________________________________

How Wind Spins into a Tornado

Do you know what tornadoes are? They are towers of wind. They spin around and
around very fast. They're very strong and very, very scary!
你知道什麼是龍捲風嗎? 它是一個旋轉的空氣柱，破壞力很強，又非常嚇人!

A big tornado hit an American town. The tornado destroyed buildings and cars.
People had no electricity. They needed help!
龍捲風襲擊美國一個小鎮，摧毀建築物跟車子。當地還停電，民眾需要幫助。

How do tornadoes happen?
龍捲風怎麼形成的呢?

During some storms, warm air goes up to the clouds. At the same time, cold
air falls from the cloud. The warm and cold air mix and spin faster. If the
spinning air goes down to land, it becomes a tornado!
天氣不穩定的時候，暖空氣上升，冷空氣同時下降，冷暖空氣對流讓轉速越來越快，碰到地面就變成龍捲風。

Tornadoes show us that nature has a lot of power. Small, slow tornadoes can
pull off roof tiles. Big, fast tornadoes destroy buildings and pick up cars!
People try to stay safe in basements or places with no windows.
龍捲風向我們展現大自然的力量。小而慢的龍捲風會把屋頂的瓦片捲走。快而大的龍捲風會把房子跟車子吹走。民眾只能躲在地下室或是沒有窗戶的地方。

The tornado in the American town destroyed homes, shops, and restaurants.
龍捲風破壞小鎮的房屋、商店跟餐廳。

People are working together to fix their town.
居民合力一起恢復他們的小鎮。

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

Vocabulary
龍捲風力量驚人，要是碰觸到地面，經常造成損害。
1. hit 打擊。
A tornado hit my sister's town! 龍捲風擊中了我妹妹的小鎮。
Oh no, is she okay? 糟糕，她還好嗎?
Yeah, she's fine, but her car is destroyed. 她很好，但是她的車子毀了。
2. land 地面。
That's terrible! 真可怕!
Yeah, and she said 3 tornadoes touched land in 3 different
areas.對，她說三個龍捲風落在三個不同的地區。
3. electricity 電力。
The electricity was out for a while. 有一陣子還停電。
At least they still have the house. 至少他們還有房子。
4. spin 旋轉。
That's true. 那是真的。
I wonder what it's like 我真想知道… to be spun around by the
wind.被風吹得團團轉是怎樣。
來一起讀今天的單字。hit打擊 land地面 electricity電力 spin旋轉

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

Quiz
1. What is a tornado?
A: A type of cloud
B: A tower of spinning wind
C: A big rainstorm

2. How do tornadoes form?
A: When it rains a lot
B: When the sun shines very bright
C: When hot and cold air mix and spin really fast

3. What does the story say about small tornadoes?
A: They can pull off roof tiles
B: They can lift cars
C: They can destroy buildings
Answers
1. B
2. C
3. A

 

________________________________

Scientists Say It's Raining More… And Less

Do your mom and dad say it's raining more? Because of climate change, it is.
Air holds more water in our warmer world.
你爸媽有說過雨越下越多嗎?沒有錯，因為氣候變遷的關係，
氣候暖化讓空氣中有更多的水分。

Scientists say it's raining much more during wet times, and much less during
dry times. And these changes are causing problems.
科學家說雨季的雨水越來越多，乾季越來越乾燥，這些變化都會造成問題。

Too much rain can cause floods. There's too much water everywhere. Heavy rain
and floods damage farmers' crops. They damage homes, roads, and bridges.
Floods keep us from leaving our homes or schools. Flood water is dirty and
can make us sick!
雨太大會造成水災，會破壞農作物、家園、道路跟橋梁，我們只能待在家裡或學校。水災的髒水還會讓人生病。

Too little rain can cause droughts. There's too little water for everything.
Droughts hurt farmers. They need lots of water to grow crops. In Taiwan,
droughts hurt some technology companies. They need lots of water to make
their products. And droughts hurt us! We need water for a healthy life!
雨太少會引起乾旱。乾旱讓農作物無法生長，也影響科技公司製作產品，還會影響我們的健康。

We can't stop floods or droughts. But we can all help Taiwan have a little
more water every day. We can take shorter showers. We can turn off the water
when we brush our teeth or wash dishes.
我們沒辦法阻止水災或乾旱，但我們可以每天為台灣省多一點水，洗澡洗快一點，刷牙、洗碗的時候把水關掉。

Can you think of more ways?

