2025.11.12 青少年新闻速递
Host: News Discovery Time! Today we are going to explore… Bang! Pop! Wow! …synchronized fireflies, kid coders, and art from trash!
Hello, everyone, and welcome to our weekly news express! I’m your host, Alex. We have seen some truly amazing stories this week, and I can’t wait to share them with you. Let’s dive right into our first piece of news, which comes from the world of nature. It’s a story that feels like it’s straight out of a fairy tale.
In a part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a breathtaking natural event has recently captivated visitors and scientists. For a few weeks every year, a special species of firefly, Photinus carolinus, performs an incredible light show. Unlike other fireflies that flash randomly, these fireflies flash all at once, in perfect harmony. Scientists call this phenomenon “synchronous bioluminescence.” Imagine you are standing in a completely dark forest. Suddenly, you see thousands upon thousands of tiny lights begin to glow, pulse together for a moment, and then plunge the forest back into darkness. This amazing display has happened again this year, covering an area of the forest equivalent to more than 20 basketball courts!
Scientists have studied this behavior for a long time. They believe the fireflies coordinate their flashes to help the males and females find each other. The males flash a specific pattern, and if a female is interested, she flashes back after a short pause. It’s their unique way of communicating. This synchronous (happening at the same time/simultaneous) display is incredibly rare and only happens in a few places around the world. Park rangers have reported that the number of fireflies has been healthy, which is great news for the local ecosystem. People who have seen it say they feel like they are watching stars dancing on the ground. If you could witness this magical event, what kind of peaceful music would you imagine hearing?
Now, for our second story, we are moving from the natural world to the world of technology. And this one is all about the power of young minds!
A team of three middle school students from Ohio has just won the top prize at the National “Code for a Cause” competition. Their winning project is a mobile application they developed called “Pawsitive Connect.” This clever app helps local animal shelters manage their adoption process more efficiently. The students, aged 13 and 14, have spent the last six months designing and coding the app after school. We have heard that they wrote over 60,000 lines of code. To give you an idea, that’s like writing a novel that’s 250 pages long, but in a computer language!
So, how does it work? Picture this: you are a worker at a busy animal shelter. Instead of using messy paper files, you can now use your phone to see all the information about the animals – their health records, their personalities, and photos. People who want to adopt a pet can also download the app to browse for their new best friend. The app’s interface is very intuitive (easy to use/user-friendly), which means even people who aren’t great with technology can use it easily. The students have already partnered with three local shelters to test the app, and the feedback has been fantastic. They said their main goal was to use their coding skills to make a real difference. Their success has inspired so many other students to start learning to code. If you were to create an app to solve a problem in our school or community, what would it do?
For our final story, we are blending creativity with environmental responsibility. Let’s talk about turning trash into treasure.
In a coastal town in Australia, a community has come together to create a massive work of art from something you might throw away every day: plastic bottle caps. They have been working on a giant mosaic mural for the past eight months, and it has just been completed. The mural, which depicts a vibrant underwater scene with turtles, fish, and coral reefs, is located on a large public wall near the beach. It’s not just big; it’s enormous! The artwork measures 50 meters long and 3 meters high. To create it, residents, including many children, have collected over 300,000 plastic bottle caps. That’s enough to fill up an entire school classroom from floor to ceiling!
The project leader said the idea was to raise awareness about plastic pollution in our oceans in a beautiful and engaging way. Before they could be used, every single cap had to be washed and sorted by color. Families and schools organized “collection drives” to gather the caps. You can see the dedication in every part of the mural. From far away, it looks like a beautiful painting. But as you get closer, you can see the thousands of individual caps that create the image. The final artwork is truly vibrant (full of color/lively) and sends a powerful message. This project has shown how small actions, when done together, can create something monumental and meaningful. It makes you think, doesn’t it? What common object that we usually discard could you use to create your own piece of art?
And that’s all the time we have for today’s News Discovery Time. We have seen nature’s magic, the brilliance of young inventors, and the power of community art. Keep your eyes and ears open, because amazing stories are happening all around us. Until next time, stay curious!
