VOASE0212_Science In the News

12 February 2007

From Asia to Europe to Africa, Trying to Stop the Spread of Deadly Bird Flu
First in a series of special reports about avian influenza and what people can do to protect themselves and their families.

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VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

A chicken trader holds up a bird to be sold at a market in Lagos, Nigeria

And I’m Faith Lapidus. Today we begin a series of reports about the disease bird flu. The series will examine how quickly the disease has spread. It will also tell what is being done to stop the spread and how people can protect themselves and their families from bird flu.

从今天开始，我们将带来一个有关禽流感的系列报道。这个系列将会探讨禽流感是如何快速传播，我们如何阻止这种传播以及人类该如何保护自己和他们的家人免受这种疾病的困扰。

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The disease bird flu has killed people in at least ten countries since two thousand three. The United Nations World Health Organization confirmed one hundred sixty-five human deaths by the end of January.

禽流感自2003年以来已经在超过10个国家至人死亡。联合国世界卫生组织证实截至2007年1月，有1065人因被传染禽流感死亡。

Earlier this month, health officials in Britain reported that more than two thousand turkeys had died of bird flu. The officials immediately ordered people to keep at least three kilometers away from the turkey farm. Workers destroyed more than one hundred thousand healthy birds as a safety measure. There is no evidence that any people became sick with the disease.

本月早些时候，英国卫生官员说有超过2000只火鸡死于禽流感。他们立即要求民众远离事发的火鸡农场，到3公里以外的的地方去。农场工人捕杀了超过100000只健康火鸡，以防万一。暂未发现有人患病。

VOICE TWO:

The new head of the World Health Organization says it will be years until farm birds are safe from bird flu. W.H.O. Director-General Margaret Chan says that, until then, the world must work very hard to keep the disease from infecting many people.

新任世界卫生组织总干事陈冯富珍说，禽鸟不再受禽流感的威胁还需要若干年时间，全世界必须积极共同努力，才能使禽流感不再影响人类。

Wild and farm birds often get a flu virus. Yet they usually are able to carry the virus without getting sick. In nineteen ninety-seven, six people in Hong Kong died of a different kind of bird flu virus. It is called the h-five-n-one virus. The Hong Kong government quickly ordered the killing of all farm birds there. That stopped the spread of h-five-n-one to people in Hong Kong.

野生禽类和家禽经常携带流感病毒。但他们常常能够抵抗病毒而不发病。1997年，6个香港人死于一种特殊的禽流感病毒，就是所说的H5N1型禽流感病毒。香港政府很快下令捕杀所有农场内的禽鸟。这样才阻止了H5N1型禽流感病毒在香港的广泛传播。

Yet the virus had already spread to other parts of Asia. It was found in sixteen countries between two thousand three and two thousand six.

但这种病毒也很快传到了亚洲的其他地方。有16个国家在2003至2006年发现了此种病毒。

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VOICE ONE:

The h-five-n-one virus first appeared in Africa last year. This raised many concerns about the spread of the disease. Scientists do not know exactly how bird flu came to Africa. At first, they thought wild birds were to blame. Now, officials with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization believe the main cause is trade in farm birds.

H5N1型禽流感病毒于2006年首次出现在非洲。这引起了有关此种病毒传播的广泛关注。科学家不知道禽流感到底是如何带到非洲的。起初，他们认为野生禽类是罪魁祸首。联合国粮食及农业组织的官员相信主要原因在于家禽贸易。

The bird flu virus is found in the waste and liquids of infected birds. The virus spreads when healthy birds or people touch sick birds or any infected part of sick birds. Right now, the virus is not spreading from person to person. But the virus could change and start spreading among people. Health officials believe that is even more possible now that bird flu has spread to Africa. That is why international organizations are working so hard to stop its spread.

禽流感病毒存在于受感染禽类的排泄物和体液中。当健康的禽类或人碰到患病的禽类或任何被感染的部分，病毒就开始传播。现在，病毒不会在人和人之间传播。但很可能发生变异，在人和人之间传播。卫生官员相信禽流感很有可能已经传到了非洲。这也就是为什么国际组织竭尽全力阻止其传播的原因。

VOICE TWO:

Nigeria is the first African country where bird flu was reported. Scientists have learned that the virus came into the country on chickens imported from China. Now bird flu has been found in farm birds in seven other African countries. They are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Niger and Sudan. By the end of January, twelve people had died of the disease in Africa.