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

Vocabulary
雨水太多會造成水災，不夠的話又變成旱災。

1. too much 太多
It's raining like crazy out there! 外面的雨下得真瘋狂!
Yeah, just yesterday I was worried about my tomatoes getting too much sun.
對啊，我昨天還在擔心我的番茄曬太多太陽。

2. too little 太少
Now it's too much water.現在是水太多了。
But when there's too little rain 但是雨水太少的時候…
I would be worried too.我又會擔心。

3. farmer 農夫
I really don't want to grow anything anymore. 我真的什麼都不想種了。
I'm not a good farmer. 我就不是好農夫。

4. problem 問題。
Hey, blame it on climate change. 要怪氣候改變吧。
It's the weather that's causing problems, not you. 是天氣造成問題，不是你。

Do you like rain? 一起來讀單字。
too much太多
too little太少
farmer農夫
problem問題

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

Quiz

1. What can too much rain cause?
a. Snow
b. Floods
c. Hot weather

2. What can too little rain cause?
a. Droughts
b. Typhoons
c. More rain

3. What can we do to save water?
a. Take longer showers
b. Take hotter showers
c. Take shorter showers

Answers:
1. b
2. a
3. c

 

Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Trevor Tortomasi...

And I'm Nancy Sun.

In today's news:

A Taiwanese movie wins an award, NASA gets ready to hit an asteroid, and lots
of new Marvel shows are coming soon.

All that and more, coming up next.
____________________________Taiwan Animation Wins Award At Chicago Film Fest

A Taiwanese movie has just won an award! The movie is called "City of Lost Things ", and won first place for animated films at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival. This film, called "Abandoned City", won first place for animated films at the International Children's Film Festival in Chicago, USA! The movie's director was Yee Chih-yen, and the main characters were voiced by Joseph Chang, Kwai Lun-Mei and River Huang. The movie tells the story of a young boy named Leaf, who doesn't have much confidence (confidence) in himself. Leaf finds his way to a place called the City of Lost Things, which is filled with things that people don't want anymore. And he soon finds The boy finds some new friends and goes on a journey with them, while learning about self-worth . The movie's achievement at the film festival was the first time in 22 years that a Taiwanese film won the prize. That's after the movie "Grandma and Her Ghosts" won the prize, in the year 1999. And City of Lost Things had already won the award for Best Animation Feature at the Golden Horse Awards last year. It was a tough project to complete... Director Yee says it took about 10 years to finish making the movie, and it cost around 100 million NT. But he refused to give up, and says he is ready to move forward with confidence. So while you go on your own journey of self-worth, remember that it's not about the awards that you win... It's about finishing the journey. ____________________________NASA To Launch World's First Planetary Defense Mission You probably know why there aren't any real dinosaurs (dinosaurs) still living today... It's because 65 million years ago, Earth was hit by an asteroid. This killed all of the biggest dinosaurs, and most of life on Earth. Of course, nobody wants this to happen again! So, scientists all over the world are doing their best to think of ways to protect Earth from any asteroids that might hit us in the future. So scientists are now racking their brains to find ways to protect the earth from being hit by asteroids in the future.






























































Because they're so small, and because outer space is so big, it's a
tough job just to find any asteroids.

But it's a tougher job to stop them, or even just to push them away!

Right now, scientists have found one specific asteroid, and are planning a
mission to hit it.

The mission uses a small rocket called DART, or "DART", which stands for
"Double Asteroid Redirection Test".

The DART rocket is planning to slam into an asteroid called "Dimorphos",
which is about 170 meters long.
This small spacecraft will hit an asteroid 170 meters in diameter to see if it can change its direction.

Scientists will use this test to learn as much as they can about redirecting
asteroids.

