Child prodigies

Some music artists begin performing(1) as children and never stop. But not all former(2) child stars are successful(3) performers(4) as adults. Julian Lage has been playing the guitar since(5) he was five-years old. Now, he is twenty-one. JULIAN LAGE: I certainly(6) felt(7) it was no effort(8) to play the guitar. It was fun(9), it was really fun. A film called Jules at Eight explores what life(10) for Julian Lage was like(10) when people began(11) to understand the skills(12) he had. He says his parents(13) rejected offers(14) to send(15) him across(16) the country and appear on television. They believed that such(17) offers were not in his best interest. That may be(18) why Julian Lage did not release(19) his first collection of recordings(20) until last March. JULIAN LAGE: I could have recorded(21) when I was younger, but the biggest issue(22) for me was wanting to step forward(23) with more than just the music. Music critics say Lage has an unusual(24) sound. That quality is probably(25) why we are still hearing about(26) him. Psychologist(27) Ellen Winner says moving from child star to adult performer is difficult. ELLEN WINNER: Most of them are unheard(28) of when they grow up(29) to be adults. Winner wrote(30) a book called, Gifted Children(31): Myths(32) and Realities. She says a child prodigy is a boy or girl who becomes skilled(33) in an area that adults invented. The child also becomes skilled in that area very quickly(34). If you want to remain(35) famous, she says, you have to do something in a new way(36). Rasta Thomas is doing that with his company, Bad Boys of Dance. They performed this summer(37) at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, near Washington, D.C. Terrence Jones is a top official with the arts center. He says Thomas is exciting(38) to watch(39) and has widespread(40) appeal(41). He says his music and dancing bring a new and younger crowd(42) to dance performances.

Thomas was called a child prodigy. At the age(43) of fourteen, he won(44) a famous dance competition. Later, he added moves from modern dance, jazz, musical theater and even(45) Michael Jackson. Thomas says he wanted to change ballet from an art form only for a selected few(46). He says he thought(47) about having younger, fresher(48) dancers and making the performances more fun. Rasta and his wife, also a former child prodigy, add playfulness(49) and humor to their dances. Their shows are a big success with both(50) young and old. Im Faith Lapidus.

Coral reefs
The worlds coral reefs(1) are increasingly(2) being threatened(3), mostly(4) because of human activities. A group of environmental(5) organizations released a report(6) on the issue(7) in February. The Reefs at Risk Revisited report used new information and improved(8) satellite mapping systems to study the worlds coral reefs. For the first time(9), it also considered the effect of climate change(10) on these threatened(11) sea organisms. Jane Lubchenco is administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. She says the problem is serious. JANE LUBCHENCO: Approximately 75 percent of the worlds coral reefs are currently(12) threatened by a combination of local and global pressures(13). Lubchenco says the threat to coral reefs will continue to increase unless something is done(14) to save them. JANE LUBCHENCO: If the current trend(15) persists, the projections in this report tell us that 20 years from now(16), roughly half(17) the reefs globally will experience thermal(18) stress sufficient to induce(19) severe bleaching in most years. Within the next 50 years(21) this percentage is expected to grow(22) more than 95 percent. Nancy Knowlton is with the Smithsonian Institution. She says the threat to coral reefs could have a major(23) effect on sea life. NANCY KNOWLTON: Its been estimated that about one at least(24) one quarter, maybe as much as(25) one third, of all species that live in the ocean live associated with coral reefs. So perhaps(26) it is not too surprising(27) that even more(28) recently an analysis was done that suggests that one third of all coral species are actually at risk of extinction. This makes corals the most endangered(29) animal on the planet, even more endangered than frogs(30).

Millions of species of sea life depend on coral reefs for their survival(31). This makes them an important source(32) of food for millions of people around the world. Coral reefs also protect coastlines(33) from storms(34) and flooding(34). And, they provide(36) economic security for many countries. LAURETTA BURKE: Tourism is an important economic contributor(37) in over 95 countries and territories around the world. It contributes over 20 percent of GDP in over 20 countries. Lauretta Burke is with the World Resources Institute. She was one of the lead(38) writers of the report. She says more than 275-million people are dependent on the resources(38) from coral reefs, mostly in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. The report noted overfishing(40) and climate change as two of the most serious threats to the worlds oceans. It said higher acidity levels(41) caused by carbon dioxide emissions are also a problem. Other threats include the use of explosives for fishing, as well as(42) the run-off(43) of toxic materials and other pollution. LAURETTA BURKE: Overfishing is the most widespread(44) threat affecting about 55 percent of the worlds reefs. The threat is particularly high in Southeast Asia. Watershed(45) based pollution and coastal development(46) affect roughly a quarter of the worlds reefs. Burke says while(47) the reefs around Australia are the best preserved, those in Southeast Asia are the most threatened. Ninety percent of them are at risk(48), largely(49) because of(49) overfishing. The report says coral reefs are critically important. It says better management practices and policies(51) must be established(52) to reduce the threats to these valuable(53) ecosystems. Im Christopher Cruise.

