Sorry, PoEnglish又活过来了

最近给封怕了，所以敏感地犯了傻。
不过昨天，两个外链的确曾一度无法连接，不过后来又好了。
挂了又活的玩笑我也不想开，既然还有口气，我就继续再贴吧，谁叫我喜欢呢

Bush, Democrats Headed Toward Confrontation on Iraq Legislation

By Dan Robinson Capitol Hill 28 March 2007

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Majority Democrats and President Bush still appear headed on a collision course over legislation to fund the war in Iraq. From Capitol Hill, VOA's Dan Robinson reports Democratic leaders in the House and Senate believe they have gained momentum from a Senate vote Tuesday to retain language on a troop withdrawal by next year, even though the president again accused Democrats of harming U.S. troops.

Nancy Pelosi (28 Mar 2007)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Tuesday's Senate vote rejecting a Republican amendment to remove withdrawal language from the Senate measure strengthens the hand of those trying to bring U.S. troops home.

She suggests the president does not appear to be listening to public opinion when he threatens to veto a Democratic-crafted bill to fund Iraq and Afghanistan military operations.

"Both Houses have spoken very clearly that the public has lost faith in the conduct of this war and the president's conduct of it, and that they want accountability, no more blank checks, no more open-ended commitment to a war without end," she said.

In addition to withdrawal timelines, the House and Senate bills contain billions of dollars requested by the president for military operations in Iraq as well as Afghanistan.

Senate legislation states that a U.S. troop pullout must begin within 120 days of an affirmative vote in that chamber, with a goal of redeploying troops out of Iraq by March 31, 2008.

This is in contrast to the House bill, which contains a binding call for withdrawal no later than the end of August of next year.

Pelosi predicts that timetable language will be preserved in a final spending bill after House and Senate negotiators meet to resolve differences between their separate versions.

In his latest remarks Wednesday on the issue, President Bush again threatened a veto, asserting that Democrats are jeopardizing the welfare of U.S. forces in the field.

George Bush (28 Mar 2007)

"The clock is ticking for our troops in the field," he said. "Funding for our forces in Iraq will begin to run out in mid-April. Members of Congress need to stop making political statements, and start providing vital funds for our troops."

Joining Congresswoman Pelosi later, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said the president's statements make it obvious "that [the president] doesn't want anything other than confrontation."

Still, Reid says Democrats remain ready for discussions with the president on the legislation.

Rep. Harry Reid (file photo)

"We stand ready, willing and able to discuss with him what is in our bills," he noted. "And we have written him a letter, signed by the speaker of the House of Representatives and majority leader in the Senate, saying Mr. President, we have done what we have done, we feel extremely comfortable, because we are speaking for the American people and you would also understand what the American people are saying."

Senator Reid says Democrats would like to have the president's input before a final measure emerges from Congress after a House-Senate conference to reconcile differences in the respective bills.

Most Republicans in Congress support the president in opposing any timetable, saying it would only give insurgents and al-Qaida forces in Iraq a chance to prepare in advance.

US National Organization for Women Endorses Hillary Clinton's Campaign

By Jim Malone Washington 28 March 2007

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U. S. Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has picked up the endorsement of a prominent women's organization. The endorsement followed appeals by Clinton and her Democratic Party rivals for labor union support, as we hear from VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone.

Sen. Hillary Clinton

Senator Clinton was endorsed by the National Organization for Women, which bills itself as the largest organization of feminists in the country, with more than half a million members.

The endorsement could help Clinton win support among women voters and liberal Democrats as she competes with several rivals for the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

Senator Clinton was among several Democratic candidates who addressed a convention of construction-union members in Washington.

"We will renew the promise of this great nation and when I meet with you on that short drive from the White House in 2009, we will be able to say, America is back, we are on the right track," she said.

The latest USA Today-Gallup poll had Clinton leading the Democratic field with 35 percent support, followed by Illinois Senator Barack Obama with 22 percent.

Barack Obama (file photo)

Obama also addressed union members and promised to expand health care coverage if elected next year.

