A+ 字彙程度：500~2000字
主要對象：英檢初級；新多益225分

汙水冰棒盼喚起水源反思

有三名臺灣學生在今年夏天製造了非常特別的冰棒；每支冰棒都是由臺灣河流及湖泊的汙水做成的。這個構想就是要讓大家看見現今臺灣水源的汙染狀況。

這三位國立臺灣藝術大學的學生，他們為了畢業製作「100% 純污水製冰所」製造了這些冰棒。並花了一年的時間到臺灣 100 個地方收集水的樣本。而這 100 支冰棒都有屬於自己的「口味」，有些冰棒含有化學物質，有些含有垃圾，還有些冰棒甚至看起來很美呢！這項作品獲得了金點新秀設計獎，並在臺北世貿中心展出喔！

Popsicles Show Pollution in Taiwan's Water

Summer is a popular time for cold treats, such as Popsicles1. Three Taiwanese students created special Popsicles this past summer. Each Popsicle was made of polluted2 water from Taiwan's rivers and lakes. The idea was to show how dirty the water in Taiwan is these days.

Hong Yi-Chen, Guo Yi-Hui, and Zheng Yu-Di are students at National Taiwan University of Arts（國立臺灣藝術大學）. They created the Popsicles for their graduation3 project, called “100% Polluted Water Popsicles（100% 純污水製冰所）.” They visited 100 places in Taiwan and collected water samples over one year. Some of the Popsicles have chemicals4 and even trash in them. They made 100 Popsicles and each of them has its own “flavor5.” Some of them even look beautiful! The project won the Young Pin Design Award（金點新秀設計獎） and was on display6 at the Taipei World Trade Center（臺北世界貿易中心）.

我的牛排會噴血？！

當我們切下牛排時，可能有一些紅色肉汁會流出來，那是什麼呢？

(A) 因為肉汁中含有血。

(B) 因為牛排中含有太多的糖。

(C) 因為肉汁中含有一種特殊蛋白質。

正確答案是(C)，你答對了嗎？

它其實是水與肌紅蛋白。肌紅蛋白是一種蛋白質，它將氧氣儲存在肌肉當中。而牛肉與羊肉較其他肉類含有更多的肌紅蛋白。因此，生的牛肉與羊肉看起來較其他生肉紅。不過，別擔心那紅色的肉汁，盡情享受你的牛排吧！

Eating a Fancy Steak Dinner

Hello and welcome to the show. Today we're going to talk about steaks.

Q: When we cut into the steak, some red juices might come out. Why are they red?

(A) Because there is blood in the juices.

(B) Because there is too much sugar in the steak.

(C) Because there is a special type of protein in the juices.

Ans: (C)Because there is a special type of proteinin the juices.

On your birthday, your parents take you out for a fancy steak dinner. When you cut into the steak, red juices come out. Is that blood? It's actually water and myoglobin（肌紅蛋白）. Myoglobin is a type of protein. It stores oxygen in muscles. Beef and lamb have more myoglobin than other kinds of meat. So, raw beef and lamb look redder than other raw meat. Don't worry about the red juices. Enjoy your steak!

A+ 字彙程度：500~2000字
主要對象：英檢初級；新多益225分

4U 字彙程度：1500~3500字
主要對象：英檢中級；新多益550分

你是我的眼──Traveleyes帶著視障者去旅行

Traveleyes是世界上第一個同時服務視障旅行者和明眼旅行者的旅遊業者。在Traveleyes的旅程中，視障者和明眼者會被配成一對並展開一天的探險。明眼者充當導遊並描述附近的景象。這些配對每天都會交換，好讓整個團隊都有機會認識彼此。每天晚上，每個人都會一起用餐，促進彼此創造出長久的友誼和回憶。

也多虧有Traveleyes，旅行對視障者不再是過去式。而明眼旅行者也能從Traveleyes的體驗中受益。藉由花時間仔細地描述景色，讓他們更注意到自己之前可能忽略的細節。Traveleyes真是讓明眼者和視障者都對這個世界大開眼界呢！

Traveleyes Opens the World to Blind Travelers

Almost everyone experiences wanderlust at some point. However, for blind travelers, taking a journey can seem like more trouble than it's worth. Even with one's sight, booking a trip and navigating around a foreign country can be difficult. That's where Traveleyes comes in. Traveleyes is the world's first commercial tour operator that works with both blind and sighted travelers.

On a Traveleyes trip, blind and sighted travelers are paired together for the day's adventures. The sighted traveler acts as a guide and describes the nearby sights. Each day, the pairs are switched up so that the whole group gets the chance to know each other. In the evenings, everyone dines together. This helps create long-lasting friendships and memories.

Thanks to Traveleyes, travel is no longer a thing of the past for the blind. Booking a tour is a piece of cake. Plus, Traveleyes' specially trained tour managers are always on hand to help with challenges. What's more, sighted travelers respect their companions' limitations and make them comfortable while they're discovering their sense of freedom.

臺灣的首座海底郵筒

臺灣首座的海底郵筒，今年七月在澎湖馬公市的鎖港開始啟用，遊客可以潛至海底郵筒寄送防水的明信片，之後會有澎湖縣專員收集所有信件，並拿到陸地上的郵局寄送。

建造這座郵筒的目的是要吸引遊客和協助當地珊瑚生長，這座紅色的郵筒是用一個很大的水泥基座做成的。大約在水面下五公尺處，水泥基座提供了一個絕佳地點供珊瑚、大型貝類生長，而澎湖縣水產種苗繁殖場甚至在郵筒的基座旁放置了珊瑚、貝類，希望能吸引更多遊客前來投遞明信片。

Taiwan Gets Underwater Mailbox in Penghu

The first underwater mailbox in Taiwan is waiting for your postcards. The mailbox opened in July in the waters of Magong City's Suogang Bay (鎖港) in Penghu. Visitors can send waterproof postcards by diving down to the mailbox. Penghu County workers later collect them and take them to a post office on dry land.

