Keeping Taiwan's Coastline Clean

The last time I was at this beach, it was covered in garbage! There was so
much garbage I couldn't even walk along the water.
上ㄧ次來海邊，有好多垃圾！這一次好多了。

There were glass bottles, old boxes, and a lot of plastic garbage. Those are
not things that should be on a beach.
上一次來這裡，有玻璃瓶、舊的箱子，還有很多塑膠垃圾。

Some experts say as much as 150,000 bags of garbage can be found on Taiwan's
coastlines every year.

That is about 650 tons worth of garbage. Do you know how much 650 tons
weighs? That's the weight of about 160 full grown Asian elephants!
每一年在台灣的海邊會找出十五萬袋的垃圾，有六百五十噸。

That's why it is so important for people to volunteer to clean all the
garbage up! If we don't help keep our coastlines clean, we won't be able to
go to the beach and play in the water.
大家要保持海邊乾淨，不然就不能在海邊玩水了。

Tomorrow, September 17th, is Coastal Cleanup Day.
明天是國際淨灘日。

And I am going to spend the day volunteering to pick up garbage that I see on
the beach!
我要去海邊幫忙撿垃圾！

If everyone helps out a little, it shouldn't be too hard for all of us to
keep Taiwan's coastlines clean.
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Vocabulary
白白淨淨的沙灘，讓人嚮往。

1. beach 海灘
Let's go to the beach on Sunday. 我們星期天去海灘吧。
No, it's too hot. 不去，太熱。
Let's leave at 5 PM. 我們五點出發。
And watch the sunset on the beach. 然後到海灘看夕陽。

2. clean 乾淨的
The beach is often dirty. 海灘常常很髒。
No, it's clean now. 不，現在很乾淨。
People picked up the garbage last weekend, remember?
大家上周末去撿垃圾，你記得嗎？

3. pick up 撿起來
See, it's so nice here! 看吧，這裡很舒服吧！
Yeah, if you pick up all these bottles. 是啊，要是你把這些瓶子都撿起來的話。

4. garbage 垃圾
I can't believe there's already so much garbage. 真不敢相信又這麼多垃圾了。

你有參加過淨灘活動嗎？
beach 海灘
clean 乾淨的
pick up 撿起來
garbage 垃圾
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Quiz

1. How much garbage ends up on Taiwan's coastline every year?
A: 150,000 bags worth
B: 1,500 bags worth
C: 150 bags worth

2. About how much does all that garbage weigh?
A: 650 kilograms
B: 650 grams
C: 650 tons

3. When is Coastal Cleanup Day?
A: Tomorrow
B: Today
C: It passed this year already

Answers
1. A
2. C
3. A
 

California Says No to Gas Cars

Today is World Car Free Day! It's a time when some people stop driving their
cars for a whole day.
今天是世界無車日！

Cars make a lot of pollution. There are lots of other ways to stop cars from
making so much pollution. Like in California… they want to stop selling gas
cars by 2035.
汽車製造了很多污染。美國加州想從2035年以後不賣燃油車了。

California won't stop selling all cars. They will just stop selling cars that
use gas, which make lots of pollution. They will still sell cars that use
electricity, of course.
不是所有車都不賣了，他們還會賣電動車。

Other states in America also want to ban the sale of gas cars. This means the
air in these places will be cleaner.
美國有一些地方也想要不賣燃油車，這樣空氣會比較乾淨。

And now, Taiwan says it wants to ban the sale of gas cars too! Wow! That's
great. Taiwan won't stop selling them as soon as California, though. Taiwan
plans to stop selling gas cars by 2040. That's five years later than
California.
現在台灣也想要這樣做，不過會從2040年開始，比加州慢五年。

Try walking home today, or taking the MRT! Have a happy and healthy World Car
Free Day everybody!
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Vocabulary
把汽車改成使用電力而不用汽油，空氣會乾淨很多。

1. sell 賣
Do they sell electric bikes here? 他們這裡有賣電動腳踏車嗎？
I think so. 我想有吧。
They're also selling cute little bikes for children.
他們也賣小孩用的可愛小腳踏車。

2. stop 停止
People really should stop driving gas cars. 大家真的應該停止駕駛用汽油的車。
I'm driving a scooter. 我是用摩托車。
An electric one? 是電動的嗎？
Oh, yes. 是的。

3. drive 駕駛
Do you enjoy driving? 你喜歡開車嗎？
I do. 喜歡。
I feel free when driving. 我開車的時候覺得很自由。

