________________________________

Saving Fish by Removing Dams

A river is very strong. It takes water from the mountains to the ocean, and
it's always pushing forward. A river is full of power!
河流的力量很強，可以把水從山上一路帶到海裡。

How can people use that power? On many rivers, people build a dam. A dam is a
wall across the river. The dam can hold back the water, and use the river's
power to make electricity for people.
人們會在河川上蓋水壩，把水攔住，用河流的力量發電。

More dams make more power, and more electricity for us to use. That sounds
good... but actually, people have decided to remove the dams from a river in
California.
越多水壩，就有越多電，聽起來不錯吧？但最近，加州的人決定把他們一條河上的水壩都拆掉。

That's because people are not the only ones who use the river. Fish also need
to live there.
因為不只是人類需要河流，魚類也需要生活空間。

For the salmon, the river is like a road. Every year, the salmon swim up the
river to lay their eggs.
對鮭魚來說，河流就像一條路。鮭魚每一年都會逆流而上去產卵。

When the eggs hatch, the baby salmon swim back down the river to reach the
ocean. It's the circle of life.
卵孵化之後，鮭魚寶寶會順流而下游回大海。

But those fish can't swim up and down the river if there is a dam! To help
the salmon live, people in California will take the dams away.
但如果有水壩擋路，那些魚就不能在河裡游上游下，所以人們決定把水壩拆掉。

Even though dams are useful, they also harm the environment. Let's respect
the fish and take those dams down!
________________________________

Vocabulary
移除水壩，救了鮭魚，而人類最好節約用電。

1. lay eggs 產卵
My goldfish has laid many eggs! 我的金魚生了好多蛋！
Come take a look. 你來看看。
Wow, how wonderful! 哇，好神奇！

2. hatch 孵化
What are you going to do with them? 你要拿這些蛋怎麼辦？
I'll just let them hatch. 就讓它們孵化。
No, you can't do that. The other goldfish will quickly eat them.
不能那樣，別的金魚很快就會把它們吃掉。

3. decide 決定
You need to decide if you want to see baby goldfish.
你得決定是不是想看到金魚寶寶。
And if I do? 要是我想呢？
Then you must take away the other fish. 那你得把別的魚拿走。

4. live 居住
They can live in your bathtub for a while. 它們可以在你的澡盆裡住一陣子。
What? No! 什麼啊，我才不要！
You have a fish tank, right? 你有水族箱，對吧？

今天學到哪些單字？
lay eggs 產卵
hatch 孵化
decide 決定
live 居住
________________________________

Quiz

1. What is a dam?
A: A wall
B: A boat
C: A fish

2. Why are people removing dams?
A: To build even bigger dams
B: To make more power
C: To help the fish

3. Where are people removing dams?
A: Canada
B: California
C: Korea

Answers
1. A
2. C
3. B
 

________________________________

The World's Biggest Water Battery

We can use the power of water to make clean energy, without any smelly smoke
or dirty pollution.
我們可以用水力製造乾淨的能源，還不會製造汙染跟濃煙！

That's why, high in the mountains of Switzerland, they've just built the
world's biggest water battery!
現在瑞士在一座高山上，蓋了世界最大的水電池！

It's made of two huge lakes, one high above, and one down below. To make
electricity, water moves super-fast from the high lake down to the low lake,
through big long tunnels!
這個電池由兩座湖構成。水會從比較高的湖，通過隧道流到比較低的湖裡面，這樣就可以發電！

Inside the tunnels are huge turbines. They look like the blades of a fan, but
much, much bigger!
隧道裡面有很大很大的渦輪，長得很像電風扇的葉片。

The power of the rushing water makes the turbines spin really fast. As the
turbines spin, they make electricity!
水沖過渦輪，渦輪會開始高速轉動，就可以產生電力！

This water battery is so big it took 14 years to build, and it can make
enough electricity to power 900,000 homes! That's more than they need in
Switzerland, so they want to share it with the rest of Europe.
蓋這個水電池一共花了14年，生產的電力可以供應九十萬個家庭使用。因為自己用不完，瑞士打算跟其他國家分享！

Lots of clean energy for folks all over Europe, for years, all thanks to the
world's biggest water battery!
________________________________

Vocabulary
瑞士的水電池，是利用水位的高低差來發電。

1. Switzerland 瑞士
Have you ever been to Switzerland? 你有沒有去過瑞士？
No, have you? 沒有，你去過嗎？
No, but I'd sure like to visit. 沒有，很想去看看。

2. lake 湖泊
They have lots of beautiful lakes and high mountains.
他們有很多漂亮的湖和高山。
Yeah, and lots of snow too. It must be very cold there.
對，還有很多雪。那裏一定很冷。

