这一个月下来有些小忙，精神状况也没能持续保持在兴奋状态，有些倦怠了。
作业没能按时完成，是有些小混。。。
好在迷途知返，补了回来，还请关心我的朋友们见谅。
10.18.2007
VOASE1015_Agriculture Report
15 October 2007| As Some Animal Diseases Spread, One May Be Near an End | |
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DownloadThis is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease and bluetongue disease are all animal viruses that can ruin a farmer.
An outbreak of one disease is bad enough. Britain has been dealing with foot-and-mouth -- and now its first cases of bluetongue. United Nations officials see the recent arrival of that virus in the United Kingdom as another sign of a bigger problem.
The Food and Agriculture Organization says animal diseases once limited to warm, tropical climates are on the rise around the world. It says countries need to invest more to control them. It says things like the globalization of trade, the movement of people and goods and probably also climate change may only further their spread.
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| Sheep can be affected by bluetongue disease |
It was first discovered in South Africa. It spread widely and by the end of the nineteen nineties had crossed the Mediterranean. Since last year, bluetongue has been found in several countries in northern Europe.
There are safe vaccines against forms of the southern virus, but not yet for the northern one.
But there is better news about one of the deadliest of all animal diseases: rinderpest. Some experts are hopeful that the world can be declared free of it by two thousand ten. This is the goal of the Global Rinderpest Eradication Program. Vaccines have helped speed the progress.
Rinderpest can lead to starvation in areas where people depend on cattle and buffalo for food and work. In the eighteen hundreds, it killed eighty to ninety percent of cattle in southern Africa. After another epidemic in the nineteen eighties, thirty-four African nations combined their efforts to fight the disease.
Rinderpest has also struck hard in central Asia, where it started. There have still been some outbreaks in recent years.
But the World Organization for Animal Health has declared most nations in the world free of rinderpest. They have not reported a case for at least five years.
Some other nations have declared themselves free of it for at least two years. But they still need official recognition for trade purposes.
Other animals affected by include yaks, sheep, goats and some pigs. It can spread through the air. It can also spread through water infected with waste from sick animals. Some animals die after just a day or two.
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Steve Ember.
VOASE1015_Science In the News
15 October 2007| More Species Than Ever Threatened With Extinction, Report Says | |
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DownloadVOICE ONE:
This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. Today, we examine a new report about the health of the world's many plants and animals.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
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| The orangutan is among animals in danger of extinction |
Scientists say the existence of biodiversity is extremely important for human life. Plants and animals provide much of our food, medicines and materials for industry. Biodiversity makes possible the natural development of improved crops. Biodiversity helps to create a balance for our atmosphere and water supply. And it provides activities through the enjoyment of nature.
Scientists say a lack of biodiversity has led to agricultural crises in history. One example is the potato famine in Ireland in the nineteenth century. At the time, many people in Ireland depended on potatoes for food. When the potato crop failed, millions starved to death or were forced to leave the country.
VOICE TWO:
Recent scientific findings about biodiversity have not been good. Last month, the World Conservation Union added almost two hundred plants and animals to its list of threatened species. The group warned that life on Earth is disappearing fast and will continue to do so unless urgent action is taken.
The World Conservation Union is one of the world’s largest groups working to protect Earth's environment. It aims to save, or conserve, natural resources by influencing governments and private citizens around the world. To do this, it supports and develops new conservation science methods, and carries out research internationally. Then it links the research and results to policies by organizing talks among governments, civilians and private companies.
The World Conservation Union works with eighty-three nations and more than one hundred government agencies. It also works with more than eight hundred non-governmental organizations, and thousands of scientists and experts.
VOICE ONE:
The World Conservation Union has offices in forty nations. Its headquarters is in Switzerland. The group was created in nineteen forty-eight after an international conference in France. Its name then was the International Union for the Protection of Nature. Its name was changed to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, or IUCN, in nineteen fifty-six. In nineteen ninety, the group began using the name World Conservation Union. But many people still know it as the IUCN.
Experts say the World Conservation Union is an important organization. They say wealthy nations like the United States have their own environmental agencies to study possibly threatened species. But developing nations use the work of the IUCN because they are not able to carry out studies of species within their borders.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
The World Conservation Union says no one knows how many kinds of plants, animals and other organisms are found on Earth. It says scientists believe the number is about fifteen million. But only about two million are known.
The group says seven hundred eighty-five species have disappeared from the Earth in the past five hundred years. And it says that sixty-five others are in danger of disappearing, or becoming extinct. They are now only found in places that are protected by people.
Each year, the World Conservation Union publishes a report that names those organisms it considers threatened or in danger of becoming extinct. The report is called the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
VOICE ONE:
This year, information in the Red List came from more than ten thousand scientists in one hundred forty seven countries. The scientists considered more than forty-one thousand species. They found that more than sixteen thousand of them are in danger of becoming extinct. That is one hundred eighty-eight more threatened species than the report found last year.
The scientists said it is possible to reduce this number but that people around the world must begin to act now. They said the IUCN recognizes that some species naturally disappear over time. But they said studies have found that human activity is speeding up this process. The group says rates of extinction today are at least one hundred to one thousand times greater than they would be naturally.
