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Cleaning Up the Ocean with AI

The Pacific Ocean is Earth's biggest ocean. But there is something big and
bad there. It is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It has a lot of trash. It
is as big as forty-four Taiwans!
太平洋是世界上最大的海域，垃圾也特別多。垃圾形成的大片漂流物，有四十四個台灣那麼大！

This trash has plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic toys, and more in it.
It catches fish and birds.
這些垃圾包括各種塑膠製品，也會困住經過的鳥類跟魚類。

Sunlight and ocean waves break the plastic. The plastic doesn't go away. But
the plastic pieces get smaller and smaller. Fish and birds eat them. They
think they are eating food.
塑膠被海浪分解後不會消失。塑膠會變成很小的微粒，然後被鳥跟魚當成食物吃下肚。

Some people are cleaning ocean trash. They use boats. The boats use big nets.
The nets catch the trash. Then the boats bring the trash back to land.
有些人會用船和魚網清理海上的垃圾。這些被撈起來的垃圾會被帶回岸上。

These people want to catch more trash. So, they are using AI now. It looks at
lots of information about the ocean. It finds trash. It tells the boats where
the trash is. Now the boats can clean up more trash. They can make the ocean
safer for animals.
現在，他們開始用AI偵測垃圾在海中的位置。有了這個資訊，船隻可以更快的清理垃圾，確保海洋生物的安全！

Maybe one day, the ocean will be clean again!
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Vocabulary
海洋垃圾越來越多，對動物和人類都有影響。

1. garbage 垃圾。
Look at all that garbage on the beach! 你看看海灘上的垃圾!
It's awful! 真恐怖 !
At least it's on land, not in the ocean. 至少它在陸地上，不在海裡。

2. trash 垃圾。
If there are big waves, it'll get in the water. 假如有大浪，它就在水裡了。
And then it becomes ocean trash. 就變成了海洋垃圾。

3. smaller 比較小。
I know. 我知道啊。
And all those bottles will get smaller and smaller. 那些瓶子越變越小.
And eaten by fish! 然後被魚吃掉!
We eat fish… 我們把魚吃下肚...

4. clean up 清理。
It'll be like we're eating a lot of microplastic. 就好像在吃一堆塑膠微粒。
Let's clean up the trash. 先清這些垃圾吧。
You're right. 你說對了。

今天學到哪些單字?
garbage垃圾 trash垃圾 smaller比較小 clean up清理
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Quiz

1. What is the big bad thing in the Pacific Ocean?
a. The Giant Pacific Garbage Pile
b. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
c. The Great Pacific Trash Pile

2. What breaks the plastic in the ocean?
a. Sunlight and waves
b. Sunlight and fish
c. Sunlight and salt

3. What can AI do?
a. Find trash
b. Catch trash
c. Catch fish

Answers
1. b
2. a
3. a

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Hi and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Hope Ngo.

And I'm Allie Highsmith.

In today's Newsbites: New Taipei Metro sets a new record.

And what words shouldn't you use in 2026?

Plus… the word of the day is "BANISH".

All that, coming up.
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新北捷運旅客人數創新紀錄
New Taipei Metro sets a new record for passenger numbers

Those of us who live in Taipei and New Taipei may take the Metro every day,
but how much do we really know about it?

Here are a few fun facts.

Even though the Taipei Metro is very young, many people say it is one of the
best public transport systems in the world [世界上最好的公共交通系統之一].

It took builders about a decade [十年] to build the Taipei Metro.

The Taipei Metro opened in 1996, and its first line was the brown line that
traveled from Zhongshan Junior High School [中山國中] to Taipei Zoo
[台北動物園].

The second line to open was the Blue Line [板南線], which opened in 1999.

Today, the Taipei Metro has nearly 153 kilometers of track, operated by the
Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation.
[台北捷運路網總長將近153公里，由台北大眾捷運公司負責營運。]

The New Taipei Metro [新北捷運], called the NTMC, operates the Danhai LRT
[淡海輕軌], the Ankeng LRT [安坑輕軌], and the Circular Line [環狀線].

Even though that doesn't sound like a lot, the New Taipei Metro still set a
new record [新紀錄] in 2025.

It carried a total of more than 30 million passengers in 2025!

The three lines also set records on New Year's Eve.

Together, they had more than 135 thousand passengers that day.

The company says it is very proud of setting the new record.

It also wants to help even more passengers get from one place to another in
2026.

To do this, the New Taipei Metro says it will run more efficiently [更有效率].

It promises to improve service, like making wait times shorter.

And it also wants to make the New Taipei Metro commuting network [通勤網絡]
even better.
________________________________

哪些字去年遭到驅逐?
What are 2025's banned words?

There are some words many of us like to use.

But there are some words many of us wish are not used at all.

Some English speakers don't like some words because they are used too much.

Other English speakers don't like other words because they are used by too
many people the wrong way.

Still other English speakers say the word is not necessary.

One university in the United States issues a list of banished words
[被驅逐的英文字彙] every year.

These are words and phrases they think people should never, never use again
after 2025.
這所大學認為人們應該永遠、永遠不要再使用這些字和片語。

It banished words like "cringe" [讓人難堪] and "game changer,"
[徹底改變現況的事物].

It also banished the phrase "100 percent" [百分百].

One teacher even said the word "skibidi" which doesn't have a meaning... was
just "noise 噪音" .

But there is one phrase that grownups say they never want to hear again...
and that phrase is "6-7."

That's a phrase that doesn't seem to have a meaning.

Even the editors who banned the phrase said they don't know what it means.

If you think its funny that adults don't know what it means, you might think
it is funnier that the people that use it don't know what it means either.
如果你覺得大人不知道它是什麼意思很好笑，那更好笑的是，連講這個字的人也不知道它的意思。

The U-S university isn't the only one that banished the words "6-7"

Some online dictionaries did that, too.

They called the phrase "silly"

But they say using the phrase "6-7" makes them happy, so they'll keep using
it until they get tired of it.

That means we'll probably keep hearing the phrase "6-7" even before 2026 is
over.
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So in today's News Bites:

The New Taipei Metro set a new record by carrying more than 30 million
passengers in 2025.

The Danhai LRT, the Ankeng LRT, and the Circular Line also set records on New
Year's Eve.

Together, they had more than 135 thousand passengers that day.
________________________________

And...

One university in the United States issues a list of banished words every
year.

These are words and phrases they think people should never, never use again
after 2025.

It banished words like "cringe," and the phrases "game changer," and "100
percent."
________________________________

News Flash

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

In Mandarin, the word translates into [放逐].

"BANISH" is a verb, and it can mean to send someone away from a country or
place forever… It can also mean to get rid of something you don't want.
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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 episode!

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