VOASE0612_Health Report

12 June 2007

Stent Failure: How Much of the Problem Is Caused by Doctors?
Second of two reports examining recent questions about the safety of drug-eluting coronary stents.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Today we have the second half of a report about some concerns with the use of drug-

treated coronary stents. These are small metal tubes designed to be placed inside arteries in heart patients. The stent is usually left in permanently after doctors clean out a narrowed artery with angioplasty treatment. Doctors expand the stent to hold the passage open so blood can flow normally to the heart.

Medicine on the stent is released slowly over time to stop the development of scar tissue. Scar tissue can cause the artery to become narrow again.

These devices have been approved in the United States for the past four years for patients with simple blockages and no history of heart attack. But some doctors use drug-eluting stents, as they are called, for patients with more serious heart problems. This is known as "off-label use" and is permitted.

But two recent studies questioned the safety of off-label use of drug-treated stents. Both found that some patients with more serious conditions were more likely to suffer a renarrowing of the artery. This is called restenosis.

So far, researchers have mostly investigated the stents themselves and how they are made. But now attention is turning also to the way they are being used.

The question is how much of the problem of stent failure may be the result of stents not being put in right. Or maybe they are not being expanded enough to fit firmly in the artery.

One recent study found that stents were incorrectly placed in almost seventy percent of the patients in that study.

Now a heart research organization hopes to solve the mystery. The Cardiovascular Research Foundation is a big supporter of the use of drug-treated stents. The foundation is going to carry out a large study. Spokeswoman Irma Damhuis says it will involve eleven thousand patients at ten centers in the United States and two in Germany. A heart doctor with the foundation will be one of the lead investigators.

Researchers will examine how doctors implant and expand stents and how the methods they use might affect outcomes. The study will deal especially with serious artery blockages that have been found a year or more after a stent was put in place.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. The first part of our report can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Katherine Cole.

VOASE0612_Explorations

12 June 2007

Good to the Last Drop: Coffee Culture Is Alive and Well in the US
Join us as we explore the history and culture of coffee.

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Barbara Klein with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. At La Colombe coffee

A capuccino made by Doug Wolfe at La Colombe

shop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, you can enjoy a tasty cup of coffee as you read the newspaper or meet with friends. The shop is very busy and lively.

(SOUND)

The people who work there can quickly make excellent espresso or drip coffee drinks. La Colombe is a good example of how important coffee culture has become in the United States. Join us as we explore the culture, history and business of one of the world's favorite drinks.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In the United States, the number of specialty coffee shops has increased greatly over the years. In nineteen ninety-five there were an estimated five thousand shops and sellers specializing in coffee. By two thousand six, there were almost twenty-four thousand. It is hard to walk down a street in an American city without coming across a coffee shop. And, chances are, that coffee shop might be a Starbucks.

VOICE TWO:

The Starbucks company started in the West Coast city of Seattle, Washington, in nineteen seventy-one. Today, there are more than twelve thousand Starbucks around the world. Starbucks has helped make coffee culture a popular part of people's daily lives. The stores sell all kinds of coffee. They sell special hot and cold coffee drinks like Frappucinos and White Chocolate Mocha. They also sell food, music and books. Starbucks has helped educate people about the world of coffee.

VOICE ONE:

But there is much more to making and enjoying coffee than Starbucks. In fact, many people criticize the aggressive expansion of Starbucks and its impersonal coffee shops. The company has made business difficult for smaller, independent coffee shops. But these coffee shops have a strong and loyal following. There is a certain pride in the coffee industry among the smaller, more personal coffee sellers.

VOICE TWO:

The Specialty Coffee Association of America holds a yearly competition for the people

Judges examining espresso creations at the Mid-Atlantic Barista Championship

who prepare coffee drinks, known as baristas. The best baristas from different areas of the country gather to make three coffee drinks. A group of coffee experts judges them. The baristas take their job very seriously. They have fifteen minutes to make three kinds of coffee drinks: an espresso, a cappuccino, and a specialty drink of their own invention.

(SOUND)

HOST:

"A big round of applause for Melanie's espressos!"

The best baristas in the country then compete for the national award. There is even a World Barista Championship. This year it will be held in Tokyo, Japan.

VOICE ONE:

Doug Wolfe recently competed in the Mid-Atlantic area barista competition. But to really see him work his coffee magic, you must visit him where he works, at La Colombe.

DOUG WOLFE:

Doug Wolfe working his coffee magic

"My name is Doug Wolfe, and I am from Philadelphia. I am with La Colombe Torrefaction. I'm going to be making an espresso and cappuccino for you guys."