VOICE TWO:
Animals listed as in danger of extinction include the western lowland gorilla in Africa. IUCN officials said the gorilla is in trouble as a result of hunting and the spread of the Ebola virus. The report said the population of these animals has decreased by more than sixty percent during the past twenty to twenty-five years.
Another animal in danger of extinction is the orangutan. Species of orangutans found in Sumatra and Borneo are dying because people are cutting down the trees in which they live.
One animal in extreme danger is the Yangtze River dolphin or baiji. Threats to its survival include fishing and pollution. IUCN officials said the baiji could already be considered extinct because only one or two individuals are known to live in China.
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| A two-year-old Gharial crocodile |
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The World Conservation Union added corals to its Red List for the first time this year. Ten coral species from the Galapagos Islands are included. The report says threats to the corals include climate change and the weather event known as El Nino. El Nino and climate change are also threatening seventy-four kinds of seaweed in the Galapagos.
Twelve thousand different kinds of plants are also named in the report. More than eight thousand are considered threatened. Only one has been declared extinct. That plant is a Malaysian herb known as the woolly stalked begonia. It is only known from collections made on Penang Island in the late nineteenth century. Not one of these plants has been seen in the past one hundred years.
VOICE TWO:
Seven hundred thirty-eight kinds of reptiles also are named on the threatened species list. Ninety are threatened with extinction. One example is a Mexican freshwater turtle. This creature is in danger because of a loss of its living area. Another reptile on the list is a kind of rattlesnake in Mexico. Hunters are threatening this snake.
More than one thousand kinds of birds are also included on the list. This year, the survival of only one species has improved. It is the Mauritius Echo Parakeet. This bird species was considered one of the world's rarest fifteen years ago. The Mauritius Echo Parakeet is still in danger. But its numbers have increased recently as a result of human protection and a captive breeding and release program.
VOICE ONE:
The World Conservation Union says governments around the world have accepted two thousand ten as a target year for slowing the rate of biodiversity loss. Yet it says human activity remains the main reason for the drop in the number of species. The group says people are destroying the places in which living things live, poisoning the air and spreading disease among them. It also recognizes climate change as a serious threat to many kinds of plants, animals and insects.
The group says most of the threatened animals live in some of the world's hottest places. It says nations with large numbers of threatened species are Australia, Brazil, China and Mexico. IUCN officials say it is in the interest of people to protect wildlife around the world. They say human life is linked to biodiversity and our very survival may depend on protecting it. The World Conservation Union says its report clearly shows that much more needs to be done to protect and improve biodiversity.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Nancy Steinbach. Brianna Blake was our producer. I’m Faith Lapidus.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Bob Doughty. Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.
VOASE1014_This Is America
14 October 2007| Going the Distance, Coast to Coast and Border to Border, on America's Highways | |
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DownloadVOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. On June twenty-ninth, nineteen fifty-six, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public works bill. The act of Congress provided federal aid to build the Interstate Highway System.
I'm Steve Ember. Today Sarah Long and I present a brief history of road building and how it changed America.
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| National Highway System |
America's national road system makes it possible to drive coast to coast. From the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west is a distance of more than four thousand kilometers. Or you could drive more than two thousand kilometers and go from the Canadian border south to the Mexican border.
VOICE TWO:
You can drive these distances on wide, safe roads that have no traffic signals and no stop signs. In fact, if you did not have to stop for gasoline or sleep, you could drive almost anywhere in the United States without stopping at all.
This is possible because of the Interstate Highway System. This system has almost seventy thousand kilometers of roads. It crosses more than fifty-five thousand bridges and can be found in forty-nine of America’s fifty states.
The Interstate Highway System is usually two roads, one in each direction, separated by an area that is planted with grass and trees. Each road holds two lines of cars that can travel at speeds between one hundred and one hundred twenty kilometers an hour. The Interstate Highway System is only a small part of the huge system of roads in the United States.
VOICE ONE:
To understand the Interstate Highway System, it is helpful to understand the history of roads. Roads in most countries were first built to permit armies to travel from one part of the country to another to fight against an invader.
The ancient Romans build roads over most of Europe to permit their armies to move quickly from one place to another. People who traded goods began using these roads for business. Good roads helped them to move their goods faster from one area to another.
No roads existed when early settlers arrived in the area of North America that would become the United States. Most settlers built their homes near the ocean or along major rivers. This made transportation easy. A few early roads were built near some cities. Travel on land was often difficult because there was no road system in most areas.
VOICE TWO:
In seventeen eighty-five, farmers in the Ohio River Valley used rivers to take cut trees to the southern city of New Orleans. It was easier to walk or ride a horse home than to try to go by boat up the river.
One of the first roads was built to help these farmers return home after they sold their wood. It began as nothing more than a path used by Native Americans. American soldiers helped make this path into an early road. The new road extended from the city of Nashville, in Tennessee to the city of Natchez in the southern state of Louisiana. It was called the Natchez Trace.