4. ban 禁止
In Saudi Arabia, they ban women from driving. 沙烏地阿拉伯禁止女性開車。
Not anymore. 現在不會了。
The ban is over. 禁令結束了。

這些單字簡短好用。
sell 賣
stop 停止
drive 駕駛
ban 禁止
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Quiz

1. What happens on World Car Free Day?
A: Some people stop selling cars
B: Some people stop buying cars
C: Some people stop driving cars

2. Where do they want to stop selling gas cars?
A: California
B: France
C: India

3. When do they want to stop selling gas cars?
A: By next August
B: By 2035
C: By 2040

Answers
1. C
2. A
3. B
 

Milestone in Ocean Clean Up

Do you know what a "milestone" is? In Chinese, it's 【里程碑】.

There are many kinds of milestones. When you become 18 years old, that's a
milestone. When you get your first job, that's a milestone. And, if you get
married or have a baby, those are milestones, too.
18歲成年、第一份工作、或是結婚生小孩，每一個都是一種里程碑。

Today, I want to talk about a different kind of milestone. This one is about
plastic. The milestone is about cleaning up a lot of plastic in the ocean.
現在，有一個清理海洋塑膠垃圾的里程碑！

First, I need to tell you about something called the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a really big pile of plastic
floating in the ocean. Most of that plastic is in very small pieces. It can
hurt fish and other animals in the ocean.
太平洋垃圾島是一堆在海上飄的垃圾推起來的，這些垃圾會害魚跟其他的動物受傷。

Some people are trying very hard to clean up the plastic from the ocean. One
of these people is a man named Boyan Slat. He made a special type of machine
to clean up plastic from the ocean.
一個叫做 Boyan Slat 做了一台清理塑膠的機器。

This year, his machine hit a milestone. It cleaned up 220,000 pounds of
plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. That's almost the same weight
as a blue whale, the biggest animal on earth!
今年這台機器達到了一個里程碑，清了好多垃圾，重量幾乎跟一頭藍鯨一樣重！

Wow! Congratulations!
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Vocabulary
環保人士清除了大量海洋垃圾，達成新的里程碑。

1. get married 結婚
Tom says he's getting married when he's 21. 湯姆說他要21歲時結婚。
But he's only 10 now! 但是他現在才十歲！

2. try 努力
Well, he says he'll try hard to save money. 他說他要努力存錢。
How much has he saved? 他存了多少了？
About one hundred NT. 大約一百塊吧。
He has to try harder. 他得再努力一點。

3. milestone 里程碑
I think for him, 1,000 NT would be a milestone.
我想對他來說，一千塊就是個里程碑。
That shouldn't be too hard. 那應該沒那麼困難。

4. job 工作
Maybe he can get a job. 也許他可以找個工作。
He's too young to have a real job. 他太小了，不能真的去工作。
He can water my plants. 他可以幫我的植物澆水。

These are very useful words.
get married 結婚
try 努力
milestone 里程碑
job 工作
________________________________

Quiz

1. What is a milestone?
A: An important day
B: A heavy rock
C: A kind of shoe

2. What is 'The Great Pacific Garbage Patch'?
A: A small pile of floating trash
B: A breed of dog
C: A big pile of floating trash

3. What did Boyan Slat do?
A: Made a machine to clean the ocean
B: Named 'The Great Pacific Garbage Patch'
C: Weighed a Blue Whale

Answers
1. A
2. C
3. A
 

Teen Makes New Electric Motor

Look at that bus! It looks really cool! And it's so quiet!

Do you know why it's so quiet? It's an electric bus. It uses an electric
motor!
你知道為甚麼這麼安靜嗎？因為它是電動巴士。

Electric motors are great! They don't make all that smelly smoke that's bad
for the air… and bad for people, too.
電動馬達不會產生髒空氣。

But, there is one problem with electric motors. An electric motor needs some
very special things inside it to make it work.

Electric motors need special metals, and other things that you can only find
by digging in the ground.
要做電動馬達，需要很特別的金屬，以及很多在地底下才找得到的東西。

And, there isn't enough of those things in the ground for the future... one
day they will all be gone, and then how will we make electric motors?
而且這些東西總有一天會用完！

Well, guess what? A 17-year-old student in America may have found the answer.
His name is Robert.

Robert is working on a new way to make electric motors that don't need any
special metals! And scientists say his idea could work!
美國一個叫做 Robert 的學生，在研究一種不用特別的金屬，就可以做電動馬達的方法！

That's amazing! Robert is only 17 years-old, but he's already changing the
world!

