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Man Gives Rewards for Good Grades

You study hard at school. What makes you study? Do rewards for good grades
make you study?
你在學校努力學習是為了什麼？如果好成績可以換來獎勵的話，你會更認真嗎？

In New York City in the U.S., a man has a small food shop. He loves when kids
get good grades! They bring him their tests and report cards. He looks at
their grades. Then he gives them rewards! Kids get their favorite snacks!
在美國紐約，有一間食品店老闆喜歡看到小朋友得到好成績！小朋友會把考卷跟成績單拿給他看。如果他們成績不錯，老闆就會給他們好吃的零食作為獎勵！

When their grade is ninety percent or more, the man gives kids the biggest
reward. They get snacks, a T-shirt, and about three thousand Taiwan dollars!
如果成績達到九十分以上，老闆就會送出最大獎！最大獎包括零食，一件T-shirt，還有大概三千塊台幣！

The man also gives rewards for other things, like going to school every day.
老闆也會獎勵每天都準時去上學的小朋友！

Why does the man do this? Well, he is from Yemen. Yemen is far away. He has
three kids there. He misses them a lot. He thinks of them when he gives
rewards to kids.
老闆為什麼要這樣做？原來他來自遙遠的葉門，他的三個小孩都在葉門，他非常想念他們。每次給小朋友獎勵時，他都會想到自己的孩子。

People on social media see kids get rewards. They like this! They want to
help. They give the man money. Now he can give rewards to more kids!
很多人看到這件事後想幫忙，就捐錢給老闆。這樣一來，老闆就可以獎勵更多認真的小朋友！

Do you want a shop like this near you? Would rewards make your grades go up?
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Vocabulary
食品店的老闆提供獎品給好好上學讀書的小孩。

1. grade 分數。
My son is getting good grades this semester! 我兒子這學期分數不錯。
Good for him! 真好!
Yeah, I think he finally realizes school is not a playground.
對啊，我想他終於覺悟學校不是遊戲場。

2. school 學校。
For my son, school is an on-and-off thing. 對我兒子來說學校可去可不去。
He only goes to school when he feels like it. 他只有想上學時才去上。

3. report card 成績單。
Is that good? 那樣好嗎?
Well, I'm a work-from-home mom. 我是在家上班的媽媽。
I don't mind. 我不介意。
Do you look at his report card? 你看不看他的成績單?

4. test 考試。
I do. He does well on all his tests. 我會看，他的考試成績都不錯。

這些單字你記住了嗎? grade分數 school學校 report card成績單 test考試
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Quiz

1. Where is the shop?
a. The U.S.
b. Yemen
c. Taiwan

2. What can kids bring to the man to get rewards?
a. Lots of money
b. A report card
c. Their favorite snacks

3. Why do people on social media give the man money?
a. To get good grades
b. To buy their favorite snacks
c. To help more kids get rewards

Answers
1. a
2. b
3. c
 

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Hi and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Allie Highsmith.

And I'm Nancy Sun.

Today we talk about the lanterns of Pingxi.

And… we'll tell you what people did to King Charles' old curtains.

Plus we'll tell you how to change the meaning of a word… by adding just
three letters.

And we hear some listener stories about a park, and strawberries!

All that and more… coming up next.
____
臺鐵試辦鐵道放天燈
Paper lanterns allowed to fly over Pingxi

Tourists love to visit the Pingxi railway in New Taipei.

They write their wishes on paper lanterns, then let the lanterns fly, to pray
that their wishes come true.
他們把願望寫在天燈上，然後放飛天燈，祈求願望能成真。

It is a beautiful and romantic tradition (傳統), but it also causes problems,
because the lanterns become trash.

The lanterns cannot be recycled (回收).

And because they have candles, the lanterns are also a fire risk (火災風險).

Lanterns are dangerous for animals, because they can eat them, and the
animals can get hurt by doing that.

Because Pingxi's good luck lanterns cause so many real world problems
(在真實世界會產生問題), they can only be released in special places
(在一定地點才能放).

But the Taiwan Railway Corporation is ready to compromise (妥協)... and it
says it will allow people to fly lanterns in more places.

These areas are Shifen, Pingxi, and Jingtong stations.

The new rules will stay in place until the end of January next year.

But because the lanterns still cause problems, the New Taipei City government
says people will still have to follow certain rules.

The lanterns can only be released during special times, and in special places.

They will also have to follow certain rules.

Those who break the law will be punished by paying a fine (繳納罰款).
____

In this episode's bite-sized break, we hear from 13-year-old Lisa, from
Kaohsiung Municipal Yang Ming Junior High School.

***BITE-SIZED BREAK***

We also hear from 11-year-old Jay, from New Taipei Municipal Tur Ya Kur
Elementary and Junior High School.

***BITE-SIZED BREAK***
___
國王的窗簾變成聖誕襪
King's curtains become Christmas stockings

What do your parents do when they need new curtains (窗簾)?

Do they throw away the old ones, or do they recycle them?

In England, the people that take care of one house that belongs to King
Charles III (查爾斯國王) decided it was time to change the window curtains,
also called 'drapes'.

But instead of throwing away the drapes, they decided to make something new
with the fabric.

They decided to make Christmas stockings (聖誕襪).

Many Christmas stockings we see are coloured red and green, with white furry
trim.

But these stockings are gold-coloured, and have the king's crest (國王的圖案).

They took about six hours to make, and they aren't sold in a store.

The stockings were sold through what is called an auction.

這些聖誕襪以拍賣的方式出售.

That's when people compete to buy something -- and the person that offers the
most money gets the chance to buy the stocking.

All the money earned from these auctions is being used to take care of people
that need help.

They decided to make 25 Christmas stockings all in all.

Twenty four of the stockings were sold.

One of the stockings will be given to King Charles as a souvenir (紀念品).

This is not the first time the King's old drapes are being used to make new
things.

In 2023, old curtains were used to make kimono jackets.

And in 2024 they were used to make low chairs called "footstools" (腳凳).

___

Recap

So in today's News Bites:

The Taiwan Railway Corporation says it will allow people to fly paper
lanterns in more places.

These places are Shifen, Pingxi, and Jingtong Stations.

The more relaxed rules stay in place until the end of January next year.

But because the lanterns still cause problems, the New Taipei City government
says people will still have to follow certain rules.
______
And…

In England, the people that take care of one house that belongs to King
Charles the third decided it was time to change the window curtains, also
called 'drapes'.

But instead of throwing away the drapes, they decided to make something new
with the fabric.

They decided to make Christmas stockings.

There were 25 stockings all in all.
___
News Flash

In today's News Flash, our word of the day is "DISCONTINUE!"

The word 'DISCONTINUE' has a prefix - "D-I-S"... or "dis"... which was added
before the word "continue"

The prefix "dis" means "opposite of"

So "dis" makes a word the opposite of what it means.

To "discontinue" means to stop something… just like the word "disappear"
means to make something not seen.
___

If you have a fun fact or a joke you'd like to share with us, record your
message and send us your Bite-Sized Break to newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you
might hear it in an episode!

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites.