VOASE0218_Development Report

18 February 2007

Tree-Growing Campaign Makes for a Greener Niger
How one nation's campaign has saved three million hectares from becoming desert in the Sahel.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The Sahel is the area of Africa that lies between the Sahara desert to the north and more fertile land to the south. The dry plains of the Sahel are mostly treeless. Yet in Niger, one of the nations along the Sahel, millions of trees are now growing.

Researchers have been studying the progress of a re-greening campaign in Niger. Chris Reij is a scientist from the Netherlands. In a message at frameweb.org last February, he described how, in some places, "densities are so high that you almost look at a wall of trees."

A United Nations news service reported in October that Niger's government said the campaign had already reclaimed three million hectares. Teams of workers have used simple methods such as planting trees and protecting natural vegetation to save land from being lost to desert.

Ten to twenty times more trees were reported in parts of southern Niger in two thousand five than there were thirty years earlier.

Some reclaimed land can now be farmed again. The land became infertile during the nineteen seventies and early eighties. But about twenty years ago, local farmers recognized that their once-productive soil was being carried away by severe winds.

Farmers plow their land in Niger

Trees were traditionally cut down for firewood or cleared for agriculture. Instead of clearing trees, farmers began to let them grow among their crops. At the same time, rainfall levels began to rise after a long dry period. Today, the rate of desert expansion in Niger is dropping and the amount of harvested crops is up.

All this was described earlier this month in the New York Times.

Niger is one of the world's poorest countries and its population is growing quickly. Being able to grow more food is important. The trees hold soil in place. They also help keep the ground from getting too dry. And they offer the possibility of extra money from selling branches, leaves and fruit.

Most of the trees are a kind of acacia that people in Niger call the gao tree. The trees are being grown mostly in densely populated areas. As the Times noted, this goes against the traditional thinking that population growth means a loss of trees and destruction of land.

The success of the effort also suggests that earlier damage to the Sahel may not have been permanent. And some say it could put Niger in a better position to deal with whatever effects climate change might bring.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE0218_This Is America

18 February 2007

Academy Awards: The Night When the Stars Come Out in Hollywood
Next Sunday is the big night for people who make movies and for people who watch them.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

Academy Awards ceremony, which takes place Sunday in Los Angeles, California. It is the most exciting event of the year for people who make movies and for people who love to watch them.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

On February twenty-fifth, actors, directors, producers and other filmmakers will gather in Hollywood, California, the center of the American film industry. They will receive Academy Awards for the best acting, directing, writing, editing, music and other work on movies released last year.

The winners will receive an award called an Oscar. This statue is shaped like a man. It is made of several metals covered with gold. The Oscar is only about thirty-four centimeters tall. It weighs less than four kilograms. But the award is extremely valuable for the people who receive it. People who win an Oscar can become much more famous. They can get offers to work in the best movies. They can also earn much more money.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Sharon Leal (l), Beyoncé Knowles, and Anika Noni Rose

The musical "Dreamgirls" received eight Academy Award nominations, the most of any movie released last year. "Dreamgirls" is a film version of a Broadway musical play. It tells about a group of three female singers who became famous during the nineteen sixties. The film's nominations include three for best song and two for acting.

VOICE ONE:

However, many people were surprised that "Dreamgirls" was not nominated for best motion picture. Five others were. They are "Babel," "The Queen," "The Departed," "Letters From Iwo Jima" and "Little Miss Sunshine." The directors of the first four of these movies also received Academy Award nominations.

"Babel" received seven nominations. It tells three powerful stories that take place in Morocco, Mexico, the United States and Japan. The actors speak five languages. "Babel" shows the terrible results of people not being able to communicate with each other. It was directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

"The Queen," directed by Stephen Frears, received six nominations. It combines fact with fiction to tell the story about how the British royal family reacted to the death of Diana, the Princess of Wales, in nineteen ninety-seven.

VOICE TWO:

Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio in scene from The Departed

"The Departed" was also nominated for best picture. Directed by Martin Scorsese, it tells a violent story about men divided by power and loyalty. Some of the characters are criminals and others are members of the police force.

