________________________________
Drinking Water from a Jacket

You are hiking on a mountain. Your mouth is dry. You want some water. But
there are no stores! Oh no! There is no clean water to drink! Hey! You need a
jacket that makes drinking water! That sounds crazy, right? But scientists in
the U. S. made a jacket that gets drinking water from the air!
爬山的時候沒有乾淨的水喝怎麼辦呢？美國科學家發明了一件能利用空氣製造水的外套！

How does this jacket work? Most clothes are made of cloth. This jacket is
too. But it also has four pieces of a new cloth on it. This cloth has very
small threads. They catch water from the air. Then the water goes into the
threads. The cloth becomes full of water!
外套上有4塊新科技布料，裡面的纖維可以捕捉空氣中的水分。

The cloth gets water all the time. People can wear the jacket and move. They
can walk or run! The cloth works everywhere too. People can be in a place
with dry air or wet air.
To drink the water, people take the new cloth off of the jacket. They heat
it. Then the water comes out! In one day, this jacket makes 400 to 900
milliliters of drinking water.
這種布料隨時隨地都能收集水，只要把布料從外套拿下來加熱，就能喝到水。

This jacket is good for hikers and campers. It is good for soldiers and farm
workers too! Sometimes they cannot find clean water when they need it.
Many places in the world have no clean water. The new cloth can be used on
backpacks and tents too. It can help people in those places have clean water
all the time.
而且來自空氣的水很乾淨，對於找不到乾淨水源的登山客或是軍人，這可重要了。

Clean water from the air can help many people!
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Vocabulary

運用新科技的外套，可以把空氣變成水。

1. wet 潮濕的。
What happened? 發生了什麼事? Why are you all wet? 你怎麼全身都濕了? I fell into a pool of
water. 我跌進一灘水裡。Don’t ask.別問了。

 

2. clothes 衣服。
Would you like to change? 你想換衣服嗎? I have some clothes that should fit
you.我有衣服你應該可以穿。
I’d appreciate that.我會很感謝。

3. dry 乾的。
Here you are. 拿去吧。
Thank you. 謝謝 It feels so good to wear something dry! 穿乾衣服真舒服!
I know. 我懂。

4. mountain 山。
I’ve been caught in the rain many times while hiking. 我去健行時被雨淋過好多次。
Do you go hiking often? 你常去健行?
Yeah, I love hiking and camping in the mountains. 對，我喜歡到山上健行還有露營。

你喜歡戶外活動嗎? 來一起讀單字。wet潮濕的 clothes衣服 dry乾的 mountain山
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quiz

1. What makes the jacket get water from the air?
a. A new cloth
b. A big pocket
c. A strong fan

2. When does the new cloth get water?
a. Only when the air is wet
b. Only at night
c. All the time

3. What can the new cloth also be used on?
a. Shoes
b. Tents
c. Cars

Answers
1. a
2. c
3. b

 

________________________________
Hi and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Jacob Ingram.

And I'm Kelly Kimura.

Today, we'll meet a stray kitten who went from stealing fish treats to
"working" at a bus station.

We'll also discover a giant prehistoric animal being uncovered with help from
thousands of volunteers.

And for News Flash, we'll explain what "restore" means.

Stay tuned to learn more.
________________________________

花蓮車站的貓明星
From Stray Kitten to Famous Station Cat

Imagine arriving at a bus station and being greeted by a cat behind the
counter.

That might sound unusual.

But that’s what can happen at Hualien Bus Station.

Meet Egg Tart, an orange tabby (橘貓) that has become the station's special cat.

But Egg Tart wasn't always a worker!

His story began one night in June 2025.

Station workers kept hearing quiet sounds but couldn't figure out where they
were coming from.

The next morning, they discovered something strange.

Four packets of fish snacks at the station counter had been ripped open.

One packet was completely empty!

After searching the station, they found a tiny stray kitten (流浪小貓) hiding
behind some lockers (置物櫃).

Egg Tart was only about six weeks old and had lost his mother.

Instead of chasing him away, the workers decided to adopt him.

And that's how Egg Tart went from stealing snacks to becoming part of the
team.

Now, Egg Tart spends four half-days each week at the station.

