what is a storm surge? Storm surge is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water caused by low-pressure weather system like typhoons. The intensity of a storm surge is mainly affected by the orientation of the water body in related to the storm path, as well as the timing (which is related to astronomical daily tides). If a severe storm surge is cumulated from the daily high tide, a severe flood will occur very likely.

In the case of Jebi, the storm surge is mainly caused by the typhoon itself, as today (4/9/2018) is the 25th day of a lunar month (where high tides will usually occur on the 1st and 15th day of a lunar month). Thus, the flooding is less intense.

Nonetheless, the high tide of the typhoon makes the tide record today more than 2 meters higher of the normal level, which has exceeded 3 meters from the sea level.

From past experiences, most of the casualties from a tropical cyclone come from neither heavy rain or strong wind. Storm surge has always been the “real killer”.

Let’s use Hato, the typhoon that greatly hit Zhujiang Delta region last year, as an example. Most of the casualties were because of the storm surge cumulated from the high astronomical tide.

In Hong Kong, an underground car park was flooded with seawater in Heng Fa Chuen. This caused a great loss to the car owners. Lower grounds like Tai O were also flooded.

In Macau, the storm surge flooded most of the old areas of Macau Peninsula. Ten people were killed.

Whenever a tropical cyclone approaches, be aware of this “killer” — storm surge.

Books related to weather (meteorology) can be found in the library shelves with Class Number 551.

The image was obtained from NHK.


06/07/2018

Our Annual Librarians' Dinner-- a time for celebration as well as introspection.

Thank you all for your tireless dedication to your duties, trainings and competitions throughout this academic year.

20/04/2018

FIRE & FURY by Michael Wolff
The tell-all book that shook the political world-- available now at our school library!

14/04/2018

JSLC Semifinals
1st in all categories (voluntary questions, online information search & shelving), as well as 1st overall with 734 points! (2nd place has 531 points)

We're almost there guys~ let's capture the championship this year!

28/02/2018

Commonly Confused Capitals of Different Countries

When you first get to know a country, one of the things that you will come across with is their capitals. I guess everyone will know that the capital of the United Kingdom is London while that of Russia is Moscow. Yet, there are some easily confused capitals throughout the world.

① Brazil
Isn't the capital of Brazil Rio de Janeiro? Isn't the capital of Brazil São Paulo? No! The current capital of Brazil is Brasília. In 1960, owing to the environmental and economical problems, the Brazilian government changed the capital of Brazil from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília, in order to boost the economy of the inland area, though it did not work well.

② Turkey
What? Istanbul is not the capital of Turkey! From the Roman Empire to the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul had been the capital for a long time in the history. However, Ankara is the capital of Turkey nowadays.

③ Australia
If I tell you that neither Sydney nor Melbourne is the capital of Australia, will you be surprised? In fact, these two cities were fighting for the name of capital in 1927. Finally, they agreed to take Canberra as the capital of Australia, until now.

④ Myanmar
Originally, the capital of Myanmar is Yangon, but in 2005, the government of Myanmar suddenly announced the name of the new capital, Naypyidaw, meaning the royal capital in Burmese.

⑤ Switzerland
The two main cities in Switzerland, Geneva and Zurich, are well-known to the world. However, neither of them is the capital of Switzerland. At first, when the country was making decision regarding the capital, Bern beat Zurich and Luzern with double the votes. Therefore, the capital of Switzerland has been Bern until now.

⑥ Vietnam
Is the capital of Vietnam Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City? In fact, the capitals of North Vietnam and South Vietnam were Hanoi and Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City nowadays) respectively in the history. During the Vietnam War, North Vietnam united South Vietnam. Hence, the capital city of Vietnam has become Hanoi since then.

⑦ Japan
The capital of Japan is not Tokyo. In fact, no laws have designated Tokyo as the capital of Japan. Therefore, Japan does not have a capital.

If you are interested in geography and history, feel free to grab the books related in the class 900 to 990 in the library.

(The original picture of the image below was obtained from the Internet (Link: https://livejapan.com/zh-tw/in-roppongi/article-a0000146/))

27/02/2018

文中的馬詩帆教授，在因緣際會之下接觸，甚至愛上了廣東話。他的故事也值得你我細味。

這是屬於香港的廣東話世界。

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如同學對語言學有興趣，可到圖書館的800分類查找相關書籍。

港大語言學系有位馬詩帆教授，充滿詩意的名字來自李白《黃鶴樓送孟浩然之廣陵》中的「孤帆遠影碧空盡」，是同樣身為語言學家的太太葉彩燕教授，為隻身隨她來港的丈夫所改的中文名。只看教授的名...