"Letters From Iwo Jima" tells about the Japanese soldiers, and their commander, who tried to defend the island from the invasion by United States forces during World War Two. Clint Eastwood directed the Japanese actors, who speak in their native language in the film. Eastwood also directed a movie in English about the American forces fighting on that same island.

"Little Miss Sunshine" is the fifth nominated movie and is the only funny one. It tells about six members of a family with many problems. They travel from Arizona to California so that the seven-year-old daughter can compete in a beauty contest. The members of the family learn to support and trust each other along the way.

A movie about the September eleventh terrorist attacks on the United States, called "United Ninety-three," was not nominated for best picture. But its director, Paul Greengrass, did receive a nomination.

VOICE ONE:

Five actors were nominated for best performance in a leading role. Forest Whitaker was nominated for playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland." Leonardo DiCaprio played a man searching for a rare gem in Africa in "Blood Diamond." Ryan Gosling was a teacher with a drug problem in "Half Nelson."

In the movie "Venus," Peter O'Toole played a very old actor interested in a very young woman. And Will Smith was a homeless father who gets a job in the financial industry in "The Pursuit of Happyness," a movie based on a true story.

VOICE TWO:

Meryl Streep

Five actresses were nominated for best performance in a leading role. For Meryl Streep, it was her fourteenth nomination. She is the most-nominated actor ever and is a two-time Oscar winner. She played a demanding magazine editor in "The Devil Wears Prada."

British actress Helen Mirren was nominated for her role as Queen Elizabeth in "The Queen." Two other British actresses were also nominated. Judi Dench played a teacher in "Notes on a Scandal." Kate Winslet was a woman who has a sexual relationship with a neighbor in "Little Children." And Spanish actress Penelope Cruz was nominated for the Spanish-language movie "Volver." She played a woman dealing with some unusual family crises.

VOICE ONE:

A total of twenty actors and actresses were nominated for leading and supporting roles. Among them are five black actors and actresses, two Hispanic actresses and one Japanese actress. Experts say this is the most ethnically diverse group ever nominated for Academy Awards.

In addition, critics highly praised three directors from Mexico. Their movies received a total of sixteen nominations. They are Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who was nominated for directing "Babel," Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron.

Del Toro directed the Spanish-language film "Pan's Labyrinth," which received six nominations. It deals with the political situation in Spain after that country's civil war. And it shows a young girl's fearful adventures with magical creatures. Cuaron directed "Children of Men," a frightening vision of the future where women are unable to have babies.

All three movies deal with serious subjects in creative ways. The directors are very good friends and often work on each other's movies. One critic called the three directors "the future of movies."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Film poster of 'An Inconvenient Truth'

Five movies were nominated for best documentary feature, a movie about real people or events. They are about serious issues that have gotten a lot of media attention. Former vice president Al Gore's film about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," was one of the movies nominated.

Two of the others are about the war in Iraq: "My Country, My Country" and "Iraq in Fragments." Another nominated documentary is "Jesus Camp," a close-up look at a summer camp for Christian children. And the last nominated documentary is "Deliver Us From Evil." It is about a former priest found guilty of sexually abusing children.

VOICE ONE:

More than twenty Academy Awards will be presented Sunday night.

The people who wrote the best screenplays and did the best film and sound editing will receive awards. So will the people who designed the best costumes, makeup and special effects. The composers who wrote the best song and music from a movie will also be honored.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the Oscars each year. Almost six thousand people who work in the movie industry belong to the Academy. They nominate candidates for Academy Awards from their own professions.

For example, actors nominate actors. Directors nominate directors. Designers nominate designers. All Academy members vote to choose the final winners.

VOICE TWO:

The Academy Awards are presented in the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Important people in the movie industry attend the ceremony. Crowds of people wait outside the theater. They watch the famous movie stars as they arrive.

The women wear beautiful dresses and costly jewelry provided by famous designers. Camera lights flash. The actors and actresses smile for the photographers and television cameras.

During the Academy Awards ceremony, famous actors and actresses announce the names of the nominees and the winners. Then the winners go up onto the stage. They thank all the people who helped them win their golden Oscar. Hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the world will watch them on television Sunday night.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Shelley Gollust and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can read our scripts and download audio on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0217_People In America

17 February 2007

Jerome Kern, 1885-1945: The Father of American Musical Theater
Singers still perform Kern's songs today.

