This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report
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This is the VOA Special English Education Report. A few weeks ago, we talked about the Test of Englishas a Foreign Language, or TOEFL. A listener in Cambodia named Thida asks if American colleges anduniversities also accept the IELTS exam. IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. It was developed by the University of Cambridge ESOL examiners.Cambridge ESOL says the test measures true-to-life ability to communicate in English for education,immigration or employment. The IELTS tests listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. It uses a mixture of accents and spellings, including British English and American English.The test is used by government agencies, schools and professional organizations in one hundred and twenty countries. And, yes, that includes the United States. Many American schools that accepted the IELTS can befound on the Web at felts, org.Some schools accept both the TOEFL and the IELTS, but the graduate school at Duke University inDurham, North Carolina, for example, says it prefers the IEITS.The listening and speaking parts are the same for everyone who takes the IELTS, but people have a choiceof reading and writing tests-either academic or general training.The listening test takes thirty minutes. There are forty questions based on a recording. The reading test takes sixty minutes. Students answer forty questions based on three written passages.The writing test also takes sixty minutes. Students have to write two essays. One essay has to be at leastone hundred and fifty words long and the other at least two hundred and fifty words. The shorter one isdescription of something; the longer one has to support and argument.The speaking test takes less than fifteen minutes. The score is based on a recorded talk between the studentand a test examiner.And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. If you have a generalquestionforourseries,**************************.I'm Barbara Klein.1. What does TOEFL stand for?A. Voice of America.B. International English Language Testing System.C. Test of English as a Foreign Language.D. Test of English as a Native Language.2. The International English Language Testing System commonly takes _____ in all.A. less than 160 minutesB. more than 165 minutesC. no more than 160 minutesD. less than 165 minutes3. According to the passage, we can infer _____.A. IELTS is efficient and necessary if you want to go to English speaking countriesB. IELTS is completely different from TOEFLC. every American needs to accept TOEFLD. IEITS isn't used more widely than TOEFL4. What is the main idea of the passage?A. How can the readers write papers to the VOA programme?B. It talks about some ways to pass TOEFL.C. It introduces IELTS.D. How can the readers pass two kinds of tests?1-4: C D A C。
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HEALTH REPORT - A Campaign Against Alzheimer's Disease This is the VOA Special English Health Report.Last week, the United States government announced a major educatio n and research campaign against Alzheimer's disease. The brain-wasting disease has no cure. The plan includes more efforts to develop drugs to prevent it.In the United States, more than five million people have Alzheimer's or some other form of dementia. As the population gets older, the number is expected to reach almost eight million by twenty-thirty. By then, experts say Alzheimer's and other dementia disorders could affect as many as sixty-six million people worldwide.The national Alzheimer's plan calls on scientists to develop treatments to prevent the disease by twenty twenty-five. Officials at the National Institutes of Health have promised fifty million dollars to help support that effort. NIH held a conference of the nation's top Alzheimer's researchers where NIH Director Francis Collins discussed the plan.FRANCIS COLLINS: "We have learned more about this disease in the last couple of years than probably ever before. And now the goal is to take that and translate it into interventions."Early next year, scientists at the Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Arizona plan to begin human testing of an experimental drug. The drug is called crenezumab, and the hope is it will prevent Alzheimer's.The study will involve members of a large extended family living in villages in the Medellin area in Colombia. Some of the family members have a rare genetic disorder that causes them to get early-onset Alzheimer's. They begin to show signs of mental loss in their mid-forties and fully develop the disease by their early fifties.Three hundred people have agreed to be in the study. One-third of them will receive crenezumab. The others will be given a placebo, a pill that does not contain any drug. They will not know if they have been given the drug or the placebo. The study will also include a smaller number of people in the United States.Pierre Tariot will help lead the study, known as a human trial. He says all of the people have been informed that the drug might not work or that they might receive a placebo. Mr. Tariot says the people still wanted to be in the study.PIERRE TARIOT: "They have been faced with this devastating illness hitting every generation for hundreds of years. As one of them put it, 'There are many rivers to cross b ut at least we're at the first bank.' And that's kind of the attitude that people have had."Scientists hope that if the drug works in those facing early-onset Alzheimer's, then it might also help older people.The study in Colombia could take as long as five years, but researchers believe they could get results in two years.And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. You can learn more about Alzheimer's disease and find a link to the national plan at . I'm Faith Lapidus.TECHNOLOGY REPORT - The Legal Battle Between Apple and SamsungThis is the VOA Special English Technology Report.Samsung Electronics has won the latest case in its continuing battle with the American owned computer company Apple over property rights. A court in Japan ruled in favor of the South Korean company last week in a case involving its Galaxy series of smartphones and tablets.The three-judge panel in Tokyo said the products did not violate the property rights of an Apple patent for organizing music and video across devices. The court also ordered Apple to pay all costs relating to the court case.The case is just one of many in the worldwide legal battle between Apple and Samsung. Last month, a jury in the state of California found the South Korean company guilty of willfully violating property rights on several patents owned by Apple. The California jury awarded Apple more than one billion dollars in damages.The patents include so-called utility patents for Apple‟s “pinch to zoom” and “tap to zoom” technology. They also include design patents on the look and shape of the iPhone, and one for the home screen design.Madhavi Sunder is a professor of law at the University of California, Davis. She has also written a new book called “From Go ods to a Good Life: Intellectual Property and Global Justice.” She says issues involving design patents are more complex.MADHAVI SUNDER: “These design patents are much more controversial. And a big question here is isn‟t that what market competition is all about.”Professor Sunder says patents are meant to increase competition and support design and development.MADHAVI SUNDER: “For Apple to say its design -- which becomes a new industry standard, the standard of sleek, cool, modern gadgets -- is something that only one company can have an exclusive right over, this is a real problem. And it raises the real question of whether or not we should be protecting designs with patents in the first place.”She says Apple built its computer company using the same methods that it is now opposing.MADHAVI SUNDER: “Steve Jobs, ironically, built Apple‟s reputation on the fact that Apple freely took all the best ideas that were out there and tweaked them and modified them to create a better product. He often quoted Picasso who said …good artists copy but great artists steal.