當你打開門，看到成千上百的水豚跟你在同一個豪宅社區裡生活，你覺得如何呢？ During the pandemic, when residents retreated (撤退) indoors, the capybara began to colonize (佔領) the manicured (精心修剪的) neighborhood of a wealthy gated community (有門禁的社區) of 45,000 people, north of Buenos Aires. Since 2020, the number of capybaras has multiplied (激增) to nearly 1,000. Walking in the community, you …

家庭媽網紅利用小孩拍片牟利，最後導致孩子身心受虐，進而推動法律改革, Being a red state (紅州，政治上偏保守的州), the legislator there is very skeptical (懷疑的) about intruding (干涉、侵犯) into family life with government regulations, with laws, so it’s a big surprise that Utah just became the first state to pass a law (通過法律) that requires online influencers who use their children to market their br…

How much are you willing to go in the name of science? Are you willing to take a sniff at a 5000-year-old mummy? Thousands of years ago, the ancient Egyptians mummified（做成木乃伊）their important societal figures（社會重要人物）after they died. In order to know how well-preserved（保存良好）are the mummies, or to put it more bluntly, in order to know whether the bodi…

Charlie is not your typical (典型的) teenager. He’s thirteen years old this year. Growing up on his family farm in Australia, he started shearing (剪羊毛) sheep when he was just five years old. Having seen both his parents constantly (不斷地) shearing sheep, he got curious (好奇的) and asked them to teach him. At first, he wasn’t allowed to use electrical shea…

你是雞蛋控嗎？你想發揮DIY精神來吃自己養的雞所生的蛋嗎？ 也許下一波缺蛋潮、蛋價波動、甚至有禽流感時，有間公司已經明白你想要什麼囉❤️ Due to the spread（蔓延） of a highly contagious（具傳染性的） strain of bird flu（禽流感）, or avian influenza（禽流感）, there’s a tight supply（供應短缺） of eggs in stores across the US. True to its DIY spirit（自己動手的精神）, many people have turned to（求助於） raising their own egg-laying hens（產蛋母雞） in their own…

世上有人為了水豚奔走天涯海角，在東京，一席與水豚共處喝咖啡的座位，比泰勒絲演唱會還難搶！水豚君啊，什麼般的魅力讓大家搶破頭想見你呀？ Whenever Gary Shteyngart visits Tokyo, he will go to a capybara cafe（水豚咖啡廳）. He finds capybara（水豚）so fascinating（引人入勝的） that he has journeyed（遠行） to many places around the world just to see the animal. Why is he such a fanatic（狂熱者） for capybaras?! First of all, capybaras are such sw…

「儘管要改變行為模式是非常艱困的，但當你辦到了，你就如同能再度呼吸般，舒暢痛快。」 Sacha為了遠離毒性的家庭，離巢搬離英國，但內心深處被恐懼不安、焦慮難耐的負能量吞噬，卻從沒消失。 直到接觸心理諮商，才漸漸讓黑暗迎接第一道暖陽。 這是一段從排斥諮商，明白自我療癒是寬恕別人の感人物語。 你是不是也渴望被理解，或是渴望被療癒呢？打開這本書，展開一段溫暖如春的自我探索旅程吧！ 如果你喜歡李老師的英文故事，歡迎請老師喝杯咖啡，讓學習的湧泉源源不絕！ 🔗 支持連結：https://pay.soundon.fm/podcasts/bee087cb-a2a6-46f4-8a90-fe4eeb496e9a 📢 追蹤李老師，掌握更多精彩內容！ 💁🏻‍♀️ Facebook：https://www.face…

「孤獨不代表不需要陪伴，就像翻車魚 Mambo 告訴我們的那樣。」 「沈浸式學習是什麼呢？操作執行上的盲點在哪呢？我們的學習環境，真的有營造出沈浸式學習的理想概念嗎？」 當水族館暫時關閉，翻車魚Mambo 開始食慾不振、行為產生異狀。飼養員最終發現，牠並非生病，而是感到寂寞⋯ Do you know that you can be both solitary（獨居的） and still be in need of company（陪伴）? At least that’s true when it comes to a sunfish（翻車魚） living in an aquarium（水族館） on the southern coast of Japan. Sunfish tend to…