尼日利亚是第一个报道有禽流感的非洲国家。科学家了解到病毒是从中国进口的活鸡中带来的。现在禽流感已经在其他7个非洲国家的家禽中发现。他们是布基纳法索国，喀麦隆，吉布提，埃及，象牙海岸，尼日尔和苏丹。到2007年1月，非洲有12人死于禽流感。

Health officials believe bird flu could be an even bigger problem in Africa than it has been in Asia. In Africa, many people are already suffering from serious diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. There is not enough money to fight these diseases. There is even less money to fight a disease like bird flu, which has yet to kill many people. People are more likely to get a disease like bird flu if they are sick or weak from hunger. Both of these conditions are problems in many African countries.

VOICE ONE:

Stopping the spread of bird flu is most successful when action is taken quickly. But the signs of bird flu are like many other diseases. So there could be many cases of bird flu, in birds or in people, before health care workers learn about it and are able to take action.

Africa does not have enough laboratories that can confirm an H-five-N-one bird flu infection. There are also not enough hospitals to take care of patients who have bird flu. And, there are not enough animal health care systems to control the disease among farm birds.

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VOICE TWO:

Bird flu causes both health and financial problems. In Asia and Africa, most of the cases have been found on small farms or among families who keep chickens. These birds often come into people's homes and share spaces where children play. The chickens often mix freely with wild birds.

The best way to stop the spread of bird flu is to kill all the chickens in an area where bird flu has been discovered. More than four hundred fifty thousand chickens have been killed in Nigeria since bird flu was first found one year ago.

VOICE ONE:

In many countries, small farms provide food and even money for the education of children. The city of Jos, Nigeria, supports two thousand farmers who sell eggs all over the country. A man named Pius Ilonah lost seven thousand chickens when bird flu infection was discovered in a farm near his. "We do not have any savings or earn money now," says Mister Ilonah.

Two of his children are in high school. Two others are university students. But Mister Ilonah says there is no more money to keep them in school. Nigeria is attempting to organize a program to replace chickens as soon as the disease has stopped spreading.

VOICE TWO:

The story is similar in Niger. Nana Aicha raises chickens to sell in Nigeria. She buys grain with the money she earns to feed her children. One day, traders from Nigeria brought bird flu virus to the border on their clothes or vehicles. People and chickens returned to Niger after the day of trading. They already had been infected with the disease.

Miz Aicha says she lost everything because the chickens and ducks died or government workers killed them. "Today," she says, "I will feed my five children and myself with millet, rice, some milk, salt and peppers."

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VOICE ONE:

Indonesia has the most human deaths from the h-five-n-one virus. Eighty-one people had been infected with bird flu by the end of January. More than sixty of them died. That is more than in any other country. A twenty-six year old woman from West Java was the most recent victim. Indonesian officials said she had been involved in killing sick chickens.

Countries in Africa are using many ways to inform people about bird flu and stop its spread. Nigeria continues to give children medicine to protect against the disease polio. When health care workers visit homes, they are also talking about bird flu. Benin plans to spend more than five million dollars to pay chicken farmers if their chickens are killed because of bird flu.

Angola, Congo, Kenya and other countries have banned the import of live birds and eggs from areas infected with bird flu. In Ivory Coast, the government has a program to clean vehicles and airplanes that travel through infected areas. Mali has programs to study the large numbers of wild birds that fly along the Niger and Senegal Rivers. In Togo, groups are investigating deaths of farm birds that cannot be easily explained.

VOICE TWO:

By the end of January, eleven people had died of bird flu in Egypt. Infected birds have been found in twenty-three of the country's twenty-six governates. A fifteen-year old girl and two members of her family died in December two thousand six. They all lived in the same house where birds were being raised. All three people who died had been cleaning and killing infected ducks.

Most of the people who died in Egypt were raising birds in their homes, not on large farms. Almost thirty-percent of the population there raises birds near their homes. Farm birds bring in thirteen-percent of their earnings. Up to thirty million farm birds all over Egypt have been killed. That represents a loss of one billion dollars to the chicken industry.

The Egyptian government is training health care workers and others to help stop the spread of bird flu. The government operates centers for people to call with questions about bird flu. More than one hundred thirty thousand calls were received in the first week after the disease was first reported in Egypt.

VOICE ONE:

Local governments and international organizations are working hard to answer questions about bird flu and stop its spread. We will hear more about these efforts next month in the second part of this series.