Economy pushes spanish to learn english

Spain is struggling(1) with a recession. More than one in five Spaniards(2) are out of work. The unemployment rate(3) is the highest of the seventeen nations that use the euro. But one area of the economy that seems to be(4) doing well(5) is English classes(6). A report(7) this year from the EF Education First company listed Spain(8) is a low proficiency(9) country in English. Spain ranked(10) just below(11) Italy and just above(12) Taiwan.About(13) a fifth(14) of the world speaks Spanish. There are many

Spanish language TV shows and movies. Spaniards can also watch Hollywood movies dubbed(15) in Spanish or news from Latin America. One of the few(16) English voices(17) on Spanish TV belongs to(18) Richard Vaughan. Mr. Vaughan is from Texas but for thirty-five years has lived in Spain. He operates that countrys biggest English teaching company. It even(19) has its own(20) TV channel(21). Aprende Ingles Learn(22) English is Spains only national channel in English. He says people watch(23) his channel and take his classes to get a better job(24). People dont learn English here for cultural reasons(25). Some do. But the motive is always(26), ninety-nine percent of the time, professional. Modern changes(27) in the world economy globalization may offer(28) chances for a better job in another(29) country. But economic problems at home can also make people feel(30) they have few other choices. The director of the language center at the London School of Economics says language learning is up across(31) Europe. In Spain, some of those studying English hope for(32) jobs in Britain or the United States. But others want to work for international companies with offices(33) in Spain. Many companies now require(34) workers to be bilingual.Dominic Campbell is an American who lives in Madrid and teaches English part time(35). He says a lot of jobs now want at least(36) Spanish and English. And a lot of them are asking for(37) Spanish, English and French especially airlines(38). He says many of his students thought(39) Ive got Spanish, thats all I need. But people also need jobs. More than forty percent of Spaniards in their twenties are out of work. Inigo Gomez has an education degree(40) but could not find(41) a teaching job. So I think its a good idea to go to the United Kingdom(42) and try to find a job as a Spanish teacher. And while(43) he does that, many Spaniards for the first time will be spreading(44) their new education in English at home.For VOA Special English, Im Carolyn Presutti. You can learn English and get the latest news every day at voaspecialenglish.com

Face recognition
A new study looks at(1) privacy(2) in a world where computers can increasingly(3) recognize(4) faces in a crowd(5) or online. Alessandro Acquisti at Carnegie Mellon Universitys Heinz College(6) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, led(7) the study. Professor Acquisti says social networks(8) like Facebook and LinkedIn represent some of the worlds largest databases(9) of identities. He sees increasing threats(10) to privacy in facial recognition(11) software and cloud(12) computing the ability to store(13) huge amounts(14) of information in data(15) centers. The convergence of all

these technologies face recognition, social networks, cloud computing and all these advances(16) in data mining(17) are creating this world where you can blend together(18) online and offline data. You can start from an anonymous face and end up with(19) sensitive(20) inferences about that person. Recognition systems measure(21) things(22) like the size and position of a nose, the distance between the eyes and the shape(23) of cheekbones(24). The software compares lots of images to try to identify the person. Facial recognition programs are used in police and security operations. But the software is increasingly popular in other uses, including(25) social media sites. For the study, the Carnegie Mellon team(26) used software from Pittsburg Pattern(27) Recognition, or PittPat. Google bought(28) that company last month. The software can recognize faces in photos and videos. The researchers did three experiments. First, they collected(29) profile(30) photos from a dating website(31). Its users(32) try to protect their privacy by not listing their real name. But comparing their photos to pictures on Facebook identified one out of ten(33) people. In the second experiment, the Carnegie Mellon researchers asked permission to take pictures(34) of students on campus. They compared these to photos on Facebook. This time(35) they correctly identified one-third(36) of the students. In the third experiment, they tried to see how much they could learn about people just from a photo. They found(37) not only(38) names but birthdates(39), personal(40) interests and even(41) locations, when people listed them. And Professor Acquisti says face recognizers(42) keep improving(43). In June, Facebook launched(44) a facial recognition system to help users tag or list the names of people in p hotos. Germany became(45) the first country to declare this software a violation of privacy. For VOA Special English, Im Alex Villarreal.

