English News

A Second Term for Karzai; US Jobless Rate at 10.2%

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:36:56 -0400

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Peoplein Afghanistan were supposed to vote again Saturday for president. But earlierthis week the Independent Election Commission declared Hamid Karzai the winnerof a second term. His only remaining opponent had withdrawn. Abdullah Abdullahsaid he did not believe the second vote would be any more fair.

Internationalobservers found widespread cheating in the election in August. Investigatorsrejected almost one-third of the ballots for President Karzai. That denied himthe majority needed to avoid a runoff election.

But Abdullah Abdullah withdrew Sundayafter the president rejected his demands -- including dismissal of the head ofthe election commission.

Westernleaders called on President Karzai to improve governance and security. He toldreporters that he will "continue to make every possible effort," inhis words, to end government corruption.

President Obama says the proof is goingto be not in words but in actions. This week was the first anniversary of hisown election. And one decision weighing heavily on him is whether to sendthousands more troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and al-Qaida.

Histop general there has warned that the eight-year effort to defeat theinsurgency could fail without more troops. Sixty-eight thousand Americans andforty thousand other foreign troops are already in the war.

Critics have accused the president oftaking too long. Administration officials say they expect a decision in the comingweeks.

Thisweek, two American states, Virginia and New Jersey, elected governors. RepublicanParty candidates won both elections. Barack Obama won both states last year,and spent time campaigning for the Democrats in this year's races.

Somepeople said the results showed displeasure with his policies. Others noted thata majority of voters said they did not consider him in their decision.

Next November are the midterm elections.Democrats now control Congress and the White House. But historically the partythat controls the White House suffers losses in elections halfway through apresident's first term.

The economyis starting to improve. But high unemployment and issues like reform of thehealth care system could influence public opinion.

On Thursday, the presidentthanked two groups for giving their support to a health care bill in the Houseof Representatives. One is a doctors group, the American Medical Association.The other is AARP, representing forty million older Americans.

OnFriday President Obama signed into law a bill that extends payments for theunemployed and expands a tax credit for homebuyers.

Butalso Friday, the government reported that the unemployment rate was ten andtwo-tenths percent in October. That was higher than expected, and above tenpercent for the first time in twenty-six years. But job losses have beenslowing.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, writtenby Brianna Blake. I'm Mario Ritter.

150 Years Later, Remembering John Brown's Raid

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:33:09 -0400

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. This week on our program:

A competition to find a spokesmodel for Mother Earth …

And a question from Russia about Kurt Cobain and theband that he led, Nirvana.

But first, a report on a town marking the one hundredfiftieth anniversary of an anti-slavery rebellion.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

Harpers Ferry is a small town in West Virginia. It is ina beautiful area of the Blue Ridge Mountains where the Potomac and Shenandoahrivers come together. Also, the states of West Virginia, Virginia and Marylandmeet in the area. The Appalachian Trail runs through Harpers Ferry. The townhas shops, restaurants and a National Historical Park. Many people visitHarpers Ferry to see a town that looks the same as it did more than one hundredfifty years ago. This year it is celebrating the anniversary of an importanthistorical event. Mario Ritter has more.

MARIO RITTER:

VOAreporter Susan Logue visited Harpers Ferry recently. She spoke to Park RangerDavid Fox. He says the town was very different in eighteen fifty-nine.

Hesays Harpers Ferry was a noisy, dirty, polluted industrial city in what wasthen Virginia, the largest slave state in America.

Itwas also home to the United States Armory and Arsenal, one of only two in thecountry. Weapons for the army were made and stored there.

JohnBrown was an important person in the history of Harpers Ferry. He was anabolitionist. He wanted to end slavery in the United States.

OnOctober sixteenth, eighteen fifty-nine, John Brown led an armed group oftwenty-one men into Harpers Ferry. Their goal was to seize the federal arsenaland use the weapons to arm an anti-slavery rebellion. They wanted to set up agovernment for the United States where slavery would be banned.