‟ The said thing now is that Apple is saying they can do it but no one else after them can. This goes to the heart of what innovation is about.”Samsung said the California court‟s verdict, in its words, "should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for American consumers.”In a rare memo to its employees, the company said it would continue its fight until its arguments are accepted.On the same day as the California ruling, a court in South Korea ruled in another case that both Apple and Samsung had violated each other‟s patents.And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.HEALTH REPORT - A UN W arning About Chemical DangersThis is the VOA Special English Health Report.The United Nations Environment Program is calling for urgent action to reduce what it says are growing risks from chemicals. The agency says in a new report that better management of chemicals could save millions of lives and billions of dollars.The Global Chemicals Outlook report will be discussed next week in Nairobi at the International Conference on Chemicals Management.An estimated one hundred forty-three thousand chemicals are now produced. Yet the report says only a small number of these chemicals have been studied for their effects on human health and the environment. It says death and disability rates are high from the unsafe use of chemical products.Sylvie Lemmet is director of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics at the U.N. Environment Program. She says poor management of chemicals has a high economic cost. For example, she says the cost is higher than the amount of overseas development aid, or ODA, for health care in sub-Saharan Africa.SYLVIE LEMMET: "If you look at the estimated cost of poisoning from pesticide insub-Saharan Africa, only the injury and the loss of working time is estimated to be 6.3 billion U.S. dollars in two thousand nine. This is higher than the total ODA that is going to the health sector in the same area."The U.N. Environment Program estimates that chemical sales worldwide will increase by around three percent a year until twenty-fifty. Chemical production is moving quickly from developed to developing countries. By twenty-twenty, chemical production is expected to increase by forty percent in Africa and the Middle East and thirty-three percent in Latin America.The agency says one of its biggest concerns is pollution of rivers and lakes by pesticides and fertilizer. Other major concerns are heavy-metal pollution from the production of cement and textiles, and dioxin pollution from mining.The World Health Organization estimates that more than twenty-five percent of all cases of disease are linked to environmental causes. Maria Neira is director of the WHO's Department of Public Health and Environment. She says almost five million deaths from these diseases can be blamed on exposure to certain chemicals.MARIA NEIRA: "It is an enormous figure -- 4.9 million deaths that could be avoided if we have better management in reducing exposure to those chemicals. Obviously, this figure is a very, is an underestimation."The U.N. report urges the chemical industry and governments to work together to develop safety policies. It says preventing harm costs less than fixing it.And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Steve Ember.EDUCATION REPORT - Touring Colleges, Without Ever LeavingHomeThis is the VOA Special English Education Report.Students who want an easy way to get information about a large number of colleges in the United States can visit a website like . It brings together virtual campus tours and interactive maps of more than twelve hundred colleges and universities. The site plans to add an international database for schools in other countries.CampusTours recently celebrated its fifteenth anniversary. The president of the company, Chris Carson, was one of the people who started the site. He says more than one hundred twenty thousand foreign students use the site each year. They make up more than fifteen percent of the traffic on the site.The virtual tours allow students to get a sense of how a college looks. There are also links to official websites and online applications. And there are details like price, number of students, admission requirements and sports programs.But Chris Carson says students should never depend on a third-party website like CampusTours to choose a college. He advises parents and students to contact a school directly. If they plan to visit, they should call the school and talk about the visit and where to stay locally. In fact, he says contacting a school might even lead to a free vis it.CHRIS CARSON: "In some cases, if the student is a good enough student or is a special case, they will sometimes pay for travel to get the student to come to campus. That's a little known fact."He says showing real interest in a school can increase the chances of being admitted.CHRIS CARSON: "One thing in the United States is that they often use something called 'demonstrated interest' as a factor in your admission. They write this stuff in your file, believe it or not. If you've engaged them in conversation about the institution, they're actually more likely to offer you admission."Chris Carson and several of his friends started CampusTours in nineteen ninety-seven. They noticed that many websites with campus tours were heavy with text and lacked much visual material.At first, colleges worried that online tours would compete with the tradition of a personal visit to the campus. But today schools work with sites like CampusTours or its competitors, or build their own virtual tours and maps.And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. You can improve your English and learn more about higher education in the United States at our website, . I'm Dave DeForest.HEALTH REPORT - Why Getting Dirty Can Be Healthy for Children This is the VOA Special English Health Report.A new study suggests that early exposure to germs strengthens the immune system. That means letting children get a little dirty might be good for their health later in life.The study involved laboratory mice. It found that adult mice raised in a germ-free environment were more likely to develop allergies, asthma and other autoimmune disorders. There are more than eighty disorders where cells that normally defend the body instead attack tissues and organs.They include rheumatoid arthritis, which attacks the joints; Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel condition; and juvenile diabetes. Hay fever, a common allergy, is also an