Facebook finds new friends

Facebook is the worlds biggest social network(1) and the subject(2) of the movie The Social Network. The real Mark Zuckerberg and his friends at Harvard University launched(3) the site in two thousand four. Facebook says it reached(4) five hundred million users(5) last July. Now, the American bank Goldman Sachs and the Russian company Digital Sky Technologies have friended(6) Facebook. They are investing a total of five hundred million dollars in the company. The deal(7) values(8) Facebook at fifty billion dollars more than many publicly traded(9) Internet companies. Goldman Sachs is expected to raise(10) a billion and a half dollars more by selling shares(11) of ownership(12) in Facebook to rich investors(13). The plan does not include a public stock(14) offering at least(15) not right now(16). For

now(17), Facebook would remain(18) a private company(19) meaning(20) a company that does not sell shares to the public. The plan has brought(21) new attention to the largely secretive(22) world of private financing and the rules(23) for private companies in the United States. The idea is that investors(24) in public companies have protections that investors in private companies do not. The Securities and Exchange(25) Commission says a private company must report financial information if it has more than five hundred shareholders(27). A new business, a startup(28) company, is usually considered too risky(29) for average(30) investors. But a promising(31) startup may find(32) a small number of private investors, often(33) known as angels. These investors are willing to lose(34) everything for a chance at big returns. Rikki Tahta has been involved in raising money for startups. He is now chairman(35) of his own investment company, Covestor, with offices in New York and London.Mister Tahta compares the difference between public and private companies to the difference between marriage(36) and dating(37). When people are dating, he says, there are understandings(38) but few(39) rules. In marriage, the rules are more clear and well-defined(40). In his opinion, the only real benefit(41) for a private company is lower(42) administrative and record-keeping(43) costs. Yet(44) he tells us Covestor remains(45) a private company after a few years because it is still too risky(46) for most investors. For VOA Special English Im Alex Villarreal. You can comment on our programs and find transcripts and MP3s at voaspecialenglish.com. Were on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English.

Flying cars are coming

You could fill(1) the sky with all the ideas people have had(2) for flying cars(3). But at this point the Transition is the closest(4) to actually(5) getting to the marketplace(6). So says Carl Dietrich, head(7) of Terrafugia. His company in Massachusetts is developing(8) the Transition Roadable(9) Aircraft. Mr. Dietrich says the Transition is designed(10) to really be a general(11) aviation airplane, like a Cessna or a Piper, a propeller-powered(12) airplane that can fold up(13)its wings(14), drive down the road and park(15) in a singlecar garage. And he says the Transition easily(16) changes to a car in about(17) twenty seconds. The driver(18) folds up the wings and transfers power from a propeller to the wheels(19) for driving on the ground(20). Development(21) began(22) in two thousand six, and the first road and fight tests took place(23) in two thousand nine.

The Transition had to meet(24) federal safety standards(25) for cars and aircraft. Last year the Federal Aviation Administration agreed(26) to let(27) it weigh(28) more than other light(29) sport aircraft. But even(30) fully loaded(31), says Mr. Dietrich, it still weighs about half(32) as much as(33) an average car(34). The windows, for example, weigh less than traditional automotive safety glass (35). Terrafugia got permission(36) for that in June from the National Highway(37) Traffic Safety Administration(38). Carl Dietrich says the aircraft can climb(39) to more than three thousand meters. It can carry(40) two people at speeds over(41) one hundred sixty kilometers an hour in the air. And on the ground it can drive at highway speeds, around(42) one hundred thirteen kilometers an hour. The plane needs an airport for takeoffs(43) and landings(44) and pilot training(45) for the driver but it uses automotive gasoline. The company(46) expects to complete the building process(47) for its flying cars within(48) the next few months. Then it will begin an intensive yearlong testing program. Terrafugia expects the Transition to reach(49) market by the end of twentytwelve, at a price(50) of around two hundred fifty thousand dollars. Carl Dietrich says nearly(51) one hundred people have already signed up(52) as buyers(53). He hopes to sell(54) as many as a thousand a year in the near future. He says: That will not have any appreciable(55) or noticeable(56) impact on the air traffic control infrastructure in the foreseeable(57) future today. Now, twenty years down the road, who knows? For VOA Special English, Im Carolyn Presutti. For more technology stories and activities for people learning English, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