「你有想過，自己會愛上一個AI嗎？」 當我們想到「感情」，通常會想到現實世界中的伴侶、家人或朋友。但隨著AI科技的進步，人們開始在人工智慧聊天機器人身上尋找慰藉、陪伴，甚至——愛情。 本集Podcast，我們來聊聊 Ayrin 的故事： 她有一個AI男友，名叫 Leo，他強勢（dominant）、佔有慾強（possessive），又能貼心安慰她，甚至幫助她準備護理考試。她的現實伴侶——她的丈夫 Joe，對此毫不在意。但 Ayrin 的情感依賴卻越來越深，甚至願意每月花 $200 美元 訂閱AI服務（subscription）。這樣的關係，真的只是無害的情感寄託（emotional pick-me-up）嗎？ 本集你將聽到： • 人為什麼會對AI產生依戀（emotionally attache…

📌 內文介紹： 「科學的盡頭是玄學？」 這句話放在 達爾文 身上，或許格外貼切。 📖 本集探討 《Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith》，這本書不只是科學傳記，更是一部關於 婚姻、信仰與思想革命 的動人故事。 💡 本集亮點： 🔹 科學 VS. 信仰的家庭戰爭 達爾文是挑戰宗教權威的進化論奠基者，他的妻子艾瑪（Emma Darwin）卻是虔誠的基督徒，相信靈魂不滅。當丈夫的學說動搖神創論，她該選擇愛，還是選擇信仰？ 🔹 這場「信仰之躍」，誰先跳了？ 「Leap of faith」不只指宗教信仰，也代表勇敢跨越未知的決定。 艾瑪選擇了一場「愛的信仰之躍」，她沒有因為信仰的差異而放棄達爾文，反而用信仰支持他。 而達爾文呢？他又如何在科學探索中，保…

大象所付出的感情與靈性，比我們想像中的還豐富？ Do you know that elephants have amazing memories? They may not have the greatest eyesight （視力）in the animal kingdom, but they never forget a face. In addition to （除了⋯）having great memories, elephants are also very intelligent. They can solve puzzles, do simple math, and use tools. A recent study suggests that they may even a…

既然AI都來搶藝術家飯碗了，會不會以後的美與醜，都是AI機器人說了算？ When ChatGPT was first introduced to the world, we were at first impressed with what AI could do. Pretty soon we were hit with the reality（遭受現實打擊） that many jobs today would one day cease to exist（不存在） because they would be replaced by AI. One field that people believe might be rendered obsolete（視為過時） is arts, an…

At the beginning of a new year, many people like to make New Year Resolutions（新年新希望）, but most resolutions tend to focus on oneself. For example, some people want to lose weight, some want to get better grades, some wish to find a partner, and some resolve to go to bed earlier. Although there’s nothing wrong with self-improvement, experts have sugg…

廚神也非從小立志拿鍋鏟，茫茫人生還找不到夢想，也不代表一輩子看不到成功的曙光。 🐍 蛇年李老師陪你讀英語，愛智靈蛇蜿蜒向前行。 ☕️想以行動支持李老師繼續說英文故事，來請老師喝杯咖啡，讓學習的湧泉源源不絕吧！ https://pay.soundon.fm/podcasts/bee087cb-a2a6-46f4-8a90-fe4eeb496e9a 💁🏻‍♀️李老師的Facebook與Instagram： Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readingwithlee/?locale=zh_TW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weizhenlee.weizhenlee/ 💁🏻小幫手Aaron的Instagram： h…

Do you know that from September 29 to November 25, the moon won’t be the only celestial being （天體）that orbits （繞行）the earth? If you look up into the space using a high definition telescope（高畫質望遠鏡）, you will in fact see a mini moon, an asteroid named 2024 PT5. An asteroid（隕石） is a small rocky object that travels around the sun. After November 25, th…

For people who bet in the future of electric vehicles, this will be an exciting piece of news. Researchers in Arkansas, a state in the Midwest of the US, have announced that they have found huge reserve of lithium （鋰的儲備區）in southern region of the state. Lithium is a valuable, scarce raw material that’s needed to make batteries for electric vehicles…

Remember back in elementary school days, you are asked to memorize that there are seven continents in the world. And they are Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Antarctica, Africa, Oceania. You are even asked to do some worksheets to help you memorize all of the seven. Well, that number might change in the future. According to an October a…