3. biggest 最大的
And Lake Geneva is the biggest high-mountain lake in Europe.
還有，日內瓦湖是歐洲最大的高山湖。
Bigger than Sun Moon Lake? 比日月潭大嗎？
Much bigger. 大多了。

4. clean 乾淨的
It uses clean energy too. 它也用乾淨能源。
It all sounds great. 聽起來都很不錯。
But I prefer a warm place. 可是我喜歡溫暖的地方。

今天學到哪些單字？
Switzerland 瑞士
lake 湖泊
biggest 最大的
clean 乾淨的
________________________________

Quiz

1. Where is the world's biggest water battery?
A: Sweden
B: Swaziland
C: Switzerland

2. What's inside the water battery's big long tunnels?
A: Smelly smoke
B: Huge turbines
C: Dirty pollution

3. How long did this water battery take to build?
A: 43 years
B: 14 years
C: 40 years

Answers
1. C
2. B
3. B
 

________________________________

Village Oven Bakes Again

We get most of our heat and light from electricity. The problem is,
electricity can be expensive!
我們的熱能以及光都是靠電力。但是電費很貴喔！

Thousands of years ago, in England, owning an oven was expensive too. Most
people didn't have one in their home.
好幾千年以前，大多數的英國人家裡沒有窯，因為窯太貴了。

Instead of lots of little ovens, most villages had just one that was really
big. They called it the 'village oven'. The baker would use it first. Then,
while the oven was still warm, everyone else could use it too!
當時村莊裡面會有一座共用的窯。烘焙師傅先用，他烤完之後，其他的村民也趁熱去使用。

Last year, a baker in England decided to bring the village oven back! He
wanted to help people pay their electric bills, so he opened up his huge
kitchen for everyone to use, and even offered to cook some things for free!
去年有一個英國的烘焙師傅，他想幫大家省電費，所以恢復了這個傳統。他讓大家用他的廚房，還免費烤東西給大家吃！

They call him Baker Ed. He's helped people in his town lots of times before.
He's held free cookery classes and free kid's clubs. And when it's cold he
lets people use the heat of his oven to keep warm!
大家叫他 Ed
師傅。他以前也常常幫助他的村莊。他會開免費的烘焙課，還有小孩的社團！很冷的時候，他也會讓大家在他的烤箱旁邊取暖！

His neighbors and friends think he is doing an amazing thing, helping people
to eat and keep warm while electricity is so expensive. Bravo Baker Ed!
________________________________________

Vocabulary
英國的麵包師傅，把自己的大烤箱開放給他人使用，暖胃又暖心。

1. cook 烹飪。
It's so cold here! 這裡好冷喔!
You have to cook something, Paz! Anything.
你一定得煮一點兒東西，派絲，什麼都好。

2. oven 烤箱。
Okay, let me bake some cookies and bread in the oven.
好吧，我來用烤箱烤一些餅乾和麵包。
Great idea! 好主意!
Let's fire up the oven now. 我們現在就把烤箱熱起來。

3. kitchen 廚房。
Not so fast.不要這麼快。
I need to prepare the stuff first. 我需要先準備材料。
Would you like to help me in the kitchen? 你可以來廚房幫我嗎?
I'd be happy to. 我很樂意。

4. warm 溫暖的。
Finally, I'm feeling warm! 我終於覺得暖和了。
Can you smell that? It's our bread baking. 你聞得出來嗎?我們的麵包正在烤。
I love warm bread! 我愛熱麵包!

記得多多使用這些單字!

cook烹飪
oven烤箱
kitchen廚房
warm溫暖的
________________________________________

Quiz
1. What can fire not do?
A: Light our homes
B: Keep us tall
C: Cook our food

2. Where did they use village ovens thousands of years ago?
A: England
B: Finland
C: Legoland

3. What do they call the kind baker in this story?
A: Baker Jed
B: Baker Ed
C: Baker Ted

Answers
1. B
2. A
3. B

 

________________________________

A Goal to Protect 30% of Earth

Do you have a goal? Most people have goals in life. That means they know what
they want.
你有目標嗎？大部分的人都會有一些人生的目標。這意味著他們對自己想要的東西有想法。

The best goal is a clear goal. If you know exactly what you want, it is
easier to get.
最好的目標就是清楚地知道你想要什麼，就更容易得到。

Recently, all the countries in the world had a big meeting called COP15 ("cop
fifteen"). Their goal was to solve a problem.
一百多個國家的代表最近聚集在一起，參加 COP15聯合國生物多樣性大會。
他們的目標是解決一個問題。

Every year, more kinds of plants and animals are lost forever. It is one of
Earth's biggest problems. We need to act soon.
每一年都有更多種類的植物跟動物永遠消失。這是地球上最大的問題之一。我們需要盡快採取行動。