Hubble telescope: 20 years in orbit

The Hubble Space Telescope continues to make valuable(1) discoveries(2) after more than twenty years in orbit around Earth(3). Hubble recently showed a fourth moon(4) orbiting Pluto(5). Astronomers temporarily named(6) it P4. The moon is the smallest(7) to be discovered around the icy(8) dwarf planet(9). Astronomers estimate that the moon is from thirteen to thirty-four kilometers across. They first saw(10) it in a Hubble photo taken(11) on June twenty-eighth. The American space agency NASA launched(12) the Hubble Space Telescope in nineteen ninety. Reaching(13) that day took years(14) of work. Ed Weiler is NASAs chief astronomer. Mr. Weiler has worked closely(15) with the Hubble program since(16) nineteen seventy-nine. He says that when the Hubble was launched, it represented an increase(17) in the ability(18) of other telescopes on Earth by a factor of ten. He says the last time(19) in astronomy that something like this(20) happened(21) was when Galileo put the first telescope to his eye.

NASAs first chief of astronomy was Nancy Grace Roman. Ms. Roman joined(22) NASA in nineteen fifty-nine. She led(23) the effort(24) that resulted in the creation of the Hubble Space Telescope. She says astronomers had been wanting(25) to get(26) observations from above(27) the atmosphere for a long time(28). Looking through(29) the atmosphere is somewhat like (30) looking through a piece(31) of old, stained glass(32). The glass has defects in it, so the image is blurred(33) from that. The Hubble telescope orbits about(34) five hundred fifty kilometers above Earth. Ms. Roman says she still(35) remembers the first images that it captured. For her, the image that was most striking(36) was the center of a globular cluster(37). Each(38) individual star and its color could be seen(39). The Hubble Space Telescope has helped expand our knowledge(41) of the universe. It helped scientists estimate(42) that the universe began(42) about fourteen billion years ago. Earlier(43) estimates had placed(44) it between(45) ten and twenty billion years old. The Hubble telescope also confirmed the existence of black holes(46). These are extremely dense masses believed to exist(47) at the center of most galaxies. Their gravitational pull(48) is so strong(49), they absorb light. The Hubble Space Telescope completed its one millionth(50) scientific observation in July. NASA is building(51) a new space telescope to look even deeper(52) into the beginnings(53) of the universe. For VOA Special English, Im Alex Villarreal.

More women are playing football in the USA

American football has replaced(1) baseball as Americas favorite sport. Football has traditionally been played by men big men who like to hit(2). However(3), in the past few years, there has been(4) an increase(5) in the number of womens football leagues(6). The women play by the same rules(7) and with the same level(8) of physical contact as the mens sport. Tarsha Fain is team captain(9) of the Baltimore Nighthawks(10).TARSHA FAIN: I feel women can do anything(11) a man can do. The same way(12) they get out there(13) and hit, we get out there and hit too. Fain and team owner(14) Tanya Bryan were part of the first ever(15) womens World Championship(16) last year. The American team with Fain playing and Bryan serving as team manager(17) won(18) the gold medal. TANYA BRYAN: To be the first, the first time it was done(19), and be part of it, you know, no one else(20) can ever say that. So its just a wonderful feeling(21). Im so proud(22) of that. About(23) ten womens professional football leagues have been formed in the United States in recent years. Many have either(24) joined(25) with other leagues or failed(26). But the sport continues to grow(27).

Ghoncheh Mossanen is an offensive specialist for the Nighthawks. She played football for 28 years. Mossanen says the sport is her therapy(28). what she looks forward(29) to the most. GHONCHEH MOSSANEN: I theres a transformation when I go from putting on(30) my gear(31) stepping(32) on this football field(33).

