Pronunciation ChallengeCNN 10: TikTok Banned, Shoutouts Return, Azar visits Taiwan

【Rundown】
00:00 - 00:33 Opening
00:33 - 02:38 News: Coronavirus Updates (Australia/US/Taiwan)
02:38 - 03:23 News: Tiktok to be banned in US
03:23 - 03:56 Sentence of the Day
03:56 - 05:11 Vocabulary
05:12 - 06:08 Question Time! / Writing Challenge
06:11 - 06:47 Epilogue
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【Transcript】
The following is an update of the coronavirus pandemic across the world.

Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison warned that the coronavirus border closures are likely to keep the country divided past Christmas. And while the state of Victoria battles the second wave of coronavirus, a total of 19 deaths and 321 cases was recorded, which was the lowest number in almost two weeks. The government says that it was because of compulsory mask wearing and hopes to see a further bending of the curve as its stage four restrictions start to be reflected in the numbers.

*compulsory (mandatory/required to/something you must do)
*bending of the curve (flatten the curve 拉平曲線/lowering the number of COVID-19 cases)
*be reflected (something to be shown on another thing)

Meanwhile in the US, back to school season is underway which is raising another major concern, that is, children’s infection of the coronavirus. Two prominent medical organizations said from July 9th to August 6th, about 180,000 American children were diagnosed with the coronavirus. Up until recently, adults with symptoms were the majority to be tested for COVID-19, but as younger people are getting tested more often, more evidence are showing that kids also do spread the virus. What makes it more troublesome is that kids who are diagnosed with the virus often only show mild symptoms, which poses a big threat as children are now getting back to school.

*prominent (well known/outstanding)

And now back home, US Health Secretary Alex Azar visited Taiwan, praising the open and transparent way that the Government has dealt with the coronavirus pandemic, also mentioning that it's in stark contrast to the China where the virus originated from. During Azar’s meeting with Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, Wu said that Taiwan is used to dealing with threats, whether it's military, diplomatic or the epidemic.

*praising (to tell the good side of something)

And now dear listeners let’s move on to our story of the day, Tiktok.

President Donald Trump signed executive orders that would ban the social media app TikTok and WeChat from operating in the US in 45 days if they are not sold by their Chinese-owned parent companies. It is known that TikTok collects tremendous amounts of information from its users. And because the app is owned by a company in China, the Trump administration says that the info TikTok collects could be shared with China's Communist Party, putting Americans' personal and possibly federal information at risk.

*federal (relating to the central government such as the US)
Ex: FBI = Federal Bureau of Investigation / Federal Reserve System 美聯準會

You might wonder how serious this is, how big the potential risk could be.
Dear listeners, here’s our sentence of the day.

It's not just the videos they record and view and share, it's whatever they search for on the Internet, it's wherever they go with their phones.

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【Question Time!】

1. What did you think about Azar’s visit to Taiwan? Was it a good thing for our diplomatic progress, or was it just a political show?

2. Writing challenge: Use 3 words or phrases you learned from today’s show to write a short paragraph on the recent news you’ve seen. Share with me what happened in the news and what your opinions are.

Thanks, Ken. Have a good day, everyone.

It's not just the videos they record and view and share, it's whatever they search for on the Internet, it's wherever they go with their phones.

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