What would you like to make? Maybe one day you will have an idea that can
change the world too! You could build an even better motor, or a cool new
spaceship!
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Vocabulary
你想發明什麼嗎？也許可以改變世界喔！

1. world 世界
Can you name 2 things that changed the world? 你能說出兩種改變世界的東西嗎？
Sure, computers and cellphones. 當然，電腦和手機。
That's true. We used pen and paper before. Not anymore.
這是真的，我們以前用筆和紙。現在不用了。

2. work 工作
What if your computer doesn't work? 要是你的電腦不中用怎麼辦？
I'll just have to go to bed. You? 那我只好上床睡覺了。你呢？
I'll get it fixed right away. 我會馬上找人修理。

3. special 特別的
I know someone special who can fix computers. 我認識很特別的人會修電腦。
Lucky you! I don't have such a special friend.
你運氣不錯。我沒有這麼特別的朋友。

4. electric 電動的
Yes, he knows a lot about electric things. 他對電器懂很多。

這些單字你記住了嗎？
world 世界
work 工作
special 特別的
electric 電動的
________________________________

Quiz

1. How old is Robert?
A: 170 years-old
B: 17 years-old
C: 70 years-old

2. What did Robert make?
A: A new kind of electric motor
B: A new spaceship
C: A new flying motorcycle

3. Why are electric motors better?
A: They don't make bad smoke
B: They are super heavy
C: They are delicious

Answers
1. B
2. A
3. A
 

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More Tigers in Nepal

Hi students! Do you know what year it is? Sure, it's 2022. But it's also
another year. Let me give you a hint. Yep, it's the Year of the Tiger. Tigers
are special animals.
今年是虎年！

They are the biggest of the big cats. Lions are also big cats. So are
leopards... But tigers are endangered. That means tigers are in danger of
becoming extinct.
老虎、獅子、豹都是大貓咪，但是現在老虎快要絕種了。

Why are tigers endangered? One reason is that some people hunt these big
cats. It's illegal to hunt tigers, but some bad people still do it.
為甚麼會快要絕種呢？因為有一些人會去獵老虎，這是不合法的！

About 100 years ago, there used to be about 100,000 tigers in Asia. But
today, there are fewer than 4,000.
一百年前，亞洲還有十萬隻老虎，現在剩下不到四千隻了！

Because tigers are endangered, some people are trying to save them. In Nepal,
there is some good news for tigers. Nepal is a country in Asia. In 2009,
there were only about 120 tigers in Nepal. Today, Nepal has 355 tigers. Wow!
That's almost three times as many tigers!
有一些人想要保護老虎。像在尼泊爾，2009年的時候，只有120隻老虎，現在已經有355隻了！

How did Nepal increase the number of tigers? They worked harder to stop
people from hunting and killing them. They also protected the places tigers
live.
尼泊爾怎麼讓老虎數量增加呢？他們禁止大家獵老虎，也保護老虎住的地方。

Good job, Nepal!
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Vocabulary
你有近距離看過老虎嗎？牠們是非常壯觀的動物。

1. animal 動物
Many animals live around us. 很多動物住在我們的周圍。
You mean cats, dogs and birds? 你是指貓和狗，還有鳥嗎？
Yeah, and rats, ants and spiders. 對啊，還有老鼠，螞蟻和蜘蛛。

2. in danger of 有危險
Those animals are not in danger of extinction. 那些動物都沒有絕種的危險。
No, they are not. 是沒有。

3. extinct 絕種的
Why do some animals go extinct? 為什麼有的動物會絕種？
Sometimes it's because the environment changed. 有時候是因為環境改變了。

4. hunt 狩獵
And sometimes people hunt them. 有時候是人類獵殺牠們。
Right, people love the animal's meat or skin too much.
對，人類太喜歡某種動物的肉或是皮毛。

你最喜歡哪種動物呢？
animal 動物
in danger of 有危險
extinct 絕種的
hunt 狩獵
________________________________

Quiz

1. What are tigers, lions, and leopards called?
A: Asian cats
B: Danger cats
C: Big cats

2. If an animal is "endangered" what does that mean?
A: It could die out
B: It is a dangerous animal
C: It has a disease

3. Why are there more tigers in Nepal now?
A: More tigers moved there
B: Nepal helped to protect them
C: Some new zoos opened in Nepal

Answers
1. C
2. A
3. B