B*News Bites 文字檔 (國中)

________________________________

Hi there! It's time for another episode of News Bites!

I'm Nancy Sun.

And I'm Hope Ngo.

In today's news:

A hardworking buffalo enjoys retirement, and a man returns home after traveling the world.

And…

Are you one of those people who absolutely MUST have access to the internet, no matter where you are? Then you gotta hear today’s Tasty Tidbit at the end of the show.

________________________________

耕田水牛退休，去安養中心享福

Retired Water Buffalo Now Living the Good Life

A retired water buffalo is now living the good life.

Farmer Huang Sung-yung lives in Yunlin County, and recently retired (退休).

And he had a long-time farming partner, a water buffalo (水牛).

"Ah Niou" (阿牛) had helped him work the fields (耕田) for a long time.

She was the last working water buffalo in Huwei Township.

Water buffalos were once a big part of working on a farm.

In the 1950s, there were around 330,000 water buffalos working the fields.

But as time went on, farmers began to use more machines.

And the animals that were not working anymore were often sent to the slaughterhouse (屠宰場).

But now, there are more places for the water buffalos to comfortably live out the rest of their lives.

These places are often called "buffalo sanctuaries".

And this was where farmer Huang took Ah Niou.

Huang took the 12-year-old buffalo to the sanctuary in Tuku Township.

雲林縣虎尾鎮最後一隻耕田水牛住進土庫鎮的水牛安養中心。

It's a big piece of land where water buffalos can walk around and eat grass and corn stalks (玉米稈).

There's also a pond, for them to cool off when it gets hot.

And Ah Niou will have new friends.

Two other water buffalos live there, 9-year-old "An Hsin" (安心) and 14-year-old "A Le" (阿樂).

And the buffalos' owners can come visit anytime.

The sanctuary is also open to visitors, who can come see and feed the water buffalos.

Sounds like a nice place to retire!

________________________________

丹麥男子不搭飛機環遊世界

Man Who Visited Every Country in the World Without Flying Returns Home

Torbjorn "Thor" Pedersen decided he would visit every country in the world without flying.

He set some rules for himself.

He would spend at least 24 hours in every country.

Torbjorn would live on about $20 US dollars a day.

And he wouldn't go home again until he finished his trip.

But why not fly to every country?

Torbjorn says traveling without flying gives the trip a sense of history (歷史感).

He started his epic (壯麗的, 漫長而艱難的) trip on October 10th, 2013.

這位丹麥男子於2013年10月10日展開環遊世界旅程。

He left his job, his girlfriend, and his family behind in Denmark.

Torbjorn thought it would take about four years to reach all the countries and states.

But the trip turned out very differently.

There were many delays.

For some countries like Syria and Iran, it took months to get visas.

So Torbjorn would have to wait.

There were also many other challenges.

He got very sick with malaria (瘧疾) in Ghana.

And he got stuck in a very intense four-day storm on the Atlantic Ocean, going from Iceland to Canada.

Then there was the biggest delay of all…the COVID-19 pandemic.

In early 2020, when the pandemic broke out, Torbjorn found himself suddenly stuck in Hong Kong.

He would stay there for two years.

At that time, he had just nine countries left to visit.

In January 2022, Torbjorn was finally able to leave Hong Kong and continue his trip.

From there, he visited Palau, Australia, New Zealand, Tuvalu, and several other countries.

And finally on July 26th this year, he reached home, at the Port of Aarhus, in Denmark.

Torbjorn says from start to finish, he traveled 3,576 days.

He traveled almost 360,000 kilometers.

That's about as far as going around Earth NINE times!

And that's not including his 33-day trip going home on a ship.

Torbjorn also says his trip is not about numbers.

He says his trip celebrates the kindness of people.

He says he's met warm, friendly people all around the world.

________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

Ah Niou, the last working water buffalo in Huwei Township, is now living in a water buffalo sanctuary in Tuku Township.

It's a big piece of land where water buffalos can walk around and eat grass and corn stalks.

There's also a pond, for them to cool off when it gets hot.

Sounds like a nice place to retire!

________________________________

Torbjorn "Thor" Pedersen decided he would visit every country in the world without flying.

He started his epic trip on October 10th, 2013, and visited 203 countries or states.

In all, he traveled almost 360,000 kilometers, about as far as going around Earth nine times!

Now, Torbjorn is back home, and he is looking forward to starting a family with his wife.

________________________________

趣味小點

Tasty Tidbit

And before we go, here's a Tasty Tidbit you can take away from today's News Lunchbox:

If you ever try to climb to the top of Mount Everest, you can call home to tell your family you’re safe.

Because did you know that there is cell phone service on top of the tallest mountain in the world above sea level!

And there is also internet service at the Everest base camp, and on some parts of the mountain!

If you have a fun fact or a joke you’d like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to [email protected], and you might hear it at the end of an episode!

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