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Playful Dog Goes to Basketball Game

In basketball, players are on a court. They bounce the ball. They throw it.
They want the ball to go into the basket. When it does, the crowd cheers!

打籃球時，球員在場上拍球、傳球、投球，努力讓球射進籃框。球一進去，觀眾就歡呼。

A university in Yunlin had a basketball game. But then a black dog ran onto
the court. It wanted to play!

雲林一所大學舉辦了一場籃球賽。比賽進行到一半，一隻黑狗突然跑進球場，想一起玩球！

People cannot bring their pets to games. Whose dog was it? No one knew. How
did the dog get in? No one knew. The dog was a surprise!

比賽時，寵物是禁止入場的。但是沒有人知道狗主人是誰，也不知道牠怎麼跑進來的。這隻狗是個意外的驚喜！

The black dog ran to a player. It chewed on the player's right shoe. And then
it chewed on his left shoe! It jumped onto the player. The crowd laughed at
the playful dog.

這隻頑皮的黑狗跑到一名球員身邊，咬他右腳的球鞋，接著又咬他左邊的鞋，還跳到他身上。觀眾看到這一幕全都笑了。

The player tried to move away from the dog. But the dog wanted to chew the
player's shoes more! The player stood and stood. Then the DJ playing music at
the game saved him. The DJ took the excited dog off the court. A coach took
care of the dog, and the game started again.

球員想把黑狗趕開，但是牠緊咬不放。最後，負責播音樂的 DJ
救了球員，把興奮的狗帶離球場。後來換教練接手照顧狗狗，比賽才繼續進行。

No one was mad at the playful black dog. It made them smile!
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Vocabulary

喜歡粉紅色球鞋的狗，讓籃球比賽多了笑料。

1. player 球員。
Hey, want to play ball tonight? 你今晚想打球嗎?
Not really. I'm tired.不大想，我累了。
But we need one more player.但是我們還需要一個球員。

2. left，right 左邊，右邊。
Okay, but don't throw the ball at my face again!
好吧，但是不要又把球扔到我的臉。
I didn't last time. 我上次也沒有。You ran right into it! 是你剛好撞上的!
Because you yelled "Left!" and pointed right.因為你叫左邊，卻手指右邊。

3. jump 跳。
Come on! No one jumps as high as you do! 來啦，沒有人像你跳那麼高! Alright,
but no jumping tonight.好，但是今晚不跳。

4. cheer 歡呼。
So what are you going to do? 那你要做什麼?
I'll just cheer you on.我只替你們加油。

player球員 left，right左邊，右邊 jump跳 cheer歡呼
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Quiz

1. Where was the basketball game?
a. At an elementary school
b. At a high school
c. At a university

2. What did the dog chew?
a. A basketball
b. A player's shoes
c. A player's cap

3. Who took the dog away?
a. A coach
b. A player
c. A DJ

Answers
1. c
2. b
3. c
 

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Hey there! Let's get started with today's News Bites.

I'm Allie Highsmith.

And I'm Nancy Sun.

Coming up today:

Stinky tofu that's too stinky, and the plastic waste trade sees a major drop.

And in today's News Flash: inspection.

Keep on listening to find out more!
________________________________
臭味惹議 台北再次稽查臭豆腐店
Taipei Reinspects Stinky Tofu Shop After Complaints About Smell

Wait. Stop.

What is that smell?

Oh! It's my lunch.

I brought stinky tofu today.

It's fresh from a food stall.

是在小吃攤買的!

Wow. That is…very strong.

That's the point!

It smells strong (氣味很濃), but it tastes great.

Some people love it.

Some people…really don't.

And in Taipei, one stinky tofu shop is now in the news because of its smell.

The shop has already been fined (罰款) $585,000 NT for odor violations
(違反空氣汙染法)!

The Taipei City government said it will inspect (稽查) the shop again after
the Lunar New Year holiday.

This happened after a post on social media went viral (爆紅).

A woman wrote that the smell near the shop caused her severe anxiety
(讓她非常焦慮).

She said the odor made her very stressed.

她說那股臭味讓她壓力很大。

Her post received more than 19,000 likes.