autoimmune disorder.Richard Blumberg is a professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He says in nineteen eighty-nine, medical researchers sought to explain these diseases with what they called the "hygiene hypothesis." They proposed that the increasing use of antibacterial soaps and other products, especially early in life, could weaken immune systems.RICHARD BLUMBERG: "The hypothesis has stated or suggested that early-life exposure to microbes is a very important determinant of later life sensitivity to allergic and so-called autoimmune diseases, such as hay fever, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and others."Now, Dr. Blumberg and a team have what they say is the first biologica l evidence to link early exposure to germs to stronger adult immune systems. They say this exposure could prevent the development of some autoimmune diseases.In the adult germ-free mice, they found that inflammation in the lungs and colon was caused by so-called killer T cells. These normally fight infection. But they became overactive and targeted healthy tissue -- an autoimmune condition seen in asthma and a disease called ulcerative colitis.Dr. Blumberg says the mice raised in a normal environment did not have the same reaction. He says their immune systems had been "educated" by early exposure to germs.RICHARD BLUMBERG: "What was really most remarkable to us was the fact that once the education event provided by the microbes occurred in early life, it was durable and lasted throughout the life of the animal."Rates of autoimmune disorders are rising worldwide, but mostly in wealthier, industrialized countries.RICHARD BLUMBERG: "I think one obvious question, for example, that's raised by these studies is the early life use of antibiotics and whether we need to be more careful in their prescribing."Rob Dunn is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He says the new study does not mean people should stop washing.ROB DUNN: "Wash your hands, but don't do it with antimicrobial soap. Let your kids play in a reasonable amount of dirt and get outside and get exposed to a diversity of things."The study appears in the journal Science.And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Steve Ember.AGRICULTURE REPORT - Good News, Bad News on Food Pricesand ProductionThis is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Food prices have risen sharply over the past few years. The good news is that the rate of increase has slowed. The bad news is that prices will not go down anytime soon.Also, the rate of global agricultural production is slowing. Yet it needs to increase sixty percent over the next forty years to feed a growing world population.These are among the findings from the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2012-2021. The OECD is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The FAO is the Food and Agriculture Organization, a United Nations agency.FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva spoke at a news conference in Rome last week when the report was released. Mr. Da Silva said that, not surprisingly, the world's poorest people will feel the greatest effects of higher prices.JOSE GRAZIANO DA SILVA: "For the millions and millions of people living in extreme poverty, the implications of high food prices are clear -- they might have to change their diets, usually to ones with poorer nutrition quality."In middle-income countries, people are gaining weight as they eat fewer fruits and vegetables and more of the cheaper but less nutritious foods.The report also shows that farmers in poorer countries will be leading efforts to feed an expected nine billion people by twenty-fifty. The outlook predicts that farmers in Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa will drive agricultural production in the future. Angel Gurria is chief of the OECD.ANGEL GURRIA: "We can feed nine billion people by twenty-fifty in this planet without stretching things too far. But we have to organize ourselves better."But there are plenty of challenges. One-fourth of all agricultural land is damaged. Many countries face water shortages. And experts believe climate change is driving increasingly unusual weather patterns.The report says farmers need to use more environmentally sustainable growing methods. At the same time, it says governments should end economically harmful supports and invest more in agricultural production. Mr. Gurria says rich and poor nations need to treat agriculture more like a business.ANGEL GURRIA: "In many cases, agriculture is related in people's minds to the poorest. It's related to aid. It's related to very depressed living conditions, etcetera. We got to shake that image away."It also means reducing waste. The FAO and the OECD estimate that about one-third of world food production is lost -- either because of poor growing and harvesting methods or because people are throwing away good food.And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. You can find a link to the Agricultural Outlook report at . You can also read, listen and learn English with our programs and activities. I'm Karen Leggett.TECHNOLOGY REPORT - Driving With GPS Can Be Difficult toNavigateThis is the VOA Special English Technology Report.Global Positioning Systems are now a part of everyday driving in many countries. These satellite-based systems provide turn-by-turn directions to help people get to where they want to go. But, they can also cause a lot of problems, send you to the wrong place or leave you completely lost. Many times, the driver is to blame. Sometimes a GPS error is responsible. Most often, says Barry Brown, it is a combination of the two.Barry Brown is with the Mobile Life Centre in Stockholm, Sweden. The center studies human-computer interaction, or HCI, especially communications involving wireles s devices.We spoke to Mr. Brown by Skype. He told us about an incident involving a friend who had flown to an airport in the eastern United States. There he borrowed a GPS-equipped car to use during his stay.BARRY BROWN: “And they just plugged in an addr ess and then set off to their destination. And, then it wasn‟t until they were driving for thirty minutes until they realized they actually put in a destination back on the West Coast where they lived. They actually put their home address in. So again, the GPS is kind of 'garbage in garbage out'.”Mister Brown says this is a common human error. But, he says, what makes the problem worse has to do with some of the shortcomings, or failures, of GPS equipment.BARRY BROWN: “One problem with a lot of the GPS un its is they have a very small screen and they just tell you the next turn. Because they just give you the next turn, sometimes that means that it is not really giving you the overview that you would need to know that it‟s going to the wrong place.”Barry Brown formerly served as a professor with the University of California, San Diego. While there, he worked on a project with Eric Laurier from the University of Edinburgh. The two men studied the effects of GPS devices on driving by placing cameras in people‟s cars. They wrote a paper based on their research. It is called “The Normal, Natural Troubles of Driving with GPS.”BARRY BROWN: “One of the things that struck us, perhaps the most important thing was that you have to know what you‟re doing when you use a GPS. There are these new skills that people have developed. There are these new competencies that you need to have to be able to use a GPS because they sometimes go wrong.”Barry Brown says this goes against a common belief that GPS systems are for passive drivers who lack navigational skills.