You can still follow about seven hundred kilometers of the Natchez Trace. Today, the road is a beautiful National Park. It takes the traveler though forests that look much the same as they did two hundred years ago. You can still see a few of the buildings in which early travelers slept overnight.
VOICE ONE:
The Natchez Trace was called a road. Yet it was not what we understand a road to be. It was just a cleared path through the forest. It was used by people walking, or riding a horse or in a wagon pulled by horses.
In eighteen-oh-six, President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation that approved money for building a road to make it easier to travel west. Work began on the first part of the road in Cumberland in the eastern state of Maryland. When finished, the road reached all the way to the city of Saint Louis in what would become the middle western state of Missouri. It was named the National Road.
The National Road was similar to the Natchez Trace. It followed a path made by American Indians. Work began in eighteen eleven. It was not finished until about eighteen thirty-three. The National Road was used by thousands of people who moved toward the west. These people paid money to use the road. This money was used to repair the road.
Now, the old National Road is part of United States Highway Forty. By the nineteen twenties, Highway Forty stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. You can still see signs that say "National Road" along the side of parts of it. Several statues were placed along this road to honor the women who moved west over the National Road in the eighteen hundreds.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
In nineteen hundred, it still was difficult to travel by road. Nothing extended from the eastern United States to the extreme western part of the country.
Several people wanted to see a road built all the way across the country. Carl Fisher was a man who had ideas and knew how to act on them. Mister Fisher built the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway where car races still take place.
In nineteen twelve, Carl Fisher began working on his idea to build a coast-to-coast highway using crushed rocks. He called this dream the Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway.
VOICE ONE:
Carl Fisher asked many people to give money for the project. One of these men was Henry Joy, the president of the Packard Motor Car Company. Mister Joy agreed, but suggested another name for the highway. He said the road should be named after President Abraham Lincoln. He said it should be called the Lincoln Highway.
Everyone involved with the project agreed to the new name. The Lincoln Highway began in the east in New York City’s famous Times Square. It ended in the west in Lincoln Park in San Francisco, California. The Lincoln Highway was completed in about nineteen thirty-three.
VOICE TWO:
Later, the federal government decided to assign each highway in the country its own number. Numbers were easier to remember than names. The Lincoln Highway became Highway Thirty for most of its length.
Today, you can still follow much of the Lincoln Highway. It passes through small towns and large cities. This makes it a slow but interesting way to travel. Highway Thirty still begins in New York and ends near San Francisco. And it is still remembered as the first coast-to-coast highway.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen nineteen, a young Army officer named Dwight Eisenhower took part in the first crossing of the United States by Army vehicles. The vehicles left Washington, D.C. and drove to San Francisco. It was not a good trip. The vehicles had problems with thick mud, ice and mechanical difficulties. It took the American Army vehicles sixty-two days to reach San Francisco.
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| The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, created today's Interstate system and was signed by President Eisenhower on June 29, 1956 |
In nineteen fifty-six, Dwight Eisenhower was president of the United States. He signed the legislation that created the federal Interstate Highway System. Work was begun almost immediately.
VOICE TWO:
Building such an interstate highway system was a major task. Many problems had to be solved. The highway passed through different areas that were wetlands, mountains and deserts.
It was very difficult to build the system. Yet lessons learned while building it influenced the building of highways around the world. Today, the interstate system links every major city in the United States. It also links the United States with Canada and Mexico.
The Interstate Highway System has been an important part of the nation’s economic growth during the past forty years. Experts believe that trucks using the system carry about seventy-five percent of all products that are sold.
Jobs and new businesses have been created near the busy interstate highways all across the United States. These include hotels, motels, eating places, gasoline stations and shopping centers.
The highway system has made it possible for people to work in a city and live outside it. And it has made it possible for people to travel easily and quickly from one part of the country to another.
The United States government renamed the Interstate Highway System at the end of the twentieth century. Large signs now can be seen along the side of the highway that say Eisenhower Interstate System.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Paul Thompson. My co-host was Sarah Long. I'm Steve Ember. To download a free copy of this show, including a transcript, go to voaspecialenglish.com. And join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.
VOASE1014_Development Report
14 October 2007| Finding New Ways to Feed the World’s Hungry Children | |
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DownloadThis is the VOA Special English Development Report.
October sixteenth is World Food Day. The campaign chosen for this year by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is "The Right to Food." The aim is to demonstrate that human rights are increasingly recognized as an important part of ending hunger and poverty.
Worldwide, the United Nations says more than eight hundred fifty million people do not have enough food. Every year an estimated five million children under the age of five die of nutrition-related causes.
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| Ready-to-use-food helps prevent malnutrition in children |
To help children at risk, the international humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders has launched a worldwide appeal. The group is calling for the expanded use of what is known as therapeutic ready-to-use food to treat severely malnourished children.
It also wants this kind of food added to children's diets to prevent malnutrition from ever happening.
Ready-to-use-food is usually a sweet spread made with peanuts, dry milk, sugar, vegetable fat, minerals and vitamins. The food does not have to be mixed with water, which in many countries may be dirty. And families do not have to go to feeding centers. Individual servings come ready to eat.