"It is time for us to have universal health care in this country, and one of the things that I pledge is that by the end of my presidency, we will have universal health care for every single American in this country. It is long over due. We know that we can do it," he said.

The recent USA Today-Gallup poll had former Vice President Al Gore in third place with 17 percent. Gore has said repeatedly he has no plans to run for president next year.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards placed fourth in the poll with 14 percent support, up several points from earlier in the month. Edwards recently announced that his wife, Elizabeth, has had a recurrence of cancer, but that he is remaining in the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Edwards also addressed health care during his appearance before the union convention.

"The truth of the matter is these things cost money and my health care plan cost $90-$120 billion dollars a year and this is how I pay for it, by rolling back George Bush's tax cuts for the richest people in America, that is how I pay for it," he said.

The polls and most political experts have long suggested Senator Clinton is the clear frontrunner in the Democratic field.

But analyst John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute told VOA's Encounter program that Barack Obama remains a major factor in the Democratic race.

"I still think it looks like it will be Hillary Clinton. But Barack Obama, if he ends up one-on-one with her [as her main challenger] and Democrats are feeling as confident as they are today, they may just decide that they will go with this person [Obama] despite a lack of experience and because he is more pure [opposed from the start] on the [Iraq] war, he may give her a challenge," he said.

Rudy Giuliani (file photo)

In the battle for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, the latest poll had former New York City Mayor Rudy in the lead, followed by Arizona Senator John McCain and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson.

Thompson says he is considering a White House bid and could be a formidable candidate because he is well known by the public for his acting roles in films and on television.

US Federal Reserve Chief Paints Mixed Economic Picture

By Michael Bowman Washington 28 March 2007

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The United States' top monetary official says the country's economy continues to grow and create jobs, but is hindered by several factors, including negative developments in the housing industry. VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington, where Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke at a hearing of Congress' Joint Economic Committee.

Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill, 28 Mar 2007

If legislators were looking for a clear-cut, decisive prediction on the future of the U.S. economy, they did not get it from Ben Bernanke. The U.S. central bank chief noted several positive trends that suggest further economic expansion, including rising exports and continued job creation.

"The continuing increases in employment, together with some pick-up in real wages, have helped sustain consumer spending, which increased at a brisk pace in the second half of last year, and has continued to be well maintained so far this year," he said.

"Growth in consumer spending should continue to support the economic expansion in coming quarters," he continued.

But Bernanke was quick to add that all is not well. In particular, he pointed to a dramatic slowdown in America's once-booming housing market, regarded as a primary engine of U.S. economic growth in recent years.

"To the downside, the correction in the housing market could turn out to be more severe than we currently expect, perhaps exacerbated by problems in the sub-prime sector," the Federal Reserve chairman said.

"Moreover, we could see yet greater spillover from the weakness in housing to employment and consumer spending than has occurred thus far," he added.

The "sub-prime sector" refers to mortgages held by roughly 10 percent of U.S. homeowners that often feature higher interest rates and sometimes allow a homeowner to pay only the interest on their loan, thereby accruing no equity. Such plans are generally offered to people with poor credit or low income levels.

Foreclosures in the sub-prime sector have skyrocketed in recent months, leading U.S. officials and legislators to question the lending practices of some financial institutions.

The Federal Reserve Board decides when and whether to raise or lower interest rates, based on its reading of current economic conditions and its projections of future ones. Many look to the Federal Reserve chairman as America's top economic prognosticator.

Earlier this month, Bernanke's predecessor, Alan Greenspan, said there is a one in three chance that the United States will slide into a recession by year's end.

Speaking on Capitol Hill, Bernanke said there is insufficient evidence to conclude that America's five-year economic expansion will "die of old age."

VOASE0328_The Making of a Nation

28 March 2007

History: The Presidency of John Kennedy Begins With Great Energy, but Ends in Tragedy
He stood strong against the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile crisis, and proposed a law to guarantee equal treatment of blacks. Then came the gunshots in Dallas in November 22, 1963.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Stan Busby with THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

(MUSIC)

Today, we continue the story of President John Kennedy.

