<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
<channel>
<title>VOA Special English</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/</link>
<description>VOA Special English</description>
<language>en</language>
<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:10:01 +0900</pubDate>
<item>
<title>[1924] American History Series: Debating the Powerful Bank of the US</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-19-voa2.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English.The question of continuing the Bank of the United States became a
serious political issue in the national election of eighteen
thirty-two. The head of the bank, Nicholas Biddle, had become very
powerful. Biddle refused to recognize that the government had the right
to interfere in any way with the bank's business. The bank was
privately operated but could make loans with taxpayers' money.Andrew JacksonPresident Andrew Jackson understood the power of the Bank of the United States. He opposed giving the bank a new charter.Jackson said the Bank of the United States was dangerous to the liberty
of Americans. The bank, he said, could build up or pull down political
parties through loans to politicians. The bank, he said, would always
support those who supported the bank. He proposed to form a new
national bank, as part of the Treasury Department.This week in our series, Stewart Spencer and Maurice Joyce continue the story of the Bank of the United States.

VOICE ONE:In the election year of eighteen thirty-two, the bank still had four
years left to continue. Its charter would not end until eighteen
thirty-six. Jackson had been urging Congress to act early, so that the
bank could -- if its charter were rejected -- close its business slowly
over several years. This would prevent serious economic problems for
the country.Many of Jackson's advisers believed he should say nothing about the
bank until after the election. They feared he might lose the votes of
some supporters of the bank. Biddle felt that this might be the best
time to get a charter.Henry ClayHenry Clay, the presidential candidate of the National Republicans,
helped Biddle to make this decision. Senator Clay, however, was not
thinking of the bank when he gave his advice. Clay needed an issue to
campaign on. Most of the people of the country approved of Jackson's
programs. Clay could not get votes by opposing successful programs.
But, he was sure that the issue of the bank could get him some votes. 

VOICE TWO:The campaign for a new charter was led by the most powerful men in each
house of Congress. In the Senate, the bank's supporters included
Senator Clay and Daniel Webster. Former President John Quincy Adams --
now a congressman -- led the bank's struggle in the house.The chief opponent to the bank was Senator Thomas Hart Benton of
Missouri. "I object to the renewal of the charter," he told the Senate,
"because the bank is too great and powerful to be permitted in a
government of free and equal laws. I also object because the bank makes
the rich richer, and the poor poorer." 

VOICE ONE: In the House, Representative Augustin Clayton of Georgia proposed an
investigation of the bank. In a speech written by Senator Benton,
Clayton charged that the bank had violated its charter a number of
times.The bank's supporters were afraid to vote down the proposed
investigation. It would be almost the same thing as saying that the
charges were true. The investigation was approved. And a special
committee was given six weeks to study the charges against the bank. 
Four members of the seven-man committee were opponents of the bank.
Three, including John Quincy Adams, were friendly. As expected,
opponents of the bank found the charges to be true. And the bank's
supporters found them all to be false. The majority report told of easy loans made to congressmen and
newspapermen. It said a New York newspaper that had opposed the bank
began supporting it after receiving a secret fifteen-thousand-dollar
loan. 

(MUSIC)

Roger TaneyVOICE TWO: The investigation did not really change the votes of any of the congressmen. Many votes had been bought by the bank. Attorney General Roger Taney told of one example of this. Taney opposed
the bank. And he rode to work one morning with a congressman who also
opposed it. The congressman asked Taney for help on a speech he planned
to make against the bank.Taney was surprised later to find that this same congressman had voted
to give the bank its new charter. The congressman told Taney that the
bank had made him a loan of twenty-thousand dollars. 

VOICE ONE: The Senate finally voted on the bank's new charter. The vote was
twenty-eight for and twenty against. The House voted three weeks later.
It approved the charter, one hundred seven to eighty-five.  The bill was sent to the White House. President Jackson called a
cabinet meeting. Two cabinet members, McLane and Livingston, agreed
that the bill should be vetoed. But they urged Jackson to reject the
bank charter in such a way that a compromise might be worked out later.Attorney General Taney, however, believed that the veto should be in
the strongest possible language. He opposed any compromise that would
continue the bank beyond eighteen thirty-six. Jackson agreed with
Taney. He asked the attorney general and two White House advisers to
help him write the veto message. They worked on the message for three
days. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO: On July tenth, the veto was announced. And the message explaining it
was sent to Congress. Jackson said he did not believe the bank's
charter was constitutional. He said it was true that the Supreme Court
had ruled that Congress had the right to charter a national bank. But
he said he did not agree with the high court. And Jackson said the president -- in taking his oath of office --
swears to support the Constitution as he understands it, not as it is
understood by others. He said the president and the Congress had the
same duty as the court to decide if a bill was constitutional. Jackson also spoke of the way the bank moved money from West to East.
He said the bank was owned by a small group of rich men, mostly in the
East. Some of the owners, he said, were foreigners. Much of the bank's
business was done in the West. The money paid by westerners for loans
went into the pockets of the eastern bankers. Jackson said this was
wrong. Then the president spoke of his firm belief in the rights of the
common man. 

VOICE ONE:"It is to be regretted," he said, "that the rich and powerful bend the
acts of the government to their own purposes. Differences among men
will always exist under every just government.
"Equality of ability, or education, or of wealth cannot be produced by
human institutions. Every man has the equal right of protection under
the laws. But when these laws are used to make the rich richer, and the
powerful more powerful, then the more humble members of our society
have a right to complain of injustice." Jackson said he could not understand how the present owners of the bank
could have any claim of special treatment from the government. He said
the government should shower its favors -- as heaven does its rain --
on the high and low alike, on the rich and the poor equally. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:Henry Clay had made the bank bill the chief issue of the eighteen
thirty-two presidential election campaign. Andrew Jackson chose the
words of his veto message for the same purpose -- to win votes in the
coming election. His veto of the bank bill cost him the votes of men of
money. But it brought him the votes of the common man: the farmer, the
laborer, and industrial worker. After his first two years as president, Andrew Jackson was not sure he
wished to serve a second term. Jackson was not sure his health would
permit him to complete a full eight years in the White House. But he
wished to be a candidate again in eighteen thirty-two to give the
people a chance to show they approved of his programs. Jackson decided that he would campaign again for president. But if he
won, he would resign after the first or second year, and leave the job
to his vice president. (MUSIC) ANNOUNCER:Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Stewart
Spencer and Maurice Joyce.  Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our
programs are online, along with historical images, at
voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A
NATION - an American history series in VOA Special English.
___
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 