Doctor Milton Tectonidis is a nutrition expert with Doctors Without Borders. He tells us that traditional methods of fighting hunger in children are not meeting their needs.
Enriched flour or a mixture of corn and soy are commonly used to improve children's diets. But he says this kind of food aid lacks enough calories and nutrients to prevent malnutrition.
The group is doing research in Niger. Doctor Tectonidis says this research has shown that ready-to-use food is more effective in keeping children from becoming severely malnourished.
The World Health Organization estimates that twenty million children at any given time suffer from severe malnutrition. Doctor Tectonidis says only three percent of them will receive ready-to-use-food this year. Doctors Without Borders is urging donors, United Nations agencies and governments to increase support for ready-to-use food.
In addition, Doctor Tectonidis says more research is needed to create new forms of it. And not just to help children survive and grow, he says, but even to support the diets of pregnant women.
And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss.
VOASE1013_People In America
13 October 2007| Davy Crockett, 1786-1836: King of the Wild Frontier | |
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DownloadVOICE ONE:
I’m Bob Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Phoebe Zimmermann with PEOPLE IN AMERICA from VOA Special English. Today, we tell the story of Davy Crockett. He was a hunter, fighter, storyteller and elected official. For many people, he represented the spirit of the American wilderness.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
David Crockett was born in what is now Greene County, Tennessee in seventeen
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| Davy Crockett |
Davy’s grandparents were among the first white people to live in eastern Tennessee. His grandfather had moved there in search of land to settle. Before Davy was born, his grandparents and other settlers were killed by a group of Native American Indian warriors.
Life in the wilderness was difficult. John Crockett repeatedly moved his family in an effort to find a good place to live. In seventeen ninety-six, he opened a tavern, or drinking place. The tavern was a popular stop for travelers. Davy probably heard many stories told by the people at his father’s tavern.
VOICE TWO:
Davy Crockett started attending a small school when he was about thirteen years old. A few days later, he fought with another boy at the school. After that, Davy decided to run away from home to escape his father’s punishment. For more than two years, he worked a number of unskilled jobs to support himself. When Davy returned home, he was so tall that his family did not recognize him. When they finally did, they celebrated his return.
Two hundred years ago, a boy either worked for his father or surrendered his pay if he worked for someone else. To gain his independence, Davy worked for about a year to help pay his father’s debts. He borrowed a gun from one employer and became good at shooting. Within a short time, Davy was a skilled hunter and trapper of wild animals. He was able to provide food and clothing for himself and his family.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Davy Crockett married Polly Finley in eighteen-oh-six. At first they lived in a small place near Davy’s parents. Five years later, Davy, Polly and their two boys moved west into what is now Lincoln County, Tennessee. Later, they settled in Franklin County, near what was then the territory of Alabama.
About this time, Creek Indian warriors killed many settlers at Fort Mims, Alabama. When news of the attack reached Crockett, he joined an army force under the command of Andrew Jackson. Crockett served in the army during the Creek Indian War. He also explored areas controlled by Indian warriors.
Crockett returned home when his military service ended. He decided to re-join the army in eighteen-fourteen, just before the Treaty of Ghent officially ended the fighting. At the time, General Jackson’s force was attempting to stop British-trained Indian forces in Florida.
VOICE TWO:
Davy Crockett returned home after the war. His wife Polly died in eighteen fifteen. Crockett needed a wife to raise his children. A short time later, he met and married Elizabeth Patton, whose husband had died.
More and more settlers were moving to Tennessee. Crockett seemed restless and traveled many times into the wilderness. In Alabama, he became infected with malaria and almost died. Later, he and his family moved again, this time to what would become Lawrence County, Tennessee.
Crockett was elected to the position of colonel in the local military force. He also was appointed a local court official. He became popular with the people and developed an interest in politics.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Davy Crockett loved the wilderness and became famous as a hunter. He also was a good storyteller. His stories were based partly on fact and partly on his imagination. For example, he told one story about an unusual experience when he was hunting. Crockett said the animal he was hunting looked at him once and surrendered immediately, without a single shot being fired. He also told stories about killing more than one hundred bears in six months.
Crockett was able to remember almost anything that he had heard. He found that his storytelling skills were helpful when he was campaigning for political office. For example, he once memorized an opponent’s campaign speech word for word. Crockett repeated the speech as his own during a debate. The opponent was so surprised to hear his own words that he was forced to make unprepared statements.
VOICE TWO:
Crockett won a seat in the Tennessee legislature in eighteen twenty-one. As a lawmaker, he became an expert in land policy, especially in wilderness areas. Crockett always did what he believed was right. He thought others should do the same. He was known for these words: “Be always sure you are right, then go ahead.”
After his term in office, Crockett decided to move his family further into the wilderness. They settled in what is now Gibson County, Tennessee. Crockett was so popular there that he was re-elected to the state legislature. Two years later, he was chosen as a candidate for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. This time, however, he was defeated.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Crockett won a seat in the House of Representatives the second time he was nominated in eighteen twenty-seven. He was re-elected two years later. During this period, another Tennessee native, General Andrew Jackson, was elected President. Crockett generally claimed to support President Jackson’s programs.
