Traffic Lights, Lonely Youth, Invisible Tiles

Hi there, it's time for another episode of News Bites! I'm Nancy Sun… And I'm Hope Ngo. In today's news: Really high traffic lights, lonely young people, and invisible solar panels. All that and more, coming up next. ________________________________ 海拔3275公尺的紅綠燈 Traffic Lights at 3,275 Meters Hehuanshan has beautiful scenery throughout the year. People rush up to see snow in winter and flowers in spring. Hikers and climbers are eager to explore the famous mountain. In Sept. 2020, Hehuanshan was officially certified (認證) by the International Dark-Sky Association (國際暗空協會) as the first International Dark-Sky Park in Taiwan. It's a great place for stargazers (天文迷) to see the night sky. Now, put all these things together… And you have thousands of visiting tourists. But the roads on the mountain are narrow (狹窄). Making them wider would be bad for the environment. And this all leads to lots of traffic jams (塞車). With so many people visiting the mountain, safety is very important. Traffic lights were installed in Wuling (武嶺) to control traffic during holidays and weekends. There are two sets of lights. They are just red and green lights. And they are 400 meters apart. They will not be in use 24 hours a day. And police officers will control the lights. Officials hope that the traffic lights will help everyone stay safe. 合歡山武嶺隘口兩端設置交通號誌，警方希望這樣可以有效疏緩車流。 ________________________________ 南韓鼓勵【孤獨年輕人】重返社會 South Korea Pays 'Lonely Young People' to Get Back into Society Can you imagine living a reclusive (隱居) life? South Korea's Ministry of Gender Equality and Family says there are around 338,000 South Koreans like this. They are around 19 to 39 years old. They live in a small space. They are disconnected from the outside world for a long time. And they have a hard time living a normal life. The government says these people start getting isolated in adolescence (青春期). They can’t interact (互動) with others. And it's hard for them to get use to different environments. This can be caused by going through family problems, or health problems. It can also be caused by mental illness. So the South Korean government wants to encourage these people to get back into society. It says it will give up to $500 US dollars each month to people like this, who are 9 to 24 years old. And the government is planning more ways to work with welfare groups (社福機構) for young people. 南韓政府規劃了許多幫助方案，希望可以幫助"孤獨年輕人【重返社會】。 ________________________________ 龐貝古城裝【隱形】太陽能板 New 'Invisible' Solar Panels in Ancient Pompeii Pompeii is an ancient city in Italy. It was destroyed by a volcano in 79 A.D. (西元). It is one of the most well-preserved ancient cities (保存完整的古城). Each year, 3.5 million tourists visit the city to learn about its history. But Pompeii is quite big. It takes a lot of electricity to keep the city running. And this means there are lots of cables and poles (電線，電線桿). This leaves the city looking…not very nice. Now there is a new way to get electricity, and keep the city looking beautiful. An Italian company has made "invisible solar panels" (【隱形】太陽能板). The panels look like stone, wood, concrete (混凝土) or brick (磚頭). They can be hidden on walls, floors and roofs. The panels used in Pompeii look like terracotta (陶製) roof tiles used by the Romans. The panels were put on two sites, the House of Cerere and the House of Vettii. Pompeii officials say the solar panels are just the beginning. They believe the panels will help other historical sites around the world. 保存文化遺產同時又能發電及節能減碳，真的是一舉數得。 ________________________________ So, in today's News Bites: Traffic lights were installed on Hehuanshan to control traffic during holidays and weekends. They are 3,275 meters high! Officials hope that the traffic lights will help everyone stay safe. ________________________________ The South Korean government wants to encourage "lonely young people" to get back into society. It says it will give up to $500 US dollars each month to people like this, who are 9 to 24 years old. And the government is planning more ways to work with welfare groups for young people. ________________________________ And, An Italian company has made "invisible solar panels". The panels used in Pompeii look like the terracotta roof tiles used by the Romans. This helps the city get electricity, and still look beautiful. ________________________________ And that's today's episode of News Bites! ________________________________ 趣味小點 Tasty Tidbit Have you got the hang of our new segment, Tasty Tidbits yet? Every day, at the end of each episode, we'll share with you a fun fact, a joke, or some interesting news. Make sure to stay tuned to hear it! And we'd love to hear from you too! If you have a fun fact, a joke, or some interesting news you'd like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to [email protected], 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!