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North Korea Test-Fires A Dangerous Type of Missile; Home Flippers Discuss Challenges They`re Facing; Israeli Study Examines Whether Fish Can Drive.

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hey, thanks for taking 10 minutes to watch our show. My name is Carl Azuz.

We are your objective source for world news, and this Wednesday that starts with a report on a new missile test by North Korea. The secretive

secretive [sɪˋkritɪv] adj. 遮遮掩掩的; 隐隐藏藏的

communist country reportedly launched a ballistic missile on Tuesday that traveled from the northern part of the nation to the ocean between North
 

ballistic [bəˋlɪstɪk] adj. 弹道的

Korea and Japan. A ballistic missile has what`s considered to be a medium- range. It could fly several hundred miles, potentially reaching a country like South Korea or Japan but not the United States.

South Korea, Japan and the U.S. are allies of each other and rivals of North Korea. Government controlled media in North Korea said the missile

was hypersonic, meaning it could fly as fast as 20 times the speed of sound and be nearly impossible to shoot down.

Experts say they`re doubtful the weapon was that advanced and South Korea says it does have the ability to intercept the kind of missile North Korea

launched. Still, it`s against international law for North Korea to test out ballistic missile and nuclear weapons, though the country has

repeatedly done that any way and considers weapon tests a right. Analysts say North Korea launches missiles like this to show off its military power

and to get attention from international governments and media.

Across the Pacific the launch was followed by some confusion in U.S. airspace. Officials say the test was not considered a threat to the

continental United States, but at least two air traffic controllers in different western states and a spokesperson for the San Diego International

Airport said U.S. officials had ordered a temporary ground stop, when pilots were told to land and not take off from multiple westcoast airports.

It`s an unusual order that reportedly lasted a few minutes on Monday afternoon, but some other airports in the region said they were unaware of

the ground stop order. And the spokeswoman for NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said it gave no warnings to U.S. airports about

the missile launch. On Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it briefly stopped flights from departing at some airports on the

westcoast near the time of the missile test.

10 Second Trivia. Where would you most likely find a kite winder, an enfilade, and an oxeye? Plant nursery, Subway, Pet store, Historic home.
 

kite winder 风筝形扇步(踏阶); When three steps are used to turn a 90° corner, the middle step is called a kite winder.

enfilade [ˏɛnfә`led] n. 门廊相对的房间组合

oxeye ['ɑksˌaɪ] n. 圆形或椭圆形的装饰窗; A round or oval window, especially in a dormer.

These are features you might find in a historic home and some modern ones.

Supply and demand factor into our next story today. In December, the prices of houses in the United States hit an all-time high. Real estate brokerage
 

brokerage [ˋbrokərɪdʒ] n. 经纪业；掮客业务

Redfin says the medium home price was $360,500 and that the number of homes for sale dropped to an all-time low. That made it a great

year for sellers who could get top dollar for their homes and a tough year for buyers who had to pay more for those homes.

Analysts expect the housing market to settle down a little this year, especially if mortgage rates go up, but one area of uncertainty is for flippers.
 

flipper 房产达人

People who buy homes, clean and fix them out and try to sell them at a profit. The average amount of money they made on flips last year

dropped dramatically from the year before. Reasons included more expensive materials, more expensive labor and problems with the supply chain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAH WENSINK, HOUSE FLIPPER: Where is this wood? What is this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leah Wensink has been renovating and reselling homes for seven years.

WENSINK: Nope. See. Garbage. This is a huge step outside my comfort zone. I don`t -- I don`t know if I will make money on this house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The house she`s working on is located here in east Tennessee.

WENSINK: This is definitely the most I`ve ever paid for a flip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does that have you worried?

WENSINK: Yes. Absolutely. I love them so much because they`re lightweight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wensink said she bought this home for around $170,000 and spent another $30,000 renovating it with more expense to come.

WENSINK: It should fit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She said she won`t list it for less than $350,000.
 

list [lɪst] v. 列入价目表

WENSINK: I am very worried about being able to sell the house for what I need in order to compensate for my time. I think it is getting a lot

tighter to try to meet your margin if you have it, like a margin end goal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s because a rise in cost. Home prices, materials and labor have all spiked in the last year.
 

spike [spaɪk] v. to increase suddenly

TODD TETA, CHIEF PRODUCTION AND CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER FOR ATTOM DATA SOLUTION: Flippers, you know, they`re affected pretty dramatically by a

supply chain and labor issue on the market.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Todd Teta is an executive at ATTOM Data Solutions, which puts out a quarterly report on the house flipping market.
 

put out 出版, 发行

TETA: Flipping is becoming increasingly more difficult and good operators are going to have to create value by rehabbing their homes intelligently,
 

rehab [riˈhæb] v. 修复

buying at a discount as opposed to just riding the wave of rising prices like everybody else has been doing for the last 18 months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wensink says working in a smaller community gives her an advantage.