JohnBrown and his men seized the arsenal and its one hundred thousand weapons. Theyalso seized the nearby arms factory and a railroad bridge. A battle followed,first involving local armed groups and then the United States Marines. Eighteenpeople were killed. After thirty-six hours, Brown was captured in the buildingthat served as the fire engine and guard house. It is the only armory buildingstill standing. It is now known as John Brown's Fort.

Park Ranger David Fox says this building has differentmeanings to different people.

DAVID FOX: "To some people this building is thescene of a crime, where a murderer and a traitor was captured and brought tojustice. To others, this monument is nothing less than a monument to freedom ona battlefield."

JohnBrown was tried in nearby Charles Town and found guilty of treason and murder.He was executed on December second, eighteen fifty-nine.

Lastmonth, the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and other partners held manyprograms observing the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of John Brown's raid.There were talks, living history re-enactments, special tours, and musical anddramatic events. Visitors to Harpers Ferry can learn about America's history asit brings the past to life.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

The United Stateshas many famous and beautiful women who model clothing and represent companiesor causes. This weekend, Project GreenSearch will announce its selection of a new model for the environmental "GreenRevolution." Barbara Klein has more.

(SOUND)

BARBARA KLEIN:

This modeling competitionis about much more than beauty. ProjectGreen Search is looking for young women who are also concerned about the environment,animal welfare, fair trade and human rights. The judges have chosen ten finalists. We would like to tell you about three of them.

LeilaniMunter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist. She is using her fame as a race car driver tobring environmental issues to the attention of millions of racing fans. Shesays small changes multiplied by millions can make a huge difference.

MizMunter purchases half a hectare of rainforest for every race she drives. She demands that her racing sponsors be eco-friendlyand she is pushing her sport to become more eco-friendly too.

ZionFrancis was a civil engineer and is now a model and actress. She studied sustainable engineering methodsin France. She has been working to support the Green Revolution in the UnitedStates.

MizFrancis has volunteered for social and environmental organizations. They include Engineers for a SustainableWorld, the Sustainable Food Center in Austin, Texas, and the Forest Service inCalifornia. Zion Francis says greenliving is honoring your position as a human, a citizen and a consumer.

VanessaMeier is interested in the animal food production industry. She says that raising animals for food is responsiblefor the release of more greenhouse gases than all forms of transportationcombined. Miz Meier is working tochange this.

Shedoes not eat animals or animal products. She says any discussion about improving the environment must include adiscussion about changing the animal food production industry and changing people'sdiets.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Russia. Alex Shestakov wants to know about KurtCobain and his band, Nirvana.

Kurt Cobain was the lead singer, songwriter andguitarist for the group. Nirvana beganin nineteen eighty-seven in the northwestern state of Washington. The band defined the kind of rock and rollknown as "grunge." It mixes the soundsof hard punk and heavy metal rock and roll.

Grungesongs often express feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and dark humor. The song "Lithium" is a good example. It isfrom the album that brought Nirvana huge fame, "Nevermind."

(MUSIC)

Manycritics would say Kurt Cobain was one of the greatest rock and roll artists ofhis time. But his personal story wastragic.

Cobainhad a serious case of scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, as a child. He also suffered from severe stomach pain hiswhole life. And he struggled with depression.

Cobainbecame dependent on the powerful drug heroin. He also abused other pain-killing drugs and alcohol. Cobain reportedly was always insecure,questioning his worth as a person. He once wrote: "I hate myself and I want todie."

Innineteen ninety-two Kurt Cobain married musician Courtney Love and the couplehad a baby girl. Cobain appeared muchhappier than he had ever been. The nextyear Nirvana released its final studio album. "In Utero" entered BillboardMagazine's top two hundred albums chart in the number one position. "Heart-Shaped Box" was one of the album's hitsingles.

(MUSIC)

Sadly, Kurt Cobain could not break his heroin addictionor win his battle with depression. In April of nineteen ninety-four themusician shot and killed himself at his home in Seattle, Washington. He was only twenty-seven. Thousands of fans attended his memorialservice. We leave you with Kurt Cobain singing "All Apologies" from the Nirvanaalbum, "In Utero."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by JuneSimms, Shelley Gollust and Caty Weaver who was also our producer.