To make an espresso, Doug packs freshly ground coffee into a filter that attaches to a shiny La San Marco espresso machine from Italy. The machine forces heated water at high pressure through the coffee. The resulting espresso has a strong, smooth and flavorful taste. He makes a cappuccino by adding perfectly heated milk to an espresso. This may sound easy. But making a perfect espresso requires several things: the right amount of fresh coffee and expert control of water temperature, pressure and timing. La Colombe roasts its own special coffee mixtures at a factory nearby. This way it can control the high quality and freshness of its product.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

You might enjoy a cup of coffee at your local coffee shop. But coffee is part of an

Green coffee beans from Brazil are ready for roasting at La Colombe's factory

international industry. Research shows that as many as one-third of the people in the world drink coffee. Some people drink coffee for its rich smell and taste. Others like the awakening effect of caffeine, a chemical in coffee. But not everyone may know the story of coffee and how it is produced.

VOICE ONE:

One popular story about the discovery of coffee long ago is about Kaldi, a keeper of goats Kaldi was taking care of his goats in the highlands of Ethiopia where coffee trees have grown for centuries. He noticed that his goats became very excited and active after eating small fruits from a tree.

Kaldi reported this discovery to a group of religious workers. When they made a drink out of the fruit, the religious workers realized they could stay awake for long hours of prayer. This knowledge about coffee soon spread all over the world.

VOICE TWO:

Coffee trees are native to eastern Africa and areas of the Arabian Peninsula. Coffee was first grown and traded in the fifteenth century. Most coffee came from what is now Yemen. Soon, coffee was in high demand all over the Middle East. By the seventeenth century coffee had been introduced to Europe. European traders started bringing coffee plants to other parts of the world. The Dutch brought coffee to the islands of Indonesia. And by the twentieth century, most of the world's production came from Central and South America. Today, Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Coffee berries on a coffee tree.

Most people know what a coffee bean looks like, but what about the plant? Coffee trees can grow up to nine meters high, but they are cut short for production. These trees have shiny dark green leaves that grow on opposite sides of each other on a stem. The plant produces a fruit that is called a coffee cherry.

When the coffee cherries are ripe and ready to pick, they are bright, red and firm. Inside the fruits are the green coffee beans. After these beans are roasted at high temperatures they are ready to be made into a drink.

VOICE TWO:

The two most important kinds of coffee plants are the arabica and the canephora, which is commonly known as robusta. Arabica coffee makes up about seventy percent of the world's production. These trees produce a fine and mild coffee with a rich smell.

Robusta has a more caffeine than arabica. It is usually mixed with other coffee beans or used for instant coffee. Most of the world's robusta is grown in Central and Western Africa. It can also be found in parts of Southeast Asia and Brazil. Robusta is less costly to grow because it is more resistant to diseases than the arabica plant. Also, robusta plants can survive in a warmer climate.

VOICE ONE:

There may only be two main kinds of coffee plants. But geography and climate differences have a big effect on the many different ways coffee can taste. For example, coffee grown in Ethiopia is known for its lively, sharp taste and its flowery smell. Coffee from the island of Sumatra has a full body with an earthy and intense taste. Coffee roasters combine beans from different areas to make coffees with different tastes and qualities.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Coffee is the second most heavily traded product in the world after oil. A coffee bean goes from a series of producers, exporters, importers, roasters and sellers. This long chain of production has major social and political effects. For example, some coffee producers and drinkers are concerned about the Fair Trade movement. The aim of this movement is to make sure that coffee farmers around the world get a fair price for their harvest. Poor farmers are organized into groups called cooperatives. They are guaranteed money under this system. Even if the market price for coffee drops, these farmers can earn enough money to live.

Critics of the movement say coffee farmers still do not receive a fair amount of money for their work. And some economists argue that Fair Trade creates too large a supply of coffee.

VOICE ONE:

There are also environmental concerns within the coffee industry. Industrial coffee production can have a bad effect on nature. The chemicals used on large coffee farms can hurt soil and water sources. These large farms also cut down many trees to make room for coffee plants. This threatens native plants and birds.

Environmental organizations have worked to create rules for producing coffee in environmentally friendly ways. Many coffee drinkers buy this coffee to support their efforts.

VOICE TWO:

So, the next time you enjoy your morning coffee, you can think about its rich history and wide popularity. And you can imagine the long distances it traveled to end up in your cup.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Barbara Klein. You can see pictures of Special English listeners on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

---

Photo credits: Coffee berries, by Marcelo Correa/Wikipedia Commons. All others, Dana Demange.

Forgotten Photos Show Life in 1940s Chinese City of Tientsin

By Mike O'Sullivan Los Angeles 11 June 2007

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A photo exhibition in California has resurrected images from 1940s China. VOA Mike O'Sullivan reports, the exhibition, called Faces of Tientsin, 1946, is composed of photographs kept in storage for six decades.

