The Asian Giant Hornet

What's that sound? Sounds like an insect… like a fly, maybe? 蒼蠅？ Or a
mosquito, 蚊子？ Or a… hornet!! 大黃蜂!!

Argh! I hate hornets. They scare me. I have been stung by a hornet.
我被大黃蜂叮過。It really hurt! I don't want to experience that ever again!

Do you know what the scariest kind of hornet is?
你知道最可怕的黃蜂是哪一種嗎？ The Asian giant hornet. 那就是大虎頭蜂。

The Asian giant hornet is the largest kind of hornet in the entire world.
大虎頭蜂是全世界最大的黃蜂。

An Asian giant hornet nest was recently found in the U.S., and people quickly
got rid of it. "Got rid of" 的意思就是把它除掉。 People were scared the
hornets would hurt the local insects, like bees.

And bees are very important! 蜜蜂很重要！ They help make more flowers, and of
course, they make delicious honey!

Asian giant hornets can kill bees! 大虎頭蜂會殺死蜜蜂！

They kill other kinds of hornets too! 其他種類的黃蜂也不放過!

It is also very painful when an Asian giant hornet stings you. Thankfully,
Asian giant hornets don't usually attack people. 還好大虎頭蜂不常攻擊人類。

Of all the insects, I am most afraid of hornets. What kind of insect are you
afraid of?
________________________________

Vocabulary

大虎頭蜂有可能攻擊人類，最好避開。

1. Scare 害怕。
Are you scared of hornets? 你怕不怕黃蜂？
Of course. But I'm most scared of spiders. 當然怕，不過我最怕蜘蛛。

2. Scary 讓人害怕的。
Spiders are not that scary. 蜘蛛沒那麼可怕。
They don't attack people. 牠們不會攻擊人。
You're wrong. They are very scary. 你錯了，牠們非常可怕。

3. Attack 攻擊。
Have you ever been attacked by spiders? 你曾經被蜘蛛攻擊過嗎？
No, not really. 並沒有。
But they're so ugly! 但是牠們長得好醜！

4. Honey 蜂蜜。
Would you like some honey cake? 想要來一點蜂蜜蛋糕嗎？
Oh yes, I love honey cake. 要，我喜歡蜂蜜蛋糕。
It's just delicious, isn't it? 很好吃，不是嗎？

Let's read these useful words.
scare 害怕
scary 讓人害怕的
honey 蜂蜜
attack 攻擊
________________________________

Quiz

1. What kind of insect is this story about?
a. Bees
b. Hornets
c. Mosquitoes

2. What does the Asian giant hornet do?
a. Bite
b. Sting
c. Punch

3. What do these hornets do to other insects?
a. They make friends with them
b. They kill them
c. They ignore them

Answers
1. B
2. B
3. B
 

Diver Nearly Swallowed by Whale

Do you know what animal makes that sound? That's a whale call!
那個聲音就是鯨魚。

Whales are the world's biggest animals. But it's funny, many of the biggest
whales only eat tiny things.
很好玩的是，體型最大的鯨魚，只吃最小的東西。

Some whales rush forward with their huge mouths wide open, so lots of water,
and any food in the water, rushes in!

It's pretty cool. But one man found out you shouldn't get too close to a
whale that's eating.有人發現鯨魚在吃東西的時候不要太靠近。

The man is a lobster diver. One day, when he was catching lobsters, he
suddenly felt a big bump and everything went dark.
有一天他下海抓龍蝦時，周圍突然一片黑暗。

At first he thought he had been eaten by a shark! He felt around, but there
were no teeth! That's when he realized he was in a whale's mouth!
他以為自己被鯊魚吃掉了！但是他摸索了半天發現沒有牙齒. 原來他在鯨魚的嘴裡！

After about 30 seconds the whale decided it didn't want to eat the diver.

So the whale shook its head and spat the diver back into the sea.
大概30秒之後，鯨魚覺得這個人不好吃.，就把他吐回海裡！

The lucky diver escaped with just a few bumps and bruises! And the whale
escaped with just a bad taste in its mouth!
________________________________