But he opposed the president and other members of Congress from Tennessee on several issues, including land reform. He also opposed a measure that forced Indian tribes from their native lands. However, even with Crockett’s opposition, the Indian Resettlement Act passed.
VOICE TWO:
President Jackson’s supporters prevented Crockett from winning a third term in
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| A painting of Davy Crockett |
Crockett made several trips to speak in cities in the eastern United States. The Whig political party provided support for the trips. Some Whig leaders were considering Crockett as the party’s candidate for President in eighteen thirty-six. However, his hopes for a political future ended when he lost his seat in the House of Representatives to a supporter of President Jackson.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
After his political defeat, Davy Crockett had a desire to see the wilderness again. He set out with a number of other men to explore the western area of Texas. Crockett believed that he could renew his political life there. At the time, American settlers in Texas were fighting to gain independence from Mexico.
Crockett joined more than one hundred eighty men who had established a fort at the Alamo, an old Roman Catholic mission in San Antonio. The commander of the Texas Army ordered the men to destroy the Alamo. He did not believe it could be defended against a strong Mexican attack. However, the men disobeyed the order.
VOICE TWO:
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| A Painting of Davy Crockett fighting at the Alamo |
After his death, Davy Crockett became even more famous and popular. His life has been celebrated in books, plays, movies, television shows and songs, like this one.
(MUSIC: “The Ballad of Davy Crockett”)
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by George Grow. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I’m Bob Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA from VOA Special English.
VOASE1012_In the News
12 October 2007| Deaths in Iraq Lead to Calls for More Controls Over Private Guards Working for US | |
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DownloadThis is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
 |
| Employees of Blackwater USA take part in a battle in the Iraqi city of Najaf in 2004 |
On Tuesday, guards from an Australian-owned company, Unity Resources Group, killed two women in a car in Baghdad. They say the car failed to stop after warnings.
Earlier, the Iraqi government urged American officials to cut ties with Blackwater USA. Blackwater is the largest of three American companies protecting American diplomats in Iraq.
Its guards were involved in a September sixteenth shooting in Baghdad. Blackwater says they had come under gunfire. But Iraqi officials say they fired at civilians without cause and killed seventeen people.
The Iraqis say the guards should face trial. And they say Blackwater should pay eight million dollars to each of the families of those killed.
Blackwater has about one thousand employees in Iraq. The total number of private guards being used there is estimated at twenty thousand to thirty thousand. But the International Peace Operations Association in Washington, a trade group, says most are Iraqis or other non-Americans.
The State Department says it has to use private guards because it does not have enough diplomatic security agents to meet expanding responsibilities in Iraq. It ordered stronger controls on Blackwater last week, including video cameras for its vehicles.
The shooting is still under investigation by the American military, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a joint committee of American and Iraqi officials. But in Washington, the Center for Constitutional Rights brought a federal case Thursday against Blackwater. The group is seeking damages for one survivor and the families of three of those killed.
United Nations officials in Iraq told the Associated Press they are concerned about reports of killings by security contractors. A U.N. human rights officer said officials will look into whether or not crimes against humanity and war crimes have taken place.
All government contractors would have to answer to American courts under a bill passed last week by the House of Representatives. It would expand a current act for Defense Department contractors outside the United States. The Bush administration opposes the bill, saying it could harm national security activities.
A House committee report said Blackwater has been involved in at least one hundred ninety-five shootings in Iraq since two thousand five. It said Blackwater guards fired first in most cases.
But Erik Prince, who started Blackwater ten years ago, defended his company at a congressional hearing last week. He says it performs only defensive security duties. He says he has lost thirty men while no one protected by Blackwater has ever been seriously injured. And he says private contractors have provided support to the American military since the Revolutionary War.
And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.
VOASE1011_Economics Report
11 October 2007| Making Sense of a Weak Dollar | |
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DownloadThis is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
 |
The dollar has been weakening against several major currencies. One euro is currently worth about one dollar forty cents. A British pound is worth over two dollars.
Many widely traded products are bought and sold in dollars. These commodities include oil, soybeans and metals like copper. A weak dollar can mean a better deal for foreign buyers. But for oil producers and countries that tie the value of their own money to the dollar, weakness reduces their purchasing power.
A weak dollar, though, may help reduce the American trade deficit because it makes American exports less costly. But in the United States it can raise the cost of imports. An exception is imports from China.
The Chinese government sets the value of the yuan on foreign exchanges. This year the yuan has increased less than four percent against the weakening dollar. This has kept the prices of Chinese imports low.
In other cases, however, a weak dollar hurts American businesses that deal in imported goods. They may have to raise prices or sacrifice profits. Many companies do not want to raise their prices for fear that they may lose market share.
The Federal Reserve has said that inflation remains under control. But the Fed says it is prepared to take action if inflationary pressures increase.
Last month the central bank cut short-term interest rates by half a point. It did so to help keep problems in the housing and credit markets from harming the wider economy and causing a recession.
But some economic worries appeared to ease after the latest jobs report last Friday. The Labor Department said employment increased by one hundred ten thousand jobs in September. Also, new numbers for August showed a gain of close to ninety thousand jobs.