Street vendor with little girl in Tientsin, 1946

The photographs were taken by a young officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, Harold Giedt, who was stationed in Tientsin - modern-day Tianjin - after the Second World War. His unit was helping repatriate Japanese troops and civilians after Japan's defeat, and Americans and Europeans who had been held in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps.

Giedt was no stranger to China. He grew up as the son of a Western missionary in a village in Guangdong province. His playmates were all Chinese and he was fluent in the local dialect. He received additional Mandarin-language training after joining the U.S. Marines. He had worked as a part-time photographer during his college days, and took two cameras with him as he headed for Tientsin in late 1945.

Sampan family in Tientsin, 1946

With his language abilities, he found that people opened up as he strolled the streets.

"I would get talking with them, and then ask them if I could take their picture," he said. "And sometimes, especially the adults and the women, would be a little more shy. But after a while, I would say, 'you look very distinguished or very interesting, and people in America would like to know how Chinese look.' And so they would often then say, OK."

Lady with fresh-baked buns in Tientsin, 1946

The resulting photographs were candid shots of life in one city in post-war China. A woman, her face lined with age, smiles as she displays fresh-baked buns. Men are sawing a tree trunk to make boards for furniture. A young girl examines a box of trinkets as the elderly bearded vendor watches patiently, and a crowd of adults and children views the scene.

Retired geography professor Bob Gohstand directs the Old China Archive at California State University, Northridge, which is sponsoring the exhibition of 36 of Giedt's photographs. Gohstand grew up in Shanghai's international settlement, and the archive preserves the history of the Western presence in China.

He says Giedt clearly had a bond with the people he photographed because these portraits capture their humanity. Gohstand, a book lover, describes two of his favorites.

Boys reading in Tientsin, 1946

"There are two very nice images of people reading," he said. "There are two boys nestled against each other, one reading over the other's shoulder, which I think is just a very charming picture, and another of a dignified old gentleman in traditional garb standing and reading. So I think those two mean quite a lot to me."

Harold Giedt went on to become a professor of counseling services at this university in suburban Los Angeles. He always hoped to show the photographs some day, and that day finally arrived 61 years after he took the pictures.

Harold Giedt (l) with Bob Gohstand

Bob Gohstand says that treasures like these may be hidden away and ignored in people's homes and attics, and he hopes the best are not lost to history, but are preserved in archives.

"I feel that I am working on just a little corner of a massive conservation effort because we live in an age where information simply inundates us every moment," he said. "But we all are products of our individual and collective past. And I find it very hard to make really intelligent sense of the world we live in if we do not consider where came from and what people were like. Harold's pictures are 60 years old. And really, it is like looking through a looking glass into a different world."

The photo exhibition in the Oviatt Library of California State University, Northridge, will run through August 1.

UN Prosecutor Says Trial of Former Liberian President to Proceed

By Stephanie Ho Washington 11 June 2007

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The chief prosecutor of the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone says he is confident the trial against Charles Taylor will proceed as scheduled, despite the former Liberian president's no show at the trial's opening last week. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports from Washington, where the prosecutor spoke with reporters.

Charles Taylor (2006 file photo)

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up by the Sierra Leonean government and the United Nations in 2002 to try those responsible for war crimes during that African nation's decade-long civil war.

Mr. Taylor is accused of terrorism, murder, rape, sexual slavery, mutilation and recruiting child soldiers during the time he was president. He has pleaded innocent to all counts.

At a news conference in Washington Monday, Special Court for Sierra Leone chief prosecutor Stephen Rapp said he believes Charles Taylor's decision to boycott the trial opening last Monday at the Hague will not be a dire setback.

"The trial can not be hijacked by an individual," said Rapp. "It needs to go forward and go forward in the best possible way, but not in a situation where the accused himself can essentially abort the process by the election not to turn up."

Mr. Taylor is in custody in the Hague, but did not show up in the court room. His lawyer read a letter saying the former Liberian leader was absent because he believes he will not get a fair trial.

Herman Von Hebel, the Special Court's acting registrar, dismissed Mr. Taylor's claims that he had insufficient resources to prepare a proper defense.

"Actually, we have been giving the defense counsel sufficient funds, more actually, than defense counsels get in other international tribunals," said Hebel.

At the same time, regional experts believe Mr. Taylor, who has said he wants to represent himself, has millions of dollars stashed away from his time in power.

Special Court for Sierra Leone chief prosecutor Stephen Rapp (2006 file photo)

Chief prosecutor Rapp says the next step of the court proceedings is the first session to present evidence and hear witnesses, which begins June 25 and runs for four weeks.

"We're anticipating going forward with that session," said Rapp. "I suppose there's some difficulty on the counsel question or something else that needs to be done, there could be some delay during that period, but we're not anticipating that."

Rapp says he expects the trial judges will want to keep the proceedings on schedule to wrap up within 18 months, or by the end of 2008.