<!--
 /* Font Definitions */
 @font-face
	{font-family:"Cambria Math";
	panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
	mso-font-charset:0;
	mso-generic-font-family:roman;
	mso-font-pitch:variable;
	mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;}
@font-face
	{font-family:Verdana;
	panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;
	mso-font-charset:0;
	mso-generic-font-family:swiss;
	mso-font-pitch:variable;
	mso-font-signature:536871559 0 0 0 415 0;}
 /* Style Definitions */
 p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
	{mso-style-unhide:no;
	mso-style-qformat:yes;
	mso-style-parent:"";
	margin:0in;
	margin-bottom:.0001pt;
	mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
	font-size:10.0pt;
	font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
	mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoHeader, li.MsoHeader, div.MsoHeader
	{mso-style-noshow:yes;
	mso-style-unhide:no;
	mso-style-link:"Header Char";
	margin:0in;
	margin-bottom:.0001pt;
	mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
	tab-stops:center 3.0in right 6.0in;
	font-size:10.0pt;
	font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
	mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoBodyText2, li.MsoBodyText2, div.MsoBodyText2
	{mso-style-priority:99;
	mso-style-link:"Body Text 2 Char";
	margin-top:0in;
	margin-right:0in;
	margin-bottom:6.0pt;
	margin-left:0in;
	line-height:200%;
	mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
	font-size:10.0pt;
	font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
	mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
	{mso-style-noshow:yes;
	mso-style-unhide:no;
	color:blue;
	text-decoration:underline;
	text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
	{mso-style-noshow:yes;
	mso-style-priority:99;
	color:purple;
	mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink;
	text-decoration:underline;
	text-underline:single;}
span.HeaderChar
	{mso-style-name:"Header Char";
	mso-style-noshow:yes;
	mso-style-unhide:no;
	mso-style-locked:yes;
	mso-style-link:Header;}
span.BodyText2Char
	{mso-style-name:"Body Text 2 Char";
	mso-style-priority:99;
	mso-style-unhide:no;
	mso-style-locked:yes;
	mso-style-link:"Body Text 2";}
.MsoChpDefault
	{mso-style-type:export-only;
	mso-default-props:yes;
	font-size:10.0pt;
	mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
	mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;}
@page Section1
	{size:8.5in 11.0in;
	margin:1.0in .8in 1.0in .8in;
	mso-header-margin:.5in;
	mso-footer-margin:.5in;
	mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
	{page:Section1;}
-->

 /* Style Definitions */
 table.MsoNormalTable
	{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
	mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
	mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
	mso-style-noshow:yes;
	mso-style-priority:99;
	mso-style-qformat:yes;
	mso-style-parent:"";
	mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
	mso-para-margin:0in;
	mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
	mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
	font-size:11.0pt;
	font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
	mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
	mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
	mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
	mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
	mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
	mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
	mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
	mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

This is program #60 of THE
MAKING OF A NATION


		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/Audio/mp3/se-nation-jackson part5_20nov08.mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[1440] Visiting Seven of America’s Natural Wonders</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-18-voa1.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

 And
I'm Barbara Klein with Explorations in VOA Special English. We received a special request in a letter
from a listener in Nagano, Japan. Atsumi
Shimoda asked for a report about what the Special English writers thought were
the seven natural wonders of the United States. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 So
now we will visit these natural wonders.
Some are huge. Some are powerful. And some are even a little
frightening! But, we will keep a safe
distance. The first stop is a natural
wonder that the United States shares with Canada. 

(SOUND)

Niagara FallsThat thundering crash is the tens of thousands of cubic
feet of water that flow each second over Niagara Falls which includes the
American Falls and Horseshoe Falls. The
American Falls in New York State extends more than three hundred twenty meters
across part of the Niagara River. The American Falls is more than fifty meters
high. 

Canada owns the larger Horseshoe Falls. It is about eight hundred meters wide and
almost fifty meters high. It is shaped
like the letter U, or a horse's shoe.

VOICE TWO:

 Niagara
Falls formed about twelve thousand years ago when huge melting sheets of ice
formed the Great Lakes. The land was
uneven with several drops in level, some very sharp. Water from Lake Erie began
to flow north to Lake Ontario as a result of the loss of the ice barrier.

 In
modern times, several people have gone over Niagara Falls, most of them on
purpose. Most also survived. But, we think the beauty and power of Niagara
Falls is best experienced from near the water, not in it.

 Now
we travel southeast to the state of Florida.
We will visit the area once called "the liquid heart" of that state --
the Everglades.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 Hundreds
of birds fly in a sunny blue sky. The
only sounds are bird calls and the soft noise made by tall grasses as the water
slowly moves them. Hidden in the
grasses, dark green alligators move at the edge of the water, like part of the
Earth come alive.

 The EvergladesThis
is the Everglades -- a low, watery, partly coastal area that covers ten
thousand square kilometers. The area is
filled with sawgrass. This plant grows
in sharp, thin pieces that are three to ten meters tall. The Everglades is sometimes called "river of
grass."

 The
area also contains forests of palm, cypress, mangrove and pine. And beautiful plants and sweet-smelling
flowers grow in the Everglades. These
include several kinds of the highly prized and rare flower, the orchid.  Animal species are
plentiful. Many colorful birds and
butterflies live here. So do snakes,
foxes, frogs and even big cats, called Florida panthers. But the Everglades
alligators and crocodiles are probably the animals most identified with the
Everglades. No other place in the world is home to both.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

 Now
we travel to the north central part of the country. We are in the state of South Dakota. The land is big and mostly flat with many
fields of corn, wheat and soybeans. But
as we travel west, the cropland gives way to wild grasses. A strong dry wind blows continuously from the
west. 

 Suddenly,
the land becomes torn and rocky, dry and dusty -- no longer green and
gold. It is now a light red-brown
color. All around are broken disordered
forms. There are hills and valleys of
all sizes and strange shapes. 

VOICE ONE:

The Badlands also extend into North DakotaThese
are the Badlands. Hundreds of thousands of years ago the area was
grassland. But, then, forces of nature
destroyed the grass. Water and ice cut
into the surface of the Earth. They beat at the rocks, wearing them away. The result is one of the world's strangest
sights. 

All together, the Badlands cover more than fifteen
thousand square kilometers. About ten
percent is national parkland. The area
is a study in extremes. Temperatures in
the summer have been as high as forty-six degrees Celsius. In the winter they have dropped to as low as
forty-one degrees below zero. Life in the Badlands is difficult. But animals do survive. The most well known
is the prairie dog. This small mammal
lives in a series of underground passages.  

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Grand CanyonAs we continue west we also take a sharp dive south. We
want to see the huge hole in the Earth, called the Grand Canyon in the state of
Arizona. The first sight is
breathtaking. The Grand Canyon stretches
for hundreds of kilometers before us and hundreds of meters below us. It is about twenty-four kilometers across at
its widest point. Its deepest point is
almost two thousand meters down. 

 The
Grand Canyon is a series of deep long cuts in rock. There are many passages and large raised
areas. There are forests on the top
level and desert areas down below. They
provide support for several different ecosystems. The Colorado River flows through the Grand
Canyon.  The
Canyon offers a lot of information about the physical history of Earth. There is a huge amount of fossil evidence.
And its walls provide a record of three of the four major periods of the
Earth's geologic time.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 Now, we are at the
hottest, driest and lowest place in North America. Death Valley is part of the
Mojave Desert. It lies mostly in the western state of California although part
of it reaches into Nevada. 

Death ValleyAn
area called Badwater sits about eighty-six meters below sea level. There is not really any water there. The area gets fewer than five centimeters of
rain a year. 

 During
the summer the temperature in Death Valley can reach fifty-seven degrees
Celsius. But, it can be dangerously cold
in the winter there, too. And storms in
the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the valley floor.