(Upbeat outro music fades in)
中文版本 （欢快的开场音乐淡出）
主持人： News Discovery Time！今天我们要探索……Bang! Pop! Wow!……同步闪烁的萤火虫、小程序员和变废为宝的艺术！
大家好，欢迎收听我们的每周新闻快报！我是你们的主持人，亚历克斯。这周我们发现了好多超赞的故事，我简直等不及要和你们分享啦。让我们立刻冲向第一条新闻，它来自奇妙的自然界。这个故事感觉就像是从童话书里跑出来的一样。
在美国大雾山国家公园的一个区域，一场令人惊叹的自然盛事最近迷住了所有游客和科学家。每年都有几个星期，一种叫做 Photinus carolinus 的特殊萤火虫会表演一场不可思议的灯光秀。和其他随意闪烁的萤火虫不一样，这些萤火虫会整齐划一地、完美和谐地同时发光。科学家们称这种现象为“同步生物发光（shēng wù fā guāng）”。想象一下，你正站在一片漆黑的森林里。突然之间，你看到成千上万个小光点一起开始发亮，同步跳动片刻，然后又让森林瞬间遁（dùn）入黑暗。今年，这场奇妙的表演再次上演，覆盖的森林面积足足有20多个篮球场那么大！
科学家们研究这个行为已经很久了。他们认为，萤火虫们协调它们的闪光，是为了帮助雄性和雌性找到彼此。雄性萤火虫会闪烁出一种特定的模式，如果有雌性萤火虫感兴趣，她就会在短暂的停顿后闪烁回应。这是它们独特的交流方式。这种同步的表演非常罕见，全世界只有少数几个地方才能看到。公园的管理员报告说，今年萤火虫的数量非常健康，这对当地的生态系统来说是个天大的好消息。亲眼见过的人都说，感觉就像在看星星们在地面上跳舞一样。要是你能看到这神奇的一幕，你会想象听到什么样的背景音乐呢？
接下来，是我们的第二条新闻，我们要从自然世界穿越到科技世界。而且这个故事，讲的可是咱们年轻人的力量！
一个由三名俄亥俄州初中生组成的团队，刚刚在全国“为公益编程”大赛中赢得头奖。他们的获奖项目是一个他们自己开发的手机应用，名叫“Pawsitive Connect”（爪爪连心）。这个聪明的应用可以帮助当地的动物收容所更高效地管理领养流程。这几位13岁和14岁的学生，在过去六个月里利用课余时间设计和编写了这个应用。我们听说他们写了超过6万行代码。这是什么概念呢？简直就像是用计算机语言，从零开始写了一本250页的小说！
那么，它是怎么运作的呢？想象一下这个场景：你是一个繁忙的动物收容所的工作人员。现在你不用再翻乱糟糟的纸质文件了，可以直接用手机查看所有动物的信息——它们的健康记录、性格特点和照片。想要领养宠物的人们也可以下载这个应用，来寻找他们新的好朋友。这个应用的界面设计得特别好懂，也就是说，就算是不太会用高科技产品的人也能轻松上手。这可真不赖！学生们已经和三家当地的收容所合作测试了这款应用，收到的反馈简直棒极了。他们说，他们的主要目标就是用自己的编程技能，为世界带来一点真正的改变。他们的成功激励了好多好多其他的学生开始学习编程。如果你可以设计一个应用来解决我们学校或社区里的一个问题，你会做什么呢？
最后一条新闻，我们将把创造力和环保责任感结合在一起。让我们聊聊如何把垃圾变成宝贝。
在澳大利亚的一个海滨小镇，整个社区齐心协力，用一种你可能每天都会扔掉的东西——塑料瓶盖，创作了一件巨大的艺术品。在过去的八个月里，他们一直在制作一幅巨大的马赛克壁画，现在刚刚完工。这幅壁画描绘了一个充满活力的海底世界，有海龟、鱼儿和珊瑚礁，就画在海滩附近的一面巨大的公共墙壁上。它不只是大，是超级大！这件艺术品有50米长，3米高。为了创作它，包括许多孩子在内的居民们，总共收集了超过30万个塑料瓶盖。这个数量，足够把我们一整个学校教室从地板到天花板都填满！
这个项目的负责人说，他们的想法是用一种美丽又吸引人的方式，来提升大家对海洋塑料污染问题的关注。在被使用之前，每一个瓶盖都必须经过清洗和颜色分类。许多家庭和学校还组织了“收集活动”来搜集瓶盖。你可以在壁画的每一个角落看到大家付出的心血。从远处看，它像一幅美丽的画。但当你走近时，你就能看到构成这幅图像的成千上万个独立的瓶盖。最终的艺术品色彩斑（bān）斓，传递了一个强有力的信息。这个项目告诉我们，微小的行动，只要大家一起做，就能创造出既宏伟又有意义的东西。这真的引人深思，对吧？我们平时丢弃的哪些普通物品，可以被你用来创作一件属于自己的艺术品呢？
好啦，以上就是今天“新闻大发现”的全部内容。我们看到了大自然的魔力、年轻发明家的才华和社区艺术的力量。请时刻保持你的好奇心，因为精彩的故事就发生在我们身边。下次再见！
（欢快的结尾音乐响起）
听力问题（中英文）
What is the unique characteristic of the Photinus carolinus fireflies mentioned in the first story?
第一则新闻中提到的 Photinus carolinus 萤火虫的独特之处是什么？
What is the name of the app created by the middle school students, and what problem does it help solve?
初中生们创建的应用程序叫什么名字？它帮助解决了什么问题？
According to the third story, how many plastic bottle caps were collected for the community mural?
根据第三则新闻，社区壁画项目收集了多少个塑料瓶盖？
Why do scientists believe the fireflies flash in synchrony?
科学家们认为萤火虫为什么要同步闪烁？
参考答案（中英文)
They flash their lights all at the same time, in synchrony, instead of randomly.
它们会同时、同步地发光，而不是随机闪烁。
The app is called “Pawsitive Connect,” and it helps animal shelters manage their adoption processes more efficiently.
这个应用叫做“Pawsitive Connect”（爪爪连心），它帮助动物收容所更有效地管理领养流程。
Over 300,000 plastic bottle caps were collected.
收集了超过30万个塑料瓶盖。
They believe it is a form of communication to help males and females find each other for mating.
他们认为这是一种交流方式，以帮助雄性和雌性萤火虫找到彼此进行繁殖。