VOA英语听力原文
VOA听力原文
VOA 听写原文(1)Harvad researcher David Rans said the most successful behavior proved to be cooperation. The groups that rewarded the most earned about twice as much in the game as the groups that rewarded the least. And the more a group punish themselves the lower it's earnings. The group with the most punishment earned 25 percent less than the group with the least punishment .The study appeared last month in the Journal Science. The other study involved children .It was presentd last month in California at a conference on violence and abuse. Reseachers used intelligent tests given to two groups, More than 800 children were ages 2-4 the first time they were tested. More than 700 children were ages 5 to 9.(2)Many people think the search for cleaner energy leads only to renewable resources like sun, wind and water. But it also leads to a fossil fuel(化石燃料). Natural gas is considered the cleanest of the fossil fuels, the fuels created by plant and animal remains over millions of years. Burning it releases fewer pollutants（污染物质）than oil or coal. The gas is mainly methane（沼气，甲烷）. It produces half the carbon dioxide （二氧化碳）of other fossil fuels. So it may help cut the production of carbongases linked to climate change. Russia is first in what are called "proved reserves" of natural gas. The United States is sixth. Over the years, big oil and gas companies recovered much of the easily reached supplies of gas in America. They drilled straight down into formations where gas collects. As these supplies were used up, big drillers looked for similar formations in other countries.(3)Two recent studies have found that punishment is not the best way to influence behavior. One shows that adults are much more cooperative if they work in a system based on rewards. Researchers at Harward University in the United States and Stockholm school of economics in Sweden did the study. They had about two hundred college students play a version of the game known as the prisoners dilemma. The game is based on the attention between the interests of individual and group. The students play in groups of four. Each player could win points for the group so they would all gain equally. But each player could also reward or punish each of the other three players and cost to the punisher.(4)But now the industry is taking a new look. Companies are developing gas supplies trapped in shale rock two to three thousand meters underground. They drill down to the shale, then go sideways and inject high-pressure water, sand or other material into the rock. This causes therock to break, or fracture, releasing the gas. Huge fields of gas shale are believed to lie under theAppalachian Mountains, Michigan and the south-central states. Gas shale exploration is being done mainly by small to medium sized companies. Eric Potter is a program director in the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin.I rememberdo u know that i'm okare there things you wanna saythinking of u night and dayhopping you'll come back and stayi remember when u told mei'll be all rightdon't worryi try and try to understandis all this just a sad goodbyethinking of u night and dayno matter if you'll come and stayi remember when u told mei'll be all rightjust hold mei don't wanna close my eyes tonightmissing u make me cryyour love will give me strengths to carry onyou'll always be my heart and mindso i don't wanna close my eyes tonighti know it's just a miss match in time...why..oh why... miss match in timei try and try to understandis all this just a sad goodbyethinking of u night and dayno matter if you'll come and stayi remember when u told mei'll be all rightjust hold meso i don't wanna close my eyes tonightmissing u make me cryyour love will give me strengths to carry onyou'll always be my heart and mindso i don't wanna close my eyes tonighti know it's just a miss match in time...why..oh why... don't wanna close my eyes tonight.。
普特英语每日听力VOA0905文档
普特英语每日听力VOA0905文档From Washington, this is VOA News.Cleaning up after a strong quake in New Zealand, no deaths but a state of emergency in effect; and in Pakistan, burials begin for victims in Friday’s bombings. I’m Marti Johnson reporting from Washington.New Zealand is recovering from a powerful earthquake that cut power and caused significant damage to infrastructure but no deaths. Officials say the 7.1-magnitude quake shook the city of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island just before dawn, Saturday. The city’s second largest earthquake on record threw people out of bed and sent frightened residents running into the streets. The quake and its aftershocks ruptured underground lines for natural gas, water and sewage, as well as damaging bridges, power supplies and phone networks.Police in Pakistan’s southwestern city of Quetta have been on high alert as mass burials take place for some victims of a suicide bombing that targeted minority Shiites Friday, killing at least 65 people. Shiite leaders called for a general strike on Saturday to mourn the dead, shuttering schools and businesses and leaving streets deserted. More than 160 others were wounded in Friday’s explosion at a Sh iite rally called to express solidarity with Palestinians. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility. These attacks take place as Pakistan is still reeling from the worst (con口误) flooding in that country in its history. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees is urging theinternational community not to turn its attention away from the crisis which he says is far from over. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.The UN refugee agency says despite the floodwaters in some parts of Pakistan receding, the overall humanitarian situation remains serious. Aid workers report conditions are worsening. UNHCR spokesman, Adrian Edwards, says floods still affect almost two million people in Balochistan province including 600,000 who fled from neighboring Sindh."We’re seeing a persistent threat of waterborne disease, shortages of shelter and very limited quantities of food for children."The agency says it is continuing the distribution of shelter supplies. Aid agencies report more than five million people, still, are in desperate need of shelter. Lisa Schlein for VOA News, Geneva.An explosion in Afghanistan’s northern province of Kunduz has killed four police officers and at least one civilian. Officials say several people were wounded in Saturday’s attack in the provincial capital. Authorities say the explosives were planted in a motorcycle.Meantime, the New York Times reports that the US security contractor, Blackwater, has now created thirty subsidiary companies to seek government contracts in the wake of accusations of misconduct against it in Iraq. In the article, theTimes reports at least three subsidiary businesses had deals with the US military and with the CIA. Blackwater has been under intense security since five of its employees were accused of killing unarmed civilians in Baghdad in September, 2007. There’s more on this story on our website at /doc/0c18122980.html,.A top US military officer in the United States says the US has asked Turkey to allow non-combat equipment to be withdrawn from Iraq through Turkish territory. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, speaking in Ankara Saturday, emphasized that there are no plans to transport weapons through Turkey.Three Pakistan cricket players accused of taking part in a betting scandal have been charged by the International Cricket Council under its anti-corruption code. Jennifer Glasse reports from London.The International Cricket Council charged Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir under Article II of its anti-corruption code. The council’s chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, expressed his extreme disappointment and sadness about the situation.“We will do whatever is necessary to ensure that we maintain integrity in the sport.”The players are suspected in a betting scam after a London newspaper showed video of a cricket agent allegedly acceptingmoney in exchange for information of what the players would do at certain points in the game. The head of the ICC’s anti-corruption unit, Ronnie Flanagan, said the charge is related to one game between England and Pakistan. The three players are suspended from playing until the case is concluded. Jennifer Glasse for VOA News, London.US president, Barack Obama, says building a strong middle class is key to helping the country heal its economic problems. In his weekly address on Saturday, Mr. Obama said this weekend’s Labor Day holiday in the US is a chance to reaffirm a commitment to American workers. The president touted some of his administration’s initiatives includ ing tax cuts for working families and investment in construction projects that he says will create jobs. In the weekly Republican Party address, the US Representative, Geoff Davis, called for greater scrutiny of federal rules and regulations that he said burden small business owners.I’m Marti Johnson, VOA News, Washington.。
voa慢速英语听力原文
