________________________________

A Festival for People Born on Leap Day

Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine... Wait, there are twenty-nine days
this February! Today is a leap day!
今年二月有二十九天，今天是閏日。

Can you wait to have your birthday once every four years? Well, about five
million people around the world were born on a leap day. These people are
called leaplings.
你能等四年才過一次生日嗎? 全世界差不多有500萬人在閏日出生。

After a birthday, leaplings wait for four years for the next one! And they
finally have their birthday this year! They're jumping for joy!
這些人今年終於可以過生日了，過完這一次他們需要等四年才能過下一次生日。

Anthony, a small town in Texas, is the Leap Year Capital of the World. This
American town is having a three-day Leap Year Festival! It starts tonight!
Leaplings from all around the world are going to this big birthday party.
德州安東尼小鎮舉辦為期三天的閏日慶典。從今晚開始，來自全世界的壽星會前往這個盛大的生日派對。

Imagine the sight of fun attractions, the smell and taste of delicious foods,
and the sound of cheerful music. At the Leap Year Festival, there will be
games, food, and live music for everyone!
閏日慶典會有遊戲、食物還有現場的音樂表演。

Today is a very special day, especially in the Leap Year Capital of the
World! Happy Birthday, leaplings! Have a slice or four of birthday cake and
have a fabulous, leap-tastic day!

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Vocabulary
美國德州有一個小鎮，喜歡替二月29號出生的人舉辦派對。

1. delicious 美味的
Wow, what smells so good? 什麼東西這麼香?
It's my roast chicken.是我的烤雞。
Oh, it must be delicious! 一定很好吃!

2. special 特別的
Yes, it's for a special party tonight. 是為了今晚的特別派對。
You're having the party at home? 在家裡辦派對嗎?
No, at the town hall.不是，是在里民中心。

3. live music 現場音樂
We'll have live music, food and drinks. 我們有現場音樂，食物和飲料。
What is it for? 是為什麼呢?

4. born 出生
For all the people born before 1950. 為了1950年之前出生的人。
I didn't know old people love parties. 我不知道老年人也喜歡派對。
Everyone loves parties.每個人都喜歡派對。

Do you like parties? Let's read the words.
delicious美味的
special特別的
live music現場音樂
born出生

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Quiz
1. How long do leaplings wait for their birthdays?
a. One year
b. Four years
c. Eight years

2. Where is the Leap Year Capital of the World?
a. Taipei
b. Tokyo
c. Texas

3. How many days is the Leap Year Festival?
a. One
b. Two
c. Three

Answers:
1. b
2. c
3. c

 

________________________________

A Red Panda for Taipei Zoo

Taipei Zoo has a new animal from Japan! He's small. He's a fire-colored ball
of fur. He's very cute and fluffy!
台北市動物園迎接日本來的新動物。牠很可愛還有蓬鬆的火紅色的毛。

His name is Mirai. He's a red panda! Mirai is four years old. A four-year-old
human is a child, but Mirai is not a child. Red pandas live about ten to
twelve years. Mirai is a young adult. He's here to be a dad!
牠的名字叫未來，是一隻4歲的小熊貓。小熊貓的壽命大約10到12歲。牠還很年輕，來台灣當小熊貓爸爸。

Mirai is full of energy. He's excited to meet you! Fan meetings with Mirai
start in April. Bring your camera... but no flash, please! Maybe you can see
Mirai do something cute! Or maybe you can see him climbing or having a snack.
從四月開始未來就會公開亮相，你可能會看到牠爬樹或吃點心。別忘囉!
拍照不要有閃光燈喔!

Every year, Mirai has fewer red panda friends in the world. There are less
than ten thousand! Their tree homes are cut down. The places they live are
getting hotter. And hotter weather is bad for them.
全世界的小熊貓每年越來越少，現在已經不到1萬隻了。牠們棲息的樹被砍掉，家園也越來越熱。

You can help by doing good things for the Earth. And when you visit Mirai, be
nice to him!
你可以做環保幫助地球。記得去看未來的時候，要對牠好一點喔!

Mirai, Taiwan's new red panda, is waiting for you at the Taipei Zoo!

