Pronunciation Challenge CNN10: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict / Doggos and Bees / Leaked UFO Footage

Q: What's your favorite comfort food?

【Transcript】

[The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Ceasefire Agreement Reached]

Hey, folks. We begin today in the Middle East, where the US Secretary of State is making a tour of 3 nations in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank. Attacks between Israel and the Palestinian territory of Gaza recently went back and forth for 11 days before a ceasefire was announced late last week, May 21. It was the worst violence between the Israeli government and Hamas since 2014, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza. Hamas claims that at least 248 Palestinians were killed in the conflict, while Israeli officials say at least 12 people were killed in Israel. Now, the United States is a close ally of Israel. The U.S. Government has said that Israel has the right to defend itself and that the US will make significant contributions to rebuilding the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

[Doggos and Bees Trained to Sniff out the Coronavirus]

Man's best friend could be a new ally in the fight to contain coronavirus. A new UK study says highly-trained dogs in controlled conditions may be able to sniff out and identify COVID-19 infections in humans. 6 dogs participated in the study; a group of Labradors, Golden Retrievers, and Cocker Spaniels trained for 6 to 8 weeks to recognize the scent of the virus. The results of an early-stage study, which hasn't yet been peer-reviewed, say dogs picked up the scent of COVID-19 on the clothing of infected people up to 94% of the time, and they were even able to detect asymptomatic cases, which means people infected with COVID-19 but with no symptoms. Standard PCR tests are the best test for COVID-19, but they can't beat the dogs for the speed of the results. However, critics say it could be hard for the dogs to match their success in the lab once they’re out in the real world, since some scents in crowded areas quickly disperse.

Luckily, mother nature’s little best helper, bees, are also helping out. Did you know that honey bees actually have tongues? When they stick them out at you, don’t worry, it’s not an insult, but it could be a way to determine if someone has COVID-19. Despite not being known for their sense of smell, the scientists were recently able to train bees to stick out their tongues when they detected the infection's odor. Yes, that’s right, same as for dogs that can sniff out the virus, apparently, the coronavirus has its own special odor, smell, and scent. The coronavirus, like many other viruses and diseases, creates a chemical reaction within the body, which, in turn, releases a smell that our human noses can't detect. But bees can sniff it out. Bees can actually sniff out flowers 1 kilometer or more than half a mile away, so the scientists are trying to leverage that skill. When the bees were exposed to the virus, they were given a sugary reward. And, much like dogs, after a little training, the bees started expecting their sugary reward once exposed to the COVID scent and began sticking out their tongues.

What a breakthrough, I must say, so hard to bee-lieve that our little furry friends can actually help save our lives. I woof them so, so much. Go give your dogs a well-deserved pet right now.

[U.S. Department of Defense Confirms Leaked UFO Footages]

It’s a bird! No, it’s a plane. Oh no, it's a UFO. By definition, anything zipping through the air that can't be explained immediately is an unidentified flying object, or the UFO as we call it. A leaked video taken by a Navy Ship was confirmed by the U.S. Department of Defense to be an actual UFO. Well, I certainly hope they’re here to help eradicate the coronavirus, but who knows. Check out today’s CNN10 video for the footage.

And now, here’s our sentence of the day:

A new UK study says highly-trained dogs in controlled conditions may be able to sniff out and identify COVID-19 infections in humans.

Vocabulary Words:

1. condition
the physical situation that someone or something is in and affected by

Ex: The prisoners were kept in the most appalling conditions.

2. sniff
to smell something by taking air in through your nose

Ex: Dogs love sniffing each other.

3. identify
to recognize someone or something and say or prove who or what that person or thing is

Ex: Even the smallest baby can identify its mother by her voice.


[Epilogue]

Alright, that’s all the time we have for today.
I have a question for you guys before I let you go.
What’s your favorite comfort food? Why do you love it the most?
And now that most of us are working from home.
Can the food still be ordered through delivery? Or has it been a while since you last had some?
Share it with me in the comment section down below!
This is Ken Miao, and I'll see you guys again next week.
Bon appetit!