The DART mission was launched this month by NASA, in the United States.

And it's expected to hit the asteroid in October of 2022.

The DART mission is part of an even bigger mission, which will get help from
the European Space Agency, or ESA

Scientists say our planet should be safe from large asteroids for the next
100 years...

But even then, they say they can't see every single one.

So until then... this is the best we can do!
____________________________

Many new Marvel TV shows
More Marvel Shows Coming

Fans of Marvel content have a lot to look forward to.

Disney recently celebrated its Disney Plus Day , and announced several new
shows for the streaming platform.

A total of 12 Marvel projects were revealed then.

This includes both animations and live-action (live-action) projects.

Disney announced that many new Marvel TV shows will be streaming on DISNEY PLUS Platform release.

There will be live action shows for both new characters as well as spin-offs
from existing (existing) content.

The animated shows include continuations of previous projects, prequels, and
entirely new franchises.

Some of these shows will start streaming in 2022 or 2023, while others do not
have a release date yet.

Disney Plus recently became available here in Taiwan.

The new programs are available in animation and live action, and will be released starting in 2022.
____________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

The Taiwanese movie "City of Lost Things" has won an award in a film festival
in the US

The movie tells the story of a young boy named Leaf, who doesn't have much
confidence in himself.
____________________________

And,

NASA scientists have launched a small rocket called DART, which is planning
to slam into an asteroid that is about 170 meters big.

The DART mission was launched this month, and is expected to hit the asteroid
in October of 2022.
____________________________

And,

A total of 12 Marvel projects, both animations and live-action, have been
revealed.
____________________________

And that's today's episode of News Bites!
____________________________ Have Your Say This

week , we asked you to have your say about feeling thankful. 13 -year-old Marjolaine, from Nanshan Senior High School in New Taipei City, says she is thankful for her mother. *** And that does it for this week's "Have Your Say"! Remember, if your answer was chosen for the show this month, we'll be sending you a gift in the mail. Make sure to tune in again next week for an all-new question!















 

Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Trevor Tortomasi...

And I'm Ryan Drillsma.

In today's news:

Gender equality in Taiwan, a volcano in the Pacific Ocean, and thoughts on
the internet.

All that and more, coming up next.
________________________________

立院女性出頭天 42.5%立法委員是女性
Taiwan's 42.5% Female Legislature Sets Record

For a lot of human history, the leaders (領袖) of many countries have been
men.

But nowadays, many countries around the world are seeing a lot more gender
equality (男女平等)...

Especially Taiwan!
尤其是台灣！

Last month, a woman named Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) won an election to join
Taiwan's Legislative Yuan (立法院).

With her joining, the Legislative Yuan is now 42.5% women.

That means Taiwan has broken its own record for gender equality in its
legislature!
這代表台灣破了它自己的男女平等紀錄。

We call people working in the Legislative Yuan "lawmakers", because they make
laws (法律) for everyone in the country.

And if all the people making laws are the same, it can make life harder for
people who are different.

So the proportion of men to women is very important in government!
所以，政府裡面的男女比例的確很重要！

Of course, there is still a lot of inequality (不平等) around the world.

We need to work together on making sure all kinds of people are represented
(代表) in governments and society.

The good news is, starting with Taiwan's Legislative Yuan is a great first
step!
________________________________

東加火山爆發
Tonga Volcano Erupts

Last month, our planet Earth saw its biggest volcanic eruption (火山爆發) in
more than 30 years.

The volcano is on a small island in the country of Tonga (東加), which is an
archipelago (群島).

Okay... here's the bad news first.

Because the volcano is surrounded (被包圍) by water, it caused a lot more
problems than just a loud noise.

The eruption caused an earthquake so big that it caused a giant tidal wave to
move out in all directions.
火山爆發造成地震，大到海嘯往四面八方推進。

The tidal wave moved for thousands of kilometers across the Pacific Ocean
(海嘯掃過太平洋).

And it hit the beaches of countries all around the Pacific, like Japan, New
Zealand, and Peru.