has It is feel and

Its a huge(34) mental transformation. Mossanen moved(35) to America from Iran as a child. She remembers the first time she ever played football at a game(36) in her neighborhood(37). GHONCHEH MOSSANEN: I remember getting the phone call(38) from my cousin(39) saying come on out(40), we need one more person to play. I didnt know what it was. I had never played(41) the game and I remember going out there and just fell in love with(42) it. Most of(43) the other players on the Nighthawks have also(44) played since(45) they were children. Most played unofficially or in non-contact leagues. But for team owner Tanya Bryan, womens football was a completely new experience. TANYA BRYAN: Its funny(46), I didnt even realize(47) the sport existed for women. And I got a phone call from a friend of mine(48) and she said there was(49) an opportunity to own(50) a team in Baltimore. And I thought(51) it sounded(52) really exciting(53) and I said yes, and four years later here I am. When Bryan bought(54) the team she did not expect to make money right away(55). After four years, she is no longer losing(56) money. But Bryan says what was most important to her was giving young women(57) a chance to play ball. TANYA BRYAN: Most of the time as women growing up were told, you know not to be aggressive, and you know not to be assertive(58). And its nice to have an outlet(59) where you can come somewhere and let(60) all of that out. You know you can be loud(61). You can hit somebody. You can just let it all go. And you know I think its really, its really healthy(62), you know. Great athleticism(63) is required(64) for football and the team camaraderie(65) is just fantastic. The teamwork was great in the teams recent game against(66) the Philadelphia Firebirds. After a slow(67) first half(68), the Nighthawks score(69) and hang on(70) for an 8-0 win. GHONCHEH MOSSANEN: Its elation(71)! I mean(72) the team deserves(73) it. Weve been playing hard. Its amazing(74). Now its our chance to make the championship. The Nighthawks did not win the championship. But, they say having a chance to play this traditionally mens sport against other women is itself(75) a victory. Im Faith Lapidus.

Pinball machines
David Silverman loves pinball machines(1).

DAVID SILVERMAN: Ive been collecting(2) pinball machines about(3) 30 years. Most of(4) my life, Ive been involved somehow(5) in pinball, whether(6) its thinking about buying a game or playing games in different places(7) when I saw(8) them. People of all ages(9) like pinball. The game awards points the longer(11) the ball stays in play. But be careful(12)! One wrong move(13) and the ball drops(14), ending the game. Today, Silverman owns(15) the National Pinball Museum in Washington. He says his interest started with a game he played in Spain(16) 30 years ago. DAVID SILVERMAN: And that game, fortunately(17) or unfortunately(18), started me on this collecting phase, which was not with the intention of doing anything but playing the game. I dont know what happened(19). I just kept buying(20) games and buying games, and it really is a blur(21). Its like almost(22) 30 years of a blur! But today the blur has ended at about 900 games. Silverman says he got serious about pinball 15 years ago. DAVID SILVERMAN: I started seriously collecting for the purpose(23) of building a museum. What pinball shows(24) in the almost hundred years of its existence is the development(25) of the United States. If you take(26) any period of American history and, say okay the 60s, an d you follow(27) the games that were made, the pinball games that were made in the 60s, you would see exactly what took place(28) during(29) the 60s. Besides(30) it being a historic timeline(31) of events, its an artistic timeline. Its a cultural timeline and, of course(32), its still(33) a game, so the game improved(34). Yet(35) pinball is more than just a look at history. DAVID SILVERMAN: I play pinball as an enjoyment(36), and I play it as a game to get better(37) at. So I play it with seriousness(38) and I play it with fun(39). To me, a good portion of the excitement(40) of a pinball machine is what the sound is. The sound tells you whats going on(41) with the story. If its just a huge(42) jumble(43) of noise(44), then you have to be a helluva(45) lot better pinball player than I am because I really want to hear(47) whats going on. It tells me I have done something. It tells me you missed(48) it. But can pinball survive(49) in the world of electronic games? DAVID SILVERMAN: The three dimensionality(50) of pinball, Im not talking pinball on the computer, Im talking about the real pinball machine, to me thats the hope(51) of pinball, to get these kids seeing what pinball is or was before so they can be interested in continuing playing it. One of the many points of this museum was to start a little fire(52) under people in terms of, not just(53) seeing pinball as a game to play, but as pinball a piece(54) of historic art. Silverman estimates he has spent(55) almost two million dollars on pinball games over the past 30 years(56).

DAVID SILVERMAN: Its obviously(57) a passion. Im hoping to make [it] a passion of a lot of other people. David Silverman says his investment is in history and the love of th game. Im Barbara Klein.

