Episode Details

Hey everybody, it's time for a new episode of News Bites… I'm Nancy Sun. And I'm Jacob Ingram. In today's stories… Motorcycle drivers want to use Taiwan's highways, and breakdancers help kids in Gaza. And in today's Tasty Tidbit…do you know about collective nouns? Keep on listening to learn more about all of these! ________________________________ 重機騎士想要上國道 Motorcyclists Want to Use National Highways What's that sound? Woah, check out those heavy motorcycles (重機)! Motorcycles, eh? You mean like scooters (機車)? Kind of. Motorcycles and scooters both have two wheels. But a heavy motorcycle is much bigger. And its engine is more powerful. So they're not scooters. 重機比機車更強大。 Does that mean you can drive them on the highway, like a car? Not exactly. And many motorcyclists think that's a problem. Recently they had a protest (抗議示威) in Taipei. It was on the street outside of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, or MOTC (交通部). Hundreds of motorcycles showed up. All down the road, you could hear these big bikes revving their engines. 一路上都能聽到重機引擎的聲音。 Thousands of other people came to support them, too. What did they want? They want to be able to use national highways. It all has to do with Taiwan's road laws (交通規則). The MOTC says anyone can use smaller roads. But scooters and motorcycles can't use the big national freeways (國道). They can't really use provincial highways (省道), either. In the past, people thought it was too dangerous to let motorcycles on these high-speed roads (高速公路). But motorcyclists say it is actually safer. If they can't use the highways, they often have to take small, dark mountain roads, which may be unsafe. 重機如果不能上公路，必須走又小又黑的山路，這可能不安全。 They also want the government to change some other laws for heavy motorcycles. They want to be able to turn like cars, and to park in more places. So how did the government (政府) respond to these protests? The MOTC says it is not ready to talk about changing the law. They say most people still don't want motorcycles on national highways. 交通部回應，大多數人民還不希望重機上國道。 The protesters were not happy (不滿) with this answer. They say they will keep spreading their message, until they get a chance to change the law. ________________________________ 地板舞者幫助加沙的孩子 Breakdancers Help Kids of Gaza Have you ever seen breakdancing (地板舞)? It's a really cool activity. Imagine someone dancing with a lot of energy, jumping, flipping, and spinning on the floor. That's breakdancing. It's popular all over the world, even in Gaza (加沙). That's part of Palestine, in the Middle East. 加沙是中東巴勒斯坦的一部分。 Maybe you heard about Gaza in the news. There's a war going on there, and many people are trapped. That includes two breakdancers, Ahmed and Karim. 由於戰爭，許多人被困在加沙，包括兩個舞者Ahmed跟Karim。 When the war started, they could not leave Gaza. At first, they spent five days hiding in their houses. When Ahmed and Karim came out, they saw many homes were destroyed. They also saw the kids from those homes were now living in camps. 許多房屋被摧毀了，許多孩子必須住在難民營裡。 They noticed how hard it was for the kids, and decided to do something about it. Ahmed and Karim got together with their friends and started a group called the Camp Breakerz Crew. They go to the camps, and teach breakdancing. 地板舞隊去給難民孩子舉行跳舞活動。 The families and kids gather in a big circle to watch. The Camp Breakerz Crew teaches the kids how to do jumps and flips. The kids can learn how to spin on the floor (在地上旋轉). Everyone is excited, and many kids want to try the dance moves. Ahmed says it makes him feel good. He says "When I see this number of children and families around me, I feel a sense of responsibility (責任感)." He also says "To see the children respond is a pleasure. It makes me feel proud (自豪感)." He knows his gro