美国劳动之歌Most of the world observes Labor Day on May 1. Butthe United States has its workers holiday on the firstMonday in September. Steve Ember and BarbaraKlein have a few songs from the history of theAmerican labor movement.Labor songs are traditionally stories of struggle and pride, of timeless demands for respect and the hopefor a better life.Sometimes they represent old songs with new words. One example is "We Shall Not Be Moved."It uses the music and many of the same words of an old religious song.Here is folksinger Pete Seeger with "We Shall Not Be Moved."Many classic American labor songs came from workers in the coal mines of the South. Mineowners bitterly opposed unions. In some cases, there was open war between labor activistsand coal mine operators.Once, in Harlan County, Kentucky, company police searched for union leaders. They went to oneman's home but could not find him there. So they wai ted outsi de for several days.The coal miner's wife, Florence Reece, remained inside with her children. She wrote this song, "Which Side Are Y ou On?"Again, here is Pete Seeger.Probably the most famous labor songwriter in America was Joe Hill. He was born in Sweden andcame to the United States in the early 1900s. H e worked as an unskilled lab orer.Joe Hill joined the Industrial Workers of the World, known as the Wobblies. More than any otherunion, they used music in their campaigns, urgi ng members to "si ng and fi ght."One of Joe Hill's best-known songs is "Casey Jones." It uses the music from a song about atrain engineer. In the old song, Casey Jones is a hero. He bravely keeps his train running in verydifficult conditions.In Joe Hill's version, Casey Jones is no hero. His train is unsafe. Y et he stays on the job afterother workers have called a strike against the railroad company.Pete Seeger and the Song Swappers sing "Casey Jones (The Union Scab)."Another American labor song is called "Bread and Roses." That term was connected with thewomen's labor movement.The song was based on a poem called "Bread and Roses" by James Oppenheim. The poem waspublished in The American Magazine in December of 1911.The following month there was a famous strike by textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts.They won higher pay and better working conditions. Oppenheim's poem gainedmore attention.At that time, conditions in factories were already a national issue. In 1911, a fire at a clothingfactory in New Y ork had taken the lives of 146 people. The victims were mostly immigrantwomen.Here is Pat Humphries with "Bread and Roses."Union activists know that labor songs can unite and help people feel strong. This can be trueeven when the music has nothing to do with unions."De Colores" is a popular Spanish folksong. It talks about fields in the spring, little birds,rainbows and the great loves of many colors.This song is popular with supporters of the United Farm Workers union. We listen as BaldemarV elasquez leads the band Aguila Negra in "De Colores."For many years, folksinger Joe Glazer was a union activist with a guitar. He was also a laborhistorian. Labor's Troubadour was the name of a book he about his life. He believed in organized labor and preserving the musical history of the American labor movement. JoeGlazer died in 2006 at the age of 88.Here is Joe Glazer with "Solidarity Forever," written by Ralph Chaplin.From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
篇简短的voa新闻文本
篇简短的v o a新闻文本 Document serial number【UU89WT-UU98YT-UU8CB-UUUT-UUT108】1VOA新闻听力100篇News Item 1This week, the chairman of America’s nuclear agency said there is little chance that harmful radiation from Japan could reach the United States. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko also said America has a strong program in place to deal with earthquake threats. No new nuclear power centers have been built in the United States since nineteen seventy-nine. That was when America’s worst nuclear accident happened at the Three Mile Island center in Pennsylvania. The accident began to turn public opinion against nuclear energy.News Item 2Most restaurants in the United States offer their customers a glass of tap water at no charge with their meal, but this week many restaurants are asking diners to pay a dollar, or more,for a glass of water. Placards on their tables explain thatthis small amount helps bring clean water to children around the world. It’s called the UNICEF Tap Project.News Item 3Japan has confirmed radiation contamination of someagricultural products near a nuclear power plant crippled by last week’s earthquake and tsunami that is still spewing radiation. Yukio Edano, the chief Cabinet secretary, says high levels of radiation have been detected in milk in Fukushima prefecture and spinach from Ibaraki prefecture have been found to be contaminated. He tells reporters there is no immediate health risk and the government is considering regulating shipments of farm products from the affected area. At the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant efforts continue to try to cool overheating reactor cores and water in tanks containing spent fuel rods.News Item 4Some of America’s brightest students came to Washington for the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science competition. The awards ceremony was the culmination of an intense week during which the 40finalists were queried by judges and the public. They met with scientists, politicians and even President Barack Obama, who welcomed them to the White House. These high achievers were whittled down from nearly 2,000 contestants’ nationwide, representing excellence across many disciplines.News Item 5The billionaire s’ club is growing. Forbes magazine’s annual list shows there are now 1,210 billionaires around the world—that is 199 more than last year. Although the world’s top three earners are unchanged from last year, the newcomers in the list of the world’s richest did not come from the U.S. or Western Europe, but from Russia and the Asia Pacific region. Magazine chairman Steve Forbes says of the 200 new billionaires this year, the majority are from the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China.News Item 6Defense attorneys for former Liberian president Charles Taylor say testimony from prosecution witnesses is tainted by cash payments from a special fund provided by the United States. Mr. Taylor’s war crimes trial is drawing to a close after more than three years. Defense attorney Terry Munyard says money “lavished” on prosecution witnesses has polluted “the pure waters of justice.” He told the court that those payments went far beyond the simple reimbursement of expenses and were usedin such a way “as to taint the testimony of some of the prosecution witnesses.”News Item 7Many world leaders are expressing shock and sympathy following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and areoffering to assist the country as it struggles to recover from the disaster. . President Barack Obama pledged assistance for what he called a potentially catastrophic disaster in Japan. Mr. Obama called Japan one of America’s strongest allies and said the U.S. is offering whatever assistance is needed. . Defense Secretary Robert Gates said a preliminary assessment indicates that American troops, ships and military facilities were not seriously damaged by the quake or tsunami.News Item 8Women are joining together all over the world to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8. Women poured through London’s streets on Tuesday singing loudly for women’s rights. The banners they carried trained a spotlighton the range of issues still at hand: health, education, and politics to name a few.News Item 9Food prices continue to rise, threatening to push more and more people into poverty and hunger. A new report from the UN foodagency says one of the best ways to boost agricultural productivity worldwide would be to remove the barriers women farmers face that their male counterparts do not. Studies show when women have financial resources, they are more likely than men to spend them on food, health and educating their children. Women farmers tend to be less productive than men, but there are good reasons for that, says Agnes Quisumbing, an economist with the International Food Policy Research Institute.News Item 10Ronald Reagan’s Hometown Celebrates His 100th Birthday. Though he gained prominence as an actor in Hollywood and later as President of the United States, the people of Dixon, Illinois, remember Ronald Reagan as a hometown hero who saved the lives of 77 people while working as a lifeguard. The town is honoring Reagan’s 100th bir thday this year, with a year-long celebration. The 40th President’s hometown was never very far from his heart.News Item 11The National Football League wrapped up the 2010 season with the biggest football game of the year: Super Bowl XLV—played in a huge stadium in Arlington, Texas. But without the small,Midwestern town of Ada, Ohio—population 5,400—the game would not have been the same. Ada is where the Wilson Sporting Goods company makes footballs. Wilson has been the official football maker of the National Football League since 1941, and many of the 130 employees at its factory in Ada have spent most oftheir lives there—many working for 25 to 45 years.News Item 12Scientists say a common headache medicine dramatically reduces the risk of developing P arkinson’s disease, a physically-disabling brain disorder that mostly strikes elderly adults. In a six-year study of just over 136,000 nurses and health professionals, researchers at Harvard University School of Public Health in Massachusetts found that people who take ibuprofen（布洛芬镇痛药）regularly for headache or other pain reduced their risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by nearly 40 percent. Taking one or two pills of ibuprofen two or more times per week was considered regular use. Other non-prescription pain relievers, including aspirin and acetaminophen, did not show a similar protective benefit.News Item 13Insurgents opposed to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi continue to hold two strategic towns along the road to eastern Libya, after unsuccessful attempts by pro-Gadhafi forces to retake them. Libyan warplanes launched new air strikes Thursday against the key eastern oil port of Brega, but the son of embattled leader Moammar Gadhafi says the bombs were only intended to“frighten” rebels warplanes s truck at the rebel-held oilport of Brega on Thursday, a day after anti-government fighters turned back an assault by forces loyal to the country’slongtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.News Item 14A new study of more than million people in six Asian countries finds that, like Westerners, Asians are more likely to die if they are overweight or obese. However, some of the highestdeath rates were seen in people who were severely underweight. Many previous studies have found that the risk of deathincreases as body-mass index increases. Body-mass index, or BMI, is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. Thetrouble is, those studies mostly analyzed Europeans and other Westerners. So scientists couldn’t be sure if the results applied to other groups.News Item 15Agriculture is one of the most important economic activities in Africa. In addition to providing employment, agriculture has the potential to transform African societies