Plastic pollution in the ocean

Marcus Eriksen is not really fishing(1). He is catching(2) plastic in the Atlantic Ocean. Eriksen wants to publicize(3) the growing buildup(4) of plastic waste(5) in our oceans and to study its effects. MARCUS ERIKSEN: These are five sub-tropical gyres(6) in the world where the majority(7) of the plastic in the world accumulates. ANNA CUMMINS: The gyre is formed by ocean currents that couple with(8) the spinning(9) of the Earth(10), the Earths rotation. And what happens(11) is that you have, effectively, a massive whirlpool(12), this large spinning system, where debris(13) can accumulate. Anna Cummins and her husband Marcus Eriksen set up(14) a not-for-profit(15) group called the 5 Gyres Institute. It helps researchers(16) with studies of plastic pollution(17) in the oceans. Cummins says plastic bags and bottles(18) have little or no value after they are used. Most plastic waste can be found(19) in solid-waste landfills(20) or along rivers. A lot of this waste also washes out to sea(21). ANNA CUMMINS: This becomes(22) a problem in the marine environment(23) because plastics are designed to last forever(24). They dont break down, they cant be digested by marine organisms and they persist in the ocean for thousands of years. When sailing(25), Eriksen and Cummins gather(26) objects from the oceans surface(27). Hundreds of things they caught(28) have gone to a California laboratory for testing. ANNA CUMMINS: What shocked me the most(29) on all these trips(30) is to cross(31) an ocean, to cross for thousands and thousands of miles, and find that every single sample(32) we pull up(33) has plastic. Some plastics stay in large pieces(34) for a long time. But many break down into smaller particles. ERIKSEN: The plastic out there(35). Its not a condensed island of trash(36). Its really spread out(37). And its this plastic soup(38), that is from continent to continent. Animals mistakenly(39) eat the smaller pieces of plastic or feed(40) them to their young.

ANNA CUMMINS: Roughly(41) 43 percent of all marine mammals(42), 86 percent of all sea turtle(43) species and 44 percent of sea bird(44) species have been found with plastics in or around their bodies. Thirty-five percent of the samples of fish that we collected in the north Pacific had plastic in their stomachs(45). 5 Gyres Institute and its partners(46) are now studying how plastics enter the oceans food supply(47) and their effects on human health(48) ANNA CUMMINS: I had a chance to do whats called a body burden(49) analysis on my own blood(50). We looked into my blood serum(51) to find, do I have the same chemicals that we know stick to(52) plastic. And we found in my blood trace levels(53) of PCBs, DDT, PFCs and higher levels of flame retardants(54). We dont know how these chemicals entered my body. As a woman, I know that these chemicals in my body will pass on to the next generation. Marcus Eriksen and his partners used 15,000 empty(55) plastic bottles to build a boat they called JUNKraft. In 2008, they sailed from California through(56) the North Pacific Gyre. MARCUS ERIKSEN: The North Pacific Gyre, its surprising(57) if you go only 1,000 miles off the coast of California, which is 7,000 miles from Japan, you still(58) get a lot of Japanese and Chinese plastic. Eriksen and Cummins say the seas of plastic waste will be with us for a long time. But they believe there are solutions. MARCUS ERIKSEN: The solutions, they dont begin on the ocean. They begin on land(59). ANNA CUMMINS: We also need to improve(60) our recycling(61) infrastructure. Here in this country, in the United States, we only recover(62) and recycle roughly five percent of our plastics. Re-using plastics is one way. The husband and wife team say they support(63) the wider(64) use of biodegradable materials. They want more products redesigned so they can be used again and again(65). And they believe that people around the world need to understand the problem of plastic waste and its effect on the environment and our health. Im Shirley Griffith.

Sam Houston memorial

Sam Houston was larger than life(1). The city of Huntsville, Texas, has a 20meter-tall(2) statue of him. It is said(3) to be the largest statue of any American hero(4).

Nearby(5), the Sam Houston Memorial Museum holds(6) many of his belongings(7). Patrick Nolan is the director. PATRICK NOLAN: He is really the only(8) man in our history who was president of an independent country, also(9) governor(10) of two different states, the only man to have that distinction, Tennessee and Texas, United States senator(11) from Texas, commanding general in a very successful(12) war. Sam Houston suffered(13) personal and political defeats(14) early in life. In 1832, he joined(15) American settlers(16) in what was then the Mexican territory of Texas. PATRICK NOLAN: The idea of remaking(17) yourself, of rekind ofconstituting your career(18), if you will(19), was there, and Texas was an opportunity to do that. Sam Houston led(20) Texas rebels(21) to victory against(22) a larger Mexican army(23) at the battle(24) of San Jacinto in 1836. Texas won (25) independence from Mexico before joining the United States. Houston became(26) governor of the new state, but was forced to retire to his farm in Huntsville in 1861. Nolan says Houston refused(27) to sign(28) an oath(29) to support(30) rebellious southern states (31) against the north. PATRICK NOLAN: He would not take that oath to support the Confederacy. He would resign(32) he didnt resign, he would be dismissed(33), he would be fired(34) before he would do it. The Civil War was still being fought(35) when Sam Houston died(36) at his home in 1863. James Haley has studied his life. He says Sam Houston and his wife owned slaves(37), but paid(38) them for extra work. He says Houston angered(39) many southerners (40) because he opposed efforts(41) to expand slavery(42) to other states. JAMES HALEY: Every year, he had a speaking tour(43) up the Ohio Valley, through(44) Pennsylvania, New York and into New England. That was really the center of his political strength(45), because he was unpopular in the South because of his stance(46) against slavery. Sam Houston predicted(47) the Civil War years before the fighting started. JAMES HALEY: The South will go down(48), I think he said, in a sea of smoke(49) and ruin and that will be the end of the South as we know it, and the North will think theyve won this big victory. He said the North will have its own price(50) to pay; they will reap(51) a harvest(52) of assassination. One week after the main(53) Confederate army surrendered(54), President Abraham Lincoln was murdered(55). Haley says Sam Houston freed(56) all his slaves before he died. The money he gave(57) them helped some become