Mr. Taylor does not face the death penalty and there is no prescribed maximum number of years in prison if he is sentenced. But the prosecutor added that he is pushing for a stiff jail term.

"Mr. Taylor is now 59 years old," said Rapp. "We would anticipate that he could receive a sentence that would effectively be a life sentence."

If Mr. Taylor is acquitted, he is free to return, as a private citizen, to Liberia. If he is convicted and sent to jail, he is set to serve out his prison term in Britain.

Russian Opposition Demands Right to be Heard

By Peter Fedynsky Moscow 11 June 2007

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Russia's fledgling opposition held another anti-corruption rally in Moscow Monday. Rally organizers representing the Other Russia coalition say a relatively small turnout does not mean the opposition lacks popular support, but rather, that it lacks access to television. VOA's Moscow correspondent Peter Fedynsky has more from the Russian capital.

Opposition demonstrators on Pushkin Square

Demonstrators on Moscow's Pushkin Square chanted, "We need a different Russia!" And while the protesters represented different parts of the political spectrum, they agreed on the right to express opposing views not only among themselves, but to the people of Russia.

Addressing the crowd, former chess grand champion and now opposition leader Gary Kasparov listed some of the problems that need to be addressed, problems he says, that the country's rulers and bureaucratic elites are neglecting.

Garry Kasparov addresses protesters

Kasparov says the problem could be a public square or children's playground seized by commercial and bureaucratic interests. Or he says, it could be meager pensions, high inflation, crumbling infrastructure, and the absence of freedom. Kasparov added that every Russian's personal security is held hostage by officials who place their personal interests above the common good.

Several speakers and people in the crowd mentioned "chynovnyky," or bureaucratic officials who stand in the way of Russian progress.

Among the demonstrators was Raissa Fedorovna, a retiree and former newspaper vendor who says she waged a 10-year struggle against such officials who tried to illegally seize her apartment. In the end, she lost.

Fedorovna says authorities last year presented a counterfeit title to take her property. Formal complaints failed because, as she alleges, the police, prosecution and the courts, are on the side of the bureaucrats.

Riot police watching the demonstrators

A substantial security presence, including police in riot helmets and flak jackets, surrounded the demonstration. Authorities were quick to turn off the electricity as soon as the demonstration permit expired. They did not, however, stop a truck that circled the area blasting mocking noises at the demonstrators.

Protesters ignored the distraction, and expressed confidence that the opposition will do well in upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections, despite the fact that few people attended or even knew of the demonstration. Gary Kasparov said access to television is a key to spreading opposition messages.

Two weeks of uncensored television, says Kasparov, is all that is needed to disrupt the regime, because the people will hear the truth about what they now suspect to be a corrupt government.

Another opposition leader, Eduard Limonov said a mere half hour of television access would be sufficient.

The rally in Moscow was the ninth in recent months held in various Russian cities. About 3,000 demonstrators attended one such protest on Saturday during a major international economic forum in Saint Petersburg.

Both rallies ended peacefully. Earlier opposition demonstrations were dispersed by force, which caused an international public relations problem for the Kremlin.

Allegations of Irregularity, Apathy, and Violence Mark Egyptian Elections

By Cache Seel Qanater 11 June 2007

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Independent observers and opposition groups are accusing the Egyptian government of intimidating voters and candidates, and tampering with parliamentary elections. Cache Seel reports for VOA from Qanater that violence and low voter turnout are being reported across the country.

Nearly 600 candidates are competing for the 88 elected seats in Egypt's upper house of parliament, known as the Shura Council.

For the first time Egypt's banned, but tolerated, opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, is fielding candidates for the Shura Council elections. The group, which has been banned since 1954, runs candidates as independents. Hundreds of members of the group, including a candidate, have been arrested in a government crackdown since the announcement the group would contest 19 seats.

Mohamed Habib (2005 file photo)

Deputy Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Habib, says the group does not know how many of its members are being held.

"We cannot determine the number of detainees, because it is constantly increasing and changing from one second to another," Habib said.

He lists a series of charges against the government ranging from mass arrests to closing polling stations and fabricating votes.

Shura roughly translates into English as "consultative". The powers of the council are much more limited than the lower house of parliament, called the People's Assembly. The Muslim Brotherhood won roughly 20 percent of the People's Assembly in the last round of parliamentary elections.

Egyptian anti-riot policemen block the entrance of Manshiyat al-Qanater polling station in Giza, Egypt, 11 Jun 2007

At the Manshiyat Al-Qanater polling station, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Sa'id Saleh complained of intimidation and harassment by the police since he announced his candidacy. This highlights the importance of the election he says.

"Our cause is reform. We are working for reform and against corruption," he said. "Corruption is widespread and we need to work on ending it."