In other words, Death Valley is an unforgiving
place. The heat has killed people in the
past. And it will continue to kill those
who are not careful in dealing with the area's extreme climate.  

 Death
Valley holds much evidence of nature's past violence. For example, there is Ubehebe Crater. This hole is about one kilometer across and
more than two hundred thirty meters deep.
It is the remains of a major volcanic explosion about two thousand years
ago. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Now it is time to cool off in the far northern state of
Alaska. We could probably just call all of Alaska a natural wonder. But of special interest are its
glaciers. These huge, slow-moving masses
of ice cover about seventy-five thousand square kilometers.

  About one hundred thousand of
these rivers of ice flow down mountains.
Some start from thousands of meters up a mountain. They can flow to areas just a few hundred
meters above sea level. The largest
Alaskan glacier is called Malaspina. It
is more than two thousand two hundred square kilometers.

VOICE ONE:

 Most
glaciers move very slowly. But sometimes
one will suddenly speed ahead for a year or two. These are called
surge-glaciers. The most recent surges
were in two thousand. The Tokositna glacier
and Yanert Glaciers now have deep, narrow cuts on their formerly smooth
surfaces. Yanert Glacier dropped
ninety-one meters as a result of the surge.
It is always very cold on the glaciers.
Next we go to a hot spot.
Sometimes very hot.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

 Steam rising from Mount KilaueaWelcome to
Mount Kilauea, the world's most active volcano.
It is on the island of Hawaii.
Kilauea is not far from Mauna Loa, the largest volcano in the world.

 Kilauea
has been releasing burning hot liquid rock called lava continuously since
nineteen eighty-three. The lava flows
down the mountain to the Pacific Ocean.
Its fierce heat produces a big cloud of steam when it hits the cold
water. Kilauean lava continues to add
land to the island. Sometimes visitors
are able to walk out near the edge of this new black volcanic rock. 

VOICE ONE:

These seven natural American wonders, from waterfalls
to volcanoes, are not the only ones in the United States. What about the Great
Salt Lake, the Old Faithful Geyser, the Mammoth Cave and the giant redwood
forests? We will have to report about
them and other natural wonders another time. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

 This
program was written and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

 And
I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week
for another EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. 


		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/audio/Mp3/se-exp-seven-wonders-18nov08_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[423] Foreign Student Series: The Application Process</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-19-voa1.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

 This
week in our Foreign Student Series, we talk about applying to an American
college or university. International admissions officers advise students to
apply to at least three schools. You may be able to apply online and pay the
application charge with a credit card, or by mail.

  You should study the Web sites of
schools that interest you. You can find information about how and when to
apply, how much it will cost and whether any financial aid is available. And
you can probably e-mail the admissions office with any questions. 

  Reid Campus Center at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WashingtonAt
Whitman College, the admissions Web site has an area where people can send
questions to current international students. Whitman is a small private college
in Walla Walla, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. It has about one thousand
five hundred students. Fifty-two of them this year are international students
from more than thirty countries.By
comparison, almost four thousand international students from more than one
hundred countries are at Ohio State University. Ohio State is in the Midwest,
in the city of Columbus, Ohio, and is one of the largest universities in the United
States. It has more than fifty-two thousand students.

 Wherever you apply, you should start the
application process at least two years before you want to begin your studies.
Completing the applications and any required admissions tests will take time.
Non-native English speakers will most likely have to take the TOEFL, the Test
of English as a Foreign Language. We will be discussing the TOEFL and other
tests in the coming weeks.

  So far in our series, we talked
about choosing schools. We suggested getting help at the nearest Educational
Advising Center. The State Department has advising centers around the world.We
also talked about online education programs and subjects like accreditation and
diploma mills. And we talked about student visas and the job of SEVIS. SEVIS is
the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System operated by the Immigration
and Customs Enforcement agency. 

  Next
week will be part twelve of our Foreign Student Series. If you missed any, our
series is online with transcripts, MP3s and helpful links at
voaspecialenglish.com. You can also send
us e-mail through the site. Or write to special@voanews.com, and be sure to
include your name and tell us where you are.And
that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.


		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/audio/Mp3/se-ed-applications-19nov08_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[459] Health: Keeping Ears Clean</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-18-voa2.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

 Some
people's ears produce wax like busy little bees. This can be a problem even
though earwax appears to serve an important purpose. 

 Experts
say it protects and cleans the ear. It traps dirt and other matter and keeps
insects out. Doctors think it might also help protect against infections. And
the waxy oil keeps ears from getting too dry.

 So
earwax is good. It even has a medical name: cerumen. And there
are two kinds. Most people of European or African ancestry have the
"wet" kind: thick and sticky. East Asians commonly have
"dry" earwax. 

 But
you can have too much of a good thing. 

 The
glands in the ear canal that produce the wax make too much in some people.
Earwax is normally expelled; it falls out of the ear or gets washed away. But
extra wax can harden and form a blockage that interferes with sound waves and
reduces hearing. 

 People
can also cause a blockage when they try to clean out their ears -- but only
push the wax deeper inside. Earwax removal is sometimes necessary. But you have
to use a safe method or you could do a lot of damage.

  Experts at N.I.H., the National
Institutes of Health, suggest some ways to treat excessive earwax yourself.
They say the wax can be softened with mineral oil, glycerin or ear drops. They say hydrogen
peroxide or carbamide peroxide may also help.

 Another
way to remove wax is known as irrigation. With the head upright, take hold of
the outer part of the ear. Gently pull upward to straighten the ear canal. Use
a syringe device to gently direct water against the wall of the ear canal. Then
turn the head to the side to let the water out.

The experts at N.I.H.
say you may have to repeat this process a few times. Use water that is body
temperature. If the water is cooler or warmer, it could make you feel dizzy.
Never try irrigation if the eardrum is broken. It could lead to infection and
other problems. 

After the earwax is gone,
gently dry the ear. But if irrigation fails, the best thing to do is to go to a
health care provider for professional assistance. 

 You should never put a
cotton swab or other object into the ear canal. But you can use a swab or cloth
to clean the outer part of the ear. The experts agree with the old saying that
you should never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear.

  And that's the VOA Special English
Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. For more health news, go to voaspecialenglish.com.
I'm Steve Ember.


		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/audio/Mp3/SE-HEA-Earwax-1118_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[1404] How Sigmund Freud Changed What People Thought About the Mind</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-17-voa1.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
 VOICE ONE:This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special
English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

 And
I'm Bob Doughty. The work and theories
of Sigmund Freud continue to influence many areas of modern culture. 

VOICE ONE:

Today, we explore Freud's influence on the treatment of
mental disorders through psychotherapy.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

 Sigmund FreudSigmund
Freud was born May sixth, eighteen fifty-six, in Moravia, in what is now the
Czech Republic. He lived most of his
life in Vienna, Austria. Early in his adulthood,
Freud studied medicine. By the end of
the nineteenth century, he was developing some exciting new ideas about the
human mind. But his first scientific
publications dealt with sea animals, including the sexuality of eels.

VOICE ONE:

 Freud
was one of the first scientists to make serious research of the mind. The mind is the collection of activities
based in the brain that involve how we act, think, feel and reason.