But most importantly, it hit the islands of Tonga, and destroyed (摧毀) many
people's houses.

It even washed mud (泥土) into Tonga's clean water, so many people didn't
have enough to drink.

After the tidal wave's waters were gone, the volcano's smoke came back down
and filled the air with ash (火山灰).

On top of all these problems... the volcanic earthquake broke a very
important internet cable (網路海底電纜), deep under the ocean.

That cable was one of the only things letting many people in Tonga connect to
the rest of the world!
那條電纜是讓東加跟外面世界聯繫的唯一方式！

Okay, finally... here's some good news!

Many countries moved quickly to help Tonga recover (恢復).

Planes flew and ships sailed to Tonga from all around the world, bringing
clean water, food, and medical supplies (醫療設備) to help as many people as
possible.

And this month, even more people are going to Tonga, to fix the cable and
connect its islands to the world again!

If we can learn anything from this story, it's that we can't control how
dangerous Earth can be...

But we can control how many people we help!
________________________________

癱瘓男子動動腦 推特留言傳心聲
Paralyzed Man Makes Post With His Thoughts

Have you ever wanted to talk to someone using only your mind?

It might be possible sooner than you think!

One man from Australia has recently made a "tweet" (推特網站上留言), using
only his brain!

This man is paralyzed (癱瘓), so he can't move very much of his body.

That's why scientists wanted to create something for people like him, to help
them communicate (溝通) more easily.

Thanks to science, this man can now use a "brain chip" to send signals to a
computer, and write words on the internet.
這個人現在可以經由裝在腦袋裡面的晶片，傳訊號給電腦來寫字。

The brain chip is only about the size of a paperclip (迴紋針), but took four
hours to carefully put into the man's head.

And we may see even more tests with brain chips later this year!

It may sound weird or scary, but this man can now communicate more easily
with his family, and even play some simple games.
這種作法聽起來也許有點恐怖，但是他現在能夠跟家人溝通，還能玩一些簡單的遊戲。

Let's be happy for him, and hope this is a step in the right direction for
the rest of us, too!
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan is now 42.5% women.

That means Taiwan has broken its own record for gender equality in its
legislature!

If all the people making laws are the same, it can make life harder for
people who are different, so the proportion of men to women is very important
in government!
________________________________

And,

Last month, an island in Tonga had Earth's biggest volcanic eruption in more
than 30 years.

The eruption created an earthquake, a giant tidal wave, and clouds of ash,
and even cut Tonga off from the internet.

Thankfully, countries all around the world have already started to help Tonga
recover.
________________________________

And,

One paralyzed man in Australia can now use a brain chip to send signals to a
computer, and write words on the internet.

The brain chip is only about the size of a paperclip, but took four hours to
carefully put into the man's head.

Scientists wanted to create something for people like him, to help them
communicate more easily.
________________________________

And that's today's episode of News Bites!
________________________________

主播每周一問
Have Your Say

Welcome back!

We hope you've had a good Lunar New Year holiday...

Since this is everyone's first day back to school, we won't ask any Have Your
Say questions until next week.

Still, we'd like to thank the K-12 Education Administration 國民及學前教育署
of the Ministry of Education 教育部 for their incredible support.

If you have any comments or questions about the show, please send us an email
at newsbites@icrt.com.tw.

We hope to hear from you again next week!
 

Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Nancy Sun...

And I'm Paz Bueno.

In today's news:

Liuqiu Island's coral problem, a special racing dog returns, and rats train
to become heroes.

All that and more, coming up next.
________________________________

小琉球的珊瑚問題
Liuqiu Island's Coral Problem

Liuqiu Island (小琉球) is famous for its turtles, its beautiful beaches, and
its coral reefs.

Many local tourists (當地遊客) like to go to Liuqiu because it is a seaside
paradise (海岸天堂).

It has a protected coral area (珊瑚保護區).

And it has fun glass-bottomed boats (玻璃船) you can ride to discover (探索)
more about sea life.

But people who are trying to save the environment (環境) say there is a
problem in Liuqiu.

And that problem has to do with Liuqiu's corals.