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Vocabulary
台北動物園的小熊貓，四月就可以去拜訪了。

1. small 小的
Look at that poor thing! 你看那個可憐的小東西!
Oh my, it's so small. 天哪，牠好小。
Of course it's small. It's a baby bird. 當然小，牠是一隻鳥寶寶。

2. adult 成鳥
I wonder where the adults are. 不知道成鳥在哪裡。
You mean its parents? 你是說牠的爸媽?
I think they're out looking for food.我想出去找食物了。

3. bring 帶來
I do hope they bring back enough food. 我希望牠們帶足夠的食物回來。
That shouldn't be too hard. 那應該不會太難。

4. something 一些東西
Birds can always find something to eat. 鳥兒總會找到東西吃。
Let's come back and visit that baby bird again. 我們再回來看那隻小鳥吧。
Yeah, maybe we can see it grow up and fly. 好啊，也許能看到牠長大飛翔。

今天單字很簡短又好用。
small小的
adult成鳥
bring帶來
something一些東西

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Quiz
1. Where is Mirai from?
a. China
b. India
c. Japan

2. How old is Mirai?
a. Four
b. Ten
c. Twelve

3. Which zoo is Mirai at?
a. Hsinchu Zoo
b. Taipei Zoo
c. Shousan Zoo

Answers:
1. c
2. a
3. b

 

________________________________

Stolen and Found Bikes

In a city in Iceland, many people love cycling. But something bad was
happening. Some people were stealing bikes! This worried bicycle owners. Some
people stopped using their bikes.
冰島有個城市，居民都愛騎單車，但是單車容易失竊，一些人就不再騎單車了。

One man loves biking. He wanted more people to love it too. So he was very
angry. He looked for the stolen bicycles. They were hard to find. But he
didn't give up.
有個人很喜歡騎車，也希望更多人會喜歡。單車被偷走令他很生氣，他會到處找失竊的單車。

Sometimes he found stolen bikes where a group of people lived. He talked to
them. He didn't like them because they stole things. But now they're his
friends. They stopped stealing. Some help him find bikes now!
他找到失竊的車之後，也會跟小偷聊聊，請他們不要再偷車了。他們現在成為朋友，還會幫忙一起找失竊的單車。

The man returns bicycles to their owners. Now, after four years, he's famous.
People call him the "bike whisperer." He's very good at finding bicycles!
這個人會把單車歸還給失主。他很會找失竊的單車，大家都稱他為「單車救星」。

He uses social media to help people.
他會用社群媒體來幫助人家。

Are you in Iceland? Did someone steal your bicycle? Ask the bike whisperer
for help. Sometimes he finds bikes in two days!
你在冰島嗎?有人偷了你的單車嗎? 趕快找單車救星幫忙，有時候只要兩天就可以找到。

This man wants more people to love bicycling. He finds stolen bikes and he
stops people from stealing them. He makes having a bicycle safer. He's the
bike whisperer!

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Vocabulary
冰島這位單車救星，喜歡幫人尋找腳踏車。

1. bike 腳踏車
My friend just told me he stole a bike yesterday.
我朋友剛剛告訴我他偷了一輛腳踏車。
What did you say? 你怎麼說呢?
I asked him why he did it.我問他為什麼要那樣。

2. steal 偷竊
He said it's because he loves biking. 他說因為他喜歡騎車。
So he decided to steal it? 所以就決定用偷的?
Yeah, I know it's a bad reason. 對，我知道這是個糟糕的理由。

3. angry 生氣的
Did you get angry? 你有生氣嗎?
No, why would I get angry? 沒有，我怎麼會生氣?
He didn't steal my bike. 他又不是偷我的車。

4. return 歸還
I did tell him to return it to the owner.我有告訴他把車子還給主人。
But he didn't know who the owner was. 但是他不知道主人是誰。
He said he'll put the bike back where he found it.
他說會把車子放回原先的地方。

今天你學到哪些單字?
bike腳踏車
steal偷竊
angry生氣的
return歸還

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quiz
1. Where does the man live?
a. Iceland
b. Finland
c. England

2. What do people call the man?
a. The bicycling whistle
b. The bike whisperer
c. The bicycle wheel

3. What is the man good at?
a. Selling bikes
b. Fixing bikes
c. Finding bikes

Answers:
1. a
2. b
3. c

 

________________________________

Christmas Leftovers at the Zoo

There's exciting news at the zoo! Guess what happened after Christmas! The
holiday fun didn't end! In Germany, the Berlin Zoo had a special treat for
their animals. The treat was... Christmas trees!
聖誕節過後，德國柏林動物園有特別的禮物要給園區的動物，那就是聖誕樹!

The elephants stepped on the trees. Then they pulled off the tree branches
with their long trunks. They enjoyed munching on the branches. They ate their
trees quickly.
大象會踏在樹幹上，用牠們長長的象鼻把樹枝扯下來，吃得津津有味。

The bison used the trees for fluffy pillows. Then they ate the trees.
Reindeer, Santa Claus' special pets, used the trees for massages and body
scrubs.
野牛會把樹當作枕頭，然後把它吃掉。馴鹿則是用樹幹來抓癢跟按摩。

The animals were very happy with their Christmas tree snacks and toys! But
here's the surprise. Not all trees are good for the animals. The zookeepers
only used fresh trees. They got them from Christmas tree sellers. These trees
weren't sold. They were leftovers!
但不是所有的樹都適合動物，只能是新的樹。保育員從聖誕樹商店取得剩下的聖誕樹，送給動物。

The zookeepers never use trees from people's homes. These trees might not be
clean for the animals to eat.
保育員從來不拿家裡用過的聖誕樹當作動物的食物，因為可能不衛生。

Every year, after Christmas Day, the zoo gives these special trees to their
animals. This turns leftover Christmas trees into tasty treats and toys for
cute zoo animals.