 

 He
used long talks with patients and the study of dreams to search for the causes
of mental and emotional problems. He
also tried hypnosis. He wanted to see if
putting patients into a sleep-like condition would help ease troubled
minds. In most cases he found the
effects only temporary.

Freud worked hard,
although what he did might sound easy.
His method involved sitting with his patients and listening to them
talk. He had them talk about whatever
they were thinking. All ideas, thoughts
and anything that entered their mind had to be expressed. There could be no holding back because of
fear or guilt.

VOICE TWO:

 Freud
believed that all the painful memories of childhood lay buried in the
unconscious self. He said this part of
the mind contains wishes, desires and experiences too frightening to recognize.

 He
thought that if these memories could somehow be brought into the conscious
mind, the patient would again feel the pain.
But this time, the person would experience the memories as an adult. The patient would feel them, be able to
examine them and, if successful, finally understand them.

  Using this method, Freud reasoned, the
pain and emotional pressure of the past would be greatly weakened. They would lose their power over the person's
physical health. Soon the patient would
get better.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Sigmund Freud proposed that the mind was divided into
three parts: the id, the ego and the superego.
Under this theory, the superego acts as a restraint. It is governed by the values we learn from
our parents and society. The job of the
superego is to help keep the id under control.

 The
id is completely unconscious. It
provides the energy for feelings that demand the immediate satisfaction of
needs and desires.

 The
ego provides the immediate reaction to the events of reality. The ego is the first line of defense between
the self and the outside world. It tries
to balance the two extremes of the id and the superego.

VOICE TWO:

 Many
of Freud's theories about how the mind works also had strong sexual
connections. These ideas included what
he saw as the repressed feelings of sons toward their mothers and daughters
toward their fathers.

 If
nothing else, Freud's ideas were revolutionary. Some people rejected them. Others came to accept them. But no one disputes his great influence on
the science of mental health.

 Professor
James Gray at American University in Washington, D.C. says three of Freud's
major ideas are still part of modern thinking about the mind.

 One
is the idea of the unconscious mind.
Another is that we do not necessarily know what drives us to do the
things we do. And the third is that we
are formed more than we think in the first five years, but not necessarily the
way Freud thought.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 Doctor
Freud was trained as a neurologist. He
treated disorders of the nervous system.
But physical sickness can hide deeper problems. His studies on the causes and treatment of
mental disorders helped form many ideas in psychiatry. Psychiatry is the area of medicine that
treats mental and emotional conditions.

Freud would come to be called the father of
psychoanalysis.

VOICE TWO:

Psychoanalysis is a method of therapy. It includes discussion and investigation of
hidden fears and conflicts.

 Sigmund
Freud used free association. He would
try to get his patients to free their minds and say whatever they were
thinking. He also had them talk about
their dreams to try to explore their unconscious fears and desires.

His version of psychoanalysis remained the one most
widely used until at least the nineteen fifties.

VOICE ONE:

 Psychoanalysis
is rarely used in the United States anymore.
One reason is that it takes a long time; the average length of treatment
is about five years. Patients usually
have to pay for the treatment themselves.
Health insurance plans rarely pay for this form of therapy.

 Psychoanalysis
has its supporters as well as its critics.
Success rates are difficult to measure.
Psychoanalysts say this is because each individual case is different.

VOICE TWO:

 More
recently, a number of shortened versions of psychological therapy have been
developed. Some examples are behavior
therapy, cognitive therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Behavior is actions; cognition is knowing and
judging.

 Some
patients in therapy want to learn to find satisfaction in what they do. Others want to unlearn behaviors that only add
to their problems. 

In these therapies, patients might talk with a
therapist about the past. Or patients
might be advised to think less about the past and more about the present and
the future.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 Other
kinds of therapy involve movement, dance, art, music or play. These are used to help patients who have
trouble talking about their emotions.

In many cases, therapy today costs less than it used
to. But the length of treatment depends
on the problem. Some therapies, for
example, call for twenty or thirty visits with a therapist.

How long people continue their therapy can also depend
on the cost. People find that health
insurance plans are often more willing to pay for short-term therapies than for
longer-term treatments.

VOICE TWO:

Mental health experts say therapy can often help
patients suffering from depression, severe stress or other conditions.

 For
some patients, they say, a combination of talk therapy and medication works
best. There are many different drugs for
depression, anxiety and other mental and emotional disorders.

 Critics,
however, say doctors are sometimes too quick to give medicine instead of more
time for talk therapy. Again, cost
pressures are often blamed.

Mental health problems can affect work, school,
marriage, and life in general. Yet they
often go untreated. In many cases,
people do not want others to know they have a problem.

VOICE ONE:

 Mental
disorders are common in all countries.
The World Health Organization says hundreds of millions of people
throughout the world are affected by mental, behavioral, neurological or
substance use disorders. 

The W.H.O. says these disorders have major economic and
social costs. Yet governments face
difficult choices about health care spending.
The W.H.O. says most poor countries spend less than one percent of their
health budgets on mental health.

 There
are treatments for most conditions.
Still, the W.H.O. says there are two major barriers. One is lack of recognition of the seriousness
of the problem. The other is lack of
understanding of the services that exist.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

 The
father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, left Vienna soon after troops from
Nazi Germany entered Austria in nineteen thirty-eight. The Nazis had a plan to kill all the Jews of
Europe, but they permitted Freud to go to England. His four sisters remained in Vienna and were
all killed in Nazi concentration camps.

Freud was eighty-three years old when he died of cancer
in London on September twenty-third, nineteen thirty-nine. Anna Freud, the youngest of his six children,
became a noted psychoanalyst herself.

Before Sigmund Freud, no modern scientist had looked so
deeply into the human mind.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 SCIENCE
IN THE NEWS was written and produced by Brianna Blake. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

 And
I'm Bob Doughty. You can download
transcripts and audio archives of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Listen again next week for more news about
science, in Special English, on the Voice of America.


		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/audio/Mp3/SIN-2444-FreudandPsychotherapy-8-7-07_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[398] Growing Crops With Less Water</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-17-voa5.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. 

 Scientists
are working to develop crop plants that can reduce the amount of water used for
agriculture. Almost sixty percent of the world's freshwater withdrawals from
rivers, lakes and other water resources go toward irrigating fields. 

  Scientists are using biotechnology as
well as traditional breeding methods to develop water-saving crops to feed a
growing world. 

Thomas CarterThomas
"Tommy" Carter is a plant scientist in North Carolina. He works for
the Agricultural Research Service in the United States Department of
Agriculture. He leads Team Drought, a group of researchers at five universities.
They have been using conventional breeding methods to develop soybeans that can
grow well under dry conditions. 

 Tommy
Carter started working on drought-resistant soybeans in nineteen eighty-one. His
research has taken him as far as China, where soybeans have been grown for
thousands of years. 

Farmers in the United States, however, have grown
soybeans for only about a century. Tommy Carter says the soybeans they grow are
for the most part genetically similar. More differences, or diversification, could
better protect crops against climate changes that can reduce production. Those
changes include water shortages which could increase from global warming. 