“The Normal, Natural Troubles of Driving With GPS” lists several areas where GPS systems can cause confusion for drivers. These include maps that are outdated, incorrect or difficult to understand. They also include timing issues related to when GPS commands are given.Barry Brown says to make GPS systems better we need a better understanding of how drivers, passengers and GPS systems work together.And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.ECONOMICS REPORT - Connecting Employers with Jobs Seekersin Today's EconomyThis is the VOA Special English Economics Report.About three hundred fifty thousand newly unemployed people signed up for financial assi stance in the United States during the first week of July. The nation‟s jobless rate was eight point two percent in both May and June.Some employers say they would add employees if they could find workers with important technology skills. As VOA‟s Jim Ran dle reports, some experts say better communication and technology could reduce this "skills gap."Angel Gurria is head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. He says even some well-educated people are having trouble finding work around the world.ANGEL GURRIA: "There are unemployed graduates on the streets, while employers search in vain for people with the skills they need. There is an obvious mismatch here. And it is a paradox and a great tragedy."OECD officials say more than forty-four million people are unemployed in the thirty-four wealthiest nations belonging to the organization.In the United States alone, nearly thirteen million people are unemployed. But the country also has more than three point six million unfilled jobs. Experts say some positions are unfilled because those seeking work lack high-technology skills.A company called Monster Worldwide is using some new technology it says can help solve that problem. Company official Earl Rennison says computer programs called "semantic search" are able to process huge amounts of information. That includes millions of res umes, to help connect skilled people with open jobs.Earl Rennison says semantic search is designed to choose the right match from the words or expressions around a key word. He says this helps it get the right match even if a job posting, resume or other documents use different words to express the same idea. He says better searches will lead to better matches, and fill more jobs.Rich Milgram is head of a recruitment company called . He says another problem is that the people who are experts at finding just the right workers were the first ones out of work during the recession.He also says it will take time for companies to rebuild their workforces, even if they have added new recruiters.RICH MILGRAM: "They [the new recruiters] don't understand the business that well because they are new, they don't have a rapport with the hiring managers."Rich Milgram says companies in need excellent workers have to do a good job of writing job advertisements that are understandable. And job seekers need to make it clear to hiring managers how they can help their companies.And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. For transcripts, MP3s and now PDFs of our programs for e-readers, go to . I‟m Mario Ritter.TECHNOLOGY REPORT - Finding the Right Match With OnlineDatingThis is the VOA Special English Technology Report.Ten or fifteen years ago, online dating was too new to be socially acceptable. But now, many people search for a partner online.Online dating is very different from traditional dating, in which people spend time with one another, slowly learning about each other. With online dating, people learn a lot about a potential partner before even meeting them.We spoke with Mario, who had recently moved to the city of Baltimore, Maryland. His friends paid for him to use an online dating site. He thought he knew just what he was looking for.MARIO: "A non-American, non-scientist, nothing related with Latin. And I ended up with the completely opposite.""Opposites attract" is a popular saying. But online dating companies say the more similar two people are, the more likely they are to have a relationship that lasts a long time.One of the largest online dating sites is eHarmony. It asks people who want to meet someone using the site to first answer more than four hundred questions. A secret mathematical algorithm then uses the answers to match people. An algorithm is astep-by-step process for solving a problem.Gian Gonzaga is the director of research and development at eHarmony. He spoke to us on Skype:GIAN GONZAGA: "We like to say that opposites attract and then they attack. And it's not that you have to be similar on everything. It's only those things that are most important to you."Makon Fardis is a clinical psychologist who works with couples. He does not believe in using mathematical algorithms to match people because, he says, only seven percent of people tell the truth when describing themselves.He says even if people don't decide to lie or mislead, the way we see ourselves is different from who we really are. He says there are many examples of couples that seem like they would be compatible, but are not when they meet.Remember Mario? A woman named Tamara was his online match. She had some worries about online dating, but also saw the good, as well.TAMARA: "One is that you just meet a lot of people and, you know and people you may not encounter regularly. And the other thing, it was almost easier like, if you didn't have a connection, it made it easier to say, you know I'm just not, this isn't what I want and you move on."At first, Mario worried that Tamara was too similar to him. But he suggested they meet for coffee.MARIO: "But then she ordered another drink, another drink. And let's order something to eat. And it was like 'OK.'"TAMARA: "It was very natural -- we were just blah, blah, blah the whole time. And it ended up being five hours later that we had dinner and everything."That was a year ago. Last month, they got married.ECONOMICS REPORT - Saving Money for College This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.How much does a college education cost? In the United States, the College Board releases yearly reports on prices at colleges and universities. The group bases its findings on "published" tuition and fees, meaning the prices officially listed by the school. Students might pay less -- for instance, if they receive scholarships.Nationally, tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities rose more than 8 percent during the academic year that just ended. The increase was seven percent if you exclude California. California has about t en percent of the nation‟s full-time students in public four-year colleges.In-state tuition and fees averaged more than eight thousand dollars nationally. The average total charge -- which includes housing and meals -- was seventeen thousand dollars. The total charge for students from out of state was thirty thousand dollars.Tuition and fees increased four and a half percent at private nonprofit four-year schools. That was still higher than