Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Trevor Tortomasi…

And I'm Nancy Sun.

In today's news:

Taiwan Plus shows the island to the world, Perseverance tries again, and a zombie movie is getting a prequel.

All that and more, coming up next.

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國際影音串流平台 向世界介紹台灣

Taiwan Plus Shows Taiwan To The World

Taiwan is showing a new face to the world!

It's called "Taiwan Plus", and it's a new app for smartphones (智慧型手機), supported by Taiwan's government.

The app is Taiwan's first video-streaming platform (影音串流平台) for English speakers.

This is because Taiwan has been looking for ways to share its news, achievements, and culture with the world, as well as its values of freedom and democracy.

台灣一直在尋找一種方式，好跟全球分享新聞，成就，文化，以及民主自由價值觀。

The app released on August 30th, and there are now lots of different stories to read, and videos to watch.

You can even watch a TV series called Seqalu (斯卡羅), which shows a very special part of Taiwan's history, between indigenous people (原住民) and new visitors to the island.

Taiwan's government says they hope the app can be like a window, for the world to look through and see Taiwan.

President Tsai Ing-wen also shared some encouraging words for the app's release.

Taiwan's Central News Agency is overseeing the Taiwan Plus app's development.

中央社負責管理Taiwan Plus應用程式。

We can expect to see more cool stuff on the Taiwan Plus app soon…

So if you're interested in learning more about Taiwan while you practice your English, go check it out!

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火星探測器【毅力號】鑽出完美的石頭樣本

Perseverance Mars Lander Drills Perfect Rock Sample

NASA's new Mars Lander, named "Perseverance", has completed a new mission on Mars!

美國太空總署的火星探測器，叫做【毅力號】，最近完成了一項新任務！

It must be important, right?

Yes! NASA says it… made a… hole… in a rock?

Well, it may not seem like a big event, but this is actually a big reason why Perseverance traveled to Mars!

Perseverance, also called "Percy", has rolled about 2 kilometers in 6 months, since it landed on our neighboring planet.

That may not sound like a lot either, but big teams of scientists need to make lots of careful plans before Percy can make each move.

A few weeks ago, Percy drilled into a different rock to look closely inside it, but the rock was too soft, and fell apart.

幾個星期之前，毅力號鑽了一顆石頭來分析它裡面的成分，但是石頭太軟，一下子就裂成碎片。

Now, Percy has gotten a second sample (樣本), and this time, the rock's insides came out in one beautiful piece!

The sample is only about as big as a pencil, but Percy is going to continue getting more samples from all over its area of Mars.

It will then keep the samples safe, until a future Mars lander can pick them up and send them back to Earth.

毅力號會保存樣本，等到下一個火星探測器抵達，就可以拿到這些樣本送回地球。

It's a long and slow process, but we are getting closer and closer to seeing people travel to Mars someday soon.

Until then, Perseverance still has a long way to drive!

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活屍大軍前傳將上映

Army of the Dead Prequel Coming Soon

A recent Netflix film is already getting a new installment.

"Army of the Dead" first debuted (首次演出) on the streaming platform this past May.

Netflix now says a prequel film will be released soon.

"Army of Thieves" will start streaming in late October.

新的活屍大軍前傳十月底將在Netflix開始串流。

The prequel will focus on the character of Ludwig Dieter.

He was recruited in the first movie to help open the casino vault (保險庫).

A similar thing is happening in the prequel film.

However, because it is a prequel, there will be no zombies in it.

因為是前傳，新電影不會有殭屍。

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So, in today's News Bites:

Taiwan has released its first video-streaming platform for English speakers.

This is because Taiwan has been looking for ways to share its news, achievements, and culture with the world, as well as its values of freedom and democracy.

Taiwan's government says they hope the app can be like a window, for the world to look through and see Taiwan.

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And,

A few weeks ago, NASA's Mars Lander Perseverance drilled into a rock to look closely inside it, but the rock was too soft, and fell apart.

Now, Percy has gotten a second sample, and this time, the rock's insides came out in one beautiful piece!

Perseverance will keep the sample safe, until a future Mars lander can send them back to Earth.

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And,

Netflix says a prequel film to "Army of the Dead" will be released soon.

"Army of Thieves" will start streaming in late October.

However, because it is a prequel, there will be no zombies in it.

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And that's today's episode of News Bites!