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

So Where Are the Jobs?

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:52:11 -0400

Correction attached

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

America'seconomy has started to grow again. Now what about jobs?

Thegovernment says productivity jumped in July, August and September. That meant companiesproduced more with fewer workers. Also, new claims for unemployment aid felllast week to the lowest number since January.

But eight million jobs have disappeared since therecession began in December of two thousand seven.

Jack Straussat Saint Louis University in Missouri says recent recoveries have been slow tocreate jobs.

JACK STRAUSS: "Historically, during our last tworecessions in ninety-one and two thousand one it's taken twenty-three months inninety-one and about thirty-six months, three years, in our last recession intwo thousand one for the United States to regain the jobs lost in therecession."

Expertsdebate the reason for these so-called jobless recoveries. But Professor Strausssays a banking crisis is especially hard to recover from, because there is lessmoney to lend to support growth. Banks have been holding bigger safetyreserves.

OnWednesday, the Federal Reserve kept its target rate near zero for overnight loansbetween banks. The central bank said levels are likely to remain "exceptionallylow ... for an extended period."

Lowinterest rates and growing federal deficits have weakened the dollar. But that alsolowers the price of American exports, which could help drive job creation. Yetwhere exactly will future jobs come from?

InvestorWarren Buffet says America's "future prosperity" depends on its railsystem. On Tuesday his Berkshire Hathaway company agreed to buy the nation'ssecond-largest railroad, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The forty-fourbillion dollar deal is Berkshire's biggest ever.

The Obama administration is also puttingmoney into transportation to speed recovery. A program that paid Americans tobuy new vehicles with higher fuel economy lifted sales for automakers. Ford justreported a profit of almost a billion dollars for July through September.

A second government program -- a taxcredit for first-time home buyers -- has helped the housing market. These twoprograms fueled a lot of the recent economic growth.

Buteconomist Jack Strauss says credit conditions threaten the main engine of jobgrowth since two thousand one -- small businesses.

Thisweek, CIT, a lender to small and medium sized businesses, sought bankruptcy protectionfrom its creditors so it can reorganize. Taxpayers will likely lose more thantwo billion dollars in federal rescue money.

And that's the VOA Special EnglishEconomics Report, available online at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Mario Ritter.

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Correction: This story said 8 million jobs have disappeared since the recession began in December 2007. The Labor Department reported Friday that the number of unemployed persons has risen by 8.2 million. But job losses as measured in nonfarm payroll employment have totaled 7.3 million.

American History Series: South Sees Protests in North as an Opening

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:12:01 -0400

Welcometo THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English.

America's civil warin the eighteen sixties did not have the full support of the people. Many saidthey did not care who won -- North or South. They just wanted to be left alone.

In the North, manyyoung men refused to be drafted into the Union army. Some of their proteststurned violent.

Southern leaderswere pleased with the anti-war movement in the North. Confederate GeneralRobert E. Lee saw it as a sign of weakness in the northern war effort. He alsosaw it as an opening for a military victory. Lee hoped for a final, decisiveblow that would bring the war to an end.

This week in ourseries, Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe talk about General Lee's campaign north toGettysburg, Pennsylvania.

VOICE ONE:

Gettysburg was asmall town. Many roads came together there. Robert E. Lee needed those roads topull his army together quickly. He had seventy thousand men in all. But theywere spread over a wide area of southern Pennsylvania.

Some were at York,to the east. Some were at Carlisle, to the north. And most were atChambersburg, to the west. All of them were ordered to move against the Unionforce at Gettysburg.

General Robert E.Lee had not planned to go to Gettysburg. He had planned to captureHarrisburg, the state capital, and then Philadelphia. If successful, hewould turn south to seize Baltimore and Washington.

Lee had not worriedabout the large Union Army of the Potomac. He believed it was far behindhim, in Virginia. But Lee was wrong. The Union Army had followed him. Andit had reached Gettysburg first.

VOICE TWO:

The first group ofnorthern soldiers formed a thin line of defense outside Gettysburg. The firstgroup of southern soldiers attacked this line. It was the morning of Julyfirst, eighteen sixty-three.

