VOASE0209_In the News

09 February 2007

Calls for Action Follow UN Report That Human Activity Is 'Very Likely' to Blame for Global Warming
Chirac urges environmental and political revolution; US Congress considers steps; China says developed countries caused the problem and must take the lead.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Last week, a United Nations report said humans are "very likely" the cause of most of the temperature increases in the last fifty years. It said global warming is undeniable, and that the world can expect to feel the effects for centuries to come.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the report in Paris at a conference of climate experts. Representatives of more than one hundred governments agreed on the findings. This is the most detailed scientific report to date on global warming and the influence of fossil-fuel burning and other human activity.

The scientists say there is greater than a ninety percent chance that greenhouse gases are the main cause of rising temperatures and sea levels. The report also links global warming to other changes including increased dryness in some areas and violent storm patterns.

The U.N. panel released its last climate change report six years ago. The scientists say the new report is based on numerous studies done since then, and stronger agreement on global warming.

The new report makes no policy proposals. But the aim is to press governments and industries to cut the release of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for trapping heat.

Some of the scientists wanted to include policy suggestions in the report. Ideas included increased use of renewable energy resources and development of so-called geo-engineering technologies. But most of the scientists at the Paris conference said they believe the immediate goal must be to reduce carbon emissions.

French President Jacques Chirac called for an environmental and political revolution to save the planet.

The White House this week published an open letter on President Bush's position on climate change. The purpose was to show that he has been concerned about the problem since his first year in office. For example, it says that the administration has spent more than nine billion dollars on climate change research.

In the new Democratic-controlled Congress, lawmakers have been holding hearings and proposing bills to deal with global warming.

China is the second largest producer of greenhouse gases after the United States. Experts believe China could become the largest producer as soon as two thousand ten.

But China reacted to the report by saying developed countries are responsible for global warming, and must lead in cutting emissions. China says it lacks the resources to cut its own emissions.

Some people criticized the report, saying the public is being misled about the dangers of climate change. One of those critics, for example, was Bryan Leyland, an energy consultant with the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition. He said sun-related effects could fully explain the recent changes. He said people should be more concerned about saving energy and fighting poverty.

IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English was written by Brianna Blake.Transcripts and audio files are at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE0208_Economics Report

08 February 2007

Congress Gets Bush's '08 Budget Plan
President's $3 trillion spending proposal includes, for the first time, detailed estimates of war costs. It also aims for a balanced budget in 2012.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This week, President Bush sent Congress his spending plan for two thousand eight. His budget proposes almost three trillion dollars in government spending, a four percent increase over this year. The new budget year begins October first.

President Bush holds a copy of his 2008 budget plan at the end of a cabinet meeting

Mister Bush says his plan will finance the war on terrorism and still lead to a balanced budget in two thousand twelve without raising taxes.

His budget includes, for the first time, detailed cost estimates for the war in Iraq. Until now, war costs have been considered largely as emergency spending measures, when needed.

Mister Bush is asking Congress for one hundred forty-five billion dollars for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for two thousand eight. He also wants an additional one hundred billion dollars for this year.

Since the invasion in two thousand three, the war in Iraq has cost more than three hundred forty billion dollars.

The president says his proposed budget is realistic even with the costs of the war. He says the budget can be brought into balance if the economy continues to grow and Congress shows financial restraint.

His chief economic advisor, Ed Lazear, says the strong economy will make it possible to limit cuts in government programs. He says it will also make it possible to pay for the war and reduce the current budget deficit.

This is the first time the president has proposed a budget to a Congress with a Democratic majority. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton noted the size of the defense requests -- six hundred twenty-five billion dollars. He said Congress must look at the details carefully, to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.

Approving a budget is a long and complex legislative process. Government offices could close if the president has not signed a new budget by October first. But Congress can pass temporary spending measures known as continuing resolutions until a budget is in place.

In recent years, budgets have had a big increase in special interest projects added by individual lawmakers. These additions, called earmarks, are often criticized as wasteful.

Democrats have promised to restrict earmark spending. The president wants Congress to cut earmarks in half by the end of this year.

Mister Bush is also asking for line-item veto power -- the power to veto individual spending items passed by Congress. Under the separation of powers, the president can only veto complete spending bills.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0208_American Mosaic

08 February 2007

Guantanamo Bay: How the US Came to Have a Naval Base in Cuba
Also: the story of Perky the lucky duck in Florida. And music by this year's Grammy Award nominees.

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Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We answer a question about an American naval base ...

Play some music nominated for a Grammy Award ...

And report about a world-famous duck.

Perky the Lucky Duck

People around the world love stories about animals. One story came to a sad end last week with the news of the death of the race horse Barbaro. The horse fought for his life for eight months after breaking his leg during a race in Baltimore, Maryland in May. But another happier story has appeared on news shows around the world recently. Faith Lapidus explains.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Perky is shown in a photo provided by the Goose Creek Wildlife Sanctuary in Tallahassee, Florida

This story is about a brown female Canadian duck that weighs only four hundred fifty grams. The duck had flown to the southern state of Florida for the winter. A hunter shot it on January fifteenth and took it to his home in the city of Tallahassee. He put it in the refrigerator. Two days later the man’s wife opened the refrigerator door. The duck lifted its head and looked at her. It was alive!

The family took the duck to a doctor who treats animals. The doctor gave the duck to the Goose Creek Animal Sanctuary. Animal sanctuaries provide homes for animals and teach people about their care.

The doctor said it was easy to understand why people thought the duck was dead. He said ducks generally do not move a lot, especially after being shot. And he said its low body temperature helped it survive in the refrigerator.