這個問題跟小琉球的珊瑚有關。

Some scientists (科學家) have studied Taiwan's coral reefs for 12 years.

They say of all the reefs in Taiwan (台灣所有的珊瑚礁之中), the reefs around
Liuqiu Island are in the worst condition.

In 2020, when the weather was very hot, and there were no typhoons, Taiwan's
different coral reefs were badly damaged (受損).

The corals around Taiwan turned white, including the ones around Liuqiu
Island.

Some of the other corals that turned white, or were bleached (白化), seem to
be better now.

But the ones around Liuqiu Island are still in very bad shape (健康狀況差)

Climate change (氣候變遷) is not Liuqiu's only problem.

The island has too many tourists.

Liuqiu Island is also affected (受影響) by pollution (汙染) from Kaohsiung
and Pingtung.

Some scientists think it is too late to save all of the coral reefs of Liuqiu
Island.

But others say it might still be possible to save a few coral reefs.

Coral experts are asking the government to pass a law to protect the ocean by
2030.

That way, Liuqiu's corals may have a chance to survive (生存).
________________________________

特別的賽犬成功返家
A Special Racing Dog Returns

Every year, people get together to join the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
(艾迪塔羅德狗拉雪橇賽).

It's a special race that happens in Alaska.

Dog teams that join the Iditarod need to run for 1,609 kilometers.

The route goes through two mountain ranges (山脈), a frozen river, and next
to the Bering Sea (白令海).

The race is so long, teams of 12 and 14 dogs need up to 15 days to do the
whole race.

比賽路徑很長，12隻和14隻狗組成的雪橇隊需要15天才能跑完全程。

The Iditarod started as a way of testing the dogs to see how far and how fast
they could run.

But it has become a very competitive race.

It can be hard to race in the Iditarod.

It happens in early March, so teams have to travel through snow storms.

The wind chill (風寒) can even reach minus 73 degrees Celsius!

This year's Iditarod was especially sad, because one of the trainers lost his
dog Leon.

The dog disappeared from a checkpoint (中途點).

But Leon has been found safe!

He had travelled more than 240 kilometers from where he got lost, but he was
safe.

The people that found him also said Leon was skinny, but healthy
(瘦弱但仍然健康).

Leon's owner is a man from France.

He needed to go back to Alaska to pick up Leon.

Leon just needs to see a veterinarian (獸醫) to make sure he is okay before
he returns to France.

Maybe someone can write a book about Leon's story someday!
________________________________

老鼠被訓練成救援英雄
How Rats Train to Become Heroes

Many people might not like rats very much.

But scientists think rats are very smart, and they might be able to help
earthquake victims (受害者) in the future.

Some rats are being trained in Scotland.

During the training, the rats are taught how to wear backpacks with a
microphone (麥克風) , video camera, and tracker (追蹤器).

The rats then go into rubble (瓦礫堆), where they are taught to look for
humans.

The trainers say the rats are very smart.

科學家說老鼠非常聰明。

It only took the rats two weeks to learn how to do this.

If this works, humans will have new partners to work with when earthquakes
happen.
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

Liuqiu Island may be famous for its beaches.

But researchers say the island's coral reefs are badly damaged

Some scientists say the reefs can still be saved, but others say the reefs
are beyond repair.
________________________________

The Iditarod is a challenging dog race that happens in Alaska every year.

This year, one dog disappeared in the middle of the race.

But three months after the race finished, Leon the dog showed up, skinny but
healthy.
________________________________

Scientists are training rats to go through earthquake rubble to look for
survivors.

The rats are given backpacks with a microphone, a tracker, and a camera.

Trainers say the rats only took two weeks to learn how to do this.
________________________________

And that's today's episode of News Bites!
________________________________

主播每周一問
Have Your Say

This week, we asked you what you've learned this year.

And Tyrone from Mercy English Center in Kaohsiung, had something to say about
News Bites!

***

Well, that does it for this week's Have Your Say.

Remember, if your comment was chosen for the show this month, we'll be
sending you a gift in the mail.

Make sure to tune in again next week for an all new question!