The department had earlier reported that the economy lost four thousand jobs in August, the first report of job losses in four years.
Still, critics warn of dangers from a weaker dollar and lower interest rates, which reduce the returns on dollar-based investments. A New York Times commentary, for example, said dollar weakness is rooted in the borrow-and-spend behavior of the government and the public. It said foreign lenders will be less and less likely to want to invest in dollars, and that will only make things a lot worse.
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Jim Tedder.
VOASE1011_American Mosaic
11 October 2007| The Making of Hollywood's Motion Picture Rating System | |
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DownloadHOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.
(THEME)
I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:
We listen to some music from King Wilkie …
Answer a question about the American movie rating system …
And report about a new book by Jenna Bush.
Jenna Bush
HOST:
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| Jenna Bush at a party for her book |
MARIO RITTER:
Ana's parents had died of AIDS when she was a young child. When she was ten years old, she found out she was born with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. But she was told to keep it a secret. She became a victim of abuse by family members and was also warned not to tell anyone.
In her book, Jenna Bush tells of Ana's struggles to survive poverty, abuse and illness. The book also provides important information for young people about H.I.V. and other issues.
Jenna Bush says she wants to start a discussion with young Americans about H.I.V./AIDS, poverty, lack of education and other problems that affect millions of children around the world.
She has been traveling to more than twenty-five cities around the country to talk about her new book. Last week she took part in VOA's Web chat, T2A. She answered questions from people in India, Ethiopia, Kenya and Germany.
Jenna Bush said her job for UNICEF was to meet with children living in extreme poverty, or with H.I.V./AIDS. She said that even these young people with difficult lives had much hope for the future and a positive outlook on life.
She said she worked with native or indigenous communities in rural areas of Panama. She said the most important thing that UNICEF does is to help the leaders of these communities welcome outside assistance like health care. For example, UNICEF asks the leaders of indigenous communities for their advice on health care and education.
Jenna Bush also spoke about Ana, the teenager she wrote about in her book. She said Ana got the help she needed from trusted adults like her teachers and her priest. Ana now sees a better future for herself and her daughter.
Some of the money earned from the book, "Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope," will go to UNICEF to help girls like Ana continue their education.
Movie Rating System
HOST:
Our listener question this week comes from Norway. Xiaoren Chen wants to know how movies are controlled in the United States.
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The Motion Picture Association of America is the major movie organization that first formed in nineteen twenty-two. The organization helps distribute movies internationally, decides on rating systems, and deals with public relations for the movie industry.
When it was first started by the Hollywood production studios, the organization was called the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. The group was popularly called the Hays Office because of its director, Will Hays. This group developed the Motion Picture Production Code in nineteen thirty. The aim was for the film industry and not the government to decide what was morally acceptable to show in movies. The Hays Office examined each film before it could receive permission to be released.
The production code was very clear about issues including crime and sex. For example, movies could not show violent killings, methods of stealing, or illegal drug use. The code banned sex scenes, sexual relationships between people of different races, scenes of childbirth, and people not wearing clothing.
The Motion Picture Association finally ended the code in nineteen sixty-eight although movie makers had stopped following its rules many years before.
The group developed a new voluntary rating system that tells parents whether a movie is right for children. The ratings judge the level of violence, sexuality, and adult language. “G” movies are for people of all ages. “PG” means parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be right for children.
“PG-13” means parents are strongly warned that some material may not be right for children under the age of thirteen. “R” mean restricted. Children under the age of seventeen must have a parent or adult guardian with them. And if a movie is rated "NC-17" it means no one seventeen or younger will be admitted.
The rating system has its critics. Some movie experts say the ratings warn more about sexual subjects than about extreme violence. Others say a rating can harm a movie’s financial success and ignore its artistic importance.
King Wilkie
HOST:
The band King Wilkie is made up of six young men who love traditional bluegrass music. Their second full-length album, “Low Country Suite,” mixes the sound of bluegrass with the influence of folk and country music. Faith Lapidus plays some of these songs.
(MUSIC: "Crazy Daisy")
FAITH LAPIDUS:
That was “Crazy Daisy (Don’t You Fade on Me)” from "Low Country Suite." Like many
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| King Wilkie |
Ted Pitney and Reid Burgess formed King Wilkie in two thousand three in Charlottesville, Virginia. They named the band after the favorite horse of Bill Monroe, who is considered the father of bluegrass music.
King Wilkie’s first album, “Broke,” was a collection of traditional bluegrass songs. The record earned them an Emerging Artist of the Year Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association.
For “Low Country Suite” the band wanted to push their musical boundaries. Reid Burgess says their goal was to free themselves and show different musical sides of the band. He says limiting their music style to bluegrass did not permit them to be as personal and expressive as they wanted to be.
Here is the playful sound of “Ms. Peabody.” It tells about a young man’s love affair with an older woman.
(MUSIC)
Although this record is not traditional bluegrass, the band still plans to play at bluegrass festivals and concerts. Reid Burgess says King Wilkie’s performances are still made for bluegrass stages. He says he loves the personalities, the community and the history of bluegrass shows. We leave you with the energetic beat of “Wrecking Ball.”