WENSINK: Coming to a smaller town allows me to feel like I`m not so competitive with everyone. I`m hoping that there`s not going to be a ton

of people coming in and trying to take over and just buying every house and flipping it.

Thank you, ma`am. I don`t think for me it would be possible to -- to flip a house in Nashville. I just don`t think I have the capital. I don`t
 

Nashville [ˋnæʃvɪl] n. 那什维尔（美国田纳西州首府）

think I have the resources or ability to compete. I just don`t think it`s possible.

MATT EDEN, HOUSE FLIPPER: So here in Nashville, I`d say that there`s -- there`s a really high number of -- of flips.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Matt Eden flips houses part-time in Madison, Tennessee, a Nashville suburb.

EDEN: My first flip was only a little over a year ago and I definitely learned a ton through that process. So, we`re -- we`re at a flip here in

Madison. We just closed on this about a week ago. Every flip really has its -- its different issues. Most of mine have some sort of substantial

damage. This is probably one of the worst.

So, we`re going to be headed over to another one of my flips. The inspector is there. He inspects the work to ensure that it`s complete and

then he gives me the next draw of money from the lender.
 

lender [ˋlɛndɚ] n. 贷方；出借人

The toughest part about being a flipper is really the unknown and the what- if. What if we open the walls and there`s major termite damage, what if I have to switch contractors mid-job. Really the anxiety, I guess,
 

termite [ˋtɝmaɪt] n.【昆】白蚁

contractor [ˋkɑntræktɚ] n. 承包人，承包商

of flipping is probably the hardest part. You have to be pretty adventurous from a financial perspective. You have to be willing to accept a little

bit of risk.

TETA: The downside risk for a flipper is price declines. We don`t see that happening, what we do see happening is leveling out, some markets may
 

level out【喻】(升或跌之后)呈平稳状态

show some declines and softness. That`s all going to come down to experienced flippers, knowing how much to rehab a home and then pricing it

correctly.

EDEN: I`ve got about $700,000 worth of debt at the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re not worried about it.

EDEN: No, I`m not worried about it simply because I know what the properties are going to be worth once they`re done, and I don`t see the

bottom falling out of this market anytime soon.
 

fall out【美】发生;【俚】爆发

WENSICK: It`s important to just take your time and hit it in the center. I`m always worried that there`s going to be a recession and then what value

will this be, but at least still, I`m like well, it`s -- you`re holding property which is at least going to have some value in this world, I hope.

So, I have to try to take comfort in that. I try to talk myself off the -- off the ledge a lot.
 

talk oneself off the ledge: it means to convince oneself not to do something extreme/dangerous/difficult

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: Unexpected question of the day, can fish drive? The short answer is no. But a team of Israeli researchers did recently create a cart that

responds to a goldfish`s movement into a mounted tank. When the fish swam toward a certain direction, cameras, sensors and a computer made the cart

go there and if the fish reached the target that scientists set up. The fish got rewarded with food.

At first it reportedly took the animals 30 minutes to figure this out, but after several days of fish "drivers ed" some of them could eventually reach

the target within one minute, even with obstacles in the way.

The scientists say this shows that goldfish have the ability to navigate toward something outside of their immediate environment. That they may be
 

immediate [ɪˋmidɪɪt] adj. 目前的

smarter than people think they are, and that this might just prove the theory that goldfish have an incredibly short memory.

But some of the animals in the study were better at driving than others, even with food on the line. So, it`s probably a good idea to keep them in

the tank instead of on the road.

Something else you don`t see every day rates a 10 out of 10. Why did the ostriches cross the road? Because they escaped. Eighty of these birds
 

ostrich [ˋɑstrɪtʃ] n. 驼鸟

went AWOL from a farm in southern China and made a rush toward city life.

Chinese media say the ostriches got out after a farm worker didn`t properly secure a gate. No injuries were reported of people or the ostriches and

with the help of police, the farmer was able to recover most of the birds. Maybe they just wanted to "ostretch" their legs if you know what I`m

saying.

Guess they thought farm life was for the birds. They were "frightless" but "flightless". They took flight on a "flight of fancy" that got off the

ground but ultimately didn`t get them any air. And while some may have found their "longleggy" journey "emusing", they certainly embodied

"gumption" over farm. Baraboo High School, shout out to you our viewers in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Thank you for your request on our You Tube channel. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN.

END