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Kids Are the Chess Pieces on this Chessboard

Qipan is a village in Yunlin. "Qipan" means chessboard. And yes, Qipan loves
Chinese chess! The game is good for the brain. Players have to listen, think,
and plan.
在雲林的棋盤村，很多村民都喜歡下象棋！這種遊戲對大腦很好，因為玩家必須懂得聆聽、思考跟做計畫。

Every year, Qipan has a national Chinese chess competition. The kids at
Qishan Elementary School in Qipan were excited! They wanted to tell everyone
about the competition!
棋盤村每年都會舉辦全國象棋公開賽。棋山國小的學生非常興奮，想要讓大家趕快知道這個消息！

So the kids made a big Chinese chessboard in their playground. It did not
have big round chess pieces. The kids were the chess pieces!
他們在學校的操場做了一個巨大的棋盤，棋盤上沒有圓形的棋子，因為學生自己就是棋子！

Two teams were on the chessboard. One team wore black shirts and pants. The
other team wore red shirts and pants. Each kid also wore a round chess piece.
學生分成兩隊站在棋盤上，一隊穿著黑色，另一隊穿著紅色。每個人身上還掛著圓形的棋子作為標示。

Teachers told the kids where to move on the chessboard. Some kids moved too
early. Some kids moved to the wrong place. Some kids laughed when they were
face to face! They had fun!
老師用麥克風指示場上的學生們如何移動。有些人太早移動，有些人走錯位置，還有一些人在面對面的時候笑場，但大家都玩得很開心！

A month later, four hundred people played in the competition. It was free.
There were many prizes. Everyone was happy!
一個月後，總共有四百個人參加了正式的象棋比賽。參加比賽不用報名費，獲勝者還能得到很多獎品，每個人都玩得很開心！

Do you want to play in Qipan's competition next year?
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Vocabulary
象棋也可以組成隊伍比賽，參加的人就是棋子。

1) wrong 錯誤的。
Do you play Chinese chess? 你會不會下象棋?
I tried it once… then I gave up. 我試過一次就放棄了。
Why? 為什麼?
Because I made all the wrong moves. 因為每一步我都走錯了。

2) early 很早。
Even my horse looked confused. 連我的馬都很困惑。
You quit too early! 你放棄得太早啦!
Chinese chess is a really interesting game. 象棋真的很有趣。

3) competition 比賽。
Ah, I see what this is about. 我知道你想做什麼了。
What? 什麼?
You want me to join the competition, don’t you? 你想要我參加比賽，對吧?
I do! 對!

4) prize 獎品。
There are many great prizes! 有很多棒棒獎品!
I’d hate to see you miss them! 我不想看到你錯過。

來一起下象棋，但是先讀單字。
wrong錯誤的 early很早 competition比賽 prize獎品
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Quiz

1. What is the name of the village?
a. Weiqi
b. Qipan
c. Qizi

2. What is the game good for?
a. The brain
b. The arms
c. The legs

3. What were the colors of the two teams?
a. Black and white
b. White and red
c. Black and red

Answers
1. b
2. a
3. c
 

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Hi and welcome back to another episode of News Bites.

I’m Allie Highsmith.

And I’m Nancy Sun.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about two stories where people help animals.

In Taiwan, fishermen help a turtle get back to the ocean.

And in Poland, why did the frog cross the road?

Plus in this episode’s news flash: volunteer.

Stay tuned to find out more!
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誤被捕撈的「革龜」成功歸海
Fishermen return a rare turtle to the ocean

Have you ever gone fishing?

If you have, maybe you know that even when you’re trying to get fish, you
sometimes catch more than just fish.

That’s what happened to two fishermen near Chiayi.

They were fishing near Waisanding Sandbar when they caught something they
weren’t expecting.

They caught a rare leatherback sea turtle (革龜).

The turtle was 200 kilograms (公斤).

It was an accident (意外)- fishermen aren’t allowed to fish for this kind of
turtle.

So when they caught it, they called the Coast Guard Administration (海巡署), who
called the Ocean Conversation Administration and some other experts.

They said the turtle is a protected leatherback sea turtle.

They checked it out to make sure it was okay.

Then they said it could go back into the water since it was not injured
(沒有受傷).

Officials say that the turtle was released because everyone worked together to
save it.

It’s the first time that the Ocean Conservation Administration was able to
rescue and release the rare turtle.