through the increased export of produce to Western markets. Many agree that transformation will not take place without increased investment in agriculture, including public or private loans to small farmers. Statistics show that Africa has about 12% of the world’s arable land but 80% of it is not in use.News Item 16In July 2012, the world’s largest AIDS conference comes to Washington, D.C. It’s the first time the gathering will be held in the United States since 1990 and preparations are already underway. Despite the massive U.S. financial, medical and scientific contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS, a major issue blocked the conference from being held here. That was a law that prohibited HIV infected people from traveling to the United States. It was passed in 1987 in the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Efforts to lift the ban began during President George W. Bush’s second administration. It wasfinally repealed in January 2010 under President Obama.News Item 17As Discovery begins its 39th and final mission into Earth’s orbit Thursday, America’s 30-year space shuttle program comes one step closer to its scheduled end this April. Discovery has been a regular visitor to Earth’s orbit since its maidenflight in 1984. It is the oldest and longest-serving vehicle in the U.S. space agency’s shuttle fleet. Discovery’s finalflight follows several delays due to technical problems and repairs to its external fuel tank, but NASA’s mission launch director Mike Leinbach says the shuttle is still spaceready. News Item 18Not long ago, most professional musicians lived in a world far removed from the nitty-gritty of business management, distribution and promotion. But today, social media, laptop production techniques and fragmented musical tastes havelargely replaced the old relationship between musicians, their audiences and the marketplace, making entrepreneurial savvy more important than ever. A leading U.S. conservatory now teaches students how to create successful careers in this brave new world.News Item 19Egypt’s most famous tourism sites, including the great pyramids and the antiquities museum in Cairo, have reopened after being closed during the popular uprising and political tumult. Egypt’s key industry— tourism—returns after weeks of protests and celebrations, while other countries in the region deal with unrest. The sound of hooves as horses pull jostling carts of people within the Giza pyramids’ complex is the sound of money to the men who make their livings from tourism—a dominant industry in Egypt.News Item 20Demonstrations against long-serving governments continue toroil the Middle East and North Africa Friday from Libya eastward to Bahrain. In Libya, more protests as well as funerals for those killed in recent unrest were held after midday prayers, and witnesses said demonstrators gathered in the port city Benghazi, a bastion of resentment against the government. Human Rights Watch said Friday that 24 people have been killed in recent violence in Libya, many of them in Benghazi. Graphic videos posted on the Internet have shown shootings described as being inflicted by armed forces against protesters.News Item 21The National Park Service says the largest slave village in the Washington region is buried on the grounds. Archeologist Joy Beasley walks across the land now known as Best Farm. But approximately 200 years ago, it was a 300-hectare plantation called L’Hermitage, owned by the Vincendieres, French farmers from Haiti. Their stone home and outbuildings still stand. The National Park Service archeologist says her team discovered evidence of six other homes on the property where slaves were kept. The Vincendieres owned 90 slaves.News Item 22Cameroon’s new mineral research center will begin operations this year. South Korean mining researchers are making trips to Cameroon to determine the overall cost of the facility, to be located in the capital, Yaounde. They say the center will cost several millions of dollars and will ultimately be offered to the Cameroon government as a gift. The Korean investors say the facility will also have geological engineers to help in the design and construction of mines—and economic geologists to determine the commercial feasibility of projects. They willdecide whether there are enough minerals to justify the cost of a mining venture.News Item 23A major study by the World Health Organization shows that most people with high cholesterol levels around the world are not getting the treatment they need, to avoid such serious diseases as heart attacks and strokes. And the authors of the study—the largest ever undertaken—say the problem is especially serious in the developing world. The study was done on 147 million people, and found an increasing incidence of high levels of cholesterol the world over. Even more worrying, the researchers say, is that many of those patients are going untreated.News Item 24A huge crowd has gathered in central Cairo calling for President Hosni Mubarak to step down. The opposition has called for one million people to protest. Crowds headed on foot for Cairo’s Tahrir S quare throughout the day Tuesday. They included women with babies in strollers. Their confidence is boosted after the army, in an official statement, described the demonstrations as legitimate and promised it would not fire ondemonstrators. Army helicopters dropped leaflets calling on demonstrators to keep the protests peaceful.News Item 25The popular revolts roiling Egypt and other Arab countries are being driven by young people clamoring to oust autocratic governments they have known all their lives. The hardscrabble Tunis neighborhood of Ettadhamen provides a representative look at the hardships, and aspirations, of some of the young people behind Tunisia’s so-called Jasmine Revolution.6News Item 26A new study has tracked how low self-control can predict poor health, money troubles and even a criminal record in theiradult years. The study began with 1,000 children in New Zealand. Researchers followed them for decades. They observed the levelof self-control the youngsters displayed. Parents, teachers, even the kids themselves, scored the youngsters on measureslike “acting before thinking” and“persistence in reaching goals.” The children of the study are now adults in their thirties. Terrie Moffitt of Duke University found that kidswith self-control issues tended to grow up to become adults with a far more troubling set of issues to deal with.News Item 27President Barack Obama delivers his second State of the Union Address to the nation on Tuesday, before a joint session ofthe . Congress. President Barack Obama will face a dramatically altered balance of power in the House of Representatives when he addresses Congress and the nation Tuesday in his State of the Union address. Republicans are now in the majority in the House, and they have already approved a repeal of Mr. Obama’s landmark reform of the U.S. health care system. The move was symbolic, since the bill will die in the . Senate, where Democrats and Independents still hold a majority.News Item 28New research suggests a relatively simple blood test might make it possible to predict who is at a higher risk for developing dementia. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s Disease, and currently, it can only be definitively diagnosedin an autopsy, by examining the brain. Beta-amyloid is aprotein that shows up the brains of Alzheimer’s victims. It’salso present in spinal fluid and, in very small quantities, in the blood.News Item 29Health Services in eastern and central Kenya are getting a big boost through a new $100 million dollar program. The U.S. development agency, USAID, has awarded the funds to an international non-profit organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. For the past four years, Jhpiego has led a nearly $34 million program in eastern Kenya called APHIA II. APHIA stands for AIDS, Population and Health Integrated Assistance. The goal is to “empower front-line health workers” with effective, low cost solutions to delivering quality health care.News Item 30Over the past 20 years, the United Nations says the Asia-Pacific population has been growing, but at a slower rate compared to the rest of the world. Asian fertility fell by 39 percent in a 20-year period from the late 1960s while remaining above the population-replacement level of children per woman. By 1990,nearly two-thirds of Asian countries had experienced declines of at least 25 percent.News Item 31President Barack Obama will go to Tucson, Arizona, Wednesday to speak at a memorial service for those killed in Saturday’s shootings. The president will try to help the nation deal with the rampage, which left six people dead and a U.S. congresswoman critically wounded. President Obama and his wife Michelle will cross the country to attend Wednesday night’s memorial service at the University of Arizona.The presidentwill speak there, in an effort to help Americans cope with the tragedy.News Item 32New medical research into a possible cure for Parkinson’s disease is focusing on finding biomarkers in patients so that doctors can start treatment early before tremors and other symptoms start. Actor Michael J. Fox’s recent commitment of$40 million toward finding a cure for Parkinson’s is helpingto fund the new research. The current clinical diagnosis of Parkinson’s is based on visible tremors and stiffness o f limbs. But researchers say a more comprehensive diagnosis is needed. News Item 33. President Barack Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to outline the benefits of a tax cut package he signed into law in December. He says the tax cut compromise reached with Republicans will help grow the U.S. economy. Mr. Obama encouraged business owners to take advantage of a new incentive included in the legislation that allows any business to write off the full cost of most of their capital investments for one year.News Item 34A U.S. congress woman is in critical condition and six people are dead after a gunman opened fire in an Arizona parking lot where Representative Gabrielle Giffords was meeting with constituents. The dead include a federal judge. More than a dozen people were wounded, including