the inflation rate. The average was twenty-eight thousand five hundred dollars.For-profit schools charged an estimated fourteen thousand dollars in tuition and fees. That was up 3.2 percent from the year before.One way for parents in the United States to start saving for college when their child is still very young is called a 529 plan. The plans are named for the part of the federal tax law that created them in nineteen ninety-six. All fifty states and the District of Columbia offer them.Private investment companies operate most of these plans, and each state has its own rules. Many plans are open to families from other states.Five twenty-nine plans offer different investment choices. Families must decide how aggressively they want to put money into stocks, bonds or other investments that can rise or fall in value. There are limits on how much families can put into 529 plans.Another choice is called a prepaid tuition plan. Parents can pay for an education at a public college or univers ity in their state while their child is still growing up. But what if the child decides to go to school out of state, or not at all? The money can go to educate another family member, or the parents can withdraw it and pay taxes on the gains.There are other ways to save for college while also saving on taxes. One way is to put money for a child into what is called a custodial account until the child becomes an adult.And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. I'm Faith Lapidus.。
America's recession
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.America's recession ended in June of two thousand nine but recovery has been slow. Many states face budget problems and have cut spending in areas including education.In California, thousands of teachers have lost their jobs. V eronica Pellegrin received a layoff notice in the mail.VERONICA PELLEGRIN: "Getting the letter and seeing [you] will no longer be employed, your services will no longer be required -- it is very disheartening, to say the least, and frustrating." Sixty percent of the teachers at the Mariposa-Nabi primary school in Los Angeles have received layoff notices.Salvador Rodriguez, the school principal, has been able to provide computers for his students. SALV ADOR RODRIGUEZ: "We have to keep going and make it the best year possible with all these changes."But fewer teachers mean bigger classes at his school. Mr. Rodriguez says there used to be twenty students to a teacher. By next year, he expects nearly thirty students in a class.SALV ADOR RODRIQUEZ: "If you cut personnel, they can not give that individual attention." Teachers say this is true especially in schools with large immigrant populations where English is not the first language of many students.Los Angeles has the nation's second-largest public school system after New Y ork City. The district has dismissed ten to twelve percent of its staff during the past two years. About half of those laid off were teachers, says John Deasy, the head of the Los Angeles Unified School District.JOHN DEASY: "The recession has had an enormous impact on the state budget and we have had a huge drop in funding."An education professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, John Rogers, says other states have also laid off teachers.JOHN ROGERS: "Some projections estimate that across the country, one hundred sixty thousand teachers have received layoff notices this spring."But he says the situation in California is worse because the state was already facing a budget deficit before the recession. Also, California was spending less per student than the national average.Primary and secondary schools in California receive most of their funding from the state government. AJ Duffy is president of the United Teachers Los Angeles union. Mr. Duffy says the amount of funding each year depends on the economy.AJ DUFFY: "In the past two and a half to three years, we have lost twenty billion dollars in funding for public education."And Superintendent John Deasy expects more changes if the state budget does not improve. JOHN DEASY: "We are cutting all of our librarians, our nurses. We would be forced to close and consolidate schools."Most California school districts have already reduced the number of days per year that students must attend classes. Other states are also talking about shortening the school year to save money. And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. Y ou can read and listen to this program and watch a related video at . I'm Steve Ember.。
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report
This is the VOA Special English AgricultureReport.Thanksgiving Day is America's version of a harvest festival. The holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. This Thursday, millions of Americans will join family and friends to give thanks and eat a meal with a history that is centuries old. Early European settlers in North America held other ceremonies where they gave thanks.But what Americans often consider the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony. Today we call it Massachusetts. Those settlers are known as the Pilgrims. They held a three-day celebration in the fall of sixteen twenty-one. They celebrated the harvest with members of a local Indian tribe. The best known food that Americans traditionally eat on Thanksgiving is turkey. The nation's turkey producers are expected to raise two hundred forty-two million birds this year.The government says that is two percent fewer than last year. Last year's turkey production had a value of about three and a half billion dollars.Thanksgiving turkeys are traditionally servedwith a bread mixture that some Americans call stuffing. Others call it dressing. Side dishes include cranberries, sweet potatoes and green beans or other vegetables. The meal traditionally ends with a dessert of pumpkin pie or pecan pie.Some Thanksgiving foods have changed over time.For example, most turkeys these days are bred with larger breasts to provide more white meat. Corn -- known in much of the world as maize -- has also changed. It tastes much sweeter then the starchier corn of the past. The way Americans prepare for Thanksgiving has also changed. Economist John Anderson of the American Farm Bureau Federation says people look for ways to save time, though not everyone does.JOHN ANDERSON: "There are a lot of us who have grandmothers who would not even think of using a store-bought pie crust.And that is kind of the least of the shortcuts that we use."He says shortcuts like buying prepared foods for the holiday are part of a bigger trend in America.JOHN ANDERSON: "If you think about our food in general, not just Thanksgiving dinner, but our food products in general, there has been a tremendous move over the last twenty or thirty years toward more convenience products. "Some people might not have the time or the desire to prepare a big meal, or the space for a lot of guests. Whatever the reason, John Anderson notes that more people go to a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner than in the past. Charity groups and religious organizations will also be busy this Thursday, serving Thanksgiving meals to the needy.The weak economy has increased the number of Americans receiving government assistance to buy food.And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Bob Doughty.。
ThisistheVOASpec...