educated and start businesses(58). Sam Houston continues to interest people, and his influence in Texas remains strong(59). Im Barbara Klein.

Security technology after September eleven

Much has been done(1) to improve(2) security in the United States since(3) the terrorist attacks of September eleventh, two thousand one. Intelligence sharing(4) and cooperation between(5) federal, state and local government agencies is said to be(6) at an all-time high(7). There have also been(8) improvements(9) in airport security. But a new report says the United States is not as safe as should be(10). It says America is not yet(11) prepared for a truly(12) catastrophic disaster. The report is from the National Security Preparedness(13) Group at the Bipartisan Policy(14) Center. The group is led by(15) former(16) New Jersey governor Thomas Kean and former congressman Lee Hamilton of Indiana. The two men also led the 9-11 Commission. Congress established the commission to investigate the hijacking(17) attacks and to make proposals(18) for guarding against(19) future attacks. The new report noted that nine of the reforms proposed by the commission have either(20) been carried out(21) ineffectively or completely ignored. For example, the 9-11 Commission found(22) that communication problems were a major issue(23) during(24) the attacks ten years ago. Police, firefighters(25) and medical crews(26) had trouble talking to each other(27) because they were using different radio frequencies. Officials said this lack of(28) communication led to needless(29) loss(30) of life. The commission said the government should identify radio frequencies that would be used only for emergency communications. However(31), this has yet to be done(32). Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented on the report. She said radio frequencies for first responders(33) was an issue she had worked on in the Senate and is long overdue(34) for completion(35). On another issue, border(36) security, she said We have emphasized(37) innovation. For example, we are now using sophisticated new biometric screening tools to improve border security and the visa(39) process. The report praised(40) the deployment(41) of US-Visit, a biometric entry(42) system in the United States. The US-Visit system uses digital fingerprints(43) and photographic images to identify(44) people entering the United States. The report notes that a similar system for those leaving(45) the country has yet to be established. It says such a system(46) could have helped officials find two of the hijackers(47) involved in the 9-11 attacks. For VOA Special English, Im Alex Villarreal. To read and listen to more stories and to learn English, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

September eleven: 10 years

THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. Im Bob Doughty. FAITH LAPIDUS: And Im Faith Lapidus. Nearly(1) three thousand people were killed(2) in the attacks against(3) the United States on September eleventh, two thousand one. Early(4) that morning, terrorists hijacked(5) four passenger airplanes. Two planes struck(6) the World Trade Center in New York City. Another hit(7) the Pentagon building(8), just across the river from Washington, D.C. Passengers on the fourth plane are said to have fought(9) the hijackers(10). Their plane crashed(11) on a field(12) in western Pennsylvania. The victims(13) were from the United States and many other nations. It was the worst(14) terrorist attack in American history. But for many people, the event does not feel like(15) history. Today, we hear some of the ways(16) the nine eleven attacks changed lives around the world. BOB DOUGHTY: The attack on the World Trade Centers Twin Towers(17) not only destroyed those buildings, it changed the personality of the surrounding(18) neighborhood(19). In the past ten years, the area has moved away from(20) its business(21) centered past to a family friendly(22) area now called the Diaper(23) District. FAITH LAPIDUS: Stephanie Hryckowian is the daughter(24) of a Ukrainian immigrant who owned(25) the Beekman Deli. The family business served office workers(26) from the Twin Towers for twenty-five years. Then, the nine eleven attacks changed her life forever. She remembers her reaction to the killing(27) of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. STEPHANIE HRYCKOWIAN: When the president said they got(28) Osama, I sat(29) there crying, because I was so happy. FAITH LAPIDUS: The Beekman Deli went from earning(30) twenty-five thousand dollars a week profit(31) to nothing. STEPHANIE HRYCKOWIAN: We were sitting pretty before that [9/11]. After that, it all disappeared(32). FAITH LAPIDUS: The delicatessen failed(33). The place where it once stood(34) is now an automated teller machine(35) for a bank. BOB DOUGHTY: Nearby(36) is one of the office buildings formerly(37) served by the Beekman Deli. Like(38) many older buildings in Lower Manhattan, its businesses left(39) after the September eleventh attacks. It was then developed(40) into housing(41). Lower Manhattan is now home to fifty-six thousand people. That is more than two times the number it had ten years ago. Real estate agent(42) Luis Vazquez is among(43) the newcomers(44).

