Reading Homer and Expensive Feather

News Bites

Hi everyone, it's time for a new episode of News Bites… I'm Nancy Sun. And I'm Brody Halverson! In today's news… Readers hit it out of the park, and buyers pay up for a rare feather. And in today's Tasty Tidbit… Students from Yunlin tell us about some of their favorite news stories. Let's check it out. ________________________________ 閱讀全壘打6月起跑 Read Books for Game Tickets "Now the batter steps up to the plate…" "…stands at the ready…" "The pitcher winds up the ball and…" "It's going, going, GONE! It's a home run! Get ready young sluggers and all-stars. This summer, you could hit your own "big fly" by hitting the books! It's the "2024 Home Run Readers" event. What does reading have to do with sports? Here's how it works… People can get points by borrowing books from public libraries. Once they have 10 points, they can fill out a form. They can exchange (兌換) the form for a ticket to a CTBC Brothers baseball game. This year, 7 cities and counties are taking part in the program. That means there's over 200 public libraries to choose books from! Readers have from June 11th to July 31st to do this. 可以透過合作縣市超過200個公共圖書館的線上閱讀存摺，或借閱實體書籍，累積點數。 And that's just the first inning. There's fun for other sports fans too. In October, "Home Run Readers" heads into overtime. If you love basketball, this second phase is for you. At that time, readers can also complete missions (任務). And then they can exchange points for tickets to T1 League CTBC DEA games. All in all, that's 16,000 baseball and basketball game tickets up for grabs! 今年預計會發放1萬6000張棒球和籃球門票。 So grab your library card, hit the books, and get ready to cheer loud! ________________________________ 世界上最貴的羽毛 World's Most Expensive Feather Some things that go on sale at auctions can be surprising. In fact, many of these things sell for a lot of money. There are diamonds, cars, artwork, even teeth from famous people. But what about a single feather? A feather was sold at auction in New Zealand, for $28,000 US dollars. That's over $900,000 NT (九十萬塊台幣)! It is the most expensive feather ever sold. 一根紐西蘭鐮嘴垂耳鴉羽毛，在拍賣會上以台幣約90萬元的價格售出，創下了新紀錄。 Why is it so valuable (有價值)? The shiny black feather has a bright white tip (尖端), and it's not just any feather. It's a feather from a huia. Huia lived in New Zealand. They were songbirds that made a sound like their name. But why would their feather be so expensive? Well, the huia is now extinct (滅絕). Huia birds use to be all over New Zealand. In fact, they were sacred (神聖) to the Maori people. Their feathers were worn by chiefs and their families. Then after Europeans arrived in New Zealand, everyone wanted huia feathers. There was too much hunting, and huia also lost their homes when people cut down forests. The last time a live huia was seen was in 1907. And that's why huia feathers are now so valuable. Experts hope the feather can be a reminder to people. They hope it will help everyone remember the importance of protecting nature and wildlife. ________________________________ So, in today's News Bites… The "2024 Home Run Readers" gives points for reading books. Then readers can get tickets to some sports games. This year, 7 cities and counties are taking part in the program. That means there's over 200 public libraries to choose books from! ________________________________ And, A feather was sold at auction in New Zealand, for $28,000 US dollars. It is the most expensive feather ever sold. The shiny black feather has a bright white tip, and is a feather from a huia. Huia lived in New Zealand, but they are now extinct. ________________________________ 趣味小點 Tasty Tidbit Here's your daily dose of laughs in today's Tasty Tidbit… You ready? Why do tigers have stripes? Because they don't want to be SPOTTED! And now we have two students from Yunlin County's Chung Shan Elementary School, telling us about their favorite news stories and thoughts about the world. First up is 12-year-old Julia Chen! … And here's 10-year-old Roy Liao with his favorite. … And that's it for today's episode of News Bites. 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 [e-mail], 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!