Imagine discovering a lost city while you are pulling an all-nighter to finish your history paper. That’s what happened to an archeology student studying in Tulane University in Louisiana. Luke Auld-Thomas, a doctoral student at Tulane spotted the ancient Mayan site in the scans collected by NASA using lidar, a technology that uses airborne lasers …

故事頗荒唐的但卻又很富英式幽默的文字，但，仔細想想，用這樣直球對決、一針見血的文字來敲醒執迷不悟的腦袋，不是也挺過癮的嗎🤭 聽完導讀後，有❤️動，真的先去網站放入購物車（🛒別猶豫了，畢竟庫存不多了） ☕️ 想以行動支持李老師繼續說英文故事，來請老師喝杯咖啡吧！ https://pay.soundon.fm/podcasts/bee087cb-a2a6-46f4-8a90-fe4eeb496e9a 💁🏻‍♀️李老師的Facebook與Instagram： Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readingwithlee/?locale=zh_TW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weizhenlee.weizhenle…

When we think of elite mountaineers, the people that come to mind tend to be Caucasian white men. However without Nepal‘s ethnic Sherpas‘ assistance, their record-breaking achievements would not be possible. Sadly, Sherpas‘ contributions to this sport remain largely unseen and unrecognized . Naturally they also rarely receive the lucrative endorsem…

Recently a group of archeologists discovered a painting on a wall of a cave on an island of Indonesia. The painting depicts a boar, a wild pig, and three human shape figures. Because of its age, it’s hard to see clearly, but it looks like the humans are hunting the pig. Scientists believe the painting might be more than 51000 years old. They are th…

What’s the worst nightmare that parents might have when taking their kids to a museum? Off the top of my head, it will be accidentally damaging a piece of priceless artwork or artifact 有歷史價值的手工藝品 and that’s exactly what happened to a family in Israel. Anna Geller and her husband took their three kids on a museum trip one day in early September. The…

Faced with aging and declining population, the Chinese government is doing everything they can to coax women into motherhood. Mr. Xi, the leader of China, has repeatedly said that promoting childbirth is a national priority which ensures that women “always walk with the party”. According to a China correspondent working for the New York Times, the …

As autumn is in full swing, flu, COVID season comes on the heels of it. The CDC of the US says while there’s evidence showing rampant COVID cases, the current variant, an offshoot of omicron, is not causing an increase in serious illnesses and deaths. One more welcome news on the vaccine front is that a group of scientists in University of Texas ma…

Imagine being the first human to see things that others in the world have never seen and trying to convince others around him that the invisible organisms are real. That person is Anthony van Leeuwenhoek. Leeuwenhoek was born in 1632 in the city of Delft, Netherlands. By day, he made a living by selling clothes. By night, he made lenses used in mic…

Stonehenge （巨石陣）is probably the most famous prehistoric structure in England. It is a collection of enormous rectangular stones arranged in a circle in an open field south of London. Archeologists say that Stonehenge was built over 5000 years ago, made up of 800 gigantic rocks. Some weigh more than two African elephants put together. To this day, h…

When asked what he uses to write, to doodle, to take note, the AI poster boy, Sam Altman actually prefers the pen, even recommending several pens to a podcast host that interviewed him recently. Even though computer keyboards and tablets may dominate our lives, scientists are actually telling us not to write off pens and note pads just yet because …

Have you heard of an exoplanet called HD 187933 b? Don’t worry if you haven’t**, **because neither have I. You might wonder what an exoplanet is. An exoplanet is a planet outside our solar system. HD 187933 b is very far away from us. In fact it will take 200,000 years to get there by rocket. To the human eye, this planet looks like Earth with its …

Wi-Fi is now essential to every modern person’s life, but have you heard of Li-Fi. It’s been boasted as the new technology that could rock the world of the Internet. Li-Fi stands for light fidelity. Instead of using radio waves to transmit information like Wi-Fi, Li-Fi uses light waves, which makes the process faster and more secure. How does Li-Fi…

So not just young people in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan don’t want to have kids, so do those in the US. In fact, fertility rates are declining throughout the developed world, and the decline in the US actually accelerated after 2008. Last year, the fertility rate dipped to 1.6 births per 1,000 women, a historic low. One of the reasons is that yo…

Being an avid reader, this tiny town is definitely my paradise, and on my bucket list to visit someday. Hobart, a small village with only 400 residents in New York state, has eight independent bookstores. One specializes in mysteries and science fiction. One caters to lovers of arts. It has attracted so many book lovers that it hosts several book f…