VOICE ONE:

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

John Kennedy began his administration in nineteen sixty-one with great energy to do good things. After just three months in office, however, he had to take responsibility for a big failure.

On April seventeenth, Cuban exiles, trained by America's Central Intelligence Agency, invaded Cuba. Their goal was to overthrow Cuba's communist leader, Fidel Castro. Most of the exiles were killed or captured.

The last administration had planned the invasion. But Kennedy had approved it. After the incident, some Americans wondered if he had enough experience to lead the nation. Some asked themselves if the forty-three-year-old Kennedy was too young to be president, after all.

VOICE TWO:

Kennedy soon regained some public approval when he visited French leader General Charles de Gaulle. The French were very interested in the new American president. They were even more interested in his beautiful wife. The president said with a laugh that he was the man who had come to Paris with Jacqueline Kennedy.

VOICE ONE:

In Vienna, Kennedy met with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Their relations would always be difficult.

Khrushchev did not want to compromise on any issue. He threatened to have the East Germans block all movement into and out of the western part of the city of Berlin.

Not long after, the East Germans, with Soviet support, built a wall to separate the eastern and western parts of the city. President Kennedy quickly announced a large increase in the number of American military forces in Germany. He said the United States would not permit freedom to end in Berlin.

VOICE TWO:

About a year later, in October, nineteen sixty-two, President Kennedy said the United States had discovered that the Soviets were putting nuclear missiles in Cuba. He took several actions to protest the deployment.

One was to send American ships to the area. They were to prevent Soviet ships from taking missile parts and related supplies to the Cuban government. In a speech broadcast on television, Kennedy spoke about the seriousness of the situation.

JOHN KENNEDY: "It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States."

VOICE ONE:

No fighting broke out between the United States and the Soviet Union because of the Cuban missile crisis. The Soviet ships carrying missile parts to Cuba turned back. And President Kennedy promised that the United States would not invade Cuba if the Soviet Union removed its missiles and stopped building new ones there.

The two sides did, however, continue their cold war of words and influence.

In Asia, the Soviet Union continued to provide military, economic, and technical aid to communist governments. The Kennedy administration fought communism in Vietnam by increasing the number of American military advisers there.

VOICE TWO:

Robert and John Kennedy at the White House

The United States and the Soviet Union did make some progress on arms control, however. In nineteen sixty-three, the two countries reached a major agreement to ban tests of nuclear weapons above ground, under water, and in space. The treaty did not ban nuclear tests under the ground.

On national issues, President Kennedy supported efforts to guarantee a better life for African-Americans. One man who pushed for changes was his younger brother, Robert. Robert Kennedy was attorney general and head of the Justice Department at that time.

VOICE ONE:

The Justice Department took legal action against Southern states that violated the voting rights acts of nineteen fifty-seven and nineteen sixty. The administration also supported a voter registration campaign among African-Americans. The campaign helped them to record their names with election officials so they could vote.

As attorney general, Robert Kennedy repeatedly called on National Guard troops to protect black citizens from crowds of angry white citizens. Incidents took place when blacks tried to register to vote and when they tried to attend white schools.

VOICE TWO:

President Kennedy said the situation was causing a moral crisis in America. He decided it was time to propose a new civil rights law. The measure would guarantee equal treatment for blacks in public places and in jobs. It would speed the work of ending racial separation in schools.

Kennedy wanted the new legislation badly. But Congress delayed action. It did not pass a broad civil rights bill until nineteen sixty-four, after his presidency.

VOICE ONE:

In November, nineteen sixty-three, Kennedy left Washington for the state of Texas. He hoped to help settle a local dispute in his Democratic Party. The dispute might have affected chances for his re-election in nineteen sixty-four.

He arrived in the city of Dallas in the late morning of November twenty-second. Dallas was known to be a center of opposition to Kennedy. Yet many people waited to see him.

VOICE TWO:

A parade of cars traveled through the streets of Dallas. Kennedy and his wife were in the back seat of one. Their car had no top, so everyone could see them easily. Another car filled with Secret Service security agents was next to the president's.