Giffords. A federal probe has been launched amid a national outpouring of sorrow and outrage.News Item 35Three-dimensional cell phones and batteries that last much longer are just two of the technologies that could become commonplace in the next few years. For the fifth year, IBM has looked at the horizons of research, picked five technologiesand announced them as tomorrow’s innovations. “Individual technologies take different times to matri culate,” says John Cohn, IBM’s Chief Scientist. “But the thing that’s common about them is that we think in 2015, all these predictions will actually be something that we take for granted.”News Item 36The killing of the governor of Pakistan’s most populous province has highlighted the ongoing clash in Pakistani society between secularism and religious radicalism. Some of that radicalism is fueled by resentment against privileged and often secular-minded elite who govern the country.8News Item 37I n India’s main tea-growing region, scientists say tea production is being impacted by climate change. India produces nearly one third of the world’s tea. The rolling Himalayan hills in India’s northeastern state, Assam, are carpeted with lush tea bushes wh ose leaves produce some of the world’sfinest teas. But there are concerns that rising temperatures may be affecting the tea plantations, resulting in decliningproductivity of the brew to which millions of people across the world wake up.News Item 38African leaders are in Abidjan for more talks with Ivory Coast’s rival presidents. The country’s political crisis has sent thousands of refugees into Liberia. Leaders met with defiant Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo Monday, offering him an amnesty deal on condition he cedes power to rival Alassane Ouattara.News Item 39More signs that the U.S. economy is moving in the right direction: The . Labor Department says new claims for unemployment benefits declined last week, dropping below400,000 for the first time since July 2008. Other data also shows that businesses expanded in the month of December while home sales grew modestly in November. Despite the encouraging numbers, investors remain cautious as 2010 comes to a close. New estimates show the snowstorm that lashed parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic last week cost retailers about a billion dollars in lost sales.News Item 40The Holy Land enjoyed a flood of visitors last year, which benefited Israelis and Palestinians alike. It was a record year for tourism in Israel thanks to a lull in violence. There were million visitors in 2010, percent more than the previous record two years ago. Mark Feldman, who heads the Israelitravel agency Zion Tours, says tourism is booming. Most of the visitors were Jews and Evangelical Christians. Some 625,000 Americans came, more than any other country.News Item 41Voters in Ivory Coast have official results from only a small number of polling stations outside the country. About 10,000 ballots in an election of more than four million registered voters shows former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara leading President Laurent Gbagbo by about 60 percent to 40 percent. As the wait for domestic results continues, President Gbagbo’s party is already calling on the electoral commission to annul returns from three northern districts. Both the Gbagbo and Ouattara campaigns say some of their supporters were prevented from entering polling stations Sunday.News Item 42Diplomatic cables released by the website Wikileaks indicate the U.S. is concerned about the security of Pakistani nuclear material. They also indicate questions about Pakistan’s commitment to fighting9insurgents along the country’s border with Afghanistan. The New York Times and the Guardian newspapers reported details of the cables today. A French news agency quoted a Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman as saying the fears are misplaced. Meanwhile, Interpol has placed Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange on its most wanted list after Sweden issued an arrest warrant for him as part of a rape investigation.News Item 43. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe needs to boost its role in Afghanistan and foster greater economic development throughout the region. Clinton spoke today at the OSCE Summit in Kazakhstan. “Our goal here in Astana should be to move forward on democracy, human rights, economic growth and strengthening our security community. In other words, let’s embrace the vision of Helsinki and apply it faithfully in this newcentury.” The OSCE is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords, which gave birth to the OSCE structure. Clinton said insecurity anywhere in Central Asia is a challenge for all members and that protracted conflicts remain dangerously unresolved.News Item 44Russia’s prime minister says his country will have to build up its own nuclear weapons capability if the United States fails to ratify the new strategic arms reduction treaty signedearlier this year. Vladimir Putin told CNN’s Larry King program in an interview to be aired later today that the new treaty is in the United States’ best interest and it would be, in his words, dumb for U.S. legislators to ignore that. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the new START in April. The agreement would cut nuclear stockpiles in the U.S. and Russia by about 30 percent.News Item 45Thai police say they arrested two Pakistani men and one Thai woman this week on forgery charges, as they attempted to flee to neighboring Laos. The three were arrested in cooperation with Spanish authorities, who on Thursday arrested sixPakistanis and one Nigerian in raids in Barcelona. Spanish authorities believe the group supplied fake passports used by Muslim militants who bombed Madrid commuter trains in 2004. They also suspect the group supplied fake passports to al-Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based group accused of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.News Item 46The U.S. unemployment rate rose in November while the economy added far fewer jobs than expected. Today’s closely-watched report from the Labor Department says the unemployment rate rose % to %. The economy had a net gain of 39,000 jobs far fewer than the 150,000 most experts had predicted.News Item 47Iranian media reports say officials are calling for the removal of a Star of David painted on the roof of the headquarters of the country’s national airline after the Jewish symbol was revealed in a satellite image. Reports say Internet media company Google took the image of the building which was reportedly built by Israeli engineers who worked in Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.News Item 48President Obama is calling a new free-trade deal between the U.S. and South Korea a landmark agreement. Mr. Obama accepted the deal Friday after a three-year stalemate and said it will deepen the two nations’ alliance, and he urged the . Congress to ratify it. President said the agreement will increase U.S. exports by up to $11 billion a year and support at least 70,000 jobs. As part of the deal, South Korea has agreed to let the U.S. keep a % tariff on Korean-built cars for five more years rather than end it immediately.News Item 49The World Food Program is teaming up with the World Meteorological Organization and other agencies to help subsistence farmers increase their crop yields. The WFP says 2010 has been a year with many climate related emergencies which have created a havoc with the agricultural produce of many developing countries.News Item 50Some of the most dramatic, climate-related emergencies include flooding in Pakistan, Haiti, Burma and Burkina Faso. World Food Program spokeswoman Emilia Casella says the number of people affected is expected to reach about 375 million a year by 2015.“We are estimating that by 2020, some countries having their agricultural yields halved by weather&climate emergencies-drought or flood.” Casella says a detailed food insecurity analysis could pinpoint areas that are most at risk. She says WFP is working with the Food and Agriculture Organization to help small subsistence farmers increase their food yields.News Item 51International firefighting teams are battling day three of what officials are calling the worst fire in Israel’s history. Police said Saturday the huge wildfires continued to burn out of control near the northern port of Haifa. The firefighting aircraft are coming in from Russia and have been dropping water on the blaze with additional help from the U.S., France and Britain. Middle East neighbors Jordan and Egypt sent equipment. So far, 41 people, at least, have been killed and thousands have been forced to evacuate from the area.News Item 52A Russian rocket carrying three navigation satellites has crashed into the Pacific Ocean after failing to reach orbit. Russian news agencies said the rocket and the satellites wentdown about 1,500 kilometers northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii after veering off course.News Item 53British lawmakers plan to vote on a bill today that would increase university tuition charges. If approved, the college tuition in Britain would jump from just under 5,000 dollars to about 14,000 dollars per year. That proposal has sparked student protests. British authorities say the increase in tuition is necessary to bring a large deficit under control. News Item 54Delegates at the end of a two-week UN climate conference heldin Cancun, Mexico have approved a modest plan to combat global warming. More than 190 nations approved the agreement Saturday, which includes a multi-billion-dollar fund to administer assistance to poor nations. Bolivia was the only country to object the deal, saying the agreement does not go far enough to curb climate change.News Item 55Police in Sweden say a car explosion in what appeared to be a suicide attack killed one person and wounded two others in central Stockholm on Saturday. Police say the first blast。
VOA英语听力材料原文(passage31~40)
Canada was the only (6) non-Asian country in the top five. It rose two percent to fourth place. Almost thirty thousand Canadian students enrolled for the school year that began last (7) autumn.