((THEME))

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Karen Leggett. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

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

中文翻译由Tony Lee提供 PoEnglish感谢致敬！

VOASE0212_Agriculture Report

12 February 2007

Raising Goats for Their Hair
Into the world of cashmere and mohair.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Goats are raised not just for their milk and meat, and their ability to control weeds and help renew grasslands. They can also be valuable for their hair.

Cashmere comes from cashmere goats and angora fiber comes from Angora -- rabbits. Mohair comes from Angora goats.

Angora goats in Maine

Mohair is used in sweaters, scarves, coats and other clothing, along with floor rugs and carpets and things like doll hair.

An adult Angora can produce as much as seven kilograms of hair each year. As the goats grow older, however, their hair becomes thicker and less valuable. Hair from white or solid-colored goats is the most popular, but the appeal of mixed-color mohair has grown in recent years.

The United States is one of the main producers of mohair, and exports most of its production.

Angora goats are also popular show animals. They are considered friendly and require little special care. The animals need milk from their mothers for three or four months. They reach full maturity when they are a little more than two years old. But even then they are smaller than most sheep and milk goats.

Cashmere goats are usually larger than Angoras. The Breezy Meadow Cashmere Farm in Bellingham, Washington, says cashmere goats are big enough to be kept with sheep and cattle.

The outer hair of the animal is called guard hair. Behind it is the valuable material on a cashmere goat. Cashmere is valued for its softness and warmth without much weight.

Some farmers comb their cashmere goats to remove the hair. But if the animals do get a haircut, it often takes place at the time when they naturally lose their winter coat -- between December and March.

Angora goats generally get their hair cut two times a year, in the spring and fall. The job can be done with simple cutting tools or by hiring a professional shearer. Angoras may need special protection from the cold for about a month after shearing.

The value of an animal's coat depends on the age, size and condition. But whatever kind of goat you choose, be sure to have a good fence. Goats love to explore.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts and audio files of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. If you have a question about agriculture, send it to special@voanews.com. We cannot answer mail personally, but we might be able to answer your question in a future report. So please be sure to include your name and country. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0211_This Is America

11 February 2007

Young, Strong-Willed, a Revolutionary. Meet George Washington
Washington's home at Mount Vernon, Virginia, and his image get a new look in an effort to increase their appeal, especially to young people.

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VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. George Washington won the Revolutionary War and was the first president of the United States. But can the man known as the father of his country still command attention?

VOICE ONE:

George Washington's home at Mount Vernon

This week on our program, we take you to a place where a lot of money has just been invested to make sure the answer is yes. That place is George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens in Virginia.

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VOICE TWO:

George Washington lived in a number of homes as a boy and young man. But he spent most of his life at Mount Vernon, twenty-four kilometers to the south of the city of Washington.

He helped choose where to build the new capital city and the White House. Yet George Washington is the only president who never lived in the White House -- it was completed after he left office. When he was president, New York City and, after that, Philadelphia served as the nation's capital.

VOICE ONE:

1850 portrait by Rembrandt Peale

George Washington was born two hundred seventy-five years ago. His birthday is celebrated every year at his home and burial place at Mount Vernon.

The public is invited onto the grounds free of charge next Monday for ceremonies including military performances. The honor is fitting for a man who loved music and was the commander of the Continental Army.

Washington's birthday became a federal holiday in eighteen eighty-five, long after his death. Today the holiday is observed on the third Monday in February and is commonly called Presidents Day.

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VOICE TWO:

Entering Mount Vernon is like stepping back into the eighteenth century. It still looks much like when George Washington lived there with his wife, Martha.

Sheep still chew grass near the Potomac River. The animals are the same kind that grazed on the property when the Washingtons lived there. Farming also continues at Mount Vernon.

But Mount Vernon has recently gained many up-to-date things to see and do. About one hundred ten million dollars in changes have been made over the past several years.

The new look was in reaction to concerns among the operators and supporters of Mount Vernon. They wondered especially if a visit there met the needs of today's young people.

So the group that operates Mount Vernon used private donations to add two buildings and many new exhibits and films. The new buildings are the Ford Orientation Center and the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center. They were built mostly below ground. They opened last October.

VOICE ONE:

Many Americans have an image of George Washington as a very serious older man. Artworks generally present him that way. But the additions to Mount Vernon present a younger and livelier George Washington.