  The Agriculture Department has a soybean
germplasm collection, a collection of
genetic material passed from one generation to the next. Members of Team
Drought studied more than two thousand five hundred examples from the
collection. 

 They
looked at ones from the ancestral home of soybeans, Asia. They searched for
germplasms that could keep plants from weakening and wilting during hot, dry
summers in the United States.

Tommy Carter
says they found only five. But these slow-wilting lines, he says, produce four
to eight bushels more than normal soybeans under drought conditions. The yield
depends on location and environment. 

 The
team is now doing field tests. The first breeding line is expected to be
released next year for use by private seed companies and public soybean
breeders. 

 Scientists
are also working on other plants that either use less water or use it better,
or both. For example, companies like Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta are developing
corn with reduced water needs. Monsanto expects to be ready in four years to
market its first corn seeds genetically engineered to resist drought. 

 And
that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Doug Johnson.  


		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/audio/Mp3/AG Water Saving Crops 111708_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[912] The Making of One of Jazz's Most Influential Recordings</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-17-voa7.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.  I'm
Shirley Griffith.  If one album had to explain jazz, a strong candidate
would be "Kind of Blue" by the trumpet player and bandleader Miles
Davis. This week on our program, Steve Ember and Gwen Outen tell the
story of "Kind of Blue." (MUSIC)VOICE ONE:"Kind
of Blue" has influenced musicians for more than forty years.  It is
also a favorite of listeners.  The Recording Industry Association of
America marked the sale of three million copies in the United States as
of two thousand two.(MUSIC)Like many other albums,
"Kind of Blue" was made in two recording sessions.  These took place
for Columbia Records in New York City in March and April of nineteen
fifty-nine.VOICE TWO:Stories about the making of "Kind
of Blue" say there was nothing unusual about the project.  When the
musicians arrived, Miles Davis gave them some short, simple
descriptions of the music they would play.  He is said to have written
these notes just a few hours earlier.  His piano player, Bill Evans,
helped him write some of the music that would get the musicians
started. Miles Davis did not want to tell them too much about
what to play.  He wanted the music to flow naturally.  Such
improvisation was nothing new for musicians.  Yet the five songs on
"Kind of Blue" represented a perfect mix of improvisational talent and
musical experimentation. The first song is called "So What." (MUSIC)VOICE ONE:Miles
Davis played trumpet and led the group.  Julian "Cannonball" Adderley
played alto saxophone; John Coltrane played tenor saxophone.  Paul
Chambers was on the bass, and James Cobb played drums. (MUSIC)Miles
Davis had a talent for bringing together great musicians.  But it also
meant that he had to form new bands again and again.  Band members
would become successful enough as individuals to form their own
groups.  The band that Miles Davis put together for "Kind of Blue" was
no different.(MUSIC)VOICE TWO:This song is called "Freddie Freeloader."   On this song, Wynton Kelly plays the piano; he replaced Bill Evans. Listen
to how the band works as a team, but also how the musicians play
individually over the music.  Listen especially to the competing
saxophones of John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley. (MUSIC)VOICE ONE:Miles
Davis and his band were experimenting with a new kind of sound on "Kind
of Blue."   This is the sound of a traditional jazz chord progression:(MUSIC)But
Miles Davis designed the music on "Kind of Blue" around a modal form. 
This kind of system permitted the musicians more freedom.  After "Kind
of Blue," jazz musicians used the modal form more and more. Here is another song from "Kind of Blue."  This one is called "Blue in Green."(MUSIC)VOICE TWO:Miles
Davis and his band were not the only artists testing new ways to do
things.  There was, for example, the painter Jackson Pollack.  His
experiments in form and color were playful but went against tradition,
just like "Kind of Blue."Pianist Bill Evans himself saw
similarities between the music and a form of Japanese art.  Some
compared the album to the ideas of Zen Buddhism.  At that time, a lot
of Americans were becoming interested in Asian spirituality. This song is called "All Blues."  Listen how naturally the music appears to develop from one point in the song to the next. (MUSIC)VOICE ONE:Miles
Davis was born into a wealthy family in Illinois in nineteen
twenty-six.  He received a trumpet for his thirteenth birthday and
began jazz lessons. In nineteen forty-four, he moved to New
York.  He entered the Julliard School of Music.  But he left the school
the next year to work with great musicians like Billy Eckstine and
Charlie Parker. In nineteen forty-nine Miles Davis released
"Birth of the Cool."  This recording also had a big influence on jazz. 
At that time, listeners were used to the often forceful, fast-moving
beats of Louis Armstrong and others. Cool jazz became especially popular on the West Coast. VOICE TWO:In
the nineteen fifties and sixties, the civil rights movement grew in the
Untied States.  Here was a tall, talented, good looking -- and very
strong-willed --   African American man.  He wore Italian suits and
drove European cars.   There were many women in his life, although he
was violent with women.Still, many people saw Miles Davis as
someone who stood up to a system that often kept African Americans from
economic success.  VOICE ONE:Miles Davis died in
nineteen ninety-one in California, at the age of sixty-five.  He is
remembered most as one of the best trumpet players ever.  Miles Davis
played more softly than many of those who came before him.  He also did
not work as hard to hit as many high notes or low notes.  He found his
unmistakable sound somewhere in the middle.  There was also his sense
of timing and the use of silence in his music.               Miles
Davis had a talent especially for sad love songs.  This one is called
"Flamenco Sketches," the final song on "Kind of Blue."ANNOUNCER:Our program was written by Robert Brumfield and read by Steve Ember and
Gwen Outen.  Internet users can download MP3 files and transcripts of
our shows at voaspecialenglish.com.  I'm Shirley Griffith, hoping you
can join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/Audio/mp3/se-tia-miles-davis-17nov08.mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[434] 'Rent-a-Light' Seen as a Bright Idea in Kenya</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-17-voa3.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
This is the VOA Special English Development Report.Charles Rioba is an engineer and inventor in Kenya. He and his company, Solar World Limited, have developed a product called the PowerPack. The PowerPack is a small solar-lighting system. The device is portable, so it can be taken anywhere. It provides light with one or two L.E.D. bulbs. An L.E.D. is a light emitting diode. But the PowerPack can also power a small transistor radio for as long as six hours. And it can be used to recharge a mobile phone. How often the PowerPack itself needs to be recharged depends on usage. Solar World says the device is best for a small family, up to three people. People who want to use a PowerPack can buy one. Or they can rent one fully charged, and also pay to have it recharged. Or they also charge it themselves with a small solar panel. It collects energy from the sun into a solar battery.The World Bank Group considers the Rent-a-Light plan a bright idea. In May, Charles Rioba was one of sixteen winners of a Development Marketplace competition. They each won a grant of up to two hundred thousand dollars. The winners were announced at a conference in Ghana as part of a program called Lighting Africa. Lighting Africa aims to provide modern lighting to more than two hundred fifty million people by two thousand thirty. They live "off-grid," unconnected to a national electric-power system, except in some cases illegally. In Kenya, more than eighty percent of people depend mainly on fossil fuels for their lighting needs. Fossil fuels are oil, natural gas and coal. Burning fossil fuels, however, can cause health problems from indoor air pollution.The Rent-a-Light project includes about one hundred local agents to supply the PowerPacks and ten centers to service them. The company hopes to reach about eight thousand homes within eighteen months.Vijaya Ramachandran is an expert at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C. She notes that a lack of electricity and a lack of good roads are major barriers to a better life in Africa. In most of the African countries that she has studied, power supplies are cut off for several hours during each day.And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Go to voaspecialenglish.com to find transcripts and MP3 archives of our reports. We will also post a link to a list of all sixteen winners of the Lighting Africa competition. I'm Chris Cruise.
		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/audio/Mp3/se-dev-powerpack-18nov08_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[1561] Marlon Brando, 1924-2004: One of the Greatest Actors of All Time</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-14-voa3.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
VOICE ONE:

I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

 And,
I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today, we tell about actor Marlon Brando.
Many critics say he was the greatest actor of all time. And many actors say he influenced them more
than any other person in the film industry. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Marlon BrandoThere was no public service to honor Marlon Brando when
he died in two thousand four at the age of eighty. The actor's sister, Jocelyn
Brando, said he would have hated such an event.
The family held a small private ceremony instead. 

 Brando
did not seek public attention when he was alive. He protected his private life. But he was a huge star. This, combined with his personal tragedies
and his politics, made him a special target of the press.

VOICE TWO:

 Marlon
Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska in nineteen twenty-four. He was named after his father, a salesman,
but his family called him Bud. His
mother, Dorothy, was an actress in the local theater. He had two older sisters.

 Marlon
Brando's childhood was not happy. His
parents drank too much alcohol and argued often. Dorothy Brando blamed her husband for the
failure of her acting career. The older
Marlon Brando did not have a good relationship with his son. In a book about his life, the actor wrote
that his father never had anything good to say about his son.

VOICE ONE:

 The
Brandos moved many times when Marlon was young.
His parents separated when he was eleven, but they re-united after two
years. Young Marlon was always getting into trouble at school. His father
decided to send him to a military school in Minnesota. Marlon did not do well
in classes there. But he did find
support for his interest in theater. A
drama teacher urged him to begin acting in plays there and he did. But he was
expelled from the school for getting into trouble. 

VOICE TWO:

 Marlon
Brando moved to New York City when he was nineteen years old in nineteen
forty-three. He took acting classes at
the New School for Social Research. One
of his teachers was Stella Adler, who taught the "Method" style of realistic
acting. The Method teaches actors how to use their own memories and emotions to
identify with the characters they are playing.

Marlon Brando learned the Method style quickly and
easily. Critics say he was probably the greatest Method actor ever. One famous actress commented on his natural
ability for it. She said teaching Marlon
Brando the Method was like sending a tiger to jungle school. 

Marlon Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire"Marlon Brando appeared in several plays. He got his first major part in a Broadway
play in nineteen forty-seven, at the age of twenty-three. He received great praise for his powerful
performance as Stanley Kowalski in the Tennessee Williams play, "A Streetcar
Named Desire." 

 His
fame grew when he acted the same part in the movie version, released in
nineteen fifty-one. Brando plays an
angry working-class man. His wife's
sister, Blanche, comes to visit them in New Orleans, Louisiana. Blanche's family used to be rich landowners
but they lost all their property. Now
she is mentally unstable. Stanley treats
Blanche unkindly and insults her. Here,
he tells Blanche what he thinks about women.

STANLEY: "I don't go
in for that stuff."

BLANCHE: "What
stuff?"

STANLEY: "Compliments to women about their looks. I never met a dame yet didn't know if she was
good-lookin' or not without bein' told.
And there's some of them that give themselves credit for more than
they've got. I once went out with a dame
who told me, 'I'm the glamorous
type'…she says 'I am the glamorous type.'
I says 'so what?'"

BLANCHE: "And what did she say then?"

STANLEY: "She didn't say nothin'. I shut her up like a clam."

VOICE ONE:

 "Streetcar"
was Brando's second film. He was
nominated for an Academy Award for the performance. He was nominated for Oscars for his next two
films as well. In nineteen fifty-two he
played Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata in the movie "Viva Zapata."
The following year he played Marc Antony in "Julius Caesar."

 In "On the Waterfront"Marlon
Brando did not win an Oscar for Best Actor until nineteen fifty-four for the
movie "On the Waterfront." Many critics
consider it his finest performance. The
film's director, Elia Kazan, said it was the best performance by a male actor
in the history of film. 

 Brando
plays Terry Malloy, a failed boxer. He
informs on organized crime leaders, including his brother, Charlie. His brother had made him lose fights on
purpose so Charlie could make money gambling on the fights. But now, Terry expresses his regrets about
losing the fights. 

TERRY MALLOY: "You don't understand.
I coulda had class. I coulda been
a contender. I coulda been somebody
instead of a bum which is what I am. Let's face it."

VOICE TWO:

 Marlon
Brando acted in about forty movies. He
was nominated for a total of eight Academy Awards. In his movies, he played a Japanese
translator, a German Nazi military officer and the father of Superman. He even
sang in a movie musical called "Guys and Dolls."

  His real life was as colorful as his many
movie characters. His love life was
especially active. He married actress
Anna Kashfi in nineteen fifty-seven. The marriage had problems from the start.
Their child, a son named Christian, was born a few months after they married.
They separated the next year. 

In nineteen sixty, Brando married Movita Castenada, a
Mexican-American actress. They had two
children before they separated in nineteen sixty-two. The same year, he married a Tahitian actress,
Tarita. The two had met while filming
the movie "Mutiny On the Bounty." 

 Brando's
marriage to Tarita lasted ten years. But
his love of Tahiti never ended. In
nineteen sixty-six, he bought a small island near Tahiti. Brando divided his time between his island
and his home in California for the rest of his life.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 Critics
say Marlon Brando began to suffer professionally during and after his work on
"Mutiny on the Bounty." Hollywood
directors and producers considered him difficult to work with. Some critics said the actor appeared to be
tired of acting.

 But
that changed in nineteen seventy-two when Brando appeared in "The
Godfather." At first, the film studio
officials did not want Brando in the movie.
But the director, Francis Ford Coppola, chose him for the part. The film was a major critical and financial
success. Brando was praised for his
performance as the Godfather, Vito Corleone, the powerful head of a criminal
organization in New York City. He speaks
to a man who wants the Godfather to have someone killed. 

VITO CORLEONE: "If you'd come to me in friendship then this scum that
ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if by chance an honest man like yourself
should make enemies, then they would become my enemies. And then they would fear you."

VOICE TWO:

 Marlon
Brando won the Best Actor Oscar for "The Godfather." But he rejected it. He sent a woman named Sasheen Littlefeather
to speak for him at the Academy Awards ceremony. She said that Brando could not accept the
award because of the way the American film industry treated Native Americans.
The people at the Academy Awards ceremony did not like the speech. But some experts think the action helped
change the way American Indians were shown in movies. 