The Sawasiya Human Rights Center has election monitors in most of Egypt's governorates, Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud the head of the center, says he is receiving numerous reports of irregularities.

"Most of the violations," he says, "are occurring in the areas that have Muslim Brotherhood candidates."

Monitors from his group say that ruling party supporters were being bused in, voters were being intimidated, and ballot boxes were being stuffed.

The government denied the claims.

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior said the elections are being monitored by a committee that includes media experts, representatives of the candidates, and non-governmental organizations. The government also registered 400 correspondents, who had full access to every polling station in Egypt.

Candidate Sa'id Saleh's daughter, Mariam Sa'id, says she witnessed ballot box tampering.

"I was here when it opened at eight o'clock," she said. "I went in to vote and the box was glass. Later when my aunt came to the same station the box was wooden."

Violence was reported at several polling stations across Egypt. At least one person has been killed and three others seriously wounded in clashes between supporters of a ruling party candidate and an independent.

According to the Sawasiya Center, voter turnout is extremely low in most areas. Early estimates suggest that the national average will not exceed seven percent.

Truce Collapses, At Least 11 Palestinians Killed in Factional Violence

By Robert Berger Jerusalem 11 June 2007

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At least nine Palestinians have been killed in a flare-up of factional fighting in the Gaza Strip. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, repeated attempts to restore calm have failed amid a power struggle that is growing move violent.

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Hamas supporter Mohammed Rifati during his funeral in Gaza City, 11 Jun 2007

Gunmen from Hamas and the rival Palestinian Fatah faction fought fierce battles across Gaza. Government headquarters came under fire sending Cabinet ministers fleeing from their weekly meeting. There were also clashes at two hospitals.

The fighting has become increasingly brutal. In one incident, Hamas gunmen dragged the senior Fatah official in northern Gaza out of his home and executed him. Medics say was hit by 45 bullets. Earlier, a man from Hamas and another from Fatah were hurled to their deaths from high-rise buildings.

The fighting has raised fears of a Palestinian civil war. Cease-fires have quickly collapsed time and again, including one earlier on Monday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah appealed to both sides for calm.

"This is shameful for our people," Mr. Abbas said. "I call on everyone to stop the violence immediately so our people can live normal lives."

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas also called for a truce.

But it appears that both leaders have lost control of the gunmen who rule the streets.

VOASE0611_Science In the News

11 June 2007

Scientists Confirm Case of Shark That Reproduced Without Mating
Also: researchers celebrate the 300th birthday of Carl Linnaeus, the man who named the natural world. And a question from China about losing weight.

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. On our program this week, we will tell about an animal that can reproduce without mating. We also will tell about a Swedish man who developed a naming system for all living things. And, we answer a listener's question about weight loss.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

File photo of a hammerhead shark, the kind involved in the first known case of asexual reproduction in sharks.

The birth of a shark in the United States has been confirmed as the first case of a female shark reproducing without a male shark. Scientists from Florida, Nebraska and Northern Ireland studied genetic material taken from a baby hammerhead shark. The baby shark was born six years ago at a zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. At the time, its mother had been living without male sharks for three years.

Another fish was said to have killed the baby shark shortly after it was born. Recently, tests showed the baby had no genetic material from a male shark. The findings were reported in the publication Biology Letters.

VOICE TWO:

At the time of the birth, researchers believed that the mother had possibly used reproductive fluid received from a male shark years earlier. Female sharks are able to store such fluid from male sharks. However, no shark has been known to do this for several years.

Instead, the scientists found the mother’s own genetic material combined when her egg was produced. This form of reproduction involving only one animal is called parthenogenesis. It is also known as asexual reproduction.

VOICE ONE:

Asexual reproduction has been known to happen in some animals, including snakes and lizards. But it has never been confirmed in mammals. The shark's birth was the first time asexual reproduction had been observed in a shark. It has yet to be observed in animals that live in the wild.

Scientists say the discovery may also explain growing numbers of sharks born in captivity without males present. However, genetic material from these sharks must also be tested to confirm asexual reproduction.

VOICE TWO:

Scientists now wonder if animals living in the wild also reproduce in this way. Many shark populations are decreasing because people are killing too many of the animals. The asexual form of reproduction could help population numbers. Yet scientists say it could also be harmful for the species itself.

Biologists say that sharks born asexually with only their mother’s genetic material will have less chance of surviving than other sharks. Genetic material from a male and female helps living creatures to better deal with disease and other threats. If sharks in the wild are reproducing asexually, their young will be genetically weaker than those produced sexually.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Carl Linnaeus

Last month, scientists around the world celebrated the birthday of an important man in the history of science. His name was Carl Linnaeus. He was born three hundred years ago in Sweden.

Carl Linnaeus is remembered for developing a system of scientific names for all the living things on Earth. Experts say his system continues to influence the way people think about the natural world.