A million visitors a year come through Mount Vernon, often with school groups. Wayne Howland has worked as a volunteer providing information to the public at Mount Vernon for many years. He says it will be interesting to see if the new additions make George Washington more meaningful to visiting students.

VOICE TWO:

Visitors to the orientation Center are welcomed by a statue of George and Martha Washington, holding hands with two grandchildren. The entrance area is light and airy in the winter sunshine. Colorful glass windows present important times in Washington's life.

Films are shown in two theaters. In one movie, television personality Pat Sajak talks about what to see and do at Mount Vernon. He also introduces a film called "We Fight to Be Free."

VOICE ONE:

It presents George Washington as a young and strong-willed revolutionary. He commands the army of the American colonies. He unites men, some of them half-starved and shoeless, to fight for freedom from British rule.

We also see him meeting his future wife, Martha Custis. Her first husband had died, leaving her with two children.

VOICE TWO:

After the film, we walk over cobblestone paths to the main house at Mount Vernon. Guides describe what daily life was like in the long, white home on a hill overlooking the Potomac River.

As we look out from the back of the house, the Potomac shines blue in the winter sun. No boats are out on the icy river. The home seems to rest on the hill in perfect stillness.

VOICE ONE:

The main house is three floors high. George Washington was responsible for much of the design. His office contains many of his books. This is where Washington planned the activities of the farms on his land.

George Washington owned African slaves, as did many other people. But even at that time, there was great debate about slavery. Washington ordered that his slaves be freed after he and his wife died. In his will, he left instructions for the care and education of some of his former slaves, and support and training for the children.

At the time of his death, Washington had more than three hundred slaves. They provided much of the labor at Mount Vernon. Most were field workers, sixty percent of them women. The workday lasted from sunup to sundown, six days a week.

Mount Vernon has a gallery that deals with the slavery issue and a monument that honors the slaves.

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VOICE TWO:

George and Martha Washington often invited friends for meals in the dining room at Mount Vernon. The Washingtons also provided sleeping rooms and food for travelers. Very few hotels existed then. So George and Martha Washington offered a place to stay for more than six hundred visitors a year.

VOICE ONE:

After visiting the main house, we stop at the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center. Here we meet a life-size George Washington made of wax. He is riding his horse, Blueskin.

A movie in the Reynolds Center tells us about his major battles. Our seats shake as cannons fire and smoke rises. White particles fall from above. "Snow!" calls out a child in the audience.

VOICE TWO:

The museum shows about five hundred objects from the Mount Vernon estate, the Revolutionary War and Washington's presidency. Through exhibits and films, we learn about George Washington as a soldier and statesman, but also as a young boy, a land surveyor and a woodsman.

Visitors crowd around a glass container. It holds Washington's false teeth. They were made of hippopotamus ivory and human teeth. When he became president, he had only one of his own teeth left in his mouth.

VOICE ONE:

Another popular exhibit is called "hands-on history." Bitsy Unkle works at Mount Vernon. She explains the children's clothing and toys in this room. She points to dolls made of cloth, and describes how children learning to read shaped the dolls into letters.

(SOUND)

BITSY UNKLE: "This is how children took these -- it's like a little rag doll. They have to form the alphabet, and that's how children learned their letters in the eighteenth century."

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VOICE TWO:

After his victory in the Revolutionary War, some people wanted George Washington to be president for life. Or even king. But Washington said Americans had fought for freedom from such rulers.

He was elected president two times and served from seventeen eighty-nine to seventeen ninety-seven. He was offered a third term, but he refused. He wanted to return to the life he had led at Mount Vernon before the war.

VOICE ONE:

Yet George Washington did not get to enjoy a long retirement at Mount Vernon. He died there in seventeen ninety-nine. Modern doctors believe he died of a severe infection. He was sixty-seven years old.

He and his wife are buried at Mount Vernon. After Martha Washington died, Mount Vernon was given to other family members. By the eighteen fifties, the person who owned it did not have enough money to keep it in good condition. He offered to sell Mount Vernon to Virginia or to the federal government. Both said no.

So the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association collected money. The group bought the property and has operated George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens to this day.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Barbara Klein. You can find our program, along with a link to the Mount Vernon Web site, at voaspecialenglish.com. And we hope you can join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0211_Development Report

11 February 2007

Filter for Arsenic-Polluted Water in Bangladesh Pays Off for Chemist
Abul Hussam, a professor in Virginia, wins $1 million Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability for his Sono treatment system.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Every day, millions of people around the world drink water from wells that are polluted with high levels of arsenic. Arsenic is an element that can be released into groundwater by soil and rocks. Over a long period of time, water from poisoned wells may lead to deadly cancers.