Isabella Ducrot doesn’t fit into your image of a young, struggling artist. In fact it wasn’t until 2019, at the age of 88, did her works become internationally recognized. Today this Italian widow is still discovering the joy of painting at the age of ninety-three. This summer a prestigious museum in France is hosting her first international solo m…

This summer, popular tourist spots are flooded with even more tourists. Many residents are fed up with the situation, and some of them have even taken their anger to the streets or out on innocent tourists, like what my previous episode said about Barcelona. The city government of Copenhagen is actually taking a different approach. As a saying goes…

A group of seventh and eight graders in Pennsylvania set up fake TikTok accounts impersonating their teachers. In other words, they used their teachers’ names to create fake accounts, which they uploaded reels full of pedophilia hints, racist and homophobic memes as well as make-up sexual hookups among teachers. Hundreds of students viewed, followe…

In October of 2023, some female high school students in New Jersey discovered that some boys at school used artificial intelligence software to fabricate some nude photos of them and started circulating those images online. The same event also happened to a group of high school girls living in Texas. This news is worrisome because it shows that you…

As a parent, you should know more and more young people are experimenting with vaping, or e-cigarettes, so it’s crucial that you are aware of the danger posed by vaping. Foremost, e-cigarettes often contain more nicotine than regular cigarettes, so they are more addictive and harmful. Moreover some substances found in e-cigarettes have been linked …

Administrators at a middle school in North Carolina in the US are finally fed up. Tired of students skipping up on classes in order to create TikTok videos in front of school bathroom mirrors, they removed all the mirrors. The spokesperson of the school said that some students were asking to use the bathroom seven or more times a day and spending a…

Fed up with housing shortage, overcrowding, and increasingly high cost of living, the residents of Barcelona took their anger to the streets on the second Saturday of July. About 2800 people joined the demonstration. Some carried signs that said tourist, go home, and you are not welcome. Some even squirted water guns at diners eating al fresco (戶外用…

如大家所預期的現任知事小池百合子成功邁向第三個任期。紐約時報這次用很有趣的角度報導東京都知事選舉。標題為 Is This Vibrant Democracy in Japan, or Has the Circus Come to Town? Fifty-six candidates ran in the election for the governor of the world’s largest city, Tokyo. Why so many candidates contented for the position? Campaign rules allow anyone who pays a deposit of about $19,000 to run for the gover…

感謝高雄書林今年在盛夏的邀約！我們即將在113/08/19（一）～113/08/21（三）在高雄的書林書店，舉辦【洞見文學：暑期文學快充課】 我們將透過青少年小說Holes《別有洞天》，引領有興趣的學生與讀者，透過李老師精心設計的引導式問題，帶你深度體驗閱讀的樂趣，絕對是有別於以往枯燥且乏味的閱讀課，同場還加映國際時事英聽，不只要快充你的閱讀能力，更要讓你的聽力加倍提升！ 對象｜學生、想多方面提升英文能力的讀者 時間｜113/8/19 - 113/8/21，10:00 - 12:30 優惠｜學員限定，活動日於現場購書享75折優惠 費用｜1800元，含講義費、𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙨一本（原價315元）、高中職英文學習歷程報告範例一本（原價200元）、結業證書 報名連結 https://myppt.cc/B…

你知道鞋子的設計是可以維持長達1000年的嗎？然而，每年有數十億的鞋子被生產，我們卻短短只穿100天之後就丟棄，而這些人造化合物卻不會因為我們不穿就消失，反而正悄悄地在地球上留下傷及土壤、水源、與動物健康的污染物，即便許多廠商正開發以植物為基底的鞋底材質設計，但仍然抵不過舊鞋難以再回收利用的事實。 本集文稿： Do you know that shoes are designed to last 1000 years, but most of us just wear them for 100 days? And because of the materials that they are made from, with every step we take, our shoes leave…

你的夢想是什麼呢？若時機來了，你會選擇離開舒適圈實踐夢想，還是繼續待在原地維持現狀呢？ 本集文稿： This episode is an inspirational story about a person who simply refuses to give up on her childhood dream. When Kristie Ting was little, all she wanted to do was to own an ice cream truck so she could drive around and spread the joy of eating ice cream around. Her love of ice cream was passed down …