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.One of the sweetest gifts of nature is a red, ripe strawberry. There are three basic kinds of strawberries: June bearing, ever bearing and day neutrals.June bearing are ready in the spring, so they are also called spring bearing. But gardeners will not get a crop during the first spring after planting. Ever bearing , when planted after the last winter freeze, will produce fruit during spring or early summer. A second or sometimes third crop will be ready in late summer. Day neutrals produce fruit throughout the summer months.The University of Illinois Urban Extension says ever bearers and day neutrals are especially good for home gardens. Plant strawberries in the spring as soon as the soil is dry enough. Try to plant late in the day or on a cloudy day. The soil should cover just the roots and not the crown on top of the plant. Runners will appear in a few weeks.Strawberries grown in containers（容器） need a soil depth of about twenty-five to thirty centimeters. Be sure the container has holes in the bottom.Strawberries grow well in loamy soil（沃土） that lets water pass through easily. Carl Wilson at the Colorado State University Extension suggests mixing about three to five percent organic （有机的） material into the soil.根据短文内容，判断下列句子正误。
An English Test, and a Warning
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
This week on our program, we answer a question from Japan. A listener named Maki would like to know if the test known as the TOEIC is popular in the United States. TOEIC is the Test of English for International Communication. It measures the ability of people to communicate in the workplace using everyday English.
Each year the TOEIC is taken in the United States about twenty thousand times. So how popular does that make it? Well, consider that last year the test was given more than five million times worldwide.
The TOEIC is really two tests. People can take one or both of them. One is a paper-and-pencil test. It measures listening and reading skills. The other test is given on a computer. It measures speaking and writing skills.
英语听力原文、
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.High school students in Asia often do better than American students on international math and science tests. Experts say part of this is because schools in countries like China and South Korea do better at preparing students to take tests. Yet some of these same countries want to learn what makes American students good at creativity and critical thinking.Foreign educators often visit Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington. This past summer, seventy-five school principals visited from China.Evan Glazer, the principal of Thomas Jefferson, says the school combines science and math with literature and other liberal arts.EV AN GLAZER: “Curriculum, when it’s seen within one particular context, you’re really just developing knowledge and skills. But if you want to look at the complexity of real problems and original solutions, it requires people to come at them from different angles. And so we foster a lot of team teaching, with pairing up teachers from different disciplines so that, when they’re offering challenges to students, that they have a variety of perspectives as they approach problems.”The admissions process is intensely competitive. Thomas Jefferson is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools but serves a wider area. The number of students from families of Asian ethnicity at the school reached fifty percent this past year.The program was created in partnership with local businesses in nineteen eighty-five. The goal was to improve education in science, math and technology.Some students do university-level research in fields such as microelectronics, neuroscience and biotechnology. Students can also learn from working with professionals, says Mr. Glazer.EV AN GLAZER: “We certainly cultivate a culture of inquiry and research so that students can do original work. That’s part of our mindset. But I think, as Americans, I think we pride ourselves in our ability to constantly generate new ideas for the benefit of humanity.”In East Asia, the focus of high school is often to prepare students for college entrance exams. But Mr. Glazer says in recent years China has been developing experimental schools. These offer more student-centered learning the way many top American schools do.EV AN GLAZER: “And I think that’s part of the American mindset that we’ve had pride in as a country for so many years -- of the idea that everyone can bring original ideas. AndI think East Asia senses that, and they certainly see the benefit to our innovation as a country.”He points out that as East Asian countries consider greater freedom for their schools, American education is headed in the opposite direction. Most states have recently approved common standards in math and reading.EV AN GLAZER: “In China and in Korea there is a strong interest in trying to get students to be more creative. And in America there is a strong interest in standardization. And, you know, the reality is we don’t operate in one world or the other. It’s trying to find that right balance."And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Christopher Cruise.。
Agriculture Report
And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.
Beet seeds can be planted as soon as the soil is able to be worked at the start of the growing season. Planting them every two to three weeks will provide a continuous harvest into the fall.
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Beets are a tasty root vegetable that do not require much work in the garden. People might think beets are always dark red. But they can also be pink, yellow or white. Beets with circles of red and white inside are known as candy cane or candy stripe beets.
She says the only work needed once beets have been thinned is weeding and, when the weather is dry, a weekly watering.
For best results, beets should be picked when they are four to five centimeters across. Beets much larger than that can be tough and have to be cooked for a long time.
