作者，配音，編輯：(Trevor)

第二配音員：(Brody)

Hey there, welcome to News Bites! No robots today…

There's just me, Trevor Tortomasi…

And me, Brody Halverson.

In today's news:

Taiwan gets ready to take off its masks, an artist's balloon is smashed, and, uh… space rock or Godzilla egg?

Keep listening to find out!

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醫生說脫掉口罩可能會導致容貌焦慮

Doctors Say Unmasking Can Cause 'Appearance Anxiety'

From February 20th of this year, in many places around Taiwan, people could finally take off their face masks.

從今年2月20日開始，在台灣大部分的地方，人們終於可以脫下口罩了。

And from March 6th, most people won't need to wear masks in school, either!

而且從3月6日起，學校大多數的人也不用戴口罩了！

Of course, we should still wear masks if we're sick.

But, some doctors say there's another problem…

They are worried that after two years of the pandemic, people living without masks might feel "appearance anxiety".

然而，有的醫生擔心過了兩年的疫情生活，人們可能會對突然不用戴口罩的生活感到【容貌焦慮】。

One doctor says it's because our society (社會) gives people a lot of pressure about their appearance (給很多關於外表的壓力).

And he says younger people worry even more about their appearance, especially at school.

He says this can be because of low self-confidence (因為自信低落)…

And it's also because we have felt safe (安全) behind our masks for so long.

But doctors say there's a solution (有一個解決方式): we can be nicer to each other!

It's not easy to change a habit (習慣), so we need to give people time to be comfortable again.

So after March 6th, there's no rush (不用急)…

But remember to get some fresh air!

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氣球動物雕塑在展覽期間意外碎滿地

Balloon Animal Sculpture Smashed at Exhibition

Have you ever seen a balloon animal (氣球動物)?

If you have a really long balloon, you can twist it into a new shape (搓揉成新的形狀), to make it look like an animal!

And it's still a balloon, so if you drop it (不小心掉到地上), it won't break.

…right?

Recently, one museum (博物館) in the U.S. had an exhibit (展覽) for balloon animals.

People were walking through the museum looking at all of their different colors and shapes.

Then, one of the people in the museum went to touch one…

…and it fell to the ground and smashed into pieces!

它掉到地上，被摧毀成碎片！

It turns out, an artist made these balloon animals very hard (硬的) and brittle (脆弱的).

They weren't balloon animals at all!

In fact, they were made of a very thin metal (以很薄的金屬組成的).

And this one was worth more than 1,000,000 NT (價值一百萬多台幣)!

Of course, in a museum, you shouldn't touch the art (你不應該去摸任何藝術品).

But even though the balloon has been smashed to pieces, there are still some people who want to buy it.

Art is weird, huh?

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海灘上出現神秘的球形物體

Mystery Sphere Appears on Beach

The beach can be very relaxing place (讓人放鬆的地方).

You can take a walk in the sand (沙), listen to the waves (聽海浪的聲音), and find rocks of all sizes and shapes (各種大小形狀的石頭).

But a new kind of rock has appeared (出現) on a beach in Japan.

It's about 1.5 meters tall (高度一米半)…

It's made of metal (是金屬做的)…

And it's a perfect sphere (完全球形的)!

At first, no one could figure out what it was.

A lot of people in Japan said it could be a "godzilla egg" (哥斯拉卵).

Some people thought it was from outer space (從外太空下來的).

And others were afraid it might be a bomb (炸彈).

So Japan's government sent some people to inspect it (檢查), to make sure it was safe.

And after that, they used a giant machine to carry it away.

But for a long time, Japan's government couldn't explain what the big rock was (解釋不了這個大石頭是什麼).

So, what was it?

Well, many scientists are saying it was actually just a buoy (浮標).

A buoy is something that floats (浮著) in the water, to show boats where to go.

They say this one probably floated for many years, then washed up on the beach.

So… it definitely wasn't a Godzilla egg.

But if you see something weird on the beach, you should probably just leave it alone (放著不要碰)!

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So, in today's News Bites:

Doctors say that after two years of the pandemic, people living without masks might feel "appearance anxiety".

They say it's because our society gives people a lot of pressure about their appearance, and we have felt safe behind our masks for so long.

It's not easy to change a habit, so we need to give people time to be comfortable again.

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And,

An expensive piece of art has been smashed, in a museum exhibit for balloon animals.

The artist had made the balloon animals very hard and brittle, and one person accidentally knocked one onto the ground.

But some people might still want to buy it!

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And,

People recently found a big metal ball on a beach in Japan.

Some people were worried it could be a bomb, so Japan's government sent some people to take it away safely.

But many scientists are saying it was actually just a buoy, that washed up on the beach.

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