China has the world's largest number of Internet users. But it also has what is often called the Great Firewall of China. (8) The government restricts political content and blocks some social networking and news Web sites. President Obama said he is a strong supporter of open Internet access.
Japan fell to fifth place. The number of Japanese students in the United States decreased for the fourth year, to just over twenty-nine thousand.
(8) Taiwan also sent fewer students, and the number from Mexico was nearly unchanged.
VOA慢速英语听力长文
最新VOA慢速英语听力长文现在，使用VOA慢速来练习英语听力的人较多，尤其是英语初学者，认为VOA慢速英语听力材料对于听力英语听力有较大的好处。
接下来，为大家送上一篇最新VOA慢速英语听力长文，希望对大家有用。
In developing countries, attending school can be adaily struggle for some children.They may walk several kilometers to school becausetheir families do not have money to send them on buses or other forms of transportation.With schools far away, and little money to pay for transport costs, parents worry about the safety of their children walking to school.So, a number of parents keep their children at home. Or the child drops out of school: they leave without pleting their studies.These and other barriers to school attendance are the reality for many girls in poor countries.But now, programs in two developing countries are helping to change that. The programs are giving girls “pedal power” -- transportation in the form of bicycles.Power of the pedalRural areas of poor countries often have few secondary schools. So, it is mon for students there to travel great distances to attend classes.Bihar is the poorest state in India. Niy percent of the state’s population lives in rural areas.Until xx, too many teenage girls in Bihar were dropping out of school. For Nahid Farzana, her home was 6 kilometers from school. And, her father did not have money for bus fare, she told the Associated Press.But, that same year, the state government beganoffering bicycles to girls to help them get to school. The program has been so effective that three nearby states are now doing the same.And the results are measurable. A xx study found that giving bicycles to teenage girls in India increased their secondary school enrollment by 30 percent. It also helped many of them stay in school long enough to take their final exams.Western Kenya is experiencing suess with a similar program. Until recently, there was a high risk of localgirls dropping out of school and then being pregnant.Loise Luseno is a 16-year-old girl from Kakamega, Kenya. In the past, she had to walk about 10 kilometers to reach school. Last year, she dropped out temporarily because ofthe distance.Members of her family work as subsistence farmers. They earn just about $30 a month -- not nearly enough for food, school costs and transport.But, a few months ago, Luseno went back to school –this time on a bicycle. Her new form of transportation was provided by World Bicycle Relief, an American-based group.Hurdles for girlsChristina Kwauk is an expert on girls’ education atthe Brookings Institution, a research organization in Washington, D.C.Kwauk recently told VOA that, in many countries, girls face a long list of barriers to school attendance.Sometimes, the issue is that a society has firm ideas about what girls “can and shouldn’t do as they bee young women,” including whether they should receive an education.Luseno experienced this. When girls in her munitywalked to school, motorbike riders would stop them on the road. They would offer the girls rides to school. Then,they would try to persuade the girls to drop out.Kwuak says another reason girls may not attend schoolis their family. Parents might believe that losingchildren’s help at home can cause the family to lose money.For example, a poor farming family grows less food without the help of children. Girls are often expected todo this work. In many cases, those household duties include taking care of younger brothers and sisters.There are also direct financial barriers, says Kwauk, such as school fees, books, and meals. So, in places wherefamilies value boys more than girls, and parents havelittle money, the boys are sent to school.The ups and downsEven with the suess of the bicycles programs, there are still problems.Ainea Ambulwa teaches at the Bukhaywa secondary school in Kakamega, Kenya. He belongs to a bicycle supervisory mittee at the school. He makes sure that the riders are keeping their vehicles in good condition.Ambulwa says defeating poverty remains a difficult issue.He says that some families will put heavy things on the bicycles and then they break down. Because the family lacks the money to have the bike repaired, the girl can no longer get to school.World Bicycle Relief is based in Chicago, Illinois. It provides bicycles through another group: World Vision.In xx, the two groups launched a bicycle production factory in Kisumu, Kenya. The cost of the bicycle is around $180. That is too much money for most families in rural Kenya.But with the help of donors, the program has given away about 7,000 bicycles throughout the country. Most of the people receiving the bikes are girls.Bicycles decrease the safety risks for girls because the girls get to school quicker, Kwauk explains. It also helps parents not to lose work time taking their girls to school.Peter Wechuli, the head of the program in Kenya, says the bikes have improved children's lives. But, he says, the factory was built around 100 kilometers from Kakamega. So, getting the bicycles to needy families can be a problem.Yet Kwauk calls the bicycle programs “very promising” and a low-cost solution. She says many organizations in wealthier countries would be happy to provide this kind of resource.。
英语听力原文
英语听力原文：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.When we think of threats to public health, we often think of communicable diseases. But experts say non-communicable diseases -- those that do not spread from person to person -- are the leading killer today. These are often the result of poor diet, environmental influences including tobacco and alcohol use, or genetics.Now, the World Health Organization has released its first Global Status Report on Non-Communicable Diseases. In two thousand eight, they caused sixty-three percent of all deaths. And eighty percent of those deaths were reported in developing countries.These countries are spending billions to treat conditions like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. The WHO says the costs of treating non-infectious diseases are pushing millions of people into poverty. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan says: "For some countries it is no exaggeration to describe the situation as an impending disaster ... a disaster for health, society and national economies."Conditions that last for years are also known as chronic diseases. Population changes are driving the increase in cases. Populations in many developing countries are growing quickly and living more in cities. Aging populations also play a part. Chronic diseases become more common as people get older.Dr. James Hospedales is a chronic disease expert at the WHO. He says chronic diseases are a major problem in big countries like the United States, India and China and across Latin America and the Mediterranean. And they are expected to become the leading cause of death in many African nations by twenty-twenty.JAMES HOSPEDALES: "We cannot wait until we have dealt with HIV, dealt with malaria. No, it's upon us. As a matter of fact, one of the major contributors to tuberculosis going up in several countries is because diabetes is going up -- and obesity. So there is a link between diabetes and TB."Dr. Hospedales says some middle- and low-income countries are beginning to recognize that their health policies must deal more with prevention.JAMES HOSPEDALES: "We estimate in WHO that over thirty million lives can be saved in the next ten years by simple measures -- reducing the level of salt by fifteen to twenty percent, reducing the amount of tobacco, and increasing the number of people who are at risk of a heart attack and stroke to be on simple preventive treatment."The WHO is the United Nations' health agency. The General Assembly plans to hold its first high-level meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. The meeting will take place in New York this September.And that's the VOA Special English [url=/Health_Report_1.html]Health Report[/url]. To read and listen to more health news and for English teaching activities, go to . I'm Steve Ember.___Contributing: Vidushi Sinha英语听力原文：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.For people infected with HIV, the earlier they start treatment, the better -- and better not just for them. A new study shows that early treatment greatly reduces the risk that the partner of an infected person will also get infected. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.Dr. Anthony Fauci is with the United States National Institutes of Health which paid for the study.ANTHONY FAUCI: "Many studies have been showing that the earlier you start, the better it is for the person who is infected. This study shows that not only is it better for the person who is infected, but it helps that person from transmitting to the person that's their sexual partner, heterosexual partner."Researchers cannot say if the results would be the same in men who have sex with men. Most of the couples in the study were heterosexual.The study took place in Botswana, Brazil, India, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Thailand, the United States and Zimbabwe. It involved almost two thousand couples divided into two groups.In one group, the infected man or woman began to take a combination of three antiretroviral drugs immediately after being found to have HIV. In the other group, the infected partners began drug treatment only when they started to show signs of getting AIDS.The researchers say both groups received equal amounts of HIV-related care and counseling. That included information about safe sex practices, free condoms and regular HIV testing.The study began in two thousand five. It was supposed to last until twenty-fifteen. But researchers stopped it early because the results were so clear. Only one case of infection was reported in couples where the infected partner began immediate treatment.Dr. Fauci says earlier treatment led to a ninety-six percent reduction in the spread of HIV to uninfected partners.ANTHONY FAUCI: "This is a powerful bit of evidence that will go into the thinking and formulation of guidelines and of global policy, policy by WHO, by UNAIDS, by the international organizations that help to provide drugs in the developing world."The study shows the value in testing and treating HIV before a person even feels sick enough to see a doctor. But in many countries, public health budgets are already stretched thin. In sub-Saharan Africa, the area hardest hit by AIDS, for every person who gets treated, two others go untreated.Antiretroviral drugs suppress the virus. Once people start treatment, they have to continue it daily for the rest of their life.And that's the VOA Special English [url=/Health_Report_1.html]Health Report[/url]. To read and listen to our reports, go to . I'm Jim Tedder.___Contributing: Carol Pearson英语听力原文：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.Today we answer a question. Vu Quang Hien from Vietnam wants to know more about hepatitis B. Hepatitis is the name for a group of viral infections that attack the liver. These are called A, B, C and so on.An estimated two billion people are infected with hepatitis B. The rates are highest in China and other parts of Asia. The World Health Organization says most of these infections happen during childhood.Hepatitis B is spread through contact with infected blood or other body fluids. Mothers can infect babies at birth. Unsafe injections and sexual contact can also spread the virus. Experts say it can survive outside the body for at least a week.There are two forms of hepatitis B -- acute and chronic. Acute cases last for several weeks, although recovery can take months. Chronic cases can lead to death from cirrhosis or scarring of the liver and liver cancer.Yet people with long-term liver infections can live for years and not even know they are infected. The ones most likely to develop chronic hepatitis B are young children.In the United States, experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urge medical providers to test Asian-American patients.DR. JOHN WARD: "The bottom line -- since most people of Asian heritage came to the US from endemic countries or were born to parents from these countries, they should be screened for chronic hepatitis B."For acute hepatitis B, patients may receive care to replace lost fluids, but there are no treatments. Doctors can treat chronic cases with interferon and antiviral drugs. But these medicines cost too much for most of the world's poor.A vaccine to prevent hepatitis B has been available for thirty years. The researcher who discovered this vaccine -- and hepatitis B itself -- was an American named Baruch Blumberg. Dr. Blumberg also showed that the virus could cause liver cancer.NASADr. Baruch BlumbergHe and another researcher at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Irving Millman, invented the vaccine in nineteen sixty-nine. But Dr. Blumberg said it took some time to find a drug company willing to produce it.He first became interested in studying infectious disease when he volunteered in Surinam during his medical training.His discoveries with hepatitis B saved many lives and earned him a Nobel Prize in medicine. But he also had other interests -- including the search for life in outer space.In the late nineties, he helped launch the Astrobiology Institute at NASA. He was at a space agency conference in California in April when he died, apparently of a heart attack. Baruch Blumberg was eighty-five years old.And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.英语听力原文：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.Rob Summers of Portland, Oregon, is twenty-five years old and a former college athlete. In July of two thousand six he was hit by a car. Doctors told him he would never walk again.ROB SUMMERS: "I turned to the doctor and said 'Obviously, you don't know me very well. I am going to walk again.'"Mr. Summers learned about experimental research at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Doctors placed small electrodes in his lower back. These send electrical signals to his damaged spinal cord to move his hips, legs and feet. The signals act like the signals that the brain normally sends to produce movement.ROB SUMMERS: "I was unable to move a toe or anything for four years, and on the third day of turning the simulator on, I was able to stand independently."Video from the university shows him even taking steps on a treadmill while supported by a harness. The work is described in a study in the Lancet medical journal. The lead author, Susan Harkema, is a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the university.SUSAN HARKEMA: "Within that week with support, of the body weight support, we were able to get him to stand without any help at the legs so he was generating enough force to bear his body weight."Mr. Summers can stand for up to four minutes at a time, or up to an hour with assistance. He received extensive physical training. His spinal cord had to be retrained to produce the muscle movements needed to stand and take assisted steps on the treadmill.The treatment has also helped him regain some control over his bladder.Researchers are calling his progress a medical breakthrough. Professor Harkema says there could be a day when Rob Summers and other paraplegics like him will be able to walk again.But there is still a lot more work to do to reach that day.Mr. Summers was completely paralyzed below the chest, but he did still have some feeling. The scientists say they do not know how the treatment would work with patients who have no sensation at all below the injury.Also, the researchers point out that they have studied only one person so far. And Mr. Summers was in extraordinary physical condition before his injury.Money for the research came from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Professor Harkema is director of the Reeve Foundation's NeuroRecovery Network.The eleven-member team also included scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the California Institute of Technology.And that's the VOA Special English [url=/Health_Report_1.html]Health Report[/url]. You can watch a video report about Rob Summers and his treatment at . I'm Steve Ember.___Contributing: Carol Pearson英语听力原文：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.Thirty years ago this week, public health officials in the United States reported on the first cases of what came to be known as AIDS. There is growing progress against the epidemic of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.But today an estimated sixteen and a half million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. Millions more live with adults who are sick from AIDS.Lucie Cluver from Oxford University in England has studied AIDS orphans and children living with sick adults in South Africa. She says children can be deeply affected by their experiences.LUCIE CLUVER: "And one of the biggest impacts we see is mental health, their psychological health. So, for example, we see that AIDS orphaned children have very much higher levels of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder than children who have a live parent or children whose parents have died of other causes, including homicide or suicide."Lucie Cluver has just written about this problem in the journal Nature. She says children have to live with the stigma, the sense of shame connected to AIDS. Many are bullied at school or excluded from the community.At home, children living with a sick adult are more likely to live in poverty and face physical and emotional abuse. Also, Lucie Cluver says the children often become the caregivers.LUCIE CLUVER: "They're missing school to go and get medication. They're washing the sick person. They're often taking them to the toilet, cleaning their wounds or washing their bedclothes. So these kids find it very stressful and upsetting. They're very worried about the health and feel responsible for the health of the sick person."Close contact with sick adults can sometimes spread tuberculosis or other diseases. And, as Lucie Cluver told reporter Art Chimes, even when the children are in school, paying attention can be difficult.LUCIE CLUVER: "It's constantly on their minds and really making it difficult for them to do well at school."REPORTER: "And the children are telling you this?"LUCIE CLUVER: "Absolutely, it's one of the things that they tell us first. It's one of their greatest concerns."Her research suggests that psychological problems increase as AIDS orphans get older.Writing in Nature, she calls for testing more children for tuberculosis. She also calls for giving more parents the drugs needed to keep them healthy longer with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.There are programs to help children, but Lucie Cluver says there is "far more to be done." She says interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy and support groups are "urgently needed" for those orphaned by AIDS or living with sick adults. But the evidence for which interventions are effective "is still thin," she says.And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.