26/02/2018

《姓氏——「渣」良鏞？》

不論是中國人還是外國人，絕大部分人都會擁有自己的姓氏，例如「陳」、「李」、「鄧」等。

但也有不少字作姓氏的時候，讀音會跟作其他用法時不一樣，你又知道嗎？

以下列出了部分常見姓氏誤讀的例子：

1. 葉姓：粵音同攝（sip3）
2. 仇姓：粵音同球（kau4）[1]
3. 單姓：粵音同善（sin6）
4. 任姓：粵音同淫（jam4）
5. 華姓：粵音同話（waa6）
6. 查姓：粵音同渣（zaa1）
7. 繆姓：粵音同妙（miu6）
8. 解姓：粵音同械（haai6）
9. 翟姓：粵音同擇（zaak6）
10. 鮑姓：粵音同胞（baau1）[2]
11. 韋姓：粵音同維（wai4）

[1] 成語「反目成仇」，也作「反目成讎」，此時「仇」字應跟隨「讎」音，讀「酬」（cau4），另「報讎」、「復讎」、「反目成讎」、「公報私讎」亦是如此。
[2] 「鮑」字作人名時，同樣讀「胞」音；但詞語「鮑魚」中，「鮑」字則是讀「齙」（baau6）。

值得一提的是，著名作家查良鏞先生也提過，自己的姓氏應該讀「渣」音。

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如同學對語言有興趣，可到圖書館的800分類查看相關書籍。

另如同學對查良鏞先生的作品有興趣，可以索書號857.9 4038查找相關書籍。

02/02/2018

《生僻字·說故事——諼》（下）

上回（https://www.facebook.com/dbsSchoolLibrary/posts/186426498622678）提到「諼」字的讀音和不同意思，以及歷史人物馮諼。到底馮諼是怎樣的人呢？

馮諼是當時齊國宗室大臣孟嘗君的高級食客（食客又名門客，乃春秋戰國時期盛行的職業，當時的貴族為鞏固地位，會招收人才作「食客」，並供養他們，食客會為其主人效勞，如出謀獻策、預卜前程、趨吉避凶等）。馮諼當初很窮困，經關說（即利用關係的不當行為，俗稱「走後門」）才來到孟嘗君門下。馮諼起切不被孟嘗君重視不被重視，其後馮諼展露才華，彈劍唱歌，要求增加待遇，孟嘗君一一應允。

以上後作成語「馮諼彈鋏」，比喻有才華的人暫處困境，有求於人；懷才而受冷遇，心中感到不平。鋏（鋏：粵音gaap3，同「甲」），指劍。

馮諼成為高級食客後，自願到孟嘗君的封地薛邑替孟嘗君收債，他卻把債券（券：粵音hyun3，同「勸」）和銀錢燒掉。孟嘗君因財務損失而不滿，卻不知馮諼的作為，其實是替孟嘗君贏得人心。

以上後作成語「馮諼燒券」，比喻收買人心，博取民望。

孟嘗君後來遭齊閔（閔：粵音man5，同「敏」）王罷黜（黜：粵音ceot1，同「出」），失去齊國宰相之位。到了薛邑的封地，大受民眾歡迎，才知這是馮諼的先見之明，從此萬分信賴。後馮諼遊說梁惠王聘任孟嘗君為相，又使齊閔王於薛建造了宗廟（國家君主、貴族供奉祖先靈位的祠廟）。

馮諼為孟嘗君構築三個避禍之法，後稱「狡兔三窟（窟：粵音fat1，同「忽」）」，現比喻隱蔽的地方和方法多。

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以上參考《馮諼客孟嘗君》而寫成。

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如同學對中國歷史故事感興趣，可到圖書館的600至690分類查閱相關書籍。

02/02/2018

《生僻字·說故事——諼》（上）

諼，粵音同圈（hyun1)，意思有二：

一指欺詐、欺騙，多配詞「詐諼」。

例句有出自清代蒲松齡的《聊齋誌異·素秋》：「至日，慮韓詐諼，夜候於途，果有輿（輿：粵音jyu4，同「如」）來。」全句譯文：「到了那天，某甲（小說人名）怕韓荃（小說人名）欺詐他，半夜就在路上等着，看到果然有輛車子前來。」