 Marlon
Brando was also active in the civil rights movement. He spoke out against
racism often and forcefully. He marched
in demonstrations. And he gave money to
civil rights groups.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 Marlon
Brando had two family tragedies. In
nineteen ninety, his son, Christian, shot and killed a Tahitian man at the
family's home in California. The victim,
Dag Drollet, was the boyfriend of Brando's daughter, Cheyenne. Christian Brando said the killing was
accidental. He was found guilty of responsibility in the death and served
almost five years in prison.

 During
the trial, Marlon Brando told the court that he and Anna Kashfi had failed Christian
as parents. He also apologized to the
Drollet family and said he wished he could trade places with their son.

VOICE TWO:

 In
nineteen ninety-five, Marlon Brando's daughter Cheyenne killed herself. She had struggled with mental problems and was
still depressed about the killing of her boyfriend.

 Marlon
Brando never made public statements about the death of his daughter. But reports said he blamed himself. He did
not attend his daughter's funeral in Tahiti.

VOICE ONE:

 In the following nine years, he made just four
more movies. And the parts he played
were small. But his influence on the
American film industry was huge. When
Marlon Brando died, many famous actors expressed regret. One of them said simply: "He was the best."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

 This
program was written and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

 And
I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next
week for another People in America in VOA Special English.


		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/audio/Mp3/se-pia-marlon-brando-16-nov-08_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[544] Between Political Left and Right, Obama Is Urged to Seek the Middle Ground</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-14-voa6.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA
Special English.

  President-elect Barack Obama visited President Bush at the White House on MondayThe most commonly heard
advice for Barack Obama when he becomes president in January is to "govern
from the center." In Washington,
that means reaching out to the minority party in
Congress to seek common ground. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is one of
those who says Mister Obama will have to listen to all sides -- from liberal to
conservative -- but stay centered. 

NANCY PELOSI: "Each side of
the spectrum can hope to influence the decision. But the fact is that a new
president coming in, in my view, must take the country down the middle to solve
the problems, to gain the confidence, to take us more strongly in a new
direction."

House Speaker Nancy PelosiThe Republicans have been
in the minority in Congress for the last two years. Last week's elections brought
more losses in both houses, plus the White House. Barack
Obama won fifty-three percent of the popular vote and twice as many electoral
votes as John McCain.In
the last presidential election, thirty-seven percent of voters said they were
Democrats. An equal percentage said they were Republicans. This year, thirty-two
percent of voters told news organizations that they were Republican. And thirty-nine
percent said they were Democrats.

Yet,
as many observers have pointed out, those same polls showed that political
beliefs have changed little over the past four years.

Twenty-two percent of this year's voters
said they were liberal, while forty-four percent described themselves as
moderate. Both numbers were almost unchanged from the last election. And the
share of conservatives did not change at all: thirty-four percent.Brian Darling is with the Heritage
Foundation, a research group.

BRIAN DARLING: "Exit polling
indicated that the American people still consider themselves reasonably
conservative. This is a more of a center-right nation. So what President Obama
has to worry about is he cannot move forward on actions that would offend many
Americans, like taking action to take away many Americans' guns, maybe
something on gay marriage, issues like that."Democrat Bill Clinton had a Democratic
majority in Congress when he was first elected president in nineteen
ninety-two. Yet two years later, voters gave control of Congress back to the Republicans.

Sarah Palin speaking Thursday at the Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami, FloridaNow,
the Republicans are thinking about what they need to do to regain voter trust. That
includes increasing their appeal to blacks, Hispanics, women and the poor. A
majority of voters from these groups voted for Mister Obama. 

Louisiana
Governor Bobby Jindal, the son of Indian immigrants, is a rising star in the
party. So is Minnesota's
Tim Pawlenty. But one person some Republicans are looking to for the future is the
governor of Alaska.
Sarah Palin, John McCain's choice for vice president, says she has not ruled
out running for president in four years. She has strong support among social
conservatives. But winning over moderate Republicans and independent voters will
mean having to aim more for the center.And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written
by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.


		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/audio/Mp3/ITN Governing from Center 111508_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[458] You Do Not Have to Be a Rocket Scientist to Understand This</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-14-voa1.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
Hello. I'm Phil Murray with WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, a program in Special English.(MUSIC)"You do not need to be a rocket scientist."  Americans hear these words often. People say them in schools, offices and factories. Broadcasters on radio and television use them.This is how you might hear the words used.Workers in an office are afraid to try to use their new computer system. Their employer tells them not to be foolish. "You do not need to be a rocket scientist to learn this," he says.Or, high school students cannot seem to understand something their teacher is explaining. "Come on," she says. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to understand this."Or, a company that makes soap is trying to sell its product on television. "You do not need to be a rocket scientist to see that our soap cleans better," the company says.These words send a strong message. They say that you do not need to be extremely intelligent to understand something.How did the expression begin?No one seems to know for sure. But an official of the American space agency, NASA, says the expression just grew. It grew, he says, because rocket scientists probably are the most intelligent people around.Not everyone would agree.Some people might be considered more intelligent than rocket scientists.  For example, a person who speaks and reads fifteen languages, or a medical doctor who operates on the brain.Still, many people would agree that there is something special about scientists who build rockets. Maybe it has to do with the mystery of space travel.Moving pictures from before World War Two showed a man named Buck Rogers landing on the planet Mars. He was a hero who could defeat any enemy from outer space.The rocket scientist is a different kind of hero. He or she makes space travel possible.Rocket scientists, however, can have problems just like everyone else.A Washington rocket scientist tells about a launch that was postponed many, many times. Finally, everything seemed right.  Mechanical failures had been repaired. The weather was good.The scientists had planned that part of the rocket would fall into the ocean after the launch. All ships and boats within many kilometers of the danger area had been warned. But in the last few seconds a small boat entered the area. Once again, the launch was postponed.When the work goes well, most rocket scientists enjoy their jobs. One scientist said, "As a child I loved to build rockets. Now I am grown. I still love to build rockets. And now I get paid for it."(MUSIC)This program, Words and Their Stores, was written by Jeri Watson.  I'm Phil Murray.
		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/audio/Mp3/WS Rocket Scientist 111608_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[1212] Michael Crichton Wrote About the Scarier Side of Science and Technology</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-13-voa2.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English. 

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson.
This week:

 We
listen to music from Lucinda Williams … 

 Answer
a listener question about actor Marlon Brando …

 But
first, we remember the popular writer Michael Crichton, who died last week. 

(MUSIC)

Michael Crichton

HOST:

Michael Crichton wrote exciting and intense books that
explored the moral and political sides of science and technology. His
best-selling books included "The Andromeda Strain", "Congo" "Jurassic Park" and "Rising Sun." Many of his
books were made into popular movies. Mister Crichton died last week of cancer
at the age of sixty-six. Bob Doughty tells us more about his life and
successful career. 

Michael CrichtonBOB DOUGHTY:

Michael Crichton was born in nineteen forty-two in
Chicago, Illinois and grew up in the Long Island area of New York. He studied
English at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but later changed
his degree to anthropology. In nineteen sixty-six, he began medical school at
Harvard. 

 To
help pay for his studies, Crichton began writing novels. In nineteen sixty-nine
he wrote "The Andromeda Strain." It is about a group of scientists who try to
stop the spread of a deadly organism from space. The book became a huge
best-seller and was made into a movie. Mister Crichton soon gave up his medical
career to spend more time writing.