That was enough to make the duck famous around the world. The Tallahassee newspaper published the story that was re-printed in many different countries. But that was not the end of the story.

Workers at the wildlife sanctuary named the duck Perky. And they arranged for the doctor to perform an operation to repair the duck's damaged wing. During the operation, Perky stopped breathing — not just once but two times. The doctor tried to save Perky by giving her oxygen through a face mask. But he finally said the duck had died. A few seconds later, however, Perky began to move. Reports say the people in the operating room were so happy that they cried.

Workers at the wildlife sanctuary say Perky will not have any more operations. It seems she had a bad reaction to the drugs that were used. Perky is expected to live at the sanctuary. And a local company has begun to sell t-shirts showing a picture of the lucky duck. Money from the sale of the shirts will help pay for Perky’s care.

Guantanamo

HOST:

Our VOA Listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Dang Cam Y asks about the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Guantanamo Bay naval base covers one hundred sixteen square kilometers in southeastern Cuba. It is controlled by the United States. The naval base at Guantanamo is the oldest American base outside the United States mainland. It is also the only American base in a country that does not have open political relations with the United States.

United States Marines took control of Guantanamo Bay during the Spanish-American War in eighteen ninety-eight. In nineteen oh-three, an independent Cuba agreed to permit the United States to use the base in exchange for a yearly payment of two thousand dollars in gold. A treaty confirmed the agreement in nineteen thirty-four. Agreement by both governments is needed to end the treaty.

Fidel Castro took power in Cuba in nineteen fifty-nine and demanded the return of the base. The United States refused. Since nineteen sixty, the Cuban government has refused to accept the annual payment of five thousand dollars from the United States.

In the nineteen sixties, tensions increased at Guantanamo following the American-supported Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and the Cuban missile crisis. These incidents led American forces to increase security at the base. In nineteen sixty-four, President Castro cut off its water supply. The United States sent drinking water to the base until it built its own equipment to remove salt from the water in the bay.

During the nineteen nineties, thousands of refugees fleeing Cuba and Haiti were temporarily housed at the base.

Since two thousand two, the United States has held hundreds of prisoners suspected of having ties to the Taleban or al-Qaeda. They were captured in Afghanistan and other countries during the war against terror. Human rights groups have criticized the United States for its treatment of these prisoners and for the length of time they have been held without being tried.

In December, the United States Congress approved legislation that established military groups to try the prisoners. Last month, the Defense Department announced new rules to carry out the law. Reports say the military will finally charge between sixty and eighty of the almost four hundred men held at Guantanamo. The trials are expected to begin in the spring.

Grammy Nominations

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences will present the forty-ninth yearly Grammy Awards on Sunday, February eleventh. The awards ceremony will be broadcast on television from Los Angeles, California. Bob Doughty tells us about the Grammies and plays three nominated songs.

BOB DOUGHTY:

The Grammy Awards recognize excellent musical recordings and the people who create them. The award is a small statue that is shaped like the early record player called a gramophone. The word Grammy is a short way of saying gramophone.

Members of the Recording Academy choose the best music each year. Awards are given for all kinds of music — popular, jazz, classical, country, rap and many others.

One of the major Grammy Awards is Record of the Year. Five records are nominated. One of these is from Mary J. Blige -- "Be Without You.”

(MUSIC)

Another nominee for Record of the Year is “Put Your Records On” by Corrine Bailey Rae.

(MUSIC)

Other nominees for Record of the Year are Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and the Dixie Chicks’ “Not Ready To Make Nice.” We leave you now with the fifth song nominated for “Record of the Year.” It is “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. It was written by Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

And do join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

VOASE0208_The Making of a Nation

07 February 2007

American History Series: War Hero Is Elected President in 1952
Dwight Eisenhower was the commander of Allied forces in Europe during World War Two.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

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

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Harry Truman

America's presidential election campaign of nineteen fifty-two probably opened on the day President Harry Truman said "no." He said he would not be a candidate for re-election.

In later years, Harry Truman would be called one of America's better presidents. Near the end of nineteen fifty-one, however, he had lost the support of many Americans.

The continuing war in Korea, and economic problems at home, had robbed him of much of his popularity. His Democratic Party needed a new candidate for president.

VOICE TWO:

In the spring of nineteen fifty-two, Mister Truman named the man he wanted the party to nominate. His choice was Adlai Stevenson, governor of Illinois.

Adlai Stevenson

Mister Stevenson, however, said he was not interested in any job except the one he had.

It appeared that he meant what he said. Someone asked what he would do if the Democratic Party chose him as its presidential candidate. Mister Stevenson answered, "I guess I would have to shoot myself."

So, President Truman and other party leaders discussed different candidates. Each one, however, seemed to have some political weakness.

VOICE ONE:

The Republican Party also was discussing possible candidates. It was much easier for the Republicans to choose. Earlier, General Dwight Eisenhower had said he would campaign.

General Dwight Eisenhower

"Ike" Eisenhower was the hugely popular commander of Allied forces in Europe during World War Two. Many members of both parties wanted him as their candidate. General Eisenhower agreed to campaign as a Republican.

His closest competitor for the Republican nomination was Robert Taft, a senator from Ohio. He was the son of a former president, William Howard Taft.

VOICE TWO:

Senator Taft sometimes was called "Mister Republican." He had strong party support for his conservative policies. However, he did not receive enough votes at the party's national convention to defeat Eisenhower for the nomination.

In his acceptance speech, Eisenhower told the convention delegates that they had called him to lead a great campaign. He described it as a campaign for freedom in America and for freedom in the world.

Eisenhower chose Senator Richard Nixon of California as his vice presidential candidate. By that time, Mister Nixon was known throughout the United States for his strong opposition to communism.