Chemist Abul Hussam has developed a home treatment system for drinking water in his native Bangladesh. Almost all arsenic is removed as water passes through two containers. They hold river sand, pieces of iron and wood charcoal.

Sono filter system is manufactured in his hometown of Kushtia, where he also did much of his research. He tells us that his first task was to develop instruments to measure the exact amounts of arsenic in the water.

Early tests on two wells at the home where he lived as a child found arsenic levels three to four times higher than normal. As a chemist, he felt that if he could not solve what he calls the "home problem," then his education would not be very useful.

His ten-year effort to find the right mix of active materials for the Sono filter system has just earned him a one million dollar prize. Abul Hussam is the top winner of the two thousand seven Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability. The prize is administered by the National Academy of Engineering in the United States.

Abul Hussam is a chemistry professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He says he will give five percent of the money to the university. And he plans to use twenty-five percent of the award to develop smaller filters. Currently the system weighs almost sixty kilograms.

But Professor Hussam says he will use the remaining money to increase production of the filters in Kushtia. One hundred workers currently produce about two hundred filters a week.

About thirty thousand homes in Bangladesh are using the system. It costs families thirty-five dollars. But Professor Hussam says the filters are extremely cost effective compared to the price of bottled water.

He says each system is guaranteed to clean about one million liters of drinking water over five years. In theory, though, he says they should last around thirty-five years.

He is now seeking international patent rights for the active materials in the system -- and he hopes to increase their power. Abul Hussam says he also hopes that someday the Sono arsenic removal system will be available around the world.

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

VOASE0210_People In America

10 February 2007

Rachel Carson, 1907-1964: Her Books Helped Launch the Environmental Protection Movement in the U.S.
Her book, "Silent Spring," led the U.S. to ban DDT.

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ANNOUNCER: People America, a program in Special English on the Voice of America. Today, Steve Ember and Rich Kleinfeldt tell about scientist Rachel Carson. Her work started the environmental protection movement in the United States.

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VOICE ONE:

Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson was born on May twenty-seventh, nineteen-oh-seven in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Rachel’s father, Robert Carson, was a salesman who invested in local land. He purchased twenty-six hectares of land to make a home for his family. The area was surrounded by fields, trees and streams. The Carson family enjoyed living in the beautiful, country environment.

Rachel’s mother, Maria Carson, had been a schoolteacher. She loved books. She also loved nature. Rachel was the youngest of three children. Her sister and brother were already in school when she was born. So Missus Carson was able to spend a lot of time with Rachel. She showed Rachel the beauty of nature. She also taught Rachel a deep love for books. Missus Carson became the most important influence on Rachel’s life.

VOICE TWO:

Rachel was a quiet child. She liked to read and to write poems and stories. She was very intelligent. At a very early age she decided she wanted to be a writer someday. Her first published story appeared in a children’s magazine when she was ten years old.

Rachel went to the Pennsylvania College for Women. She studied English because she wanted to become a professional writer. Yet, she felt she did not have the imagination to write creative stories. She changed her area of study from English to science after she took a biology course that she liked. Her professors advised her not to study science. They said there was no future for a woman in science.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen twenty-nine, Rachel graduated from college with high honors. She won a financial award to study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. In nineteen thirty-two, she earned a master’s degree in zoology, the scientific study of animals. She taught zoology at the University of Maryland for a few years. During the summers, she studied the ocean and its life forms at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts. That is when she became interested in the mysteries of the sea.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Rachel’s life changed greatly in the middle nineteen thirties. Her father died suddenly in nineteen thirty-five. He left very little financial support for Rachel’s mother. It was during the economic decline in the United States called the Great Depression. Rachel now had to support her mother and herself. She needed more money than her teaching job could provide. She began part-time work for a federal government agency, the Bureau of Fisheries in Washington, D.C.

One year later, Rachel’s sister died. Her sister was the mother of two young girls. Rachel and her mother cared for the girls. Rachel now had to support her mother, two nieces and herself. Again, she needed a job with better pay.

VOICE ONE:

A full time job for a biologist opened at the United States Bureau of Fisheries. Rachel Carson was the only woman to try for the position. She had the highest score of all the people competing for the job.