Vocabulary

到鯨魚嘴巴裡走一遭，真是特別的經驗！

1. Whale 鯨魚。
Why do whales have big mouths? 鯨魚為什麼有大嘴巴？
Maybe because they need to eat a lot of food? 也許是因為牠們需要吃很多食物？

2. Mouth 嘴巴。
Please don't talk when you have food in your mouth. 嘴裡有食物時請不要講話。
But there's nothing in my mouth.可是我嘴裡沒東西。

3. Eat 吃。
Would you like to eat here? 想在這裡吃東西嗎？
Okay. I know they have good hamburgers here. 好，我知道這裡有好吃的漢堡。

4. Catch 抓。
How many lobsters did you catch? 你抓到幾隻龍蝦？
Only three. 只有三隻。
Today is not a good day. 今天收穫不多。

今天的單字應該比較簡單，我們一起來讀。
whale 鯨魚
mouth 嘴巴
eat 吃
catch 抓
________________________________

Quiz

1. What almost swallowed a man?
a. A shark
b. A whale
c. An octopus

2. Who was almost swallowed?
a. A diver
b. A sailor
c. A teacher

3. What was the person doing when they were almost swallowed?
a. Catching lobsters
b. Swimming
c. Rowing a boat

Answers
1: B
2: A
3: A
 

Police on Rollerblades

Did you know some police officers in Pakistan use rollerblades! These police
officers learn how to rollerblade so they can chase and catch people who
break the law. 有一些巴基斯坦的警察穿直排輪去追犯人。

Some cities in Pakistan are super, super crowded. The traffic is super bad!
The police say they can't use a police car... and they can't use a police
motorcycle. The roads are too crowded! So, they use rollerblades!
這是因為巴基斯坦的城市過於擁擠，街道塞滿車輛，警察不能開車或是騎摩托車。

In Taiwan, sometimes you can see police officers riding horses. But usually,
the police in Taiwan ride on scooters or drive police cars.
在台灣，有時候你會看到騎馬的警察，但大部分的警察是開警車或騎摩托車。

But the cities in Pakistan are different. The roads are crowded with people
and cars, and buses and motorcycles… it's so busy, sometimes everyone gets
stuck and can't move! That's why the police there are using rollerblades.
但是在巴基斯坦的大都市，道路太擁擠，有時候根本動不了，這是為什麼警察穿直排輪的原因。

Have you ever tried rollerblading? It's not easy! You need to practice for a
long time. With rollerblades, you can ride on the sidewalk or the road… The
rollerblade police in Pakistan don't have to worry about traffic… they can
just roll on their rollerblades and catch people who break the law! What a
good idea!
________________________________

Vocabulary

警察穿著直排輪鞋在街上飛跑，還真想看看呢！

1. Crowded 擁擠的。
This road is so crowded! 這條路好擠喔！
It happens every time before a long holiday. 每次放長假之前都會這樣。

2. Traffic 交通。
There's just too much traffic. 車子太多了。
I hate it when we have to worry about traffic before taking a vacation.
我真討厭度假之前得先擔心交通問題。
I know. 我懂。

3. Catch 抓到。
Did the police catch the man? 警察抓到那個人了嗎？
I don't think so. 我想沒有。
But they did catch his friend. 不過他們確實抓到了他的朋友。

4. Chase 追逐。
Should we chase away that cat? 我們應該把那隻貓趕走嗎？
Why? It's not doing anything to us. 為什麼？牠沒有對我們做什麼啊。

今天的單字很常用，我們來讀一遍。
crowded 擁擠的
traffic 交通
catch 抓到
chase 追逐
________________________________

Quiz

1. Where do some police officers use rollerblades?
A: India
B: China
C: Pakistan

2. Why do these police officers use rollerblades?
A: Because they need more exercise
B: Because they don't have police cars
C: Because the roads are too crowded

3. What do police in Taiwan use?
A: Cars, scooters… and sometimes, horses!
B: Birds, bicycles, and trucks
C: They hop on one foot

Answers
1: C
2: C
3: A
 

Bees Keep Elephants Away

Elephants are very big! What does a big animal need a lot of every day? Food!
Elephants need a lot of food.

But, in some places in Africa, elephants come into villages to find food.
This is a problem because a big hungry elephant can smash things and take all
the farmers' food. People can get hurt when elephants come looking for food
and elephants can get hurt too…
非洲有一些地方的大象，會跑進村莊裡找東西吃。這是一個大問題，而且人類也可能受傷。

Can they build a fence? Hmm... no... elephants are too big and too strong.

But… you can use bees! Yes! Really! Bees!