Earlier, as a member of the House of Representatives, he had led the investigation of a former State Department official, Alger Hiss. Hiss was accused of helping provide secret information to the Soviet Union. Hiss denied the accusation. He was never officially charged with spying. But he was tried and found guilty of lying to a grand jury and was sentenced to prison.

VOICE ONE:

The Democratic Party held its national convention ten days after the Republicans. Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson welcomed the delegates. The words of his speech made it seem that he did not want to be a candidate for president. This made the delegates want him even more.

They voted two times. No one received enough votes to win the nomination. On the third vote, Governor Stevenson did. And he accepted. In his acceptance speech, he urged Democrats to campaign with honor.

VOICE TWO:

After the conventions, a political expert wrote about the differences between Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower. The expert said Stevenson was a man of thought, and Eisenhower was a man of action.

The Republican Party quickly employed an advertising company to help its candidates. Advertising companies mostly designed campaigns to sell products. In the presidential election of nineteen fifty-two, the company designed a campaign to "sell" Mister Eisenhower and Mister Nixon to the American public.

VOICE ONE:

Eisenhower did not always agree with the company's advice. One time, he became very angry. He said, "All they talk about is my honesty. Nobody ever says I have a brain in my head!"

There was no question that the Democratic candidate, Adlai Stevenson, had a brain. He was known as an intellectual or "egghead". When he launched his campaign, he dismissed some traditional political advisers and replaced them with eggheads.

VOICE TWO:

Communism was the biggest issue in the campaign. Governor Stevenson said America needed to guard against it. Yet he repeatedly criticized the actions of Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. For years, the senator had been denouncing government officials and others as communists.

Eisenhower did not criticize McCarthy, even when the senator accused Eisenhower's good friend, General George Marshall, of being a traitor.

VOICE ONE:

The Republican campaign went smoothly until someone discovered that Richard Nixon had received money for extra campaign costs. Some newspapers said Nixon should withdraw. That led to his famous "Checkers" speech.

Nixon made the speech on national television. In it, he defended his decision to keep a special gift from a political supporter. That gift was a dog, named Checkers. He said he kept the dog because his two little girls loved it.

The speech was a success. Thousands of voters told the Republican Party that Nixon should remain as the vice presidential candidate.

VOICE TWO:

A few weeks before the election, Eisenhower made a powerful speech. He talked about ending the war in Korea.

DWIGHT EISENHOWER: "Now, where will a new administration begin. It will begin with its president taking a firm, simple resolution. That resolution will be to forego the diversions of politics and to concentrate on the job of ending the Korean War, until that job is honorably done. That job requires a personal trip to Korea. Only in that way could I learn how best to serve the American people in the cause of peace. I shall go to Korea. "

VOICE ONE:

Adlai Stevenson ended his campaign with a powerful speech, too. In it, he told of his vision of America.

VOICE THREE:

I see an America where no man fears to think as he pleases, or say what he thinks. I see an America where no man is another's master -- where no man's mind is dark with fear. I see an America at peace with the world. I see an America as the horizon of human hopes.

VOICE TWO:

The people voted in November. Eisenhower won almost thirty-four million votes. That was more votes than a presidential candidate had ever received. Stevenson won about twenty-seven million votes.

VOICE ONE:

Dwight Eisenhower was sworn in as America's thirty-fourth president in January, nineteen fifty-three. He was sixty-two years old. Many problems awaited him.

Republicans had only a small majority in Congress. Many Republican lawmakers were very conservative. They probably would not vote for the new president's programs. The cost of living in America was rising. Senator Joseph McCarthy was still hunting communists. And the war in Korea was not yet over.

President Eisenhower did not seem troubled by these problems. After all, he had been called on many times to help his country.

VOICE TWO:

Eisenhower came from a large family in Abilene, Kansas. His family did not have much money. He received a free university education when he went to the United States military academy at West Point, New York.

He remained in military service for many years. By the time the United States entered World War Two in nineteen forty-one, he had become a top officer. In nineteen forty-four, he led the allied invasion of Europe.

In nineteen-fifty, president Harry Truman named him supreme commander of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

VOICE ONE:

When Dwight Eisenhower ran for president, people shouted, "I like Ike!" Voters liked him because he always seemed calm, even in difficult situations. As the country's president, he would face a number of difficult situations. One of the first was the continuing war in Korea.

That will be our story next week.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson. Stan Busby read the words of Adlai Stevenson. This is Phil Murray.

VOICE ONE:

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

VOASE0208_Education Report

08 February 2007

Studying in the US: Four Kinds of Financial Aid
Assistantships, scholarships, fellowships and grants are explained in Part 23 of our Foreign Student Series.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

This week in our Foreign Student Series, we return to a subject we have discussed before: financial aid. This time we are going to talk about financial aid in the form of assistantships, grants, scholarships and fellowships.

An assistantship at a university is a job that is paid with money or free classes. These positions usually go to graduate students to assist a professor for about twenty hours a week. The assistants may teach, grade papers and tests, or do research in a laboratory.

A grant is a gift of money. Unlike a loan, a grant does not have to be repaid. Grants can come from public or private organizations. Schools often receive donations for this purpose. Some grants are for general purposes of paying for school, while others are offered in a subject area.

Scholarships and fellowships do not have to be repaid either. A scholarship is financial aid to undergraduates; a fellowship is for graduate students.

Scholarships and fellowships are generally for students with special abilities or interests. Some are based on financial need. Others may go to students who live in a certain area or meet other conditions.