Miz Carson got the position in August, nineteen thirty-six. She was chosen to work in the office of the chief of the biology division.

Her first job was to write a series of programs called “Romance Under the Waters.” The series was broadcast on radio for a year. She continued to write and edit publications for the Bureau of Fisheries for many years. The bureau was happy to have a scientist who was also an excellent writer. Rachel Carson provided information to the public in interesting and understandable ways.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen forty, the United States Bureau of Fisheries and the Biological Survey joined to become the Fish and Wildlife Service. Miz Carson continued as one of the few women employed there as a scientist. The other women worked as office assistants.

While she was working for the government, Miz Carson wrote at night and on weekends. In nineteen thirty-seven she wrote a report about sea life. It was called Undersea. It appeared in the magazine, Atlantic Monthly. An editor at a publishing house encouraged her to write a book about the sea for the general public. So she did. Her first book, "Under the Sea Wind," was published in nineteen forty-one.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen forty-eight, Miz Carson began working on another book, "The Sea Around Us." It became her first best-selling book.

Rachel Carson always researched carefully when she wrote. She gathered information from more than one thousand places to write "The Sea Around Us." She also wrote letters to experts all over the world.

"The Sea Around Us" was published in nineteen fifty-one. It was number one on the best-seller list for more than a year. It won the National Book Award. "The Sea Around Us" made Rachel Carson famous. The money the book earned eased her financial responsibilities for the first time in years.

In nineteen fifty-two, Miz Carson was able to leave her job at the Fish and Wildlife Service and spend her time writing. Miz Carson moved to a home on the coast of Maine. There she studied the ecology of the sea. Her next book, "The Edge of the Sea," was published in nineteen fifty-five. It told of the connection of all living creatures in areas where land and ocean meet.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Rachel Carson’s most famous book, "Silent Spring" was published in nineteen sixty-two. The idea for the book developed from a suggestion from a friend. Rachel’s friend owned a protected area for birds. An airplane had flown over the area where the birds were kept and spread a powerful chemical called DDT. It was part of a project to control mosquitoes. Many songbirds and harmless insects were killed by the DDT.

Miz Carson and other scientists were very concerned about the harmful effects of DDT and other insect-killing chemicals called pesticides. After World War Two, these poisonous chemicals were widely used to control insects. Pesticides were sprayed almost everywhere including agricultural fields and communities. DDT and other pesticides had become popular with the public and the government because they were so effective. Manufacturing these chemicals had become a huge industry.

VOICE ONE:

Rachel Carson tried to get many magazines interested in publishing a report about the subject. However, none would agree to publish anything about such a disputed subject. They said no one wanted to hear that industrial companies could cause great ecological damage.

Miz Carson believed the public needed to know about this important issue. She decided to write a book about it. She collected facts from experts from all over the world. She gathered studies that showed the harmful effects of DDT, including declining bird populations and increased human cancers.

In her book "Silent Spring," Miz Carson questioned the right of industrial companies to pollute without considering the effects on the environment. Miz Carson argued that this kind of pollution would result in ever-decreasing populations of birds and other wildlife. She said this would lead to the loss of the wonderful sounds of nature. The chemical poisoning of the environment, she said, would cause a silent spring.

VOICE TWO:

The chemical industry felt threatened. Industry spokesmen and other critics said the book was non-scientific and emotional. They misunderstood the message of the book. Miz Carson did not suggest that all pesticides be banned. She urged that control of these substances be given to biologists who could make informed decisions about the risks involved.

Support for the book increased. By the end of nineteen sixty-two, there were more than forty bills in state legislatures proposing to control pesticides. Finally, in November, nineteen sixty-nine, the United States government ruled that the use of DDT must stop in two years.

Rachel Carson did not live to see how her book influenced the government’s decision to ban DDT. She died of breast cancer in nineteen sixty-four. She was fifty-six years old.

VOICE ONE:

Two memorials honor Rachel Carson. One is the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Maine. The other is the Rachel Carson Homestead in Springdale, Pennsylvania, the home she lived in when she was a child. Education programs are offered there that teach children and adults about her environmental values.

Rachel Carson’s voice is alive in her writings that express the wonder and beauty of the natural world. And her worldwide influence continues through the activities of the environmental protection movement she started.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER: This Special English program was written by Lawan Davis. It was produced by Paul Thompson. Your announcers were Steve Ember and Rich Kleinfeldt. I’m Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another People in America program on the Voice of America.

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.