The goal of establishing the mailbox is to attract visitors, and to help the local coral grow. The red mailbox was made with a large concrete base. About five meters below the surface, the concrete provides the perfect place for coral and giant clams to grow. The county government's Marine Life Propagation Station (水產種苗繁殖場) even placed coral and clams at the base of the mailbox.

The Suogang area is already popular with snorkelers and scuba divers. Penghu County Magistrate10 Chen Kuang-Fu (陳光復) says the mailbox should attract more. More than one million tourists visited Penghu in 2016, an increase of 100,000 from the year before.

4U 字彙程度：1500~3500字
主要對象：英檢中級；新多益550分

ED 字彙程度：4000~7000字
主要對象：英檢中級/中高級；新多益750分

從馬鈴薯的角度看世界

馬鈴薯最開始是印加帝國重要的主食，因為他們可以生長在相當寒冷的區域，如安地斯山脈，這意味著當玉蜀黍作物歉收時，人們能夠倚仗馬鈴薯當作食物。

馬鈴薯含有大量維生素 C 與維生素 B6，但其中沒有太多的蛋白質及脂肪，又可以使人們有飽足感。加上他們相較其他作物更容易種植，可以在各種氣候下適應良好，所以馬鈴薯也隨著社會發展，陸續被帶到世界各地。

現在中國及印度是全世界最大的馬鈴薯生產國。在北美，馬鈴薯也再次以作為糧食作物的優勢受到歡迎，並幫助刺激人口增長。

The Potato's Tale

My name is Toby, and I'm a potato. People know me by a lot of different names; I get called spud, tater, earth apple, and even Solanum tuberosum by fancy folks with too much education. I consider myself pretty common and humble, but my family and I have seen a lot. Our story begins thousands of years ago, and since then, we've changed the world.

It all started in the Andes Mountains in ancient Peru. It's estimated that people there have been growing my ancestors for around 10,000 years. There's no doubt that they were a major staple for the Inca Empire. Potatoes are pretty tough, and we can grow in fairly chilly areas, such as the Andes, which meant people could rely on my forebears as food when the maize crop failed. This helped the Inca Empire grow, but we potatoes were just getting started.

When the Spanish showed up in the 16th century, they liked the look of my family, so they brought them back to Europe. At first, the Europeans didn't want to consume them at all. This makes sense, since our leaves are toxic, as is our skin if it's exposed to light. They used my relatives to decorate their gardens instead, but it wasn't long before they recognized their virtues as a food.

Let me just take a moment to explain our nutritional value. Potatoes contain plenty of vitamin C and vitamin B6, though some of this disappears when we're cooked. There's not a lot of protein in us, but there's almost no fat, and we're great at satisfying hunger. What makes us so appealing as a food crop is that we're relatively easy to grow and can adapt well to a variety of climates. Once the Europeans realized this, my predecessors were ready for the big time.

認識情緒勒索

情緒勒索是指在心理上操控人的情緒來影響他們的行為舉止。情緒勒索者利用恐懼、義務、和罪惡感等虐人的策略對受害者逐漸灌輸恐懼與絕望感。此外，如果你不照情緒勒索者的意思去做的話，他們會讓你知道會有不好的後果。

情緒勒索可能在所有類型的關係之間發生。事實上，我們大多都有折衷妥協以維持和平關係的伴侶、小孩、父母親、朋友或老闆。他們知道我們有多重視和他們的關係，並利用此點以控制我們。

情緒勒索的衝擊可能會有長期的負面影響。它不只剝奪了受害者的自我價值，更對其心理及生理健康造成損害。因此，打破此循環的重擔就落到了受害者身上。受害者必須承認他們正遭到勒索，並有意識地努力變得更堅定，且在雙方關係之間設立合理的界限。只有到了那時候，受害者才能終結此情緒虐待，並建立基於相互尊重的關係。

Ending the Cycle of Emotional Blackmail

Betty doesn't take no for an answer. Her son, Charlie, always complies with her unreasonable demands. After all, how could Charlie refuse his mother's requests after everything she has done for him? Meanwhile, Andrew gets upset whenever his girlfriend Natalie disagrees with him. To make him happy, Natalie reluctantly takes his side. What Charlie and Natalie don't realize is that they're victims of emotional blackmail.

Coined by Dr. Susan Forward and Donna Frazier, the term emotional blackmail refers to the psychological manipulation of a person's emotions to influence their behavior. Emotional blackmailers use abusive strategies such as fear, obligation, and guilt (FOG) to instill dread and despair in their victim. What's more, if you do not behave the way an emotional blackmailer wants you to, they make it known that there will be consequences.

Much like criminal blackmail, it takes the active participation of both parties for a case of emotional blackmail to occur. This process has six stages: demand, resistance, pressure, threat, compliance, and repetition. First, a demand is made; it can be direct or indirect. The former might sound something like “I don't want you to hang out with your friends tonight.” It could also be disguised as “Sure, go out with your friends. I can't promise I'll be here when you return, though.” The demand goes against the victim's wishes, so it's often met with some resistance. The blackmailer responds by turning up the pressure with threats to get the victim to submit. The effects of FOG leave the victim with no choice but to comply. This compliance confirms the victim's vulnerabilities and shows the blackmailer this strategy is effective. The blackmailer takes this as a cue to use this technique again and again.

ED 字彙程度：4000~7000字
主要對象：英檢中級/中高級；新多益750分