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Vocabulary
柏林動物園把沒有用過的聖誕樹，當成送給動物的禮物。

1. zookeeper 保育員
I took my son to the zoo on the weekend. 我周末帶我兒子去動物園。
Did you have lots of fun? 玩得開心嗎?
Oh yes, the zookeeper let him pet a pony。開心，保育員讓他拍小馬。

2. enjoy 喜歡
He couldn't stop talking about it. 他一直講這件事，停不下來。
I guess he enjoyed it a lot! 我猜他很喜歡。

3. quickly 快速地
Yeah, so I quickly bought a stuffed toy horse for him.
所以我趕快去買了一個玩具馬給他。
And he loved that too! 他也很喜歡那個玩具。

4. cute 可愛的
My favorite animal in the zoo is the elephant. 我最喜歡的動物園動物是大象。
It's big, but very cute. 牠很大，但是很可愛。

What's your favorite animal in the zoo? 來一起讀單字。
zookeeper保育員
enjoy喜歡
quickly快速地
cute可愛的

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Quiz

1. What did the reindeer do with the Christmas trees?
a. Scrub their bodies
b. Sleep on them
c. Step on them

2. Where did the zoo get Christmas trees?
a. Christmas tree sellers
b. People's houses
c. Forests

3. What do leftover Christmas trees turn into at this zoo?
a. Special days
b. Bison
c. Tasty treats

Answers:
1. a
2. a
3. c
 

________________________________

Cats Are Okay to Have Again in Singapore

Cats are great! They have cute meows and quiet purrs. They're small. They can
stay indoors 24 hours a day. Cats are good pets!
貓咪不論喵喵叫或是發出呼嚕聲都很可愛，又可以24小時都待在室內。

Lots of people like having cats. But in Singapore, having cats was a problem
for many people. These people live in government apartments. Singapore's
government makes these apartments. About 80% of Singaporeans live in them.
很多人喜歡養貓，但是養貓在新加坡，可能會帶給很多人麻煩。這些人住在政府興建的社會住宅。新加坡有百分之80的人住社會住宅裡。

But there was a law for people in these apartments. The law was made more
than 30 years ago. It was a law against having cats!
30多年前，法律規定住在社會住宅的人不可以養貓。

Why? Well, the government thought cats caused problems. Some cats ran out of
apartments. Some people didn't like cat hair in shared places.
政府認為貓會造成麻煩，牠們會從公寓跑出去，也有一些人不喜歡公共空間有貓毛。

But people in these apartments could have dogs! That didn't seem fair. Cats
are quieter than dogs. Cats also don't bite people as much.
但是社會住宅可以養狗。這好像不公平，貓比狗安靜也比較不會咬人。

But now there's good news! The government changed the law! Having cats is
okay again!
現在有好消息! 政府修改了法律，住戶又可以養貓了。

Cat lovers in Singapore's government apartments are happy. They can have one
or two cats now. That's great for these cat lovers, and for the cats!

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Vocabulary
新加坡放鬆了貓咪管制，讓愛貓人很開心。

1. bite 咬
Will you look after my dog when I'm away? 我不在的時候你可以照顧我的狗嗎?
Does he bite? 牠會不會咬人?
No, Bruno won't bite my friends.不會，布魯諾不會咬我的朋友。

2. cause 造成
But he's never met me. 但是牠從來沒見過我。
Yeah, you're right.對，你說得對。
That may cause some problems for you. 那對你可能會造成問題。

3. apartment 公寓
Tell you what. 我跟你說。
Come to my apartment for dinner tonight. 今晚來我的公寓吃晚飯吧。
It will give you two a chance to meet each other. 讓你們兩個有機會見見面。

4. quiet 安靜的
Free dinner is always welcome. 免費的晚飯是很受歡迎的。
I hope you'll think Bruno is a nice and quiet dog.
我希望你覺得布魯諾是安靜的乖
狗。

你有養小狗或是小貓嗎? 來讀單字。
bite咬
cause造成
apartment公寓
quiet安靜的

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quiz
1. What percentage of Singaporeans live in government apartments?
a. 24
b. 30
c. 80

2. What was the law against having?
a. Cat hair
b. Cats
c. Problems

3. What did the government change?
a. A law
b. Dogs
c. An apartment

Answers:
1. c
2. b
3. a