(MUSIC)
HOST:
I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.
It was written by Dana Demange and Shelley Gollust. Caty Weaver was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.
Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
VOASE1010_Education Report
10 October 2007| 'Green' Schools Grow Around US | |
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DownloadThis is the VOA Special English Education Report.
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The council is a nonprofit organization made up of building industry leaders. It has a rating system for buildings called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.
In two thousand one, there were four schools asking for LEED certification. Now there are four hundred, including T.C. Williams. So far, fifty-eight schools have been recognized for meeting the requirements.
These include protecting natural areas and limiting the amount of chemicals in building materials. They also include better lighting and improved indoor air quality.
Buildings are also rated on how well they use energy and water, and on things like the use of recycling programs.
At T.C. Williams, one example of green design can be seen in the many windows that let in natural light. Students say the sunny rooms help them stay awake during class.
A rooftop garden is designed to provide stormwater control and help keep the building cool in the sun. And an underground tank can store one million seven hundred thousand liters of rainwater for air conditioning and other systems.
The new building cost about ninety million dollars to build. It stands next to the old T.C. Williams building, which officials say will slowly be taken apart and recycled.
T.C. Williams High School is still waiting for the final part of the LEED certification process. Schools receive points for the number of requirements they meet. Buildings are rated silver, gold or platinum.
Around the country, concerns about limited budgets for public schools sometimes lead to objections to investing in green schools. But the Green Building Council points to a report by Capital E, a Washington, D.C., company that serves the clean energy industry.
Capital E examined the cost of thirty green schools in the United States. It says the average cost was only two percent higher compared to a traditional school. And it says this extra cost is small compared to the savings over time from lower energy and water costs and healthier students.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Dana Demange. To learn more about American schools, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Jim Tedder.
VOASE1010_The Making of a Nation
10 October 2007| American History Series: Columbus Sails, Others Follow, and Spain Is on Top of the World | |
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DownloadWelcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
In the United States, October ninth is observed as Leif Erickson Day. It honors the Norse explorer who sailed around the northeastern coast of what we now call North America about one thousand years ago. Leif Erickson and his crew returned home to Greenland with news of a place he called "Vinland."
Following his explorations, a few settlements were built. Experts digging in eastern Canada in the nineteen sixties found the remains of a village with houses like those in Greenland, Iceland and Norway. But the Norse did not establish any permanent settlements in North America.
Today, as we launch our series from the beginning again, Sarah Long and Rich Kleinfeldt tell the story of early European explorers in North America.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
About ten hundred, Europe was beginning a period of great change. One reason was the religious wars known as the crusades. These wars were efforts by Europeans who were mainly Roman Catholic Christians. They wanted to force Muslims out of what is now the Middle East. The crusades began at the end of the eleventh century. They continued for about two hundred years.
The presence of European armies in the Middle East increased trade, which was controlled by businessmen in Venice and other Italian city-states. The businessmen were earning large profits by transporting and supplying the warring armies.
When the European crusaders returned home, they brought with them some new and useful products. The products included spices, perfumes, silk cloth, steel products and drugs. Such products became highly valued all over Europe. Increased trade resulted which led to the growth of towns. It also created a large number of rich European businessmen.
The European nations were growing. They developed armies and governments. These had to be paid for by taxes from the people. By the fifteenth century, European countries were ready to explore new parts of the world.
VOICE ONE:
The first explorers were the Portuguese. By fourteen hundred, they wanted to control the Eastern spice trade. European businessmen did not want to continue paying Venetian and Arab traders for their costly spices. They wanted to set up trade themselves. If they could sail to Asia directly for these products, the resulting trade would bring huge profits.
The leader of Portugal's exploration efforts was Prince Henry, a son of King John the first. He was interested in sea travel and exploration. So he became known as Henry the Navigator.
Prince Henry brought experts to his country and studied the sciences involved in exploration. He built an observatory to study the stars. Portuguese sea captains led their ships around the west coast of Africa hoping to find a path to India and East Asia. They finally found the end of the African continent, the area called the Cape of Good Hope.
VOICE TWO:
It took the Portuguese only about fifty years to take control of the spice trade. They established trading colonies in Africa, the Persian Gulf, India and China.
Improvements in technology helped them succeed. One improvement was a new kind of ship. It could sail more easily through ocean storms and winds.
Other inventions like the compass permitted them to sail out of sight of land. The Portuguese also armed their ships with modern cannon. They used these weapons to battle Muslim and East Asian traders.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The other European nations would not permit Portugal to control this trade for long, however. Spain's Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand agreed to provide ships, crew and supplies for an exploration by an Italian seaman, Christopher Columbus.
Columbus thought the shortest way to reach the East was to sail west across the Atlantic Ocean. He was right. But he also was wrong. He believed the world was much smaller than it is. He did not imagine the existence of other lands and another huge ocean area between Europe and East Asia.
