Mike, a popular rooster from Hunei Township, Dahu Village in Kaohsiung County recently lost his wife. Following her death, he became dejected and kept crying in sorrow, even losing all the feathers on his tail for a while. However, he recovered and started to take on the responsibilities of his deceased wife, including taking care of his chicks. His deep love and the actions he has taken are praiseworthy indeed.
Lee Huang, who runs a coffee shop based on the theme of old records in Hunei Township, received a pair of small Japanese chickens as a gift from his friend at the start of last year. Lee and his son, Lee Chi-yuan, named the rooster Mike and the hen Ashley and built them a clean and comfortable love nest.
Mike originally had a good appetite and would eat anything. Each morning when Lee Huang called his son to get out of bed, Mike would mistake the sound for the crowing of another chicken and would either cuckoo along with Lee or scream “Lee Chi-yuan” at the top of his voice. Mike’s unusual behavior made him the most popular rooster with local Hunei residents.
Lee Huang says that Mike and Ashley were deeply in love and they gave birth to seven broods with more than thirty chicks over the last year. However, not many of them survived. Then a little more than a month ago, Ashley was bitten to death by a large dog outside their house, leaving behind four newborn chicks. After witnessing the incident, Mike fell into a spiral of depression. After crying “Lee Chi-yuan” in a sorrow-stricken fashion all day long, he kept quiet for a week, looked downhearted and lost all his tail feathers.
Mike had been dissolute, but after his grieving period was over, his personality changed all of a sudden, and even his brightly-colored tail feathers grew back. He now takes his chicks outside everyday to practice searching for food. When the chicks lower their heads to peck at their food, Mike sticks his neck out and looks around to guard his young. As soon as night falls, Mike hops into the chicken nest to clean it and then calls the chicks into bed. Mike really deserves a lot of credit for the way he has taken responsibility for mothering duties.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON)
高縣湖內鄉大湖村人氣小公雞「麥克」最近喪偶，不僅啼叫聲哀戚、尾椎鮮艷羽毛一度掉光，還父代母職照料起親生小雞，癡情公雞行徑，令人嘖嘖稱奇。
在湖內鄉大湖村開設「老唱片主題咖啡館」的李煌，去年初獲友人贈送一對日本小雞，李煌和兒子李致遠分別為小公雞、小母雞取名為「麥克」、「艾西」，並為這對小情侶打造一個乾淨又舒適的愛巢。
麥克不僅吃食「葷素不拘」，還錯把李煌每天早上叫兒子李致遠的起床聲，誤當成雞啼聲，每天一大清早不是「咕咕咕」叫，而是扯開喉嚨高喊「李致遠∼」、「李致遠∼」，麥克與眾雞不同的怪異行徑，讓牠成為湖內人氣指數最高的公雞。
李煌說，麥克、艾西鶼鰈情深，一年多來已陸續繁衍七窩、三十多隻小雞，但小雞存活並不多，一個多月前艾西在家門口被一隻大狗咬死，留下四隻剛出生的小雞，麥克目睹慘狀後，疑似罹患憂鬱症，在啼叫一整天聲調哀戚的「李致遠∼」之後，連續一週閉口噤聲、無精打采，尾椎羽毛也掉光。
哀傷期過後，原本放蕩不羈的麥克，突然性情大變，尾椎的鮮豔的羽毛又長了出來，現在牠每天帶小雞外出練習覓食，小雞低頭啄食時，麥克會引頸環顧四週警戒，等到天一黑，麥克還會先跳進雞巢整理乾淨，再召喚小雞們上床睡覺，麥克父代母職，令人嘖嘖稱奇。
（自由時報記者蘇福男）
A: Yet another shopping mall has just opened in Taipei. B: Do you mean the Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport Nangang? A: Yeah, the shopping mall run by Japanese Mitsui & Co. opened last week. B: I hear the mall features about 300 stores, Vieshow Cinemas and Japanese Lopia supermarket. A: With the opening, a war is breaking out between Taipei’s department stores. A: 台北又有新的購物商場可逛啦。 B: 你是說Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport 南港？ A: 對啊這家日本三井集團旗下的商場上週開幕。 B: 聽說商場有威秀影城、樂比亞日系超市，還有多達300家專櫃。 A: 新商場一開幕，看來又要掀起一場百貨大戰啦！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
A: Hey, didn’t you go to the opening of the Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport Nangang last week? B: Yeah, there are about 300 shops, including the first overseas branch of Japan’s Mahou Dokoro — a famous Harry Potter-themed store. A: Wow, I’ve always wanted to get a magic wand. B: There are also a bunch of great restaurants, such as Smart Fish hotpot restaurant. A: I wish I had Harry Potter’s “apparition” and “disapparition” magic, so I could teleport to the mall right now. A: 你上週不是有去LaLaport南港的盛大開幕嗎？有什麼特別的？ B: 那裡有多達300家專櫃，包括魔法之地的海外首店——它可是日本知名的《哈利波特》專賣店。 A: 哇我一直想買根魔杖。 B: 另外還有各式各樣的美食，像是林聰明沙鍋魚頭。 A: 真希望我也有哈利波特的「現影術／消影術」魔法，能瞬間移動到商場去！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
When it comes to movies, some people delight in watching spine-chilling horror films. Surprisingly, apart from containing a few scares, horror movies may also offer an unexpected __1__. According to a study, watching 90 minutes of a scary movie can burn an average of 113 calories, which is roughly __2__ to taking a 30-minute walk. Researchers from the University of Westminster carried out an experiment in which they __3__ participants’ oxygen intake, carbon dioxide output, and heart rates while they were watching horror movies without any distractions. The results revealed that physiological responses to fear play a crucial role
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