英语听力原文：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.International donors have promised more than four billion dollars to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. That group, known as the GAVI Alliance, held a pledging conference Monday in London.GA VI raised six hundred million dollars more than its target goal. Britain led the donations with 1.3 billion dollars in new pledges through twenty-fifteen. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also promised one billion more over the next five years.Norway promised more than six hundred seventy million dollars. The United States made four hundred fifty million dollars in new pledges.GAVI says a record fifty countries requested money for vaccines during its latest application st week, the group announced an agreement by vaccine makers to cut prices for developing countries. These lower prices, combined with the money raised this week, could protect an extra two hundred fifty million children.Jeffrey Rowland is a GAVI spokesman.JEFFREY ROWLAND: "GA VI's goal over the next five years, by twenty-fifteen, is to immunize millions more children and save an additional four million children's lives, purely by providing basic vaccines against diseases that are basically almost non-existent in rich countries, as well as providing new vaccines against pneumonia, diarrheal diseases and then hopefully HPV and some other vaccine-preventable diseases."HPV is the human papillomavirus, which can lead to cervical cancer. The disease kills two hundred thousand women a year, mostly in developing countries. The Merck company has agreed to offer GA VI the HPV vaccine at five dollars a dose. This is two-thirds less than the current price.Other companies including GlaxoSmithKline and Merck will lower prices for rotavirus vaccines. That virus causes diarrhea that kills about half a million children a year.JEFFREY ROWLAND: "Almost all children in the world get rotavirus. The thing is that in the United States or in Europe children usually have good access to medical care -- so rehydration, antibiotics, hospitalization. Children in poor countries, on the other hand, usually do not. So, by the time a mother brings her child to a clinic after having diarrhea, that child is near death. And oftentimes the antibiotics and the services are not available to save the child's life."A rotavirus vaccine in the United States can cost as much as fifty dollars. Under the new plan, this same vaccine could cost about two and a half dollars in a developing country.The GA VI Alliance says almost two million children a year die from diseases that vaccines can prevent.And that's the VOA Special English [url=/Health_Report_1.html]Health Report[/url]. You can read, listen and learn with our programs, and share them with others, at . I'm Jim Tedder.___Contributing: Vidushi Sinha and Lisa Schlein英语听力原文：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.Americans spend more on health care than most other people. Yet a new study shows that life expectancy in the United States is falling behind other developed countries.In two thousand seven an American man could expect to live about seventy-five and a half years. That was less than in thirty-six other countries. Life expectancy for American women was almost eighty-one years. They were also in thirty-seventh place among almost two hundred countries and territories.The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington studied the numbers. Professor Ali Mokdad says increases in life expectancy have slowed in the United States compared to other countries.ALI MOKDAD: "We've seen an improvement almost everywhere in the world. And in countries that are developed, we're seeing a higher improvement, a faster improvement rate, than we are seeing in the United States."Professor Mokdad says the reason is Americans have made less progress in reducing problems like obesity and high blood pressure.The report also identifies wide differences in life expectancy rates within the United States. The researchers created maps of life expectancy in each of the more than three thousand counties.Areas with the shortest expected life spans are largely in the South. Ali Mokdad says researchers know some of the reasons.ALI MOKDAD: "Less education, less income in some of these rural counties, more likely to be smokers, more likely to be obese. They don't have health insurance, or they don't have adequate access to health care, and the quality of medical care is not as good as well."In the United States, many public health matters are local responsibilities. Restrictions on public smoking, for example, differ from community to community. Some communities have more bicycle paths and other chances for physical activity, or more places to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.ALI MOKDAD: "A long-term investment in their community to increase physical activity and improve diet are needed in this country."The study appears in the journal Population Health Metrics. Journal editor Chris Murray says at least one finding was unexpected.CHRIS MURRAY: "It's a real surprise to us in the study that women are faring so much worse than men."Around the country, American women still live longer than men by five to eight years. But their international ranking has been falling since the nineteen nineties. Dr. Murray says women are increasingly taking risks with their health.CHRIS MURRAY: "Women are now smoking more. The obesity epidemic in women is greater than in men. Progress in tackling blood pressure is much worse in women."In other news, the first report on the number of American births in twenty-ten shows another decrease. Births have been decreasing since an all-time high of more than 4.3 million in two thousand seven. Federal officials say state health departments reported just over four million births last year.And that's the VOA Special English [url=/Health_Report_1.html]Health Report[/url], written by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.___Contributing: Art Chimes and Carol Pearson英语听力原文：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.Everyone knows life for refugees and migrant workers can be difficult, dangerous and even deadly. But what happens when they return home? One of the biggest problems for migrants is getting health care as they travel and live in a new place. As a result, they often bring their medical problems home with them.A new report looks at this situation. The report is from specialists at the International Organization for Migration in Geneva, Switzerland.One of those authors was Haley West. She says migrant workers who get injured on the job may not be able to get treatment in the country where they are working. That lack of access to medical care means they have to deal with medical problems when they rejoin their family.HALEY WEST: "So when they return back home, they've got an occupational health issue that wasn't addressed in the country where they were working. And now, the diagnosis has probably been delayed. So that delay in diagnosis oftentimes leads to worse health issues that could have potentially been preventable if they had been given the access in the country in which they were working."Not all migrants travel for economic reasons. Many are forced from home by natural disaster, war or civil unrest. And not all health care needs are physical. Another author of the report, Rosilyne Borland, says people who have lived through that kind of situation may have psychological injuries.ROSILYNE BORLAND: "There's been some very interesting studies done on people who have been granted refugee status and the sorts of mental health challenges they face years down the road. So someone returning from mass displacement, even though I'm sure [they] are thrilled to be going home, they bring with them all sorts of challenges upon their return."Another problem for returning migrants is that they may not have much to return to.ROSILYNE BORLAND: "If the community was destroyed by the natural disaster or the war, then the health system has also been damaged, and the ability of that community to continue to keep people healthy is also challenged when they get back."Rosilyne Borland, Haley West and the other authors of the article have some suggestions. They call for policies to consider the needs of returning migrants and to make sure they can receive health testing.The report appeared in a six-part series on migration and health in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine. The journal editors say, "If internal and international migrants comprised a nation, it would be the third most populous country in the world, just after China and India."The editors say population mobility is among the leading policy issues of the twenty-first century. They say officials have not given enough attention to policies to protect migrants and global health. And the efforts have been made more difficult by a lack of coordination between countries.And that's the VOA Special English [url=/Health_Report_1.html]Health Report[/url]. For more health news, visit our website, . I'm Christopher Cruise.