VOICE TWO:
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| Columbus claims possession of the island he named San Salvador, now a part of the Bahamas |
He explored it, and the nearby islands of what is now known as Cuba and Hispaniola. He believed they were part of the coast of East Asia, which was called the Indies. He called the people he found there Indians.
Columbus left about forty men on the island to build a fort from the wood of one of the ships. He returned to Spain with captured natives, birds, plants and gold. Columbus was considered a national hero when he reached Spain in March, fourteen ninety-three.
VOICE ONE:
Columbus returned across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean area five months later. This time, he had many more men and all the animals and equipment needed to start a colony on Hispaniola. He found that the protective fort built by his men had been destroyed by fire. Columbus did not find any of his men.
Seven months later, Columbus sent five ships back to Spain. They carried Indians to be sold as slaves. Columbus also sailed back to Spain leaving behind some settlers who were not happy with conditions.
Christopher Columbus made another trip in fourteen ninety-eight, with six ships. This time he saw the coast of South America. The settlers were so unhappy with conditions in the new colony, Columbus was sent back to Spain as a prisoner. Spain's rulers pardoned him.
In fifteen-oh-two, Columbus made his final voyage to what some were calling the New World. He stayed on the island of Jamaica until he returned home in fifteen-oh-four.
VOICE TWO:
During all his trips, Columbus explored islands and waterways, searching for a passage to the Indies. He never found it. He also did not find spices or great amounts of gold. Yet, he always believed that he had found the Indies. He refused to recognize that it was really a new world.
Evidence of this was all around him -- strange plants that were not known in either Europe or Asia and a different people who did not understand any language spoken in the East.
Columbus' voyages, however, opened up the new world. Others later explored all of North America.
VOICE ONE:
You may be wondering about the name of this new land. If Christopher Columbus was the first European to attempt to settle the new world, why is it called "America"? The answer lies with the name of an Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci.
He visited the coast of South America in fourteen ninety-nine. He wrote stories about his experiences that were widely read in Europe.
In fifteen-oh-seven, a German mapmaker read Vespucci's stories. He decided that the writer had discovered the new world and suggested that it be called America in his honor. So it was.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Spanish explorers sought to find gold and power in the New World. They also wanted to expand belief in what they considered to be the true religion, Christianity.
The first of these Spanish explorers was Juan Ponce de Leon. He landed on North America in fifteen thirteen. He explored the eastern coast of what is now the southern state of Florida. He was searching for a special kind of water that people in Europe believed existed. They believed that this water could make old people young again. Ponce de Leon never found it.
VOICE ONE:
Also in fifteen thirteen, Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean. In fifteen nineteen, Hernan Cortes landed an army in Mexico and destroyed the empire of the Aztec Indians.
That same year Ferdinand Magellan began his three-year voyage around the world. And in the fifteen thirties, Francisco Pizarro destroyed the Inca Indian empire in Peru.
VOICE TWO:
Ten years later, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado had marched as far north as the central American state of Kansas and west to the Grand Canyon. About the same time, Hernan de Soto reached the Mississippi River. Fifty years after Columbus first landed in San Salvador, Spain claimed a huge area of America.
The riches of these new lands made Spain the greatest power in Europe. But other nations refused to accept Spain's claim to rights in the new world. Explorers from England, France and Holland also were traveling to North America. That will be our story next week.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
This MAKING OF A NATION program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Rich Kleinfeldt.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another Special English program about the history of the United States.
VOASE1009_Health Report
09 October 2007| Combination of Medicine and Therapy Called Best for Depressed Teens | |
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DonwloadThis is the VOA Special English Health Report.
Depression can cause long periods of sadness and hopelessness, feelings of low self-worth, even physical pain. It is the leading cause of suicide.
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The World Health Organization says more than one hundred twenty million people worldwide suffer from depression. But many people may not know it can start at a young age. In the United States, for example, health officials estimate that about five percent of adolescents are depressed.
Researchers in the United States have just reported on a study of more than three hundred patients ages twelve to seventeen. All suffered from major depression disorder, the most common form of the disease.
The researchers divided them into three groups. One received the antidepressant drug Prozac. Another received cognitive behavioral therapy. The third received both.
The study found that the best treatment was a combination of antidepressant and cognitive behavioral therapy, or C.B.T. This kind of therapy teaches patients to recognize and deal with the thoughts that can result from depression.
It centers on current feelings instead of past events.
At twelve weeks, the researchers found reduced levels of depression in all three groups. But they say the group receiving the combination of treatments had the greatest reduction. This continued through the end of the nine-month study.
The researchers say eighty-six percent of those who received both treatments had improved. This was compared to eighty-one percent each in the two other groups.
The study did not include an untreated control group. So there is no way to know for sure if it was the treatment that eased the depression.
The findings by Duke University researchers appear in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The National Institute of Mental Health paid for the seventeen million dollar study.
The researchers say the group that received Prozac alone had a higher rate of suicidal thoughts than the other two groups. Experts say antidepressant drugs can increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in teenagers.
And, earlier this year, the government asked drug makers to extend that warning to patients age eighteen to twenty-four during initial treatment. Generally that means the first one to two months.
And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. To learn about World Mental Health Day, observed each year on October tenth, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.
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