Elephants are afraid of bees! The bees sting them in the mouth or even inside
the trunk. Ouch! So elephants try to stay far away from bees.
因為蜜蜂會叮大象的嘴巴，甚至跑進牠的長鼻子。所以大象很怕蜜蜂。

One day the people had an idea. Get boxes full of bees and hang them on a
fence. Maybe that can stop the elephants from coming into the village. And...
it worked! The elephants hear the sound of buzzing bees and they run away!
有一天，村民把蜂窩掛在村莊外的欄杆上，結果大象聽到蜜蜂的聲音，就趕快跑了。

Bees are very small, but they can stop elephants! Cool, huh?
____________________________________________________________

Vocabulary
大象怕蜜蜂，因為生氣的蜜蜂會螫咬大象。

1. Stay away 保持距離。
Let's stay away from those bees. 我們跟那些蜜蜂保持距離。
Yeah, I'm very afraid of bees, too. 對，我也很怕蜜蜂。

2. Run away 跑開。
Can I stay at your house tonight? 我今晚可以住你家嗎？
Why? Are you running away from home? 為什麼？你要逃家嗎？
No, I'm running away from school. 不是，我是要逃學。

3. Work 有用。
It won't work. 沒有用的。
Your teacher will find you. 你的老師會找到你的。
It will work. Just don't tell anyone I'm at your house.
有用，你只要別告訴任何人我在你家。

4. Food 食物。
I'll get some food since you're coming. 既然你要來，我會買一些吃的。
You don't need to buy a lot of food. 你不需要買很多食物。
I don't eat much. 我吃得不多。

常常讀單字可以幫助你記憶。
stay away 保持距離
run away 跑開
work 有用
food 食物
_________________________________________________________

Quiz

1. Why do elephants come into some villages in Africa?
A: They want to say 'hello.'
B: They are looking for other elephants
C: They want to find food

2. Why are elephants afraid of bees?
A: They don't like that buzzing sound
B: The bees take the elephants' food
C: The bees sting them...sometimes in their trunks!

3. How did people stop elephants from coming into villages?
A: They made a fence with boxes of bees on it
B: They screamed really loudly
C: They put up a sign saying, "No Elephants!"

Answers
1. C
2. C
3. A
 

WaterPod Makes Seawater Drinkable

I love the sea… Blughh! But I hate getting seawater in my mouth! Eww! It
tastes horrible! 大海景色優美又好玩，但是海水的味道真的很糟糕。 Yuck!

Seawater is really salty. Not only does it taste really bad, it will actually
make you even more thirsty! There's just too much salt in it for our bodies.
So no matter how thirsty you are, never drink from the sea!
海水很鹹，不只難喝，還會讓你更口渴，因為我們的身體沒有辦法處理那麼多鹽。

We have so much water on earth, but 97% is salty seawater that we can't drink.
地球有很多水但是97%是不能喝的海水。

Now, some students from Malaysia have come up with a great idea. They
invented something really cool called a WaterPod.
馬來西亞一群學生發明了很酷的東西叫做WaterPod。

This WaterPod floats on the sea, sucks up water, and takes out the salt!
People can then come to the WaterPod and pump out fresh water!
這個WaterPod漂浮在海面上，過濾海水中的鹽分，變成淡水。

If they can make more WaterPods, they could help so many people that live
near the sea but don't have easy access to clean, fresh water that they can
drink.
要是能夠做出很多WaterPod,那些住在海邊的人就有乾淨淡水可以喝了。

This is a really great invention!
________________________________

Vocabulary
海水化為淡水的發明，可以造福人類。

1. Salt 鹽。
Why is there salt in seawater? 為什麼海水裡有鹽？
I think the salt comes from the stuff washed into the sea.
我想鹽是來自被沖進海水裡的物質。

2. Seawater 海水。
So we shouldn't drink seawater at all? 所以我們完全不該喝海水？
No, it's not a good idea. 對，那不是好主意。

3. Invent 發明, invention 發明。
The WaterPod is a useful invention. WaterPod是很有用的發明。
I hope I can invent something useful. 我希望我能發明有用的東西。

4. Thirsty 口渴的。
Eating hot dogs always makes me thirsty. 吃熱狗總是讓我覺得口渴。
That's because there's too much salt in it. 那是因為它裡面太多鹽了。

這些字很重要也很常用。
salt 鹽
seawater 海水
invent 發明
invention 發明
thirsty 口渴的
________________________________

Quiz

1. What is the invention called?
A: A Sea Drinker
B: An Ocean Swimmer
C: A WaterPod

2. Who invented it?
A: Students from Malaysia
B: Kids from South Korea
C: Fishermen from Australia

3. What does the invention do?
A: It turns seawater into drinking water
B: It makes seawater saltier
C: It turns seawater pink

Answers
1. C
2. A
3. A