The
best and worst cities in the world for quality of life
全世界居住品質最棒的城市在哪裡？
Austria's capital city isn't just home to
the breathtaking Belvedere Palace, bustling Graben Street, and its famous
Viennese coffee, it also has the distinct
honour of being the world's most livable
city.
Vienna has the best quality of living overall,
according to the Mercer 2015 Quality of Living rankings, which analyses 230
countries globally.
Overall, European cities dominated the top 10, with Zurich(蘇黎世), Munich(慕尼黑) and Dusseldorf(杜塞道夫) leading the pack.
奧地利的首都不僅有壯觀的美景宮，繁榮的格拉本大街，還有著名的維也納咖啡館，它還獲選了全世界最適合居住的城市！美世人力諮詢公司分析了全世界230個國家，做出了這個評比，維也納最後獲選成為第一名！不僅如此，前十名全部都是歐洲國家的城市，蘇黎世、慕尼黑以及杜塞道夫皆榜上有名！
<單字小解析>
* distinct (adj.) clearly noticeable; that
certainly exists 顯著的，明顯的
* livable (adj.) it is suitable or good for
living in 適宜居住的
* quality (n.)
1. how good or bad something is 質量，品質
2. a high standard 優質
* overall (adv.) 總的（來說），全面地，包括一切地
* dominated (v.) to have control over a
place or a person, or to be the most important person or thing 統治，控制
* lead the field/pack/world = to be better
than all other people or things
在該領域/群體中/世界上領先
<阿編的小筆記>
** Belvedere Palace
美景宮 >> 位於奧地利維也納的建築群
** Graben Street
格拉本大街 >> 是奧地利首都維也納內城區的一條著名街道，繁榮的購物街)
** Viennese café
維也納咖啡館 >> 是奧地利首都－音樂之都維也納特有的城市人文特色，和巴黎左岸拉丁區的咖啡館文化，並列為歐陸兩大咖啡館文化。
** Mercer
美世人力諮詢公司 >> 美世是一家人力資源管理諮詢公司，總部位於美國紐約，是公認的全球領先的商業機構之一。美世在人力資源管理諮詢方面已經連續多年被Vault.com評為世界排名第一，包括最近的2008年。而在威望方面，美世目前在所有諮詢公司中排名第六。
Auckland(奧克蘭), New
Zealand, comes in third among the major cities with Vancouver(溫哥華), Canada, the highest-ranking city in North America, rounding out
the top five.
Vancouver is the region's only city in the
top 10.
Singapore is the highest-ranking Asian
city, while Dubai ranks first across Middle East and Africa.
Montevideo(蒙得維的亞),
Uruguay(烏拉圭), takes top spot among South American
cities.
第三名是紐西蘭的城市奧克蘭，第五名是加拿大溫哥華(北美地區之冠)，而溫哥華也是該區域唯一有進前十名的城市。
亞洲方面，排名第一的是新加坡。而中東及非洲地區排名第一的是杜拜。
南美則是蒙得維的亞及烏拉圭。
<居住品質最好與最差的城市分布圖>
<第一名：維也納>
<小編幫大家附上了中文>
<第二名：蘇黎世>
The study finds that Western Europe
continues to offer a stable working environment for those who relocate there,
accounting for seven of the top 10 cities listed.
Vienna, ranked first both in Europe and
worldwide, takes top honours, but Zurich, Munich, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt all
offer workers the chance for equally happy, full lives.
此調查顯示，西歐國家提供了穩定的工作環境，前十名中就有七名是西歐的國家。除此之外，慕尼黑、杜塞道夫和法蘭克夫也都給工作者提供愉悅良好的生活。
<單字小解析>
* relocate (v.) to move to a new place搬遷，遷移，重新安置
Cities in Central and Eastern Europe,
however, have a wider range of quality-of-living standards.
Among the highest ranking cities? Prague(布拉格), Budapest(布達佩斯) and Ljubljana(盧比安納) in Slovenia.
The region's lower ranking cities include
Tirana(地拉那), Minsk(明斯克) and Kiev(基輔), which has experienced a considerable
drop following political instability
and violence in Ukraine.
在中歐及東歐地區，也都有著高品質的生活水準。
排名前面的城市為：布拉格-捷克首都、布達佩斯-匈牙利首都、盧比安納-斯洛維尼亞首都。
而較低排名的城市有：地拉那-阿爾巴尼亞首都、明斯克-白俄羅斯首都、基輔-烏克蘭首都(歷經動盪的政治因素)
<單字小解析>
* considerable (adj.) large or of
noticeable importance相當大、多的，非常可觀的
* drop (v.) to fall or to allow something
to fall （使）落下，（使）掉下
* political (adj.) 政治的
* instability (n.) 不穩定，不穩固
* violence (n.) 暴力行為，激烈的言辭
<德國在前十名中就佔了三個：慕尼黑/杜塞道夫/法蘭克夫>
In the UK, London is the highest-ranked
city, followed by Birmingham(伯明罕) and Glasgow(格拉斯哥).
'UK cities overall enjoy high standards of
quality of living and remain stable and attractive locations for businesses,'
another Principal at Mercer explains.
In North America, Canada and the United
States offer plenty of attractive relocation options, with Vancouver rounding
out the top five worldwide.
