Hello everyone! Welcome to another episode of News Bites.
I'm Paz Bueno…
Aaaand I'm Trevor Tortomasi.
In today's news:
Unexpected guests in the kitchen, teamwork brings a river to life, and a plant-based building.
Stay tuned for more on those stories, coming up next.
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貓頭鷹巢 重新安置
Owl Nest Relocated in New Taipei
From April to August, it is the peak breeding season (繁殖季節達到高峰) for many birds.
This makes them more likely to be active and seen by the public.
A woman in New Taipei City saw a bird that's not commonly seen (不常見)…
She found an owl nest in her kitchen exhaust vent!
她在她的廚房排油煙管中發現一個貓頭鷹的巢！
She discovered one adult owl and four baby owls when she was cleaning.
She put them in a cardboard box, and then called the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office for help.
The animal protection officials identified (辨認) the owls as scops owls (領角鴞).
Scops owls are small nocturnal (夜行性) birds that eat insects, small mammals, and reptiles.
They can share living environments (生活環境) with humans, and some nests have been found in parks and schools.
The animal protection officials relocated (遷移) the owl nest to a tree near the woman's home.
They rehomed (重新安置) them into a nest box on the tree.
They also recommended that the woman block the exhaust vent to prevent the owls from nesting there again.
Owl's well that ends well!
貓頭鷹有了好結局！
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團隊合作 讓一條河流復甦
How Teamwork Revived a River
Teamwork (團隊合作) is when a group of people work together to achieve a goal.
When you work as a team, everyone brings different ideas and skills.
Teamwork is important because it makes big tasks easier (讓重大任務更容易完成).
And this next story is a great example of teamwork!
Once upon a time, the Kuttamperoor River in India was an important part of the local community's life.
This river watered rice fields and was a home for fish that fed over 500 families in the state of Kerala.
這條河灌溉著稻田，河裡的魚類也是克拉拉邦500多個家庭重要的食物來源。
But, around 2005, the river started to become sick.
People dumped waste (丟棄廢物), weeds grew (野草茂盛), and the river slowly shrank (縮小).
Even the local wells (井) began to dry up, and floods became a problem.
So, the people decided to help their river.
They began cleaning it in 2011, and around 7,000 workers joined in.
Then, the Kerala government took over, and together, they made the river healthy again.
Now, fish are returning, and the river is also helping to reduce floods in the area.
The river's revival (復甦) took about five years.
Today, the Kuttamperoor River is teeming with (充滿) life again.
It provides clean drinking water, food, and might even boost tourism (促進旅遊業).
And it's all thanks to teamwork!
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開普敦大樓 使用植物建材
A Plant-based Building in Cape Town
Imagine a building that helps our planet instead of harming it.
What kind of material (材料) is it made of?
The South African capital of Cape Town is getting ready to open the world's tallest building made from an eco-friendly material.
It's called the Hemp Hotel and it's 12 stories tall (12層樓)!
It's made with special blocks called 'HempCrete'.
These blocks are made from a mixture (混合) of water, lime, hemp, and cement.
Hemp is a type of plant (植物).
It's quite special because it can be used to make many different things, like clothes, paper, and even buildings.
And the best part?
It's good for our planet!
Hemp takes in carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) from the air, which helps reduce pollution.
That means 'HempCrete' captures more harmful carbon from the air than they create when making them!
「HempCrete」在製造過程中，捕捉的二氧化碳，比它產生的多！
The President of South Africa believes this new way of building can create lots of jobs.
Building with hemp is a little more expensive, but it's a big help in fighting climate change.
Just think about it - building a hemp house can capture (捕捉) as much carbon as a fully grown tree!
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So, in today's News Bites:
A woman in New Taipei discovered one adult owl and four baby owls living in her kitchen exhaust vent.
She called the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office for help.
The animal protection officials relocated the owl nest to a tree near the woman's home.
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And,
The Kuttamperoor River in India became sick as people dumped waste and weeds grew.
But since 2011, thousands of people have teamed up to clean the river.
Now, the river is healthy again, and fish are returning.
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And,
The South African capital of Cape Town is getting ready to open the world's tallest building made from an eco-friendly material.
It's made with special blocks called 'HempCrete'.
'HempCrete' captures more harmful carbon from the air than they create when making them.
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And that's today's episode of News Bites!