曾一度被列瀕臨絕種名單中的大堡礁，在今年底不再亮起紅燈，這是全球唯一能在太空中肉眼可見的生物群，更是孕育出一千五百種海洋生物的搖籃，然而聯合國教科文組織提醒，海水溫度不斷提高與有毒物質被帶入海裡，仍不可漠視珊瑚白化的環境生態問題。 本集文稿： At the end of June this year, the Great Barrier Reef of Australia was finally off the endangered list. The Great Barrier Reef is located in the northeast coast of Australia, and it’s enormous. It’s actually bigger than the Great…

世界上的比賽無奇不有，在美國加州，有個叫「世界最醜狗狗比賽」，舉辦近五十年，今年獲得冠軍寶座的是已參賽五年的北京狗Wild Thang。雖說是比賽，但事實上是鼓勵大家擁抱不完美與正面看待缺陷。 本集文稿： Have you ever heard of the World’s Ugliest Dog contest? The competition has been taking place in California, US for more than fifty years. The winner of this year’s contest is an eight-year- old Pekingese named Wild Thang. This is Wild Thang’s fif…

你有聽過聖馬利諾這個國家嗎？這個沒有火車與飛機直達的國家，還是全球最古老的共和國，從四世紀建國到現在，保留鵝卵石街道的風貌，然而位居義大利的疆土上，為什麼卻沒被併吞呢？ 本集文稿： Have you ever heard of a country named San Marino? I have to admit that I have never heard of it before doing this podcast. Anyway, San Marino is the world’s oldest republic. Legend has it that it was founded by a Croatian stonemason named San Marino on Septe…

後疫情時代，許多學生寧願待在家也不願去上學，而美國正試驗約台幣八百元，以獎勵學生兩週內高出席率的實驗。 本集文稿： Chronic absenteeism has been a huge problem for the US educational system since the pandemic ended. Educators and lawmakers are experimenting with different ways to solve the issue. One that Ohio state has come up with is to pay kids to go to school. If this policy is approved, the state gov…

你知道日本是最富有的民主國家中，仍然未通過同性婚姻法的嗎？Netflix在近期上架的男男實境秀《The Boyfriend 夏日咖啡男友》，期盼能為日本帶來什麼影響呢？ 本集文稿： Japan is the most popular country to visit among Taiwanese tourists. But do you know that Japan is the only country among the world’s wealthiest democracies that has not legalized same-sex marriages. And a Netflix reality show hopes to change this. Over ten e…

本集是久違的英聽時事極短篇，我們一起來聽聽看在日本的女性，在結紮手術前得面臨哪些難題呢？ 本集文稿： Do you know that in Japan when women want to seek sterilization procedures, they will encounter conditions that are the most burdensome in the world? How so? First they must already have children and have to prove that pregnancy might endanger their health. Moreover they are required to obtain the …

在開始之前，我們先認識一些藥物名稱：opoid, fentanyl, OxyContin, heroin, morphine, opium，上述這些，都是止痛藥物，它們的立意都是為癌症患者或重大疾病患者減輕疼痛，但當含有成癮成分的止痛藥物，不再為了減輕疼痛，而是為了商業利益被濫用，病患甚至為了追求euphoria使身體亢奮狂喜的狀態，造成性命的垂危。造成這樣持續上演的悲劇是因誰而起的呢？ 參考書目：Empire of Pain : The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty 《疼痛帝國：薩克勒家族製藥王朝秘史》 作者：帕特里克·拉登·基夫Patrick Radden Keefe 精選字彙： overdose (n.) 過量服用 opioid crisi…

感謝高雄書林今年在盛夏的邀約！我們即將在113/07/08（一）～113/07/12（五）在高雄的書林書店，舉辦【洞見文學：給青少年的暑期文學快充課】 我們將透過青少年小說Holes《別有洞天》，引領有興趣的學生與讀者，透過李老師精心設計的引導式問題，帶你深度體驗閱讀的樂趣，絕對是有別於以往枯燥且乏味的閱讀課，同場還加映國際時事英聽，不只要快充你的閱讀能力，更要讓你的聽力加倍提升！ 報名連結：https://docs.google.com/forms/u/1/d/e/1FAIpQLSdj-qg2vnciEeDi8b7B_sF6MxXSS7PIsM5j-KftYgfO2y8WVw/viewform 李老師與小幫手Aaron期待今夏與你的見面！ 你有聽過Sapiens: A Brief Hist…