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Barbara Klein with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about and play music by songwriter Jerome Kern. He was the man who helped invent the modern musical play.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Jerome Kern

Jerome Kern is often called the father of American musical theater. Kern is remembered for the hundreds of songs he wrote for musical plays and movies. Music historians say that Kern gave artistic importance to American popular music for the first time. And, they say, he led the development of the first truly American theater music.

VOICE TWO:

Jerome Kern was born into a middle-class family in New York City in eighteen eighty-five. Jerome’s mother, Fanny, loved the piano. She began to teach Jerome how to play when he was very young. He became a fair piano player but not so good that anyone expected him to become a great musician.

Jerome was a quiet boy and not a top student. When he completed high school, his father said he would have to work in the family’s store. Mister Kern said his son could never make money writing music. But he later came to believe that Jerome might do better in music than in business after all. So he let the boy go to Europe to study music, as almost all serious young musicians did at the time.

VOICE ONE:

Jerome Kern began his career as a songwriter in theaters in London and New York City. Success came quickly. By the early nineteen twenties, Kern was a successful young composer for Broadway musical comedies. In one three-year period alone, he wrote music for nineteen shows.

Other people wrote the words for Kern's songs. Kern wrote only the music. And he worked with each song until he was satisfied that the music was perfect. He almost never changed his music to fit the words. One of Kern's best-loved songs is "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," sung by Dinah Washington.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Although Kern's songs are easy to remember after hearing a few times, they are not simple. His melodies -- the musical line of the song -- are always inventive, even demanding. An example of his inventiveness is the song "All the Things You Are." Several composers say they consider it the greatest song ever written. Singers continue to like Kern songs because they can be sung in many different ways. The melody remains the same. But different singers can change the feeling of the song completely.

Here are two versions of "All the Things You Are" sung in very different ways by Ella Fitzgerald and Willie Nelson.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Jerome Kern once said he was trying to bring modern art to music. One critic wrote this about his music: Kern's songs are like black and white drawings. They need no color, no decoration. A Kern song is always in balance, perfect in form and pleasing in design. Here is an example, "Why Do I Love You?" played by Andre Previn and friends.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

All but one of Kern's songs were written for musical plays. American musical plays at that time were still usually copied from European ones. Often the stories seemed foolish and the people in them did not seem real. Songs and dances often had no connection to the story.

Kern wanted to try something completely new. He thought a musical play should be a real work of art, not just a collection of songs and dances. He thought songs should help move the action of the play along, by showing a person’s feelings. Kern wanted to do a truly American musical, with real American characters and real situations.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen twenty-seven, he found the story he wanted. It was the book “Show Boat” by American writer Edna Ferber. "Show Boat" takes place in the eighteen eighties on a passenger steam boat that travels along the Mississippi River. The boat is called a show boat because singers and dancers entertain the passengers. The captain of the show boat has a daughter who is a singer on the boat. She falls in love with a man who earns his money by gambling with cards.

VOICE TWO:

The story dealt with some unusually serious issues for a musical. It showed the hard lives of African-Americans in the South. And it showed marriage between people of different races, which was against the law at that time. Although serious in places, “Show Boat” was not a tragedy.

The public and critics loved it. "Show Boat" became the greatest work of American musical theater. Music critics said Kern's effect on musical theater was revolutionary. It was Kern's music that made the show a great success. Perhaps his most famous song was written for "Show Boat." It is called "Ol' Man River. "

It is about what life was like for black people who worked along the Mississippi River. Edna Ferber later remembered her excitement when Kern first played the melody for her. She said her hair stood up, and tears came to her eyes. Listen as Paul Robeson sings the song.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Edna Ferber said it was great music -- music that would live forever. Kern died in nineteen forty-five at the age of sixty. But “Show Boat” has been performed thousands of times all over the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Shelley Gollust and produced by Lawan Davis. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember. You can read scripts and download audio from our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us next week for People in America in VOA Special English.