Our example this week is the University of Missouri-Columbia, or Mizzou. That school has a number of financial aid programs for international students. One of them is the Global Heritage Scholarship. It pays up to about seven thousand five hundred dollars a year. But this scholarship goes only to foreign students whose mother or father graduated from Mizzou.

Another aid program is called the Global Tiger Scholarship. This one is supported by the Mizzou Alumni Association. International students can receive one thousand dollars. In return they agree to provide service to the association during the school year.

Still another program for international students at Mizzou is called the Curators Grant-in-Aid Program. This is for undergraduate or graduate students who get good grades and take part in university activities. The program is especially for those who have unexpected or unusual financial needs that can affect their progress at school.

Colleges and universities may provide all the details of their financial aid programs online. You can find a link to the Web site of the University of Missouri-Columbia at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find the earlier reports in our Foreign Student Series and download transcripts and audio files.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.

生日纪念！

今天是PoEnglish的生日，我非常开心！因为收到的最好的生日礼物是——发在VeryCD上的《美国之音特别英语2007年01月合辑 》发布帖被加精，这都是网友们支持的结果。
该贴地址是http://lib.verycd.com/2007/02/07/0000138789.html 提供Voice of America Special English - January Collection即美国之音特别英语2007年01月合辑的下载。
有网友写信支持鼓励表扬我做的工作，我很受鼓舞！PoEnglsih会继续做好VOA Special English的发布工作。
还有网友希望我能做VOA Standard English即VOA标准英语，这个我以前就考虑了，只是我比较笨，还没有弄明白VOA官网关于Standard English的一些细节，所以暂时这个栏目不会出来。不过，今后破英语PoEnglish会增加一些新的英语节目，主要偏重新闻，偏美式英语那也是一定的。
还有，我对 Friends 也很有兴趣，发掘 Friends 的台词背后的语言文化背景也是件很有趣的工作，当然也是相当有挑战性和辛苦的工作，有喜欢 Friends 的朋友并对此有研究的朋友可以给我来信提供些关于制作该栏目的想法和建议。当然我最近比较忙可能会无暇顾及，所以在恳请大家谅解的同时也敬请大家期待。
OK，下面就请潜水的都出来冒泡，祝我生日快乐吧！我的前半段人生也是很破败不堪的，所以给点祝福吧。。。

VOASE0207_Health Report

07 February 2007

For Some Patients, Brain Damage Cures Cigarette Addiction
Researchers find stroke victims who easily quit smoking after suffering injury to a part of the brain.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Chemical dependency can result from many things: alcohol, caffeine, illegal drugs like cocaine, legal drugs like pain killers. But one of the most difficult dependencies to break is also one of the most common: smoking. The body becomes addicted to the nicotine in tobacco. Now, researchers may have found an important link in the brain to smoking addiction.

Scientists at the University of Southern California and the University of Iowa studied thirty-two former smokers. All of the men and women had brain injuries as a result of strokes.

Half of them reported that they were able to give up cigarettes quickly and easily after they suffered the brain damage. Magnetic resonance imaging showed that twelve of those sixteen patients had suffered damage to a part of the brain called the insula.

The insula is found near the ear. Experts believe it somehow brings together emotional experience and sensory information with some activities like breathing. Experiments have suggested that the insula has a lot to do with the experience of pain and some basic emotions like fear, anger and happiness.

The patients in the study had all smoked at least five cigarettes a day for two years. One of the sixteen who reported that they quit smoking immediately and without effort had smoked as many as forty a day.

Antoine Bechara was one of the leaders of the study. He and co-author Hanna Damasio work at the Brain and Creativity Institute, a new center at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The other authors of the study were Nasir Naqvi and David Rudrauf of the University of Iowa.

Antoine Bechara says the insula is not the only area of the brain involved in cigarette addiction. He says many parts of the brain are connected with substance dependency. But he says damage to the insula does seem to destroy a necessary link in the smoking addiction.

The patients did not lose all dependencies -- they still had a normal desire for food, for example. This may suggest that the insula is more responsible for dependencies that come from a learned pleasure, like smoking. And the researchers say their discovery may point to a weak spot in smoking addiction.

They say it could lead to better ways to help people stop smoking -- but much more research is needed. The findings appeared in Science magazine.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. You can find transcripts of our reports and audio files at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOASE0206_Explorations

06 February 2007

New Interests Help Older Adults Keep Mentally Active and Learn About the World
Programs in many countries let people explore new places and learn new skills. Fifth and final part of a series on continuing education for older adults.

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

Art Workshops in Guatemala offers students a chance to learn about art while experiencing Guatemalan culture

And I'm Barbara Klein with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today in our series about continuing education for older adults we tell about organizations that provide different kinds of learning experiences throughout the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Liza Fourre was a professional photographer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She traveled to many countries taking pictures. She fell in love with the people and culture of Guatemala and began living there part of the year.

Art Workshops in Guatemala offers a chance to learn about art and experience the local culture

Eleven years ago she started a program called Art Workshops in Guatemala. She says she is happy she is able to give others a chance for a life-changing experience of living and learning in another culture.

Miz Fourre believes that when you experience a culture different from your own you expand your world artistically and in other ways. She says the goal of Art Workshops in Guatemala is to open peoples’ eyes to another way of living.

VOICE TWO:

The program offers workshops in weaving, photography, art and culture. Some of the teachers are local. For example, a native woman teaches backstrap weaving, a Mayan Indian tradition. Others are expert writers, artists or photographers who want to help people gain new skills while learning about Guatemala.

Most of the art workshops are held in Antigua, a small, beautiful city. The Spanish built the city in the highlands of Guatemala in the fifteen hundreds. Colonial style buildings are painted in soft colors of green, blue and pink.

