In today's news, with Nancy and Paz…
Fines for not yielding to pedestrians, what's next for cow burp taxes, and 3D printing wood.
All that and more, coming up next!
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Taiwan Bill to Fine Drivers for Not Yielding to Pedestrians Passes 1st Reading
未禮讓行人可罰6000元法案通過初審
Taiwan is famous for many things.
But not all of them are good things.
One of them is the hectic (忙碌的) traffic conditions in the cities.
Vehicles should yield to the pedestrians crossing the road.
But in Taiwan, sometimes pedestrians have to look out for vehicles because some do not yield.
News agency CNN recently claimed that Taiwan has "battlefield-like" traffic conditions.
However, that may change soon.
The Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) already imposes fines of $1200 NT to $3600 NT for drivers who do not yield to pedestrians.
But the law does not apply to all intersections, only designated (指定的) crosswalks.
Many people criticized the law as too lenient (寬容).
So an amendment was made to raise the penalty to $6000 NT in order to further protect pedestrians.
If a pedestrian is hurt because a driver didn't yield, the driver's license will be suspended (吊銷).
The government hopes to improve road safety and raise public awareness.
政府也希望能夠扭轉外國人對台灣交通的不好印象。
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Farmers' Groups Against New Zealand's Cow Burp Tax
紐西蘭農夫團體反對農業排放稅
We know that global warming is a big issue.
Many countries are doing their best to save the climate.
Many factories have to pay tax for the exhaust (廢氣) they produce.
Even fossil fuel vehicles have to pay tax for their exhaust.
How about charging animals for the gases they produce?
This is happening in New Zealand.
New Zealand is a country that has more livestock (牲畜) than people.
Cows produce methane (甲烷) that is known to contribute to global warming.
The country has over 6 million cows and 26 million sheep.
With so many animals in the country, New Zealand aims to reduce gas emissions (排放).
The government proposed a plan to tax farmers for the farts and burps of livestock.
This led tomajor protests (抗議) among farmers across the country.
A spokesperson for the farmers said it was not fair to charge for a problem that actually has no solution.
As long as humans drink milk and eat meat, livestock are needed.
The farmers cannot control the burping and farting of their animals.
The government then made some minor changes to the plan.
However, the farmers are still not convinced (說服).
They claim that the tax will not reduce gas emissions, but will instead make food more expensive.
不贊成的人說這種農業排放稅只會讓食物變得更貴而已。
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3D Printing Wood
做木質家具不用砍樹
Trees are essential to humans.
We use it to make furniture, paper, build houses, and much more.
Many trees are cut down every day to make these products.
A survey (調查) shows that since the beginning of human civilization (文明), we have wiped out 54 percent of the total tree population on Earth.
That really is a lot of trees.
But thanks to the scientists at MIT, deforestation (砍伐森林) is no longer needed to produce wood.
They successfully made customizable (客製化) wood in their lab from the cells of a flower plant.
They say this allows them to bio-print pieces of wood, of any shape and size.
This means if you need a wooden table or a chair, you can directly produce it from the cells.
3D列印木頭的密度和強度都可以調整。
Scientists are still working on this technology, but it might help us stop deforestation.
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So, in today's News Bites:
Fines for drivers who do not yield to pedestrians may soon go up.
An amendment was made to raise the penalty to $6,000 NT.
If a pedestrian is hurt because a driver didn't yield, the driver's license will be suspended.
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The New Zealand government proposed a plan to tax farmers for the farts and burps of livestock.
But a spokesperson for the farmers said it was not fair to charge for a problem that actually has no solution.
Farmers claim that the tax will not reduce gas emissions, but will instead make food more expensive.
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And…
Scientists have successfully made wood in their lab from the cells of a flower plant.
They say this allows them to bio-print pieces of wood, of any shape and size.
This means if you need a wooden table or a chair, you can directly produce it from the cells.
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And that's today's episode of News Bites!