The motorcade in Dallas

Suddenly, there were gunshots. Then, many Americans heard this emergency report from television newsman Walter Cronkite:

WALTER CRONKITE: "Here is a bulletin from CBS news. In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas. The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting."

VOICE ONE:

The cars raced to Parkland Memorial Hospital. But doctors there could do little. Thirty minutes later reporters, including Walter Cronkite, broadcast this announcement:

WALTER CRONKITE: "From Dallas, Texas -- the flash apparently official -- President Kennedy died at one p.m., Central Standard Time. "

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

As the nation mourned, police searched for the person who had killed John Kennedy. They arrested a man named Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald worked in a building near the place where Kennedy had been shot. People had seen him leave the building after the shooting. He had a gun.

VOICE ONE:

Lee Harvey Oswald

Lee Harvey Oswald was a man with a strange past. He was a former United States Marine. He was also a communist. He had lived for a while in the Soviet Union and had tried to become a Soviet citizen. He worked for a committee that supported the communist government in Cuba.

Police questioned Oswald about the death of president Kennedy. He said he did not do it. After two days, officials decided to move him to a different jail.

VOICE TWO:

As they did, television cameras recorded the death of Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was being led by two police officials. Suddenly, a man stepped in front of them. There was a shot, and Oswald fell to the floor.

Jack Ruby shoots Oswald

The gunman was Jack Ruby. He owned an eating and drinking place in Dallas. He said he killed Oswald to prevent the Kennedy family from having to live through a trial.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

President Kennedy's body had been returned to Washington. After a state funeral, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River. A gas flame burns at his burial place, day and night.

An official committee was formed to investigate his death. It was headed by the chief justice of the United States, earl Warren, and was known as the Warren commission. In its report, the Warren commission said that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. It said there was no plot to kill the president.

VOICE TWO:

Many Americans did not accept the report. They believed there was a plot. Some blamed Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Some blamed extremists in America's Central Intelligence Agency. Others blamed organized crime.

The truth of what happened to John Kennedy may be what was stated in the Warren Commission report: that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Or, perhaps, the complete truth may never be known.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE TWO:

And this Stan Busby. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

VOASE0328_Education Report

28 March 2007

Studying Agriculture in the US
Week 30 of our Foreign Student Series looks at agricultural programs.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A listener from China named Walker would like information about agricultural programs in the United States. This is our subject today in week number thirty of our Foreign Student Series.

About one hundred colleges and universities began as public agricultural colleges and continue to teach agriculture. These are called land grant schools. They began with support from the federal government. Federal aid supported the building of most major state universities.

The idea of the land grant college goes back to a law in the nineteenth century called the Morrill Act. A congressman named Justin Smith Morrill wrote legislation to create at least one in each state.

The name "land grant" came from the kind of aid provided by the government. The government wanted Americans to learn better ways to farm. So it gave thousands of hectares of land to each Northern state.

The idea was that the states would sell the land and use the money to establish colleges. These colleges would teach agriculture, engineering and military science.

Congress passed the law in eighteen sixty-two. This was during the Civil War. Southern states had rebelled against the North and withdrawn from the Union.

Another law created a center at each land grant college to develop new scientific ideas and to help farmers solve problems.

Michigan State University began in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan

The Agricultural College of the State of Michigan was established in eighteen fifty-five. That was seven years before the Morrill Act. It later became the first college to officially agree to receive support under that law. The college grew into what is now Michigan State University in East Lansing.

Today, the university has more than forty thousand students. These include more than three thousand five hundred students from one hundred thirty other countries.

Last year the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State had three hundred thirty-six foreign students. More than two hundred of them were graduate students in the areas of agricultural economics, packaging, and crop and soil sciences.

Undergraduates majoring in agriculture can also study other related areas. These include agricultural education and food industry management.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. We will have a link to the Michigan State Web site at voaspecialenglish.com. We also have other helpful links along with transcripts and audio files from our Foreign Student Series. I'm Steve Ember.