The workshops usually are eight days long. The cost includes a room in a small central hotel and a big breakfast every day. The cost also includes transportation to other places in Guatemala including Lake Atitlan, which is surrounded by volcanoes.

VOICE ONE:

Liza Fourre organizes fifteen to twenty workshops each year. There are no more than ten people in each workshop. They get a chance to meet and interact with people who live in Guatemala.

Many people who take the workshops are older than sixty. Some are in their eighties and nineties. Miz Fourre says the older adults who take workshop classes are very independent. They do not like to travel with a large group. They want to experience a different culture, not just travel through a country. They are retired and have time to learn a new skill, or improve an old one.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

A woman in her early sixties was thinking about retiring from her job as a writer. She found out about Art Workshops in Guatemala. She had a new camera and wanted to learn more about photography. So she signed up for a workshop where she would spend days taking pictures of the light and color of Guatemala.

There were only a few people in the class. The members of the group worked separately in the early morning hours. They photographed the colorful buildings and the activities in the market and central plaza area. They met for breakfast with members of a larger workshop group. These people were learning about different kinds of weaving done by the native people of Guatemala.

VOICE ONE:

During the middle of the day, the photographers met to discuss methods and look at the pictures they had taken the day before. Later they took more pictures of the buildings in Antigua or the villages around Lake Atitlan. They also photographed the native people in their colorful traditional clothes.

Suggestions and advice from the teacher and other students helped the beginning photographer improve her work. The effects of the workshop have lasted. Now that she is retired, she is spending time producing photographs instead of words to express the way she sees the world. And she has returned to Guatemala to learn more about the people and their culture.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Many people who retire from their jobs immediately start to make plans to travel. They now have the time and energy to explore new places. Yet many older adults are looking for more than just visiting famous places in a country. They want to experience another culture and learn another language. So they sign up for a language immersion school to learn a language where it is spoken.

AmeriSpan is an organization that offers language learning in many different countries. It began in nineteen ninety-three offering a few Spanish classes through established language schools in Latin America. It now offers language classes through independent schools in about thirty-five countries, from Arabic in Morocco to Chinese in Shanghai. You can learn by yourself with a teacher or as part of a group. Most classes are four hours a day. Students usually stay for one to four weeks or longer.

VOICE ONE:

Beth Klemick is vice-president of AmeriSpan. Miz Klemick says older learners are important because they have the time and resources to spend on learning a language. Some of them are considering retiring in another country and want to try living there for a short time. AmeriSpan calls itself a bridge between cultures. It offers a chance for the language learner to stay with a family. During a homestay, students have to continually speak the language they are learning as they eat and spend time with the family. This means people learn the language much faster than if they were only hearing and speaking it in a classroom. It also means that they often become life-long friends with the family members.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Earthwatch Institute students work with scientists on research projects throughout the world

Earthwatch Institute students work with scientists on research projects around the world

Earthwatch offers people the chance to work with leading scientists in many different areas of the world on environmental projects. It is one of the largest non-profit supporters of research in the world. Its goal is to let people around the world help with research projects so they will support and help educate others about actions needed to protect the environment.

Earthwatch began in nineteen seventy-one. Since then it has supported almost one thousand five hundred projects in about one hundred twenty countries. More than eighty thousand people from hundreds of countries have paid for their own travel and shared in the costs of the research projects. Volunteers pay from a few hundred dollars to more than four thousand dollars to take part in projects that last from two days to twenty-one days.

VOICE ONE:

Philip Johannsen is editor of Earthwatch Institute. He says about twenty percent of Earthwatch volunteers are at least sixty years old. Mister Johannsen says the older volunteers are interested in all kinds of projects. For example, they take part in teams digging in archeology projects or observing and recording the activities of endangered animals. The research teams include people of all ages from sixteen to more than eighty years old.

Mister Johannsen says Earthwatch is expecting the number of volunteers to increase as the baby boomers born after World War Two retire. He says there are no limits on the number of people that are needed. Earthwatch Institute is always beginning new research projects as environmental issues develop around the world.

VOICE TWO:

In two thousand six, Earthwatch supported more than one hundred fifty research projects in about fifty countries. Volunteers paid more than four million dollars to support the projects.

Earthwatch volunteers can choose from many different kinds of research throughout the world. Many projects are in Africa. In Kenya, for example, volunteers map where water holes are and test the quality of the water supply used by people and animals. Or they talk to the native Samburu people to find out about their use of plants for medicine and then help identify and record the plants. Or they gather information about the movement and food supply of the black rhinoceros whose numbers have dropped from twenty thousand to five hundred in thirty years.

In Thailand, volunteers dive underwater to help record the condition of the coral reefs in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea. An archeology project in Thailand involves helping dig up the buried ruins of an ancient settlement.

VOICE ONE:

Earthwatch says about thirty percent of the volunteers return to work on another project. Some have taken part in more than fifty projects. Older adults say that taking part in an active research project is an exciting way to continue learning while doing something that makes a difference in the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Marilyn Christiano. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Doug Johnson. You can read scripts and download audio of our programs at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Listen again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