二指忘記，常用於成語「永矢弗諼」。當中「永」指永遠、永久；「矢（矢：粵音ci2，同「此」）」在此有發誓、誓言之意；而「弗（弗：粵音fat1，同「忽」）」則指不，有否定的意思。「永矢弗諼」是指決心永遠牢記着。

白話例句：儘管這裏早已人去樓空，那段美好的時光，他永矢不諼。

另戰國時代齊國人馮諼也以「諼」字作名，有關馮諼的故事，詳見另篇（https://www.facebook.com/dbsSchoolLibrary/posts/186428951955766）。

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如同學對中國文學有興趣，可到圖書館的820分類查閱相關書籍。

29/01/2018

《粵語常見誤讀字舉隅——朔、溯、塑、槊》

（一）朔 (sok3，同繩索的「索」字)
朔字，常配詞「朔望月」，本義是月相名，指沒有月光的月相。
也用於成語「撲朔迷離」，當中「撲朔」指兔子跳躍的樣子，原出自《木蘭辭》「雄兔腳撲朔；雌兔眼迷離，兩兔傍地走，安能辨我是雄雌」。

（二）溯 (sou3，同「素」字)
溯字，常配詞「追溯」、「回溯」，本義是逆著水流的方向走，也指追求根源或回想。

（三）塑 (sou3，同「素」字)
塑字，常配詞「塑膠」、「塑造」，本義是用泥土等做成人、物的形象，現代常作「plastic」之中文翻譯。

（四）槊 (sok3，同繩索的「索」字)
槊字本義是指長矛。
現代多常用於成語「橫槊賦詩」，指能文能武的英雄豪邁氣概，原出自蘇軾《前赤壁賦》「釃酒臨江，橫槊賦詩，固一世之雄也」。

如同學對語言文學有興趣，可到圖書館的800至850分類查閱相關書籍。

25/01/2018

Super Blue Blood Total Lunar Eclipse?

There will be a total lunar eclipse that is able to be observed in Hong Kong on 31/1/2018. You will be able to observe the eclipse in that evening looking at the east to the north-northeast if the weather conditions are good (clear sky and no precipitation). At 17:48, the moon will enter the umbra (i.e. when the moon starts having a "notch"). The eclipse process will end at 22:08.

When the moon travels to a certain position that is the closest the earth, the moon will become bigger in our line of sight, and that is called a super moon. A super moon will occur every 413 days.

When more than one full moon is occurring in one single month in the Christian calendar, the second full moon will be called a blue moon. In January 2018, the first full moon was on 2/1/2018. Therefore, the full moon on 31/1/2018 is a blue moon. A blue moon will occur every 2.718284 years. The concept of blue moon is also applied in an English idiom, once in a blue moon.

When the moon is red during the process of a lunar eclipse, it will be called a blood moon.

The total lunar eclipse on 31/1/2018 will be characterized by a super moon, a blue moon and a blood moon.

The latest forecast released by the Hong Kong Observatory stated the weather on 31/1/2018 will be cold and cloudy with some rain. The temperature will range between 9 to 13 degrees Celsius. As a result, it will be a quite tough situation if you are going to observe the eclipse outdoor. If you are planning to do so, good luck!

If you are interested in books related to astronomy, feel free to get some from the 520 classification in the school library!

The figure below is obtained from the website of the Hong Kong Observatory. It shows the whole process of the lunar eclipse in detail.

22/01/2018

《香港地名趣談——地名學中文》

（一）索罟灣（Sok Kwu Wan）

索罟灣是位於南丫島的一個海灣，當中索字為繩索之意，為名詞，唸「沙駁切」（sok3）。而罟字指漁網，粵音同「古」字（gu2）。

昔日，英國人曾將此處命名為野餐灣（Picnic Bay）。

（二）掃管笏（So Kwun Wat）

掃管笏位於屯門，笏是古代大臣上朝拿着的手板，以玉、象牙或竹片製成，可用作記事。

值得留意的是，笏字不唸「屈」，應該讀「忽」（fat1）。

（三）寨乪村（Chai Kek Tsuen）

寨乪村位於大埔林村一帶，其中乪字為粵語方言，意指彎曲的河流。乪字粵音讀「劇」（kek6）。

另外，值得一提的是，寨乪村的所在地正正就是一個被河水圍繞的田地村落，完全符合乪字的字形，十分有趣。

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如同學對香港的故事有興趣，歡迎到圖書館內的「Hong Kong Collection」分類查閱相關書籍。

圖片來自東方日報/東網。