VOICE TWO:

Linnaeus was a medical doctor. He also was very interested in plants. In seventeen thirty-five, he produced a book that listed all the known plants in the world by their sexual parts. The book was called "Systema Naturae," or "System of Nature."

Linnaeus later published two more books. They proposed a system of dividing and ordering plants by groups. These publications listed and ordered all the known plants and animals in the world. That was more than seven thousand kinds of plants and more than four thousand kinds of animals.

Linnaeus continued to make changes in his system and publish books describing them. The tenth version of "Systema Naturae" was published more than twenty years after the first one. The naming system he described in that book is the one that has been used ever since by scientists.

VOICE ONE:

The system that Linnaeus used to organize all living things started with the largest group, called a kingdom. He divided all living things into one of three kingdoms: plant, animal, or mineral. Members of each kingdom were then placed into increasingly smaller groups. Linnaeus' system was the first to place human beings in the same group as animals that walk on two legs.

The main part of the system that survives today combines two groups that have biological meaning. It is the two-word description of an organism based on its physical appearance: the genus name and the descriptor. A good example is the expression Linnaeus used to describe human beings and that we continue to use -- homo sapiens.

VOICE TWO:

Scientists have been making changes to his naming system for more than two hundred years. Today, some experts want to re-organize the system. They say this is needed because of the scientific progress that has been made since Linnaeus' time. For example, biology experts want changes because knowledge of genetic material has created much new information.

Some people are calling for a system that would group organisms with a common history. But others feel there is no real agreement as to how to place new discoveries in groups. They say Linneus' system has been used for so long that it would be very difficult to change.

Scientists say the main reason the system survives is because it is simple. They say its use makes it possible for persons who speak different languages to understand each other, and agree on what they are talking about. The system also makes it easy for scientists today to identify all the ten million known species of plants and animals. That is many more living things than were known during Carl Linnaeus' lifetime.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Finally, a listener has written from China for advice about how to lose weight. Michael in Shanghai says he is twenty-six years old and has been severely overweight for most of his life.

Doctors say this condition, also known as obesity, is complex. A doctor may advise medical interventions in addition to changes in behavior. But experts say the most successful weight-loss plans include a well-balanced diet and exercise.

VOICE TWO:

People who want to avoid weight gain have to balance the number of calories they eat with the number of calories they use. To lose weight, you can reduce the number of calories you take in, or increase the number you use, or both.

Experts at America's National Institutes of Health say a person wishing to lose weight should have an hour of moderate to intensive physical activity most days of the week. This could include fast walking, sports or strength training.

You should also follow a nutritious eating plan and take in fewer calories than your body uses each day.

VOICE ONE:

A recent study looked at four of the most popular dieting plans in the United States. Researchers at Stanford University in California studied more than three hundred overweight women. Most of the women were in their thirties and forties.

Each woman went on one of the four plans: Atkins, The Zone, Ornish or LEARN. The women attended diet classes and received written information about the food plans.

At the end of a year, the women on the Atkins diet had lost the most -- more than four and one-half kilograms on average. They also did better on tests including cholesterol levels and blood pressure. The Journal of the American Medical Association published the findings.

VOICE TWO:

Christopher Gardner led the study. He says the Atkins diet may be more successful because of its simple message to lower intake of sugars. Also, he says the advice to increase protein in the diet leads to more satisfying meals.

He says there was not enough money to also study men, but that men would probably have similar results.

VOICE ONE:

Another report suggests that only a small minority of people have long-term success with dieting. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, medical school found that most dieters regained their lost weight within five years. And often they gained back even more. But those who kept the weight off generally were the ones who exercised.

The report was based on thirty-one studies. It was published in the journal American Psychologist.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Brianna Blake, Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver. Our producer was Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again at this time next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0611_Agriculture Report

11 June 2007

Raising Rabbits Offers a Big Return From a Small Investment
The animals are clean and quiet, do not need a lot of room and are low cost to feed.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Rabbits in a cage

Rabbits are easy to raise. The long-eared animals are clean and quiet. They do not need a lot of room. And you do not have to spend a lot of money to feed them. With rabbits, you get a big return from a small investment.

One male and two females will produce in a year as many as fifty more rabbits. That is enough to provide a good supply of meat for a family. Rabbit meat is high in protein and low in fat.

You do not have to be a farmer to raise rabbits. You can raise them in the city.

There are about sixty different kinds of rabbits. The ones that produce the most meat from the least amount of feed weigh four and one-half kilograms.

Rabbit houses are easy to make with wood and wire fencing material. They do not have to be very big. But each rabbit must have its own little room in the house. This is very important. Each room should be about seventy-five centimeters wide, sixty centimeters high and one meter deep.