每月飘过必经之帖

1月合辑制作完毕，包括2007年1月 的全部内容，Words and Their Stories的内容也收录其中。
决定把合辑在电驴上发布，所以早在几天前就给VeryCD写了封“自吹自擂＋诚意恳切”的账号申请函。一连两天都没回应，我以为又像几年前不睬我（当时我写的申请理由是“偶要下载XXX”）。皇天不负有心人，VeryCD看了我改头换面后，终于发给我一封邮件账号审核通过，偶这才得以好好改造，重新做人。从今以后要做个好人阿～往后每月初，我会制作发布上月合辑，请大家支持。
源的地址（需复制到地址栏，需安装eMule）是：ed2k://|file|VOASE0701.iso|336232448|BFEE0D3803A4A18E921292D31CB8FB68|h=64Y7EB4AVJVXX7V32ID2Q47PLJZUPOMH|/
正期待VeryCD上的帖加精。。。
最近学习任务很忙，身边牛人的表现让我颇受打击，人比人吓死人，偶要刻苦了，所以Today in History可能不多更新了，虽然这是Blog上我最喜欢的一部分（读上一遍，歧意自现。老实说，翻得真破。。。）。
还有，你要是对这张帖的简写标签动什么歪脑筋的话，就拿脑袋往墙上拍拍吧。。。

VOASE0205_Science In the News

05 February 2007

New Blood Test Can Show Patient's Risk of Heart Attack or Stroke
Also: progress in fighting measles. The cell phone camera turns 10. And a new report rates the environmental and investment policies of North American colleges and universities.

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And, I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, we tell about a new test for patients with heart disease. We also tell about progress in fighting an infectious disease. And we tell about the environmental friendliness of North American colleges and universities.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

American researchers say they have developed a simple test that can tell if a person with heart disease is likely to suffer a heart attack. The researchers say the test measures levels of a protein in the blood. They say people with high levels of the protein are at high risk of heart attack, heart failure or stroke.

Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California in San Francisco led the team of researchers. They studied almost one thousand patients with heart disease for almost four years. During that time, more than two hundred fifty of the patients suffered a heart attack, heart failure or stroke. Some of them died.

VOICE TWO:

The researchers tested the heart disease patients for a protein called NT-proBNP. Patients with the highest levels were nearly eight times more likely than those with the lowest levels to have a heart attack, heart failure or stroke.

The researchers considered other ways to identify someone with an increased risk of heart disease. They found that patients with high levels of the protein were still more likely to have a health problem involving the heart.

VOICE ONE:

The researchers say the presence of high levels of the protein in the blood shows that the heart muscle is under pressure in some way. The study involved mostly men, so the researchers could not say for sure that the results are true for women.

They also say the patients with the highest levels of NT-proBNP were older and had other problems, like diabetes or high blood pressure. Such patients were more likely to be already taking medicine for their heart.

Other researchers say more studies are needed to confirm if knowing the protein levels of a heart patient should affect that person's treatment. They also would like to know if more aggressive treatment would be able to reduce the patient's chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Measles is one of the most infectious viruses known. It spreads through the air when people infected with the disease expel the virus through the nose or mouth. Children in wealthier countries are usually given a vaccine to protect against measles.

A campaign called the Measles Initiative was launched in two thousand one to vaccinate children in developing countries. The aim was a fifty percent reduction in deaths linked to measles by two thousand five.

VOICE ONE:

Last month, organizers of the Measles Initiative announced that the final numbers showed a sixty percent drop in deaths. There were eight hundred seventy-three thousand deaths in nineteen ninety-nine, the year used for comparison. Six years later that number had dropped to three hundred forty-five thousand.

The organizers say more than two million lives have been saved, mostly in Africa. Health officials report a seventy-five percent drop in deaths in Africa linked to measles.

VOICE TWO:

Measles itself is usually not a direct cause of death. Deaths are commonly the result of infections like pneumonia or severe diarrhea. Those who survive can suffer brain damage, blindness or other disabilities.

The first sign of infection is usually a high body temperature for as long as a week. Patients may develop a runny nose, cough, red and watery eyes and white spots inside the mouth. After several days, areas of skin may change color, first usually on the face and upper neck.

A case of measles can be just a mild and unpleasant part of childhood. But severe cases are more likely in children with poor diets or weakened defenses from diseases like AIDS. Children under the age of five and adults over the age of twenty are more likely to suffer severe cases. People who recover from measles can never get it again.

VOICE ONE:

The Measles Initiative includes the American Red Cross, the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.

The campaign has cost almost four hundred million dollars. Officials say about five hundred million more will be needed to meet a new goal by two thousand ten. The goal now is to reduce measles deaths worldwide to less than ten percent of the rate in the year two thousand.

The campaign will now center its efforts in Asian countries, especially India. Each year, about one hundred thousand Indian children die as a result of measles.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This year is the tenth anniversary of the invention of the cell phone camera. Some people say the device began a kind of revolution in everyday life.

It all started at a hospital in the United States. Philippe Kahn was there with his wife. She was preparing to give birth to their daughter Sophie. Mister Kahn wanted to take pictures of the baby and share them with family and friends around the world. He thought about placing electronic versions of the pictures on an Internet Web site.

Mister Kahn said he spent two days working on the project. When Sophie was born, he had connected a camera to his cellular telephone. The unusual device could also put the pictures on the Internet.

VOICE ONE:

At the time of his invention, Philippe Kahn was already a successful businessman. He started Borland International shortly after moving to the United States from France. Borland International became the third largest computer software company in the world. Mister Kahn had also started other businesses. So he formed a company to produce and sell camera phones. The first ones were sold in Japan in nineteen ninety-nine.

Today, camera phones are almost everywhere. The newspaper USA Today says four hundred sixty million of the devices were sold last year alone. Sales are expected to increase to more than one billion by two thousand ten.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

A new study has rated the environmental friendliness of top colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. A research group called the Sustainable Endowments Institute was responsible for the study. The group is part of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, a non-profit organization that helps aid agencies.

Last month, the group released a report called the College Sustainability Report Card. It used the definition of the word sustainability provided by Business Week magazine. That definition is "meeting humanity's needs without harming future generations." The report attempts to measure the steps taken by higher education toward this goal.