___Contributing: Art Chimes英语听力原文：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.A study says more people are killing themselves in Greece and other countries affected by economic troubles in Europe. David Stuckler, a sociologist at Britain's University of Cambridge, co-wrote the report.DA VID STUCKLER: "For the most part, the countries that have been more severely affected have experienced greater rises in suicides -- Ireland, Spain, the Baltics -- reaching up to sixteen percent in some of the worst affected countries, like Greece."Suicide rates in Europe had been decreasing. But then the international banking crisis hit in two thousand eight.The study looked at reports from ten European countries from two thousand seven and two thousand nine. Nine of the ten countries had a five percent increase in suicide rates between two thousand seven and two thousand nine. In Ireland the increase was thirteen percent.The study found that suicide rates have not increased in countries where governments have helped get people back to work. Examples include Sweden and Finland.DAVUD STUCKLER: "We found that just giving money to people who have lost jobs to replace their income did not appear to help. Instead, giving people a reason to get out of bed in the morning, a hope in terms of searching for a good, meaningful job seemed to be the most beneficial to helping people cope."The findings appeared last week in the Lancet medical journal.Greece is suffering the costs of a huge public deficit. For over a year, the government has cut spending and increased taxes in an effort to improve its finances.Pavlos Tsimas is a journalist based in Greece. He recently made a documentary about the increase in suicides.PAVLOS TSIMAS: "We investigated the case of a small businessman from Herakleion in Crete, who took his car, loaded it with tins of petrol, and first shot himself and then put fire to the whole car."Pavlos Tsimas says some people commit suicide in a public way, like the businessman in Crete.PA VLOS TSIMAS: "We found out that people killed themselves in a very dramatic and sometimes a very violent way, which maybe means that they are trying to make their suicide a statement, want the whole world to understand how badly they feel, how hopeless they have felt."He says Greeks who kill themselves are mostly men. And he says the number has gone up most on the island of Crete.PAVLOS TSIMAS: " ... where social and family life is more traditional, more patriarchic. The father of the family has to be respected as a figure of great strength. And when the economic problems arise, when jobs are lost and businesses are closed down, it is this despair because of the loss of respect, the loss of self-esteem, and the fact that the person feels that his life no longer has meaning, that drives them to this kind of act."And that's the VOA Special English [url=/Health_Report_1.html]Health Report[/url]. For more health news, go to . I'm Jim Tedder.___Contributing: Selah Hennessy英语听力原文：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.Scientists say a study in Africa shows that AIDS drugs can increase life expectancy in patients to nearly normal levels.One of the authors was Dr. Jean Nachega of South Africa's Stellenbosch University and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland.JEAN NACHEGA: The overall key finding of our study is that the patient in Africa receiving antiretroviral therapy for HIV can expect to live a near-normal lifespan."The study was released in Rome this week at a conference of the International AIDS Society. The findings appear in the Annals of Internal Medicine.Over the last thirty years, the HIV/AIDS epidemic cut fifteen to twenty years or more from life expectancy rates in Africa. Dr. Nachega says in many countries these rates had risen sharply.JEAN NACHEGA: "All what we've been able to gain in the past with the access to clean water, expanded immunization programs were totally reversed with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. So now we are seeing some good news that investing in antiretroviral programs, those investments are now paying off."The study took place in Uganda. There, life expectancy at birth is an average of about fifty-five years.The study involved twenty-two thousand patients being treated for HIV. The results were promising but were different for men and women.At age twenty, life expectancy for men was another nineteen years. Women could expect to live thirty more years. At age thirty-five, men could expect to live to fifty-seven. Women could expect to live to sixty-seven.Dr. Nachega says men generally start treatment later than women. By then the disease is less treatable.JEAN NACHEGA: "Men spend more time looking for a job and spending more time away from their family to try to find a way to survive, I think may be one of the [reasons]. The second reason is obviously the issue about stigma, which is still quite affecting a majority of people in the community."Also, programs for pregnant women mean that women have more chances to get tested for HIV and to receive treatment.Dr. Nachega says health officials need to deal with this "gender imbalance." He supports the idea of considering treatment for HIV/AIDS as a form of prevention.JEAN NACHEGA: "We should no longer see treatment and prevention totally separately. Treatment, by itself, it is also part of prevention. Because by treating people, and hopefully treating them earlier, they are less likely to transmit the virus to their sexual partner."Studies also show that giving antiretroviral drugs to uninfected people can help protect them from HIV. Two studies released last week found that taking medication daily reduced the risk of infection in heterosexuals. An earlier study showed that it reduced the risk among gay men.And that's the VOA Special English [url=/Health_Report_1.html]Health Report[/url]. I'm Steve Ember.___Contributing: Joe de Capua。
VOA听力原稿翻译
This is the VOA Special English Health Report.现在是VOA特别英语——健康报道The World Health Organization says it has reached a limit in its fight against diseases and disasters.世界卫生组织表示该组织在与疾病和灾难抗争方面已经达到了承受极限。
Director-General Margaret Chan says the agency is "overextended" and faces "serious funding shortfalls."首席执行干事陈女士表示该组织应经超负荷运行，面临严重的资金短缺。
Dr. Chan says the WHO is no longer operating "at the level of top performance that is increasingly needed, and expected.陈女士说WHO不能再以日益期望不断增长的模式进行高负荷运作了。
" She told the agency's Executive Board on Monday that the level of action should not be governed by the size of a problem.她对董事会说，这种行动大小的程度不能再由问题的大小所决定了。
Instead, it should be governed by the extent to which the WHO can have an effect on the problem.相反，应该有WHO在这个问题上所能产生的影响决定。
Dr. Chan said one of the most exciting developments recently is a new vaccine that could end Africa's deadly meningitis epidemics.陈女士最近感到最激动的发展是一种能结束非洲致命传染病的疫苗的生产。
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The study compared the mental health of college students to that of non-students the same age. About half of Americans age eighteen to twenty-four attend college.
The information used in the study came from five thousand college-age men and women. They were questioned for a national survey between two thousand one and two thousand two. About two thousand of them were college students.
The questioners were not doctors but trained interviewers. The questions were based on symptoms listed in a book widely used by doctors to identify mental disorders.
The researchers found that twenty percent of college students abused alcohol -- the most common disorder in that group. Personality disorders, like obsessive compulsive disorder, came next. The study says almost eighteen percent of college students appeared to have a personality disorder. That was true of about twenty-two percent of those not in college.
The college students were also less likely to have a drug-use disorder, nicotine dependence or bipolar disorder. And they were less likely to have used tobacco. But their risk of alcohol disorders was greater.
The National Institutes of Health and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention helped pay for the study.
Over all, the study found that almost half of all the college-age individuals showed signs of at least one psychiatric disorder. The researchers say this age group may be especially sensitive to disorders because of the great pressures of entering adulthood. Yet they say only one–fourth sought treatment.
Joseph Glenmullen is a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School who believes that psychiatric medications are overused. He told the Bloomberg news agency that the finding of a psychiatric disorder in about half of those studied "seems extraordinarily high."
He says it may represent what he called "a watering down of the diagnostic criteria such that they capture more people with milder symptoms.'' What he is saying is that more people may be told they have a mental disorder because the definitions have been widened.
And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Steve Ember.。