Fencing is used for the sides and floor of the rabbit house. The holes in the wire fencing should be about one centimeter square. Wastes from the animals will drop through the holes. This keeps the rabbit house clean and dry.

Rabbits need a lot of fresh air and sunlight. Cover the sides of the rabbit house only to protect it from rain.

Rabbits eat mostly grass and leaves. Feeding containers hung on the outside of the house let the rabbits eat whenever they want. They simply pull the grass and leaves through the holes in the wire.

Each room should have fresh water. The water containers should be heavy so the rabbits cannot turn them over. Or you can tie the containers to the wire.

One month after mating, female rabbits give birth to about eight babies. In two months, a baby rabbit should weigh about two kilograms. This is big enough to make a meal for a small family.

Rabbits are also valuable for their fur. It takes time, skill and money to prepare the fur and skin for use. If you have only a few rabbits, it probably would be best to let a professional tanner prepare the fur for you. Skill is also needed to remove the fur from the rabbit.

But rabbits do not have to be dead to be valuable. Many people enjoy keeping rabbits as friendly pets. And rabbit manure makes an excellent fertilizer. It can be mixed directly into the soil to improve the growth of vegetables, trees and flowering plants.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

VOASE0705 Print Edition[Big Bug]

Big Bug 继续造福人类，放出5月合辑的打印版

PoEnglish 带头热烈鼓掌！

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VOASE0610_This Is America

10 June 2007

Reaching for the Ball: NBA Finds More Players and Fans Overseas
How the National Basketball Association -- now in its finals for the 2007 championship -- is going increasingly international.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. We turn our attention this week to the NBA, the National Basketball Association, and its growing international reach.

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (center) of Argentina in game one of the 2007 NBA Finals

The regular season ended in April. Weeks of playoffs followed. The San Antonio Spurs won the western conference championship for the third time in five years. The Cleveland Cavaliers won the eastern conference championship for the first time.

Now, the Cavs and the Spurs are playing in the finals for the NBA championship. It could be decided as early as this Thursday in game four of their best-of-seven series.

Last year's NBA champions, the Miami Heat, lost early in the playoffs this year.

VOICE TWO:

Americans are not the only ones watching, or playing. Today about one NBA player in five was born outside the United States. The season opened with eighty-three international players, a record.

They include stars like Yao Ming from China on the Houston Rockets and German-born Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks. He just became the first European-born player to win the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award.

And Argentine-born Manu Ginobili helped the Spurs to this year's finals with their victory in the West over the Utah Jazz.

VOICE ONE:

Chicago Bulls player Luol Deng of Sudan protects the ball in a 2007 playoff game against the Detroit Pistons

NBA players from Africa include Sudanese-born Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls and Dikembe Mutombo. Mutombo, most recently with the Houston Rockets, was born in Kinshasa and is known for his charity work in Africa. He was considering retirement but has said he will play again next year. He will be forty-one years old on June twenty-fifth.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen forty-nine, two leagues came together to form the NBA: the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League. In nineteen ninety-six the NBA created the WNBA, the Women’s National Basketball Association. And in two thousand one the NBA created a development league to help train future players.

The NBA currently has thirty teams. It is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States. The others are the National Football League, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball.

VOICE ONE:

Nineteen fifty is remembered as the year that the NBA became integrated with black players. Today the large majority of players are African-American. But a Japanese-American broke the barrier in major professional basketball three years earlier.

Wataru Misaka was born in the state of Utah. He was a guard standing one meter seventy centimeters. He helped lead his college team to two national championship competitions. The New York Knicks, or Knickerbockers, chose him in the nineteen forty-seven Basketball Association of America draft. He played in three games and scored seven points before he was cut from the team.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen ninety-two, the United States Olympic men's basketball team was called the "Dream Team." For the first time there were players from the NBA. Among them were Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. The Americans brought home the gold medal that year from Barcelona.

It was during the nineteen nineties that a growing number of top NBA players began to come from outside the United States. In two thousand two, Yao Ming was the first choice in the NBA draft. He was picked by the Houston Rockets.

Yao became the first international player without college experience in the United States to be chosen first overall. He also became the third Chinese national ever to play in the NBA.

The first was Wang Zhi-zhi. He joined the Dallas Mavericks in two thousand one. The second was Mengke Bateer. He made his first NBA appearance with the Denver Nuggets early in two thousand two.

VOICE ONE:

Yao Ming is currently the NBA's tallest player, at two meters twenty-six centimeters. He was already a famous player in China before he arrived in the United States. He no longer speaks through an English interpreter. During his first season with the NBA, he spoke with the help of his friend Colin Pine.

In two thousand three, during the NBA off-season, Yao helped raise money and educate people in China about SARS. That was when the lung disease known as SARS broke out in southern China and spread around the world.