To deal with this problem, the countries set a clearer goal. They call it
"Thirty by Thirty". That means they want to protect 30% of Earth's nature by
the year 2030.
為了解決這個問題，各國設定更清楚的目標。他們稱之為「三十乘三十」。
意思是他們希望2030年之前保護地球30%的自然環境。

That sounds like something we can really do! Now we only have a few years to
reach the goal, so all the countries on Earth must work together.
這聽起來是我們真的可以做的事情！
現在我們只有幾年的時間來實現這個目標，所以地球上的所有國家都必須共同努力。

They have a clear goal... do you have one?
________________________________

Vocabulary
保護動植物，也是愛護地球的方法。

1. life 人生
Do you know what you want in life? 你知道你的人生想要什麼嗎？
Yes, very clearly. 知道，很清楚。

2. want 想要
I want to always eat good food, live in a nice house and have lots of
clothes. 我想要總是吃美食，住好房子，有很多衣服。
You're right. 你說對了。
You do know what you want. 你確實知道想要什麼。

3. easier 比較容易的
How about you? 你呢？
Well, I'd like to have an easier job. 我想要有個比較輕鬆的工作。
That sounds like a good idea. 聽起來是個好主意。

4. together 一起
But what kind of job? 但是哪種工作呢？
A job like watching TV together with my family. 比如說家人一起看電視。
What?! 什麼啊？！
You can't make money that way! 這樣賺不到錢！

你的人生想做什麼呢？
life 人生
want 想要
easier 比較容易的
together 一起
________________________________

Quiz

1. What kind of goal is best?
A: A big goal
B: A clear goal
C: A fast goal

2. What did the countries in COP15 want to protect?
A: Cops
B: Money
C: Nature

3. How much of Earth did they set a goal to protect?
A: 15%
B: 30%
C: 60%

Answers
1. B
2. C
3. B
 

________________________________

British River Brought Back to Life

Hi everyone! You guys know that pollution is a big problem around the world,
right? It's in the air. It's on land, and it's in the water. That's bad!
環境污染到處都是，空氣、土地、河流都會被污染，很糟糕！

But, there is also some good news. Many people are working hard to clean up
the environment. In England, scientists are helping to make a river called
the River Mersey much cleaner.
但也有人努力清理環境。英國的科學家想讓一條叫做梅西河的河流變乾淨。

That river was famous for being one of the most polluted rivers in Europe.
Scientists even said the river was "dead", because it had so much pollution.
梅西河是全歐洲最骯髒的河流之一，科學家甚至說這條河流已經死了。

Why was the River Mersey so polluted? For a long time, factories put
dangerous chemicals into the River Mersey.
為什麼它污染這麼嚴重呢？因為工廠一直把廢棄化學物排進河裡。

Also, the river had a lot of sewage. So, it smelled really, really bad. Yuck!
很多下水道也把汙水排進去，所以很臭，很噁心！

Since 1985, the government has spent lots of money to make the River Mersey
cleaner. And it is working!
英國政府從 1985 年以來，花了大錢清理梅西河，結果奏效了！

About 20 years ago, in 2002, there were only 15 kinds of fish in the river.
But last year, there were 37! That's a lot more fish!
20 年前河裡只有 15 種魚，去年已經有 37 種了！

That's great, but the scientists aren't finished yet. They want to keep
working to make the River Mersey even cleaner.

Let's all wish those scientists good luck, it sounds like they are doing a
great job!
________________________________

Vocabulary
汙染嚴重的梅西河經過一番努力，已經脫胎換骨。

1. dangerous 危險的
Hmmm, I didn't know that there's a beach nearby. 我不知道這附近有海灘。
That's because nobody goes there. 那是因為沒有人去。
Because it's dangerous? 因為它很危險嗎？

2. polluted 受到污染的
Yeah, it's very polluted.對，它汙染得很厲害。
Yuck, that's bad. 好噁喔，真糟糕。
It is. 是很糟。

3. clean up 清理
Why didn't anyone try to clean it up? 為什麼沒有人試著清理它？
Are you kidding? That's a lot of work! 開玩笑，那是多大的工作！
I don't even want to clean my room! 我甚至不想清我的房間！

4. year 年
You're right, it'll take at least half a year to clean it.
說得對，打掃你的房間至少需要半年。
I'd say a year. 我會說要一年。

我們一起來讀單字。
dangerous 危險的
polluted 污染的
clean up 清理
year 年
________________________________

Quiz

1. Where is the River Mersey?
A: America
B: England
C: Germany

2. Why did scientists call the River Mersey "dead"?
A: It had too much pollution
B: It was too dry
C: It had no fish

3. How many kinds of fish were in the River Mersey last year?
A: 15
B: 37
C: 55

Answers
1. B
2. A
3. B