VOICE ONE:

The report rates one hundred public and private colleges and universities in North America on their environmental and investment policies. The colleges and universities included in the study are those with the largest amounts of money invested for future growth. The report says these one hundred schools hold more than two hundred fifty billion dollars in investments.

The study used information provided by ninety of the one hundred schools. Researchers looked for evidence of sustainable development in twenty-six different areas. They included improving energy use and officially working toward sustainability as a goal. Other areas were serving locally grown food and having buildings that cause little harm to the environment.

VOICE TWO:

The researchers also studied the investment policies of the one hundred colleges and universities. They considered who helps decide what kinds of companies the schools invest in and how school officials control information about those investments.

The researchers compared the answers, and rated the colleges and universities across seven groups. Each school then received a final rating. Just four schools received the report's top rating. The four are Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Stanford University and Williams College.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Learn more about science, and download transcripts and MP3 files of our programs, at voaspecialenglish.com. The Web site also has an Internet link to the full report by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. Listen again next week at this time for more news about science in SPECIAL ENGLISH on the Voice of America.

VOASE0205_Agriculture Report

05 February 2007

A Natural Way to Control a Costly Parasite in Chickens
Researchers use mushroom protein to fight coccidiosis.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The chicken industry loses billions of dollars worldwide because of a disease called coccidiosis. Coccidiosis is caused by parasites. The single-cell organisms infect and destroy cells in the intestines.

Infected chickens lose weight from the disease. Less body weight means economic losses for producers. The disease spreads from bird to bird through infectious droppings. Sometimes infected chickens die from the disease. The infection causes diarrhea, and infected animals may not want to eat. Other kinds of animals, including cows, also get coccidiosis.

But research by Hyun Lillehoj and her team could offer a new way to reduce losses from the disease. Hyun Lillehoj is an immunologist in the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. She works in the Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland. She led a team of scientists from research centers in South Korea.

She says many producers traditionally use drug treatments and live parasite vaccines against coccidiosis. But the coccidia parasite is increasingly resistant to drug treatment. Also, some of the drugs used to treat the disease are antibiotics. Many people are concerned about antibiotics in animals because of the increasing problem of drug resistance in humans.

The new method uses proteins from mushrooms. The proteins are called lectins. The lectins cause an animal's own defense system to release chemicals that fight the parasites. Mushroom lectin is injected into chicken embryos. The lectin is also added to drinking water for chickens.

The team used a lectin from a mushroom found mainly in the stumps of black locust trees. The researchers injected the lectin into eighteen-day-old embryos. When the chickens came out of their eggs, the scientists infected them with parasites to test the treatment. The team reported in Poultry Science magazine last year that the treatment protected the chickens against weight loss. It also reduced the number of live parasites in their waste.

Hyun Lillehoj and her team are seeking patent protection for the natural control method they developed. She tells us that she and her team are also looking for companies to work with to further develop it.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts and audio files are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0204_This Is America

04 February 2007

Living With a Disability in America -- and Earning a Living
There are job training and placement programs, and employers are required to make reasonable accommodations. Still, unemployment is common among the disabled. Second in a series.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Last month we began a series of reports on living with a disability in America. We started with education. Today, in Part Two, we look at employment.

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

To go to work, you need a way to get there. Around the nation's capital, many people take subway trains to their jobs.

Federal law says public transportation systems in the United States must be accessible. What does that mean? It means that trains, buses and planes must be designed for use by people with physical disabilities.

In Washington's Metrorail system, for example, lights go on and off as a signal to those who cannot hear a train arriving. Raised bumps on the ground serve as a warning to those who cannot see they are close to the edge of the platform.

And there are elevators in the station, so people in wheelchairs have a way to get from one level to another.

But in transit systems, like anyplace else, life is not always easy. Things like broken elevators, or no elevator at all, only create more barriers for the disabled.

(SOUND)

VOICE TWO:

Accessible public transportation is just one of the requirements of a nineteen ninety law called the Americans with Disabilities Act. This major law, known as the A.D.A., also affects the design of public buildings. And it affects employment.

Under the law, employers have to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.

The United States has three hundred million people. Estimates differ about the number of them living with disabilities. One commonly repeated estimate is that forty-nine million people are disabled.

VOICE ONE:

A physical or mental disability can be measured in terms of how much it affects a person's quality of life. Yet even people with severe disabilities can lead successful lives in many different kinds of jobs.

New York State Lt. Gov. David Paterson is sworn ino office, on Jan. 1, 2007.

In the November elections, New York and Maryland both had legally blind candidates for lieutenant governor, their second highest office.

David Paterson, a state senator in New York until now, was successful in his campaign. Kristen Cox was not. She became Maryland’s first secretary of disabilities when that cabinet-level position was created in two thousand four.

Marco Midon is an engineer with NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He has been blind since birth, but has always loved sounds. He now uses his understanding of radios in his work at the space agency.

Max Cleland was severely wounded as a soldier in the war in Vietnam. He lost both legs and his right arm. He later served as head of the government agency responsible for services to military veterans. In recent years he served a term as a United States senator from Georgia.

VOICE TWO:

Many people with disabilities have jobs. But as many as sixty percent do not. Many of them have to receive public assistance or depend on their families to support them.

Marian Vessels directs an office in Rockville, Maryland, that provides information to employers and to people with disabilities. She works hard to help these people get the assistance they need to find and keep a job. She points out that the Americans With Disabilities Act has its limits.

MARIAN VESSELS: "What it's designed to do is level the playing field, it's designed to guarantee basic civil rights for people so that it allows you to compete with everyone else for the job."