And Yao said last year that he would stop eating shark fin soup, a popular Chinese meal, because of concern for shark populations.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Another popular international player in the NBA is Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls. He is two meters three centimeters tall. He was born in southern Sudan as a member of the Dinka tribe. It produces some of the world's tallest people.

In nineteen eighty-eight, when he was a young boy, his family fled to Egypt because of the civil war in southern Sudan. His father had been a Sudanese government minister. In Egypt, they met former NBA player Manute Bol. Bol, also a Dinka, became an important influence in his life.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen ninety-three Deng's family received political asylum in Britain. But he went to high school in the United States, in New Jersey. By his senior year he was one of the best high school basketball players in America. He attended Duke University for one year before he entered the NBA in the two thousand four draft.

Luol Deng is known as a hard worker. And this May he won the NBA Sportsmanship Award for the season, as voted by other players. This award honors ethical behavior, fair play and other ideals of sportsmanship on the court.

He is also active in charities including Nothing But Nets, a campaign to fight malaria in Africa with insecticide-treated bed nets.

Luol Deng received British citizenship last year. He wants to play for the British national team in the two thousand twelve London Olympics. He grew up in London and his family lives there. He was recently named British captain for the qualifying series for the European championship.

VOICE TWO:

Dirk Nowitzki is the first Dallas Maverick to win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. He is also the first winner who did not attend high school or college in the United States. He was born in Wurzburg, in the former West Germany.

He, too, learned the game with the help of an older mentor. Former German national team player Holger Geschwindner first saw him play when Nowitzki was sixteen. He thought the teenager had the talent to be a professional. For one thing, Nowitzki is ambidextrous. He has equal ability with either hand.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

NBA games are broadcast around the world in more than forty languages. In China, games are being shown on more than fifty television stations, up from thirty-two last year.

One way to show support for a favorite player is, of course, to wear the team jersey with that player's number. The NBA reported in March that Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers had the top-selling NBA jersey in China this season. Last year his jersey was the fourth most popular. He also has the top selling jersey in the United States.

Allen Iverson of Denver and Tracy McGrady of Houston were second and third this season in China. Next came Dwyane Wade of Miami and Cleveland's LeBron James.

Yao Ming was third in jersey sales at stores in China last season. This year he was sixth.

VOICE TWO:

The NBA may be the world's most famous basketball league. But the two thousand four Summer Olympics in Athens provided an example of how the game is improving internationally.

Argentina defeated the United States men's basketball team in the semifinals, then claimed the gold medal over Italy. It was the first medal ever for Argentina in Olympic basketball. It was also the first loss for the American team since nineteen eighty-eight in Seoul.

In fact, between nineteen thirty-six and two thousand, there was only one other time when the United States did not win. That was at the nineteen seventy-two Munich Games. Both times the Soviet Union took home the gold.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Brianna Blake and produced by Caty Weaver. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. You can learn more about American life at voaspecialenglish.com. And join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0610_Development Report

10 June 2007

'Two Faces of Asia' Test Future of Development Bank
ADB officials debate how to deal with the economic success of many countries yet continued high levels of poverty in others.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The Asian Development Bank was created in nineteen sixty-six, two years after the African Development Bank. Today both of them are talking about needed reforms to better serve their member countries. Last month we looked at the issues in Africa where there is still widespread need for development aid.

The situation is different for the Asia-Pacific area. The Asian Development Bank was created to raise money from rich industrial nations for loans to support economic growth. Now there are surpluses in Asia, and less and less need for those loans.

Rajat Nag is managing director general of the bank; we called him in Manila. He says the bank is debating how to deal with the two faces of Asia. Economic growth in many countries has been great -- ten percent a year in China, for example. The bank's members have about two trillion dollars in savings that could be invested. Yet more than six hundred million people in Asia are still without clean water.

And Rajat Nag says by the year twenty-twenty, almost two billion Asians will still be living on less than two dollars a day. The bank will continue to be supportive for those countries, he says.

Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda answers a reporter question in Kyoto

Many of the reforms that the bank is considering come from a report released in late March by an independent committee. Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda asked for a study looking ahead to two thousand twenty.

Supachai Panitchpakdi, head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, chaired the committee. He discussed the report during the bank's board of governors meeting last month in Kyoto, Japan. He urged the bank to change with Asia's economic rise but to continue its poverty reduction efforts in poor countries.

Rajat Nag predicts that reforms will help connect local borrowers with local lenders. Like other international lenders, the Asian Development Bank may also become more of a knowledge bank for technical aid. Mister Nag says the bank will be a partner and not a competitor of other development banks.

The proposed reforms will be examined over the next eight to ten months. Rajat Nag says a final plan might be presented and approved at next year's Asian Development Bank meeting in Madrid, Spain.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. Our report two weeks ago on the African Development Bank can be found at voaspecialenglish.com.