英语材料1

（一）

Americans talk a lot about illegal immigration but not as much about legal immigration.

Legal immigrants who want to become citizens must learn English and show a knowledge of American history and government. They must also pay a fee and meet other requirements.

Immigrants may take what are called citizenship classes to help them prepare for the naturalization test. Last year, thirteen groups received a total of just over one million dollars from the government to offer these classes.

This year, that support has grown to almost eight million dollars, and the money is going to seventy-five organizations across the country. And now, starting in October, many classes will be offered free of charge.

This will happen through a program supported by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Alejandro Mayorkas is the agency's director .

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS: "We hope to make it an easier transition for people to realize their aspirations of becoming U.S. citizens."

Elsy Ventura from El Salvador enrolled in a one-hundred-dollar class near Washington. She says that is a lot to pay as a single mother also supporting her own mother, who lives with her. But her goal is to become an American.

ELSY VENTURA: "I want to have rights as anybody else in this country."

Other immigrants share that goal. But for some young people, hopes of citizenship were recently blocked in Congress for the fifth time in ten years.

The United States has an estimated eleven million illegal immigrants. About two million of them arrived as children brought by their parents.

A measure known as the Dream Act would put these children of undocumented immigrants on a path toward citizenship instead of possible expulsion. In return, they would have to show "good moral character" and graduate from high school. They would also have to complete two years of college or serve in the military.

UNDOCUMENTED STUDENT: "I grew up in the United States, ever since I was six years old, and it's the custom here and the culture I have grown to love."

(SOUND: Protesters shouting "Dream Act Now!")

"Dream" is short for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. Some conservatives say it could increase illegal border crossings at a time when many Americans want stronger controls.

But the idea gained support among conservatives and liberals, the military and education leaders. Still, the measure died this month in the Senate, where it was tied to a bill to let gays serve openly in the military.

Political observers do not expect Congress to consider the Dream Act again before congressional elections in November. But they do expect supporters to keep trying in the future.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report . Our reports are online at https://www.360docs.net/doc/3212716141.html,. I'm Steve Ember.

（二）

I'm Susan Clark?with the Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

Young Mister Smith had an idea for his employer. It was an idea for saving money for the company by increasing prices. At the same time, Smith suggested that the company sell goods of less value.

If his employer liked the idea, Smith might be given more pay. Perhaps he might even get a better job with the company.

Business had been very slow. So Mister Smith's employer thought a few minutes about the idea. But then she shook her head. "I am sorry, Smith," his employer said. "It just will not wash."

Now, the meaning of these English words should be, "It will not get clean." Yet Smith's idea did not have anything to do with making something clean. So why did his employer say, "It will not wash?"

Most word experts agree that "it will not wash" means it will not work. Eric Partridge wrote that the saying probably developed in Britain in the eighteen hundreds. Charlotte Bronte used it in a story published in eighteen forty-nine. She wrote, "That wiln't wash, miss." Mizz Bronte seems to have meant that the dyes used to color a piece of clothing were not good. The colors could not be depended on to stay in the material.

In nineteenth century England, the expression came to mean an undependable statement. It was used mainly to describe an idea. But sometimes it was used about a person.

A critic once said of the poet Robert Browning, "He won't wash." The critic did not mean that the poet was not a clean person. He meant that Browning's poems could not be depended on to last.

Today, we know that judgment was wrong. Robert Browning still is considered a major poet. But very few people remember the man who said Browning would not wash.

Happily for the young employee Smith, his employer wanted him to do well in the company. So the employer "talked turkey"to him. She said, "Your idea would be unfair to our buyers. Think of another way to save money."

A century ago, to talk turkey meant to talk pleasantly. Turkeys in the barnyard were thought to be speaking pleasantly to one another. In recent years, the saying has come to mean an attempt to teach something important.

Word expert Charles Funk tells how he believes this change took place.

He says two men were shooting turkeys together. One of them was a white man. The other was an American Indian. The white man began stating reasons why he should get all the turkeys for himself. But the American Indian stopped him. He told the white man, "Now, I talk turkey to you."

Mister Smith thought of a better idea after his employer talked turkey to him. He was given an increase in pay. So if your idea "will not wash,"try "talking turkey" to yourself and come up with a better idea.