VOICE ONE:

Marian Vessels says that some employers still do not understand that people with disabilities can often do many different tasks. She talks to employers about changes or other measures that could make it possible for a person with a disability to do a job. She explains to employers that many accommodations do not cost a lot, but they give a person a chance to work.

Marian Vessels herself requires an accommodation. She needs enough room in her office to move around easily in her wheelchair.

In another job, she taught health classes to firefighters. Her employer let her teach the class at the back of a fire truck. The back of the truck was a perfect table for her while she sat in her wheelchair. Her employer did not have to buy anything or change anything. He just had to understand that she needed to use a different space to teach her classes.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

People with disabilities can go to court if they think an employer is denying them fair treatment.

A group of deaf employees at United Parcel Service wanted the right to take a truck driving test that the company would not let them take. A federal appeals court ruled in October that U.P.S. was violating the Americans With Disabilities Act. The court said the company could not refuse to let a group of people take the test just because they are deaf.

The ruling said U.P.S. must consider each candidate’s personal ability to drive a truck. U.P.S., however, says there could be safety problems with drivers who are deaf. The company is continuing to appeal the case.

VOICE ONE:

But to people with disabilities, even courts may seem unfair sometimes.

Several university professors recently did a study. They said it was the first study to compare protections under the A.D.A. law for people with either mental or physical disabilities.

The researchers found that thirty-seven percent of people with mental disabilities won their court cases. The same was true of forty-nine percent of people with physical disabilities. The researchers said people with mental disabilities believed they were treated less fairly by the courts than people with physical conditions.

VOICE TWO:

But most people do not want to have to go to court at all -- they just want a job.

There are many organizations in the United States that try to help people with disabilities find and keep jobs. A program called Emerging Leaders provides summer jobs to college students with disabilities. These students receive training to become leaders in many kinds of work.

The United States Chamber of Commerce has a program for employers to help people with mental disabilities. Employers are told that many of them are very hard workers who want to do a good job.

Since nineteen seventy-nine, Purdue University in the state of Indiana has had a program called Breaking New Ground. The goal is to help people who have been disabled by injuries to return to work in agricultural production. Even people with severe disabilities, it says, can return to work with training, assistive technology and family support.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

There are also special programs to help young people with disabilities to find jobs as scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

A chemist named John Gavin became deaf as an adult. He worked for several drug manufacturers. Later, Mister Gavin looked for ways to help people with disabilities get more chances to work in science. Too often, he said, there is a mistaken belief that people with disabilities are not intelligent even if their disability affects them only physically.

In the nineteen seventies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science had a special program just for women and minorities. The purpose was to encourage more of them to become scientists and engineers. Mister Gavin urged the association to include people with disabilities.

The association now has such a program for young people, called Entry Point. The association also keeps a list of public speakers who are available to discuss their experiences as scientists and engineers with disabilities.

VOICE TWO:

Horse trainer Dan Hendricks works from his office in his barn at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California

The federal government has programs to help Americans with disabilities find jobs. In October, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission announced a plan to urge the government to hire more people with severe disabilities.

People with disabilities will also be able to borrow money from the government to buy equipment that will help them work from home. This type of equipment is often called assistive technology.

VOICE ONE:

Sometimes a person with a disability may be successful with the aid of technology. But Marian Vessels, the employment specialist in Maryland, says there is no substitute for hard work.

MARIAN VESSELS: "And, there were times I'd go home and think, 'I can’t do this. I can't possibly do this.' And then I'd think no, I have to do this. How can I do it?"

VOICE TWO:

And believing you can do a job is not enough either, she says. You also have to make an employer believe it.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Karen Leggett and produced by Caty Weaver. Next month, in Part Three of our series on living with a disability in America, the subject will be assistive technology. Our first report, on education, can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. We hope you can join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0204_Development Report

04 February 2007

Entrepreneurs Who Measure Their Return in 'Social Value'
Social entrepreneurs organize and support programs that aim to improve communities.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The traditional definition of an entrepreneur is a person who organizes and accepts the risks of a new business. Entrepreneurs may have a new product or service to offer. Or they may have ideas for new ways to do business.

But an entrepreneurial spirit does not have to be limited to the business world. Lately we hear more and more about social entrepreneurs. What they do is similar; they might even act like business entrepreneurs. They might invest money in projects or get others to support them.

But social entrepreneurs say they are not guided by a desire for profits. Their most important goal, they say, is to create social value. They organize and support programs that aim to improve conditions in communities.

Social entrepreneurs say they look for solutions to needs without leaving them to government or industry to solve. And they say they try to spread the solution. In other words, to change the system, they try to get whole societies to change.

There are many historical examples of people who might be called social entrepreneurs. Susan B. Anthony, for example, fought for women's rights in the United States. Vinoba Bhave created the Land Gift Movement to help India's poor and landless.

Britain's Florence Nightingale, the mother of modern nursing, established a school for nurses and fought for better hospital conditions. And Mary Montessori of Italy improved teaching methods for early childhood education.

These are some of the examples given by Ashoka, a nonprofit group in the United States.

Over the past twenty years, there has been extraordinary growth in social entrepreneurship. Some students coming out of the best business schools now seriously consider it as a career. And one organization that has helped fuel this growth is Ashoka.

Bill Drayton started the group in nineteen eighty. Ashoka says it works on three levels. It supports individual social entrepreneurs, both financially and professionally. It also helps them connect with others around the world, so they can spread their ideas and build long-term support. And, thirdly, Ashoka says it helps build the financial systems needed to support the growth of social entrepreneurship.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. You can find a link to the Ashoka Web site at voaspecialenglish.com, along with transcripts and audio files of our reports. I’m Steve Ember.