Headed to the United States? Consider San
Francisco, Boston and Honolulu(檀香山) when deciding
where to settle, as all are ranked
among Mercer's top 50 cities worldwide.
英國國內排名為：倫敦、伯明罕、格拉斯哥。
美世補充：「英國的城市整體來說都有著高水準的生活品質，對於商業來說，也有穩定及吸引人的點。」
在北美，加拿大和美國提供了非常吸引人的移民選擇，尤其溫哥華又是前五名的高品質生活地區。
那如果是想移居美國呢？考慮舊金山、波士頓及檀香山吧！這些都是排名前五十的城市。
<單字小解析>
* settle (v.) to go and live somewhere,
especially permanently 定居，安家(尤指永久地)
MOST LIVABLE CITIES IN THE UK<英國排名>
1. London 倫敦
2. Birmingham 伯明罕
3. Glasgow 格拉斯哥(英國蘇格蘭最大城市)
4. Aberdeen 亞伯丁(英國蘇格蘭地區的主要城市之一)
5. Belfast 貝爾法斯特(北愛爾蘭首都)
<加拿大-溫哥華>
In the Pacific, New Zealand and Australian
cities are some of the highest ranked, with Auckland the only entry from the
region to make it to the top five.
Sydney does round out the top 10 and
Wellington(威靈頓) is close behind in 12th place.
But when it comes to the Middle East and
Africa, Dubai is the highest ranked in the 74th spot.
Emerging city Durban(德班) in South Africa
is also ranked quite highly, mainly due to its high-quality housing, recreational offerings and readily available consumer goods.
Baghdad(巴格達) is the
lowest-ranking city in the region and in the survey, overall.
太平洋地區，雖然紐西蘭及澳洲的城市都有不錯的排名，不過奧克蘭是唯一該地區進入前五名的城市。
雪梨排名前十，而威靈頓也緊追在後，排名第十二。
但中東及非洲地區可就沒這麼好了！排名該地區之首的杜拜也僅第74名。
南非的新興城市－德班，由於它的高品質住宅、娛樂的提供，以及方便取得的消費物品，獲得不錯的排名。
而該地區排名最低的城市便是伊拉克的首都－巴格達。
<單字小解析>
* emerging (adj.) starting to exist 新興的，發展初期的
* recreational (adj.) 娛樂，消遣
* readily (adv.) quickly, immediately,
willingly or without any problem
迅速地，心甘情願地，輕而易舉地
<奧克蘭>
<排名最低的城市：巴格達>
Mercer's annual Quality of Living survey is
conducted to help multinational companies and other
employers compensate employees fairly when assigning them to international destinations.
Admittedly, the survey focuses most on established and emerging
business-focused cities and those with financial centres.
'Taking a short or long-term work assignment to a new country is both an
exciting and challenge experience for employees and their families,' says
Slagin Parakatil, Principal at Mercer.
'Cultures, societies and comparatively different climates, as
well as political instability, high crime rates and poor infrastructure can be difficult to navigate and settle down
in.
'Employers need to assess whether their
staff and families will encounter any drop in quality of living and ensure they
are fairly compensated for it.'
美世諮詢公司做此國家生活品質調查的目的，在於幫助跨國企業的雇主在外派員工時能夠知道當地的情況及如何補償員工。
但不可否認地，此調查主要把焦點集中於新興的商業重鎮或是有著金融中心的城市。
美世的負責人Slagin Parakatil說：「不論是短期或是長期的外派工作，對於員工或他的家人都是一個令人興奮且充滿挑戰的事。不同的社會文化、截然不同的氣候、政治的不穩定性、高犯罪率及簡陋的基礎建設…等，都可能是難以駕馭和適應的因素。雇主需要評估他們的員工和家屬是否會受生活品質的下降而影響，並確保如何補償。
<單字小解析>
* conducte (v.) to organize and perform a
particular activity 組織，實施，處理
* multinational (adj.) involving several
different countries, or (of a business) producing and selling goods in several
different countries
多國的，(企業)在多國經營的，跨國的
* compensate (v.) to pay someone money in
exchange for something that has been lost or damaged or for some problem 賠償，補償
* fairly (adv.) more than average, but less
than very 相當地，一定地
* assign (v.)
1. to give a particular job or piece of
work to someone分配，分派，指派
2. If you assign a time for a job or
activity, you decide it will be done during that time
定出，確定(時間或期限)
3. If you assign a characteristic to
something, you state that it has it.
把…歸屬於，確定(屬性等)
4. to decide a reason for something 把…歸因於，確定(原因)
* admittedly (adv.) used when you are
agreeing that something is true, especially unwillingly 誠然，無可否認 (尤用於不情願地承認某事時)
* assignment (n.)
1. a piece of work given to someone,
typically as part of their studies or job
任務，功課(尤指學業或工作方面的)
2. a job that someone is sent somewhere to
do 工作(被派遣到某地做的)
> on assignment 執行任務，被派遣去工作
* comparatively (adv.) as compared to
something else 相對地，比較而言
* infrastructure (n.) 基礎建設
* navigate (v.)
1. to direct the way that a ship, aircraft,
etc. will travel, or to find a direction across, along or over an area of water
or land, often by using a map 導航，確定…的方向
2. to move around a website or between
websites 瀏覽，訪問(網站)
* settle down = to become familiar with a
place and to feel happy and confident in it
安頓下來，習慣於新環境
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