 He
published "The Terminal Man" in nineteen seventy-two. It tells about a man who
has a computer device put into his brain to improve a mental disorder. But the
man becomes a killing machine when the technology fails. In Mister Crichton's
book "Congo", violent gorillas attack a group of explorers trying to find a
special kind of diamond that could change modern technology. 

 Michael
Crichton's most famous book was "Jurassic Park," published in nineteen ninety. It is about scientists who create genetic
copies of dinosaurs. But the dinosaurs soon take control of their creators. The
film version three years later was also a huge success.

 Michael
Crichton's books have sold more than one hundred fifty million copies. But he
had his critics as well. Some critics thought his books had weak characters and
were written to be movies, not literature. Critics attacked Mister Crichton as
racist for his description of Japanese businessmen in the book "Rising Sun." Others denounced Crichton's book "State of
Fear" about evil environmentalists who create fear about the existence and
cause of climate change. 

 Michael
Crichton was also involved in movies and television. He directed many of the movies based on his
books. He even helped create the popular
television show "E.R." about an emergency room in a busy hospital. Mister
Crichton combined his knowledge of science, technology, and medicine to bring
exciting entertainment to millions of people around the world. 

Marlon Brando

HOST:

Our
listener question this week comes from France. Claude wants to know about the
life of famed American actor Marlon Brando.

MARLON BRANDO: "You don't
understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum
which is what I am, let's face it."

Marlon BrandoHOST:That was Marlon Brando playing a former boxer in the nineteen fifty-four movie
"On the Waterfront."  Marlon
Brando was somebody, of course. Many
critics say he was the greatest actor of all time. And many actors say Brando influenced them
more than any other person in the movie industry.

 Marlon
Brando was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in nineteen twenty-four. His mother was an
actress. His father was a salesman. His
childhood was not happy. In a book about
his life, Brando wrote that both his parents were dependent on alcohol. He
wrote that his father never said anything good about his son. 

 Marlon
Brando linked his interest in acting to the painful years of his
childhood. He said a child who feels
unaccepted by his parents will search for a different identity that will be
acceptable.

When he was nineteen, Brando moved to New York
City. He studied acting and learned what
is called the "method" style of realistic acting. In nineteen forty-seven, he
became a Broadway star with his famous performance as Stanley Kowalski in
Tennessee Williams' play, "A Streetcar Named Desire."

  Brando's
fame grew in nineteen fifty-one when he acted the same part in the film version
of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Brando
acted in more than forty movies. He won
two Academy Awards for Best Actor. One
was for his work in "On the Waterfront."
The other was for playing Vito Corleone, the powerful head of a criminal
organization in "The Godfather" in nineteen seventy-two. He was nominated for five other Academy
Awards.

 The
actor was active in the civil rights movement and protested the way Native
Americans were represented in movies.

Marlon Brando was a private man but he did not lead a
quiet or easy life. He was married three
times. He had at least seven children.
Brando dealt with several tragedies. One
of his sons was sent to prison for killing a man. Brando's daughter, Cheyenne,
killed herself in nineteen-ninety-five. 

 Marlon
Brando died in two thousand four, at the age of eighty. To learn more about this famous actor, listen
to the Special English program People in America this Sunday, November
sixteenth.

Lucinda Williams

HOST:

Lucinda Williams has been recording music for over
thirty years. This musician from Louisiana is known for her country songs
influenced by blues music. Her songs express the dark and moody side of love.
But her latest album, "Little Honey," has a happier message. Critics say this
is her most joyful album yet. Barbara Klein has more.

(MUSIC ) 

Lucinda WilliamsBARBARA KLEIN:

 That
was the song "Honey Bee." It is one of several songs on the album "Little
Honey" that tells about the happiness of being in love. The songs were
influenced by Lucinda Williams' future husband and current manager, Tom Overby.

 Williams
says she can grow as a songwriter now that she has finally found the right
relationship. She says that personally,
professionally, and creatively she is in the best place she has ever been in
her adult life. 

 Here
is the song "Jailhouse Tears" which Williams sings with the musician Elvis Costello.

(MUSIC)

 Lucinda
Williams says conditions have to be perfect for her to write songs. She needs
to be alone with her guitar with room to spread out her notes about song ideas.
She says her father, the poet Miller Williams, had a big influence teaching her
about artistic expression. She says she grew up economically poor, but
culturally rich.

 Lucinda
Williams says one thing that the songs on her new album have in common is that
they are direct. She says the beauty of country and blues music is expressing
ideas in a simple and direct way. We leave you with "Real Love."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Caty Weaver and Dana Demange, who was
also our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to
our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. 

 Join
us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special
English.

 

 


		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/Audio/Mp3/se-mosaic-14nov08_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
<item>
<title>[420] US Treasury Changes Plans, Won't Buy Toxic Securities</title>
<link>http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-11-13-voa3.cfm?rss=topstories</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>VOA</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>English</dc:subject><dc:subject>News</dc:subject>
<description><![CDATA[
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

 Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson is making changes in the seven hundred billion dollar
rescue plan for the financial industry. 

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson speaking to reporters Wednesday in WashingtonThe
plan passed by Congress last month is called the Troubled Asset Relief Program,
or TARP. Secretary Paulson proposed to buy risky housing-related investments from
banks. But on Wednesday he announced that the Treasury Department has moved
away from the idea of buying troubled assets.

Instead, he says the best way to help financial
companies is to provide new capital, such as buying stock He said TARP and other measures have helped
to calm financial markets that were in danger of collapse. Now, he wants to use
money from the program to help restart the market for securities based on
consumer credit. 

Secretary Paulson says this market has basically come
to a halt. He says this is raising the cost and reducing the availability of
car loans, student loans and credit cards. Jobs are also affected. The government says unemployment
reached six and a half percent in October -- the highest in fourteen years.

 As
the financial crisis deepens, more companies have turned to the government for
help, including American automakers. Their sales are at the lowest levels in more
than twenty years. 

  Congress approved twenty-five
billion dollars in loans to help them build more fuel-efficient vehicles. Now
some lawmakers also want to lend them twenty-five billion in financial rescue
money. Secretary Paulson has resisted that idea. 

The bailout program started with half of the seven
hundred billion dollars. The Treasury has already used all but sixty billion. Congress has to agree to release the other
half. 

  Banks and government programs have
helped some struggling homeowners reduce their monthly loan payments. But critics
say the government is doing more to help the financial industry than to solve
the housing crisis weakening the economy. 

  So far the biggest recipient of aid is the insurance company American
International Group. This week A.I.G. reported
another huge loss related to home loans, almost twenty-five billion dollars
between July and September. The government agreed to increase support for A.I.G.
to one hundred fifty billion dollars in loans and stock purchases. 

 This
weekend, leaders from the Group of Twenty countries meet in Washington on how
to reform the financial system. 

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report,
written by Mario Ritter and archived at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember. 


		
		

		
		
		
		
		
		
		
]]></description>
<enclosure url="http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_11/audio/Mp3/se-econ- financial-crisis 13nov08_0.Mp3" length="" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