英语听力
20120925b.mp3This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Studies show farmland in Africa is often lacking in important nutrients. But researchers say a combination of farming methods may help.Since the world food crisis several years ago, researchers have directed more of their attention to small farms. Most farms in areas south of the Sahara Desert are only about one or two hectares. One of the goals is to increase production without necessarily clearing more land to grow additional crops.American researchers say that can happen with greater use of an agricultural system called perenniation. It mixes food crops with trees and perennial plants – those that return year after year.Soil scientist John Reganold is with Washington State University.JOHN REGANOLD: “One of the major problems (is that the) so ils are fairly poor in most of the regions. So how do you grow food on poor soils? There have to be food production systems that can build the soil and improve the yield.”Mr. Reganold says poor soil may have resulted from years of weathering that washed away many nutrients. He says some farmers may have done more harm than good. JOHN REGANOLD: “They have been actually using farming practices where they’re not putting in organic matter. They’re not putting in fertilizers. They can’t afford those things. And it just runs the soil down. So they’re worsening the situation.”He estimates that up to two billion dollars worth of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium is lost from African soil each year.The scientist says the word perenniation defines three systems that are already used in Africa. The oldest of the three is called evergreen agriculture. This is where farmers planttrees with their crops. John Reganold says farmers in Africa have been doing this for sixty years, but it seems to be growing in popularity.The method is gaining widespread use in countries such as Niger, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Zambia. The trees are planted among maize, millet or sorghum crops. They not only add nitrogen to the soil through their roots, but also through their leaves when they fall off and break down. At other times of the year, the trees can protect plants from strong sunlight.John Reganold says he knows of one woman who has had great success with perenniation.JOHN REGANOLD: “She’s a grandmother in her fifties. Her name is Rhoda Mang’yana and she started using this system about twenty years ago. And her yields initially were about a ton of maize. Now with a good year she gets four tons per hectare. Four times what she was getting.”Mr. Reganold was one of three researchers who wrote a report about perenniation. It was published in the journal Nature.And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. I’m Steve Ember.。
In the Garden
Take out as much of the soil as you can with the seedlings. Plant them in the ground in a hole that is bigger than the lettuce roots. Keep the plants watered, but not too heavily.
Planting seeds every week or two will provide a continuous supply of lettuce to harvest.
Harvest leaf lettuces when the leaves are big enough to eat. Pull the leaves from the outside of the plant so the inner leaves will keep growing. Or cut off the whole plant but leave about two or three centimeters so it will regrow. Cut off head lettuces at ground level.
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
MIRANDA (TV's "Sex and the City"): "I'll start with a salad with extra blue-cheese dressing, thank you."
Next, cover the seed tray with paper. Remove the paper when the seedlings are tall enough to touch it. You can transplant the seedlings into the garden when they are about two to three centimeters tall. Do this when the weather is not too hot and not too cold.
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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Thanksgiving Day is America's version of a 1 . The holiday is 2 on the fourth Thursday in November.This Thursday, 3 of Americans will join 4 to give thanks and eat a meal with a 5 that is centuries old.Early European settlers in North America held other 6 where they gave thanks. But what Americans often consider the first Thanksgiving 7 in Plymouth Colony. Today we call it Massachusetts.Those settlers are known as the Pilgrims. They held a 8 in the fall of sixteen twenty-one. They celebrated the harvest with members of a local Indian tribe.The best known food that Americans 9 eat on Thanksgiving is turkey. The nation's turkey producers are expected to 10 two hundred forty-two million birds this year. The 11 says that is two percent fewer than last year. Last year's turkey 12 had a value of about three and a half billion dollars.Thanksgiving turkeys are traditionally 13 with a bread mixture that some Americans call stuffing. Others call it dressing. Side dishes include cranberries, sweet potatoes and green beans or other 14 . The meal traditionally ends with a dessert of pumpkin pie or pecan pie.Some Thanksgiving foods 15 . For example, most turkeys these days are bred with larger breasts to 16 more white meat. Corn -- known in much of the world as maize -- has also 17 . It tastes 18 then the starchier corn of the past.The way Americans prepare for Thanksgiving has also changed. 19 John Anderson of the American Farm Bureau Federation says people look for ways to 20 , though not everyone does.JOHN ANDERSON: "There are a lot of us who have grandmothers who would not even think of using a 21 pie crust. And that is kind of the least of the shortcuts that we use." He says 22 like buying prepared foods for the holiday are part of a 23 in America.JOHN ANDERSON: "If you think about our food 24 , not just Thanksgiving dinner, but our food products in general, there has been a 25 move over the last twenty or thirty years toward more 26 products."Some people might not have the time or the desire to 27 , or the space for a lot of guests. 28 , John Anderson notes that more people go to a 29 for Thanksgiving dinner than in the past.Charity groups and 30 organizations will also be busy this Thursday, serving Thanksgiving meals to the needy. The weak economy has increased the number of Americans receiving government assistance to buy food.And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.Translating the following into English古代奥运会第27届夏季奥运会奥林匹克精神现代奥运会主办奥运会金牌获得者填空题。
