Whistle Languages

Can you whistle? 你會吹口哨嗎? I can! Well… I'm not very good at it.

It's not easy to learn how to whistle. Some people can't do it… they can't
whistle.

But other people can whistle very well… and some people even use whistling
as a language! 有人把吹口哨當成一種語言。

It's true! There are people that sometimes whistle to talk to each other.

Why? Well, whistling is louder than shouting 口哨比用喊叫還大聲。

And whistling is clearer. You can hear whistling more clearly than shouting.

The whistles can mean different words... a high whistle sound means one
thing... and a low whistle sound has a different meaning.
口哨有高低不同音階，可以傳達不同的含意。

After a lot of practice, people can learn to understand this new language… a
whistle language.

Cool! They can say "I can speak English, I can speak Japanese... and I can
speak Whistle!"

Ha! 多加練習，有一天你也可以說 "我還會說口哨語言！"

Whistling is fun... and some people use it to talk... it can be a language!
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Vocabulary

不同的口哨聲，可以表達很多意思，甚至成為一種語言。

1. Language 語言。
I think whistling is a kind of body language. 我覺得吹口哨是一種身體語言。
Maybe, but it's not a language for me. 也許吧，不過對我來說它不是語言。
I don't whistle.我不會吹口哨。

2. Speak 說。
What languages can you speak, Ryan? 你會講什麼語言，萊恩？
I can speak English and Chinese. 我會說英文跟中文。

3. Loud 大聲的，louder 更大聲。
I can't hear you. 我聽不到。
Please speak louder. 請講大聲一點。
I think I'm loud enough. 我已經夠大聲了。

4. Shout 叫喊。
You don't have to shout. 你不必大喊大叫。
I'm shouting because your music is too loud. 我喊叫是因為你的音樂太大聲。

今天的單字你記住了嗎？
language 語言
speak 說，講
loud 大聲的
louder 更大聲
shout 叫喊
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Quiz
1. How do some people talk?
A: By screaming
B: By whistling
C: By jumping up and down

2. Why do some people use whistling to talk?
A: They can't speak English
B: Whistling is louder and clearer
C: They think they are birds

3. What are English, Japanese, and Chinese?
A: Languages
B: Places
C: Animals

Answers
1. B
2. B
3. A

Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Ryan Drillsma...

And I'm Nancy Sun.

In today's news:

Taiwan's working population shrinks, octopuses are throwing things, and a
rock band hits an online milestone.

All that and more, coming up next.
________________________________

台灣的青壯年人口首次下降
Taiwan's Working Age Population Shrinks for the First Time

Taiwan's working population has shrunk for the first time.

As the number of people living in our country gets bigger each year, the
number of people who are the right age to work usually also grows.

But this year, the number of people who are able to work has gone down.

Why has this happened?

It's because Taiwan has an aging population.

台灣有人口老化的問題。

That means slowly but surely, the number of old people in Taiwan is becoming
higher than the number of young people.

And that's because there are less babies being born.

This could be a big problem for Taiwan in the future.

Because old people need a lot of support (支援) from the government, and once
they retire (退休), they do not earn money themselves.

And if there are not enough young people to work, there may not be enough
money to support these old people.

People are choosing to have less children for different reasons.

Perhaps some just want more freedom (自由).

Others say that the living expenses (生活費) in Taiwan are now too high, and
even if they wanted children, they could not earn enough money to support
them.

The government has been thinking of different ways to solve this problem.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je last year suggested (建議) the government gives people
money for getting married, and this would encourage them (鼓勵他們) to have
children.

But many think this would not be enough to cover the cost of raising children.

Can you think of any ways Taiwan could solve its aging population problem?

台北市長柯文哲去年提議說，政府可以提供結婚補助金，好鼓勵人們結婚生子，不過很多人覺得這不夠彌補生養小孩的花費。

你認為台灣要如何解決人口老化的問題呢？
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章魚會互相扔東西嗎？
Can octopuses throw things at each other?

Octopuses are very smart creatures.

Scientists have found they can solve mazes (解開迷宮) and complete difficult
tasks to get food.

And researchers (研究者) at the University of Sydney in Australia have
discovered that octopuses can "throw" things by pushing them with water.

澳洲雪梨大學研究者發現，章魚會用推水的方式來扔東西。

But these researchers made another surprising discovery.

Naughty octopuses were throwing things at each other!

This is something we do as humans, but we do not often see it in animals.

The researchers said the way octopuses throw things at each other is
complicated (複雜).

They use all their arms together and make a force (力量) to push water, and
they also take water in then spit it out (吐出來) at objects to "throw" them
at other octopuses.

But why do they throw stuff?

It could be for the same reasons humans do.

Some of the scientists thought the octopuses were throwing things at stuff
they found annoying.

有些科學家認為，章魚會對牠討厭的東西推水。

This included a female octopus that was getting annoyed at a male one!

And when the scientists put a camera underwater to watch the octopuses, they
threw things at that, too!

But other scientists thought they could just be cleaning their homes.

And if they hit another octopus, it is probably a mistake (意外，錯誤).

But as we said before, octopuses are very smart, and we still have a lot to
learn about them.

章魚確實是非常聰明的動物，科學家還需要多多觀察，才會更了解這種生物。
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金屬製品MV超越十億點擊率
Metallica Music Video Hits 1 Billion Views

Another classic rock band has hit an online milestone.

The music video for Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" has now been watched
one billion (十億) times on YouTube.

The video reached that number as the album it came out on marks its 30th
anniversary.

The Black Album was released in August of 1991.

過了三十年，金屬製品樂團的Nothing Else Matters MV在YouTube上達到十億點擊率。

To celebrate the big anniversary, Metallica came out with an updated (升級)
version of the album.

It includes other celebrities singing covers of the songs.

Nothing Else Matters is only the 6th music video from the 90s to reach one
billion views.

The other bands that hit that mark are Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, The
Cranberries, Whitney Houston, and 4 Non Blondes.

Nothing Else Matters是第六部1990年代的MV達到這個里程碑。
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So, in today's News Bites:

Taiwan's working population has shrunk for the first time.
.
It's because Taiwan has an aging population.

People are choosing to have less children for different reasons, and some
think raising a child is too expensive.
________________________________

And,

Octopuses can "throw" things by pushing water.

Some scientists think they throw things at each other.

But others think they could just be cleaning their homes.
________________________________

And,

A classic rock band has hit an online milestone.

The music video for Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" has now been watched
one billion times on YouTube.

Nothing Else Matters is only the 6th music video from the 90s to reach one
billion views.
________________________________

And that's today's episode of News Bites!
________________________________

主播每周一問
Have Your Say

This week, we want you to have your say about aliens.

There are lots of movies about aliens and life on other planets. These movies
are often very exciting, and sometimes even a bit scary. But do you think
they could be real? What would it be like to meet an alien? What would you
say to them?

If you met an alien, what would you tell them about life on Earth?

Record your message and send it to newsbites@icrt.com.tw with your name and
age, and if you like, the name of your school.

Make sure to send us your recording by Thursday at noon, and you might hear
your message on our show on Friday!