When the guns beganto roar, both sides hurried more men to the front.

After hours offighting, the Confederates had pushed the Union soldiers back through the town.The Union soldiers formed a new line along a place called Cemetery Hill.

General Robert E.Lee decided not to attack the hill immediately. He would wait for moremen. But as he waited, more and more Union soldiers arrived. Bysunrise the next day, Lee's seventy thousand men faced a Union army of ninety thousandmen.

VOICE ONE:

The Confederatesattacked both sides of the Union line. They moved the Union soldiers a little.But then the Union soldiers came back again. The Confederates could nothold the line.

The fightingstopped at sunset. Union commander George Meade met with his generals. Hesaid he was sure General Lee would attack again the next day. The next attack,Meade said, would be against the center of the Union line.

Meade was right. Lee planned to send fifteen thousand men against the Union center. They wouldbe under the command of General George Pickett.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

When the sun roseon July third, the Union troops were ready. They watched as theConfederate troops set up their cannon. More than one hundred thirty ofthese big guns were aimed at the center of the Union line.

The morning passed.The day grew hotter. A little past one o'clock in the afternoon, a Confederategun fired, once. Then again. That was the signal to attack.

All at once, theConfederate artillery thundered with a deafening roar. The cannon sent iron andsmoke into the Union soldiers on Cemetery Hill. Within minutes, hundredslay dead or dying.

Union artillery onthe hill answered the Confederate cannon. Men lay flat on the ground.They prayed for the shelling to stop. Finally, it did. And the smoke of battlebegan to clear.

VOICE ONE:

Now the Unionsoldiers could see across the valley. They watched as the Confederatesoldiers formed a long line. It was a sight to take your breath away.

Facing CemeteryHill, the Confederates stood shoulder to shoulder in a line almost twokilometers long. Sunlight shone from their guns. Their battle flagswaved. Slowly, the line began to move. It seemed more like a parade than anattack.

Shouts went up anddown the Union line. "Here they come! Here come the rebels!"

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Thousands ofConfederate soldiers moved across the valley outside Gettysburg. Unionartillery opened fire. The guns tore open big holes in the Confederate battleline. But the southerners kept moving forward up the hill.

Union soldiers roseup from behind stone walls and fallen trees. They poured even more gunfire intothe Confederate line. More and more bodies fell to theground. Still, the line moved forward.

A few Confederatesreached the Union line, but not enough to seize it. They were shot down.Suddenly, the Confederates began racing down the hill. Many raised theirhands in surrender. Fifteen thousand began the attack. Only halfreturned.

The battle ofGettysburg was over.

The Union commander,General Meade, was told that the Confederate attack had been broken. Hesaid, simply: "Thank God." The Confederate commander, GeneralLee, said: "This has been a sad day for us, a sad day."

VOICE ONE:

Lee's invasion ofthe North had failed. There was only one thing he could do now: retreat.He must get his army back to Virginia. He could only hope that the UnionArmy was hurt too badly to chase him.

The line of wagonscarrying wounded soldiers was twenty-five kilometers long. Many of thewounded needed treatment. But the wagons were not permitted to stop forany reason.

Suffering wasterrible. An officer who led the wagon train said he learned more aboutthe horrors of war on that one trip than he had learned in all of his battles.

Twenty thousandConfederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or listed as missing in the battleof Gettysburg. Twenty-three thousand Union soldiers were killed, wounded ormissing.

VOICE TWO:

General Meade lostso many men that he was in no hurry to chase General Lee. He believed it mightbe best to let Lee escape than to take a chance on losing what remained of theArmy of the Potomac.

Meade waited for aweek until his army was stronger. But by then, Lee and his men hadcrossed safely back into Virginia.

President AbrahamLincoln was angry. He had told General Meade that driving the Confederates outof the North was not enough. The southern army must be destroyed.

"We hadthem," Lincoln said. "We had only to stretch out our hands and takethem. And nothing I could do or say could make the army move."

