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

I'm Trevor Tortomasi…

And I'm Ryan Drillsma.

In today's news:

Toads invade Taiwan, a new COVID variant emerges, and Big Bird gets a big jab.

All that and more, coming up next.

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入侵種蟾蜍在台灣南投出現

Invasive Toads Found In Nantou

There's a new kind of toad (蟾蜍) in Taiwan.

It's called a cane toad (甘蔗蟾蜍), and there are more and more of them every year.

But they're a big problem, for a few reasons.

The first reason is that they're poisonous (有毒的).

They can't kill a person, but they can be very harmful to dogs or cats.

牠們不會對人類造成生命危險，但牠們對貓狗和其它寵物還是有傷害性的。

And another problem is that they seem to eat everything!

This means that there is much less food available for other animals.

One professor of zoology (動物學的教授) says they have found the poisonous toads at a farm in the Nantou area.

Workers in the area quickly started to remove them (把牠們移除掉).

Scientists from the nearby university are planning to study the toads, and hope to learn more about how to keep them under control.

附近大學的科學家要研究這些蟾蜍，找辦法控制牠們的數量。

Taiwan's Council of Agriculture (農業委員會), or C.O.A., had also tried to control the toads a few years ago.

The C.O.A. made some rules to control their populations (生物數量).

That's because they are one of the most invasive (侵入性的) animals in the world.

This means that when they get to a new place, their populations grow very big, very quickly.

The C.O.A. is asking people to be careful of the toads, and to tell animal experts (動物學專家) if they see any in the wild.

Most importantly, just make sure to watch your dogs and cats outside!

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新冠狀病毒變種令科學家擔心

New COVID-19 Variant Worries Scientists

We all know that Earth has had a really difficult year with the coronavirus (冠狀病毒).

But unfortunately (不幸), we also know that it's not going to stop there.

That's because there have been a few new variants of the virus over the past year.

近一年有出現一些冠狀病毒的變種。

Each new variant (變種) is a little different from the virus before it.

For example, earlier this year, scientists discovered that the "Delta variant" could spread faster (傳染性更高).

And scientists have had to work very hard to keep up (趕上) with these new developments (演變).

Now, a new variant of the coronavirus is spreading across certain parts of the world.

It's called the Omicron variant, and doctors have found it in Europe (歐洲), Africa (非洲), and even Hong Kong (香港).

Doctors say the Omicron variant has a lot of mutations in its DNA, which make it stronger when it attacks people's cells.

醫生說，Omicron變種的DNA裡面有很多突變，會讓病毒更能侵入人類的細胞。

Many countries have now closed their borders (國界、邊境) to protect against countries that have the Omicron variant.

However, scientists are reminding everyone that we still don't know exactly how it will affect (影響) people.

They say we shouldn't make assumptions (假設) until we have more information.

Until then, they say, the best plan is to make sure everyone can get vaccines (疫苗).

We may have to get used to (習慣) living with this virus from now on, so be safe!

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芝麻街大鳥接種了

Big Bird Gets COVID-19 Jab

A very special individual has received a coronavirus vaccine.

Big Bird from Sesame Street says he has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Big Bird made the announcement in his first-ever tweet.

His official Twitter account (帳戶) was first set up in March.

芝麻街的大鳥在推特宣布他已經接種了。

Big Bird said that this was just one of many vaccines he has received since he was little.

The tweet was part of the United States' efforts to improve vaccination rates (接種率).

It specifically targeted children, who recently became eligible to get one brand of COVID-19 vaccine.

Other Sesame Street characters appeared on CNN to also encourage parents to vaccinate their kids.

芝麻街在幫美國宣導小朋友可以開始打疫苗了。

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So, in today's News Bites:

Cane toads are an invasive species of toads in Taiwan.

They're invasive because they spread quickly and take food from other animals.

They're also poisonous, and can be dangerous to animals like dogs and cats.

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And,

The new Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading across certain parts of the world.

Doctors say the Omicron variant has a lot of mutations in its DNA, which make it stronger when it attacks people's cells.

Many countries have now closed their borders, to protect against countries that have the Omicron variant.

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And,

Big Bird from Sesame Street says he has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Big Bird says he has received many vaccines since he was little.

His message about vaccinations was part of the United States' efforts to improve vaccination rates.

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