He has his own spot, where he welcomes visitors.

The station even posts his work schedule online.

Egg Tart became famous after the station shared a video of him meowing behind
the counter as if he were helping customers.

But Egg Tart's job isn't only to look cute.

Station workers hope his story can encourage more care (關懷) for stray animals
and make the bus station more pet-friendly (寵物友善的).

車站工作人員希望，Egg Tart 的故事能讓更多人關心流浪動物，也讓這座公車站成為對寵物更友善的地方。

Visitors are welcome to see Egg Tart, but there are some rules.

People should not feed him or use flash photography (閃光燈).

And they should leave him alone when he's resting.

Egg Tart isn't Taiwan's only famous station cat.

Other former strays have also found homes at train and metro stations.
________________________________

兩千名志工一起挖出史前巨獸
Volunteers Help Restore a Giant Prehistoric Animal

What would you do if you discovered something that had been hidden for 240
million years?

That's the amazing challenge facing volunteers in Poland.

More than 2,000 of them are helping scientists uncover a huge skeleton.

It’s what ‘remains’ of a huge prehistoric amphibian called Mastodonsaurus.

Haha … ‘remains (遺骸)’.

Anyway, what’s an amphibian? Is that like a giant frog (巨大的青蛙)?

Not exactly!

Mastodonsaurus looked more like a huge crocodile.

It had a wide, flat head, a long mouth, and sharp teeth.

牠看起來像一隻巨大的鱷魚，有著寬闊扁平的頭部、長長的嘴巴和尖銳的牙齒。

Scientists discovered the skeleton in southern Poland in 2023.

The bones had been buried under rock for about 240 million years.

Mastodonsaurus lived during the Middle Triassic period (三疊紀中期), when the
earliest dinosaurs were beginning to appear.

And now, scientists are carefully uncovering its skeleton, one piece at a
time.

Ordinary people can also take part in the project!

普通民眾也可以參與這項科學專案。

In fact, thousands of volunteers are helping at the Copernicus Science Centre
in Poland’s capital Warsaw.

Before they start, they receive training and safety equipment.

Then they work in two-hour sessions with help from experts.

So how do you get a 240-million-year-old bone out of a rock without breaking
it?

Very, very carefully!

Volunteers use special tools to remove the rock little by little.

Ultraviolet, or UV, light (紫外線) helps them see where the bone ends and the
rock around it begins.

Visitors can even watch the work through a glass wall.

Why are scientists so excited about this particular skeleton?

For one thing, it's much larger than usual.

In fact, when the work is finished, scientists say it will be the largest
Mastodonsaurus skeleton displayed in any museum in the world.

But its size isn't the only reason this discovery is important.

Some parts of the animal's body are different from what scientists already
knew about the species.

That means the skeleton could give scientists new information about what life
was like long ago.

And there's an even bigger story behind it.

Mastodonsaurus lived after a time when many kinds of animals died out.

But life survived.

New animals evolved (演化) and slowly spread across the Earth again.

Scientists hope this very old skeleton can help them understand how life
recovered after a huge change on Earth.

Later this year, visitors will be able to see the finished skeleton on
display.
________________________________
RECAP

So in today's News Bites,

An orange tabby named Egg Tart has gone from being a stray kitten at Hualien
Bus Station to becoming its special station cat.

His new job is helping greet visitors and encouraging people to care about
stray animals.
________________________________

And,

More than 2,000 volunteers in Poland are helping scientists restore a nearly
six-meter-long Mastodonsaurus skeleton.

The prehistoric amphibian lived around 240 million years ago.

Scientists hope its unusually large skeleton will teach them more about life
before dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
________________________________
NEWS FLASH

In today's News Flash, let's talk about the word "restore (修復)".

To "restore" something means to bring something old or damaged back to good
condition.

In the international story, scientists are restoring a Mastodonsaurus
skeleton.

You can also restore an old building, a painting, a piece of furniture, and
many more things!
________________________________

If you have a fun fact, a joke, or an interesting news story you'd like to
share with us, record your message and send us your Bite-Sized Break to
newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you might hear it in an episode.

We'll see you next time for another exciting episode of News Bites!