VOICE ONE:

President Lincolnbelieved that General Meade had made a mistake. But he felt that the generalhad ability. Lincoln was thankful for what Meade had done at Gettysburg. He said Meade would continue to command the Army of the Potomac.

In November ofeighteen sixty-three, President Lincoln went to Gettysburg. He attended theopening of a new burial place for the Union soldiers who had died in the greatbattle there.

VOICE TWO:

The governor ofPennsylvania had asked the president to say a few words at the ceremony.Lincoln agreed. He felt it was his duty to go to honor the brave men who losttheir lives to save the Union. Lincoln hoped his words might help liftthe spirit ofthe nation.

Lincoln did not havemuch time to prepare his speech. He wrote it down the night before theceremony. Lincoln was sure the speech was not a good one. But it came to be oneof the most famous speeches in American history.

We will tell thestory of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address next week.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were KayGallant and Harry Monroe. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs areonline, along with historical images, at voaspecialenglish.com. And you canfollow our weekly programs on Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us againnext week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOASpecial English.

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This is program #109 of  THEMAKING OF A NATION

High School Exchange Students in US Share Their Thoughts

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:38:51 -0400

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Twenty-sixthousand foreign exchange students are in American high schools this year. Afew days ago, we asked four teenagers who arrived in August to discuss theirexperience so far. All but one are attending public schools in Fairfax County,Virginia, outside Washington.

Johanna is from Germany.

JOHANNA: "The biggest difference for me is therelationship to the teachers. Because here the teachers are more friends, andin Germany they are more like parents and strict and stuff like that."

Anotherdifference? In American high schools, the students are usually the ones who changerooms. Johanna and Daniel come from schools where the teachers change classrooms.

DANIEL: "In Austria, it's more like you have allclasses together with the same group of people. And so you are really goodfriends with like all the people you're in class with, because you know them sincelike four years and you have all classes together with them."

Hande from Turkey is living with a hostfamily in Denver, Colorado. She says students in Turkish schools have lesschoice.

HANDE: "You cannot choose your own classes. Andyou don't have the right to drop out of one of them."

Shesays Turkish schools are also more formal.

HANDE: "When a teacher comes into the class youhave to stand up and greet the teacher. He or she says good morning or goodafternoon or something like that and you all, as a class, you answer. We don'tdo this in class here."

Howdoes the education compare? Hande is in three Advanced Placement classes, whichare meant to prepare students for college.

HANDE: "A.P. courses are really hard and theyreally force you to learn and are really good. But the regular classes, theirlevel is lower than in Turkey."

Rosais from a country where high school is five years, not four like in America.

ROSA: "In Italy we go to school only during themorning and just like for lessons. And Italian schools [don't] have like otheractivities. And whatever we want to do, it's outside the school or on our ownor like private school or association outside."

Onthe other hand, she says, having to go elsewhere for activities is not necessarilya bad thing.

ROSA: "We in Italy, or in Europe, I think, we havea more free environment, if I can say this, because we are in touch with a lotof different things that are outside the school. It's like an American schoolcould be a protective box."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report,written by Nancy Steinbach. To learn more about high school exchange programs,go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find us on YouTube and Twitter at VOALearning English. I'm Bob Doughty.

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High School Exchangesin U.S.

The State Department recognizes about 100 sponsoringorganizations for its Secondary School Student Exchange Visitor Program. These organizationsare responsible for supervising the students and placing them with hostfamilies.

Safety activists say parents should be careful inchoosing a sponsoring organization. Students should never leave their homecountry without knowing who their host family will be. Something else to knowis how the organization investigates families that want to host exchangestudents.

Students in the exchange program must be 15 to 18 1/2years old. They must have no more than 11 years of education (12, if thestudent went to kindergarten) and a good record in school. They must also speakEnglish well. And they must agree to accept the rules of the exchange programand their host family.

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English News

A Second Term for Karzai; US Jobless Rate at 10.2%

150 Years Later, Remembering John Brown's Raid

So Where Are the Jobs?

American History Series: South Sees Protests in North as an Opening

High School Exchange Students in US Share Their Thoughts

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