Leatherback sea turtles are some of the biggest sea turtles in the world.

Their shells have tissue that looks a lot like leather.

It helps to protect them.

革龜是全球最大的海龜。他們的殼上有一層軟組織長得很像牛皮。這層皮革質組織有保護龜殼的功能。

And why are they so rare?

Well, they mostly live very deep underwater.

It’s unusual for them to be in such shallow (淺的) water.

Officials say that, if fishermen accidentally catch this kind of turtle or
other protected or injured animals, they can call the Coast Guard
Administration at 118.

This way, they can work together to protect ocean life.

The leatherback turtle is endangered because of human activities.

This kind of turtle likes to eat jellyfish (水母).

Like 涼拌海蜇皮？

Not quite…

Anyways, sometimes the turtles see plastic bags or other trash and think that
it’s a jellyfish, so they eat it.

That can make them very sick.

So be sure to clean up your trash!

革龜習慣吃水母，但他們有時候看不清楚，看到塑膠袋以爲是水母，就把它吃掉！把塑膠袋吃掉之後就會大受傷。大家請記得好好收垃圾！
________________________________
波蘭志工幫青蛙過馬路
Frog Patrol: Volunteers help frogs cross the road

Have you ever heard that joke, “why did the chicken cross the road?”

To get to the other side, of course!

But in this case we’re talking about frogs crossing the road.

And they’re crossing the road to go have babies.

But it can be very dangerous!

Very tiny frogs trying to cross a big road… many of the drivers may not see
them!

That’s why some people started helping the frogs get to the other side.

They call themselves the “frog patrol” (青蛙巡邏隊).

They live near the capital of Poland (波蘭的首都), called Warsaw.

Here’s how it works: in the winter, Poland is very cold.

So when it starts to get warmer in the spring, the frogs wake up from their
hibernation (冬眠).

That means it’s time to find a mate (伴侶).

The frogs travel about 30 kilometers through a forest to go to marshes (沼澤).

The girl frogs are very 辛苦 on this journey because they carry the boy frogs
on their backs all the way to the marshes.

The boy frogs have to hold on tight so that they don’t fall off.

The frogs have done this journey for a long time.

But a few years ago, a road was built that crosses through the frogs’ route.

青蛙一直以來都使用同一條路去沼澤，但幾年前，一條新鋪的馬路讓青蛙遷徒路線變得異常危險！

That means the journey became much more dangerous.

Many cars would hit the frogs on the road.

Thousands of frogs would die.

It was a big problem.

That’s when the frog patrol started.

Frog patrol volunteers say that they would meet on rainy nights during
spring- that’s when the frogs want to go find their mates.

The volunteers then collect (收集) frogs from the side of the road- before they
start crossing.

They then carry the frogs across the street to the marshes.

Why only on rainy nights?

That’s because frogs breathe from their skin, which needs to stay wet!

So they only move when it rains.

When the volunteers go to help the frogs, they wear bright (鮮艷的) yellow
clothes with the words “frog patrol” on them.

They also wear headlamps and bring buckets with them.

There are hundreds of people that volunteer with the frog patrol.

Volunteers say that they have saved about 18,000 frogs since they started the
project.

Experts say the activity helps the frogs to survive.

And there are similar activities in other places too, not just in Poland!

In parts of the US, people do similar things with salamanders (蠑螈).

And in Estonia, the government is building more frog fences to guide the
animals safely into tunnels instead of across the street.

Kind of like a 地下街- but for frogs!
_______________________________
RECAP

So, in today's News Bites:

Fishermen in Taiwan helped rescue a sea turtle.

The turtle is the biggest kind of sea turtle in the world- and it’s
endangered, so extra important to protect!
________________________________
And,

In Poland, hundreds of volunteers are helping frogs cross the road.

The frogs make the journey every year, but it became very dangerous once a
road was built.

Now, people in many countries help frogs cross the road so they can stay safe.
________________________________
NEWS FLASH

In today’s news flash, our word of the day is “volunteer.”

That can be a noun or a verb!

As a verb, it means to work on something for free- usually with some kind of
organization, like the frog patrol in the news story!

But it doesn’t have to be with an organization; maybe some listeners remember
the 鏟子超人 that helped clean up Hualien’s Guangfu township after flooding.

They can also be called volunteers.

And now you know!
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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 upcoming episode!