The Taipei Environmental Protection Department (台北市環保局) said it has
checked the shop many times since December 2024.

Last year, inspectors tested the air.

They found the smell was more than 10 times over the legal limit.

去年檢測時發現，臭味濃度超過法定標準10倍以上。

Because of this, the shop was fined under the Air Pollution Control Act
(空氣污染防制法).

Later, the shop installed new machines.

These included a kitchen fume cleaner (油煙處理機) and a special odor control
system (除臭系統).

After that, the smell went down to legal levels.

But recently, complaints have increased again.

但最近檢舉又增加了。

So the city plans another inspection soon.

For now, the debate (討論) continues.

Some people say the smell is too strong.

Others say that is just how stinky tofu is.

臭豆腐本來就是這樣!
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全球塑膠廢棄物貿易 大減三分之二
Plastic Waste Trade Falls by Two-Thirds Worldwide

Plastic waste (塑膠垃圾) is plastic that people throw away.

It comes from things we use every day.

For example, plastic bottles, food boxes, shopping bags, and packaging.

Some plastic waste can be recycled (回收再利用) and made into new products.

But a lot of plastic is not recycled.

It can end up in landfills (掩埋場), rivers, or the ocean.

Because there is so much plastic in the world, countries must decide how to
manage it (處理).

And sometimes, they even send plastic waste to other countries.

This is known as the plastic waste trade (塑膠垃圾貿易).

This sounds terrible, doesn't it?

Don't worry! I promise we're sharing some good news.

From the 1990s to around 2015, the plastic waste trade grew very fast.

By 2015 and 2016, the world was trading about 16 million tons of plastic
waste each year.

2015到2016年時，全球一年交易約1,600萬噸塑膠廢棄物。

That is a huge amount.

One country played a very big role (扮演了重要角色): China.

For many years, China was the world's biggest importer of plastic waste
(全球最大的塑膠廢棄物進口國).

At its highest point (最高峰時), China imported about 8 million tons
(800萬噸) a year.

But things changed.

In 2016, China started to reduce (減少) plastic imports.

In 2018, China banned (禁止) most plastic waste imports.

And by 2021, China completely stopped importing plastic waste.

After that, global plastic trade dropped sharply (大幅下降).

By 2021, it fell to about 4 million tons (400萬噸).

That is more than two-thirds lower than before.

比高峰時少了三分之二以上。

In 2024, about 5 million tons (500萬噸) of plastic waste was traded worldwide.

That is only about 1 percent of all plastic waste produced
(占全部塑膠垃圾的1%).

In the past, people worried that rich countries were sending trash to poorer
countries.

Today, most plastic waste is traded between rich countries that have
recycling factories to process it.

以前有錢的國家會把垃圾送到貧窮國家處理，現在富有的國家多半建立了回收工廠，這項貿易就在這些國家之間進行。

Plastic waste is still a big problem around the world.

Even if global trade has fallen, we still use a lot of plastic every day.

That is why recycling is important.

When we recycle, plastic can be made into something new.

This helps reduce trash and protect the environment.

Small actions matter.

Sorting your trash (做好垃圾分類), using fewer plastic bags, and reusing
bottles can make a difference.
________________________________
RECAP

So, in today's News Bites:

Taipei planned to reinspect a stinky tofu shop after new odor complaints.

The shop was fined $585,000 NT because tests found the smell was over 10
times the legal limit.

The shop later installed odor-control machines and complaints dropped, but
they have risen again after a viral social media post.

________________________________

And,

Global plastic waste trade has dropped by more than two-thirds since its peak
in 2015 and 2016.

China used to import the most plastic waste, but it reduced imports in 2016
and banned them by 2021.

________________________________

NEWS FLASH

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

Inspection is a noun.

An inspection is a careful check.

It means looking at something closely to see if it follows the rules.

For example, a health inspection checks if a restaurant is clean and safe.

A building inspection checks if a building is strong and safe.

Inspect is the verb form.

Inspect means to examine or check something carefully.

Inspectors are people who do inspections

Inspections help protect people.

They make sure places, products, and services meet legal standards.

And now you know!
________________________________

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!

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