（三）

Car crashes are the top killer of American teenagers. Most of the crashes result from distracted driving -- not paying attention to the road.

Ryan Didone was a fifteen-year-old passenger in a car that hit a tree. He was one of the nation's more than thirty thousand victims of traffic crashes in two thousand eight. Nearly four thousand deaths, about twelve percent, involved drivers age fifteen to twenty.

Ryan's father, Thomas Didone, is a police captain in Montgomery County, Maryland.

THOMAS DIDONE: "It was an inexperienced, immature driver who felt that he was invincible, driving at night with a carload of kids. He was distracted, he was going too fast, and it ended up causing one death and some serious trauma and tragedy for the rest of the community."

Jim Jennings from the Allstate Insurance Company says the number one cause of distracted-driving accidents is the mobile phone. He says talking on the phone or reaching for it is like drinking four beers and driving.

JIM JENNINGS: "If you're texting while driving, you are twenty-three times more likely to get into an accident than somebody who isn't. Reaching for a cell phone when it's going off, you're nine times more likely to get into an accident than normally driving."

Government and private groups are using public service announcements and events to bring more attention to the problem. For example, the insurance industry recently held a safety event near Washington for teen drivers.

At first, nineteen-year-old Kevin Schumann easily avoided large, inflatable dolls thrown in front of the car to represent children. He also avoided orange cones representing the edge of the road. Then, as part of the test, he started texting. He hit several cones and at least one doll.

KEVIN SCHUMANN: "That's what really opened up the experience for me, to prove how bad it is to really text and drive."

Debbie Pickford of Allstate Insurance says teens are especially at risk from distracted driving -- and not just because they lack experience on the roads.

DEBBIE PICKFORD: "What we know from research on teen brain development, is that teens don't really have fully developed brains until they're twenty-five years old. You put those two things together and you get a much, much higher risk."

New legislation in Congress proposes to require all states to have what is called a graduated driver licensing system. Graduated means teenagers start with restrictions like on night driving and numbers of passengers. They could not get a full driver's license until age eighteen.

Thomas Didone shares the story of his son's death to help educate teens and their families about distracted driving.

THOMAS DIDONE: "We have to start doing things that are going to make a difference to change this behavior, because I really don't want to hear about four thousand more kids dying next year."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. You can watch a video of this report by Julie Taboh at https://www.360docs.net/doc/3212716141.html,. I'm Steve Ember.

（四）

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

Every people has its own way of saying things, its own special expressions. Some of these expressions are easy to understand. The words create a picture in your mind.

"As easy as falling off a log" is one such expression. It describes a job that does not take much effort.

If you ever tried to walk on a fallen tree log, you understand what the expression means. It is easier to fall off the log than to stay on it.

The expression is often used today. For example, you might hear a student say to her friend that her spelling test was "as easy as falling off a log."

There are several other expressions that mean the same thing. And their meaning is as easy to understand as "falling off a log." One is, "easy as pie". Nothing is easier than eating a piece of sweet, juicy pie. Unless it is a "piece of cake."

"Piece of cake" is another expression that means something is extremely easy to do. A friend might tell you that his new job was a "piece of cake."

Another expression is "as easy as shooting fish in a barrel."

It is hard to imagine why anyone would want to shoot fish in a barrel. But, clearly, fish in a barrel would be much easier to shoot than fish in a stream. In fact, it would be as easy as "falling off a log."

Sometimes, things that come to us easily, also leave us just as easily. In fact, there is an expression – "easy come, easy go" – that recognizes this. You may win a lot of money in a lottery, then spend it all in a few days. Easy come, easy go.

When life itself is easy, when you have no cares or problems, you are on "Easy Street." Everyone wants to live on that imaginary street.

Another "easy" expression is to "go easy on a person". It means to treat a person kindly or gently, especially in a situation where you might be expected to be angry with him.

A wife might urge her husband to "go easy on" their son, because the boy did not mean to wreck the car.

If it is necessary to borrow some money to fix the car, you should look for a friend who is an "easy touch". An "easy touch" or a "soft touch" is someone who is kind and helpful. He would easily agree to lend you the money.

And one last expression, one that means do not worry or work too hard. Try to keep away from difficult situations. "Take it easy" until we meet again.

You have been listening to the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. I'm Bob Doughty