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Hi everyone, it's time for a new episode of News Bites…

I'm Brody Halverson.

And I'm Paz Bueno.

Today's stories…
How tall must you be to become a firefighter?

And scientists find some very, very old chewing gum.

And in today's Tasty Tidbit…have you seen a frog being sick?

Let's check it out.
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女子因消防員身高要求 控訴政府違憲
Woman Challenges Government over Firefighter Rules

Firefighters (消防員) have a hard job.

They face danger all the time.

But people respect them, because of the work they do.

For some young people, it is a dream to become a firefighter.

They want to help others and serve their community.
有些人夢想成為消防員,這樣可以幫助別人。

For example, there is a woman named Chen (陳).

She wants to become a firefighter.

Chen took the certification test (消防人員考試), and she passed it.

There's only one problem…

The government says she is too short for the job.

They say a women needs to be at least 160 centimeters tall to become a firefighter.
政府規定,女性身高必須至少達到 160 公分才能成為消防員。

But Chen is only 158.9 centimeters tall.

That means she is 1.1 centimeter too short.

So the government did not accept her for the job.

Now, Chen is suing the government (控告政府).

She has brought her case to the Constitutional Court (憲法法院).

This special court decides if the country's laws follow the constitution.

The constitution protects people's rights (人民的權利).

It gives everyone the right to work in government.

That's why Chen says the height requirement is a form of discrimination.
陳說,身高要求是一種歧視。

However, the government does not agree.

They say the height requirement is important.

The rules make sure firefighters are strong enough to do their job.

What's more, they say if the firefighters are too short, it may be dangerous for public safety or for other firefighters.

Still, Chen insists (堅持) that the rule is not fair between men and women.

Men must be 165 centimeters tall to join, and 90% of men meet this requirement.

But women must be 160 centimeters tall to join, and only 45% of women are.

That's why Chen thinks the law is not balanced (不平衡).

The Constitutional Court will listen to both sides carefully.

They will make a decision by this summer.

Then Chen will know if she can become a firefighter, or if she really is too short for the job.
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科學家研究有一萬年歷史的口香糖
Scientists Study Chewing Gum from 10,000 Years Ago

Have you ever found some old chewing gum (口香糖)?

I found this gum under my chair.

Gross (噁心)! It looks like someone was chewing on it, and then just left it there.

I wonder who it was…

Scientists in Sweden (瑞典) recently found something like that.

It was gum someone had been chewing on.

But that gum was ten thousand years old.

Now, scientists are studying it to learn more about how people lived long ago.

The gum is black and covered in teeth marks (牙齒印記).

Scientists say it's made of tree resin (樹脂).

They think people chewed the gum to use as a kind of glue (黏合劑).

After they chewed it, they could use it to make tools.

Other scientists think they used the gum as a medicine.

They found it buried next to some bones in the ground.
科學家發現口香糖埋在一些骨頭旁邊。

But the interesting part is, the scientists found DNA on the ten-thousand year old gum.

That told them the gum was chewed by teenagers (青少年).

Scientists could also learn about the teenager's diet (飲食習慣).

The DNA showed that the teenagers ate trout meat and deer meat.

They also ate apples and hazelnuts.
DNA顯示青少年吃了鱒魚肉、鹿肉、蘋果、榛果。

Scientists think this discovery is amazing.

This DNA from the gum is the only way scientists can know for sure what people used to eat.

They were surprised by how many different things people used to eat.

It seems like ancient people had a rich diet.

But there was some bad news, too…

The DNA on the gum showed that one of the teenagers had a bad tooth infection (嚴重的牙齒感染).

The scientists guess her teeth fell out soon after she chewed the gum.

Maybe, in the past, people didn't know how to brush their teeth.
過去人們也許不知道怎麼刷牙。

Whatever the case, it's so cool to think your gum could tell future people all about your life.

Maybe, in 10,000 years, people will find your gum.

What will it say about you?
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So, in today's newsbites…

The government says you need to be 160 centimeters tall to be a firefighter.

But one woman who is shorter says the rule is not fair.

She wants to be a firefighter, and the Constitutional Court is hearing her case.
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And,

Scientists found some old gum from 10,000 years ago.

It was chewed by ancient teenagers.

Scientists used DNA from the gum to learn what the teens used to eat.
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趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit

When you eat something that's been sitting out for too long, you might feel a bit nauseous.

Sometimes, you might even get rid of the bad microbes you ate by throwing up, or vomiting.

But did you know…frogs CAN'T vomit?

When a frog eats something toxic, it throws up its entire stomach!

Like turning a pocket inside out, the frog will dump out its stomach…

…wipe it clean to remove toxic food…

…and then put it back inside its body.

Wild!

If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you'd like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to newsbites@icrt.com.tw, 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!