1、They play all kinds of instruments and sing ____.A、alsoB、eitherC、as wellD、as well as2、Tom，____ Jane and Rose，____ going to the farm on foot.A、as long as；isB、as well as；areC、as long as；areD、as well as；is3、They travel at full speed by day ____ .A、and nightB、and by night as well asC、as well at nightD、as well as by night4、Mrs Black writes ____ ，if not better than，her husband.A、as well asB、so wellC、so well asD、as well5、We expect her to do the housework as well ____ after the children.A、as lookB、as lookingC、and lookD、looking6、She doesn't speak ____ her friend，but her written work is excellent.A、as well asB、as often asC、so muchD、as good as7、Which of the following sentences is right？A、Both father and as well as mother love me.B、Father as well as mother loves me.C、Both father as well as mother loves me.D、Not only father but also mother love me.8、You feel ____ you did yesterday，don't you？A、as good asB、as wellC、so goodD、as well as9、I'm sure I was right、It is just ____ I didn't lend him the money.A、so wellB、as well asC、as wellD、the same as1) take part in ; join in ; join ; attendSome of the athletes have competed _______ two Olympic Games.He will compete _____________ seven other athletes from foreign countries. All the players compete ________ honor as well as medal.Last weekend I ___________a wedding.Today women are now______________________ social activities.Would you like to _____ us _____our game:His brother __________ the army last year.2) used to do/ be used to doing /be used to do1. I _________________ (stay ) up late.2. Bamboo can _______________ (use) to make paper.3. He ______________ (like ) smoking, but he give up now.高一英语必修1短语Unit 1 Friendship1. 把…加起来_________________________________总计共达__________________________________把……加到……里_____________________________2. 平静/ 镇静下来_________________________________3. 关心/ 挂念（某人/ 某事）______________________4. 应该/ 有责任做某事______________________________5. 经历/ 经受……；穿过；浏览_____________________6. 躲/ 藏起来_________________________________7. 一连串/ 一系列的______________________________8. 写下/ 记下_________________________________9. 受痛苦/ 受损失/ 受折磨_________________________10. 和某人（很好地）相处___________________________11. 爱上某人/ 某物_________________________________12. 对……着迷________________________________13. 渴望某物/ 迷恋某人_____________________________14. 按照，根据……__________________________________15. 参加（游戏/ 活动）等____________________________16. 如此……以至于……______________________________17. 面对面__________________________________18. 有目的地/ 特意（做某事）_________________________Unit 2 English Around The World1.起着重要的作用____________________________2.因为，由于____________________________3.在某些方面____________________________4母语_____________________5.即使_______________________ 6.与某人交_________________________ 7.基于…，以…为基础_______________________ 8.出席____________________________9.走近，上来____________________________10.接近____________________________11.利用____________________________12.大量的________________________ 13.….的数__________________________14. 例如___________________________ 15. 信不信由你_________________________16. 玩得开心______________________ 17. 请求___________________________18. 命令____________________________ 19. 解决问题_______________________20.一个讲英语的国家___________________________Unit 3 Travel Journal梦想做某事_________________________________毕业于（某大学）_________________________________说服某人做某事_________________________________说服别人不要做某事________________________________使某人对某事感兴趣_________________________________做某事的最好方式_________________________________坚持做某事_________________________________坚持要某人做某事_________________________________改变主意_________________________________在…的高度_______________________________下定决心做某事_________________________________向某人屈服_________________________________穿过深谷_________________________________像往常一样_________________________________鼓励某人做某事__________________________________扎营__________________________________搭帐篷__________________________________迫不及待做某事__________________________________首先其次___________________________________对熟悉___________________________________为某人所熟悉___________________________________创纪录___________________________________破纪录___________________________________把记录下来___________________________________向某人问候___________________________________从别人眼中看世界__________________________________Unit 4 Earthquakes1.握手_________________2.照常__________________3.爆发__________________4.立刻，马上________________5.大量的，许多的_________________6.在---的北边_____________________7.搭起，建造_____________________8.为---而自豪_____________________9.由---来判断_____________________10.作为---而闻名___________________ 11.从---出来_______________________12.太---而不能---___________________ 13.分发，发出（气味等）____________14.被困在废墟中____________________ 15.代替，而不是_____________________16.纪念---，向---表示敬意_____________ 17.数以万计的_______________________18.超过，不仅_______________________ 19.掉下，倒塌_______________________20.结束，终结______________________ 21.挖掘，发现_______________________Unit 5 Nelson Mandela—a modern hero1. 把……送进监狱___________________2.事实上_________________________3.同……作斗争______________________4.上台___________________________5. 犯法______________________6. 无偿的____________________7. 失去信心________________ 8. 在活跃_______________________9. 乐意做某事______________________ 10. 失业_____________________________11. 被阻止做某事______________________12. 以暴制暴__________________________13. 领某人参观某地____________________14. 健康状况良好_______________________15. 爆炸_______________________________16. 要求得到___________________________17. 处于不幸中_________________________18. 为什么而死________________________19. 建议某人做某事____________________20. 作为什么的报酬____________________21. 设立，建立（指建立机构，组织等）_______________22. 被判处……徒刑_________________Unit1--5句型背诵1) I wonder if it’s because I haven’t been able to be outdoors for so long that I’ve grown so crazy about everything to do with nature.（强调句）我不知道这是不是因为我长久无法出门的缘故，我变得对一切与大自然有关的事物都无比狂热。