LUIS VAZQUEZ: Today, the Financial District has the highest(45) concentration of households(46) with children in the city. BOB DOUGHTY: So many families, in fact(47), that The New York Times newspaper has called the area the Diaper District. It is not uncommon to see mothers pushing baby strollers(48) down the side streets. FAITH LAPIDUS: Jocelyn Zoland is a mother. She saw (49) one of the planes strike the World Trade Center. JOCELYN ZOLAND: Its nice to see that in the shadow(50) of that there are all these children and there are all these activities, and it has become(51) a wonderful destination. Well see if things change though(52). FAITH LAPIDUS: Ms. Zoland says that change could include millions of visitors to the area with the completion(53) of a nine eleven museum at Ground Zero. In addition(54), tens of thousands of office workers will occupy Freedom Tower, a skyscraper(55) being built(56) to replace(57) the Twin Towers. BOB DOUGHTY: But the Beekman Deli is gone(58). Many other businesses are still closed. Stephanie Hryckowian says what did not disappear was the Delis responsibility to pay taxes(59) and make rent payments(60) through two thousand four. That cost her five hundred thousand dollars in savings(61). She now rents out her home and lives with family members. STEPHANIE HRYCKOWIAN: We have no health insurance(62). We have no 401K(63). We have no retirement fund(64). We have nothing after 9/11. BOB DOUGHTY: Lower Manhattan has been rebuilding from what happened ten years ago. But Stephanie Hryckowian is unemployed(65) and still struggling(66) to deal with(67) the effects of the attacks.

Speaking more than one language is good for the brain

In the early(1) nineteen fifties, researchers(2) found(3) that people scored(4) lower(5) on intelligence tests if they spoke(6)more than one language. Research in the nineteen sixties found theopposite(7). So which is it? Researchers presented their newest(8) studies in February at a meeting(9) of the American Association for theAdvancement (10) of Science. The latest evidence shows(11) that being bilingual does not necessarily make people smarter(12). But researcher Ellen Bialystok says it probably(13) does make you better at certain skills(14). She says: Imagine driving down the highway(15).There are(16) many things that could(17) capture your attention and you really need to be able to(18) monitor all of them.

Why would bilingualism make you any better at that?And the answer, she says, is that bilingual people are often(20) better at controlling their attention a function called the executive control system. She says it is possibly the most important cognitive system we have. It is where all of our decisions about what to attend to(21), what to ignore and what to process are made. Ms. Bialystok is a psychology professor at York University in Toronto, Canada. She says the best method to measure(22) the executive control system is called the Stroop(23) Test. A person is shown words in different colors. The person has to ignore the word(24) but say the color. The problem is that the words are all names of colors. She explains(25): So you would have the word blue written(26) in red, but you have to say red. But blue is just lighting up(27) all these circuits in your brain(28), and you really want to say blue. So you need a mechanism to override(29) that so that you can say red. Thats the executive control system.Her work shows that bilingual people continually practice this function. They have to, because both(30) languages are active in their brain at the same time(31). They need to suppress(32) one to be able to speak in the other. This mental exercise might(33) help in other ways(34), too. Researchers say bilingual children(35) are better able to separate a word from its meaning(36), and more likely(37) to have friends from different cultures. Bilingual adults are often four to five years later than others in developing dementia or Alzheimers disease(39). Foreign language(40) study has increased(41) in the United States. But linguist Alison Mackey at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. points out(42) that Englishspeaking countries are still far behind(43) the rest of the world. For VOA Special English Im Carolyn Presutti.

Tracking mobile devices

American lawmakers(1) have expanded an investigation into the use of location-tracking(2) systems on mobile devices(3). This follows(4) recent reports about the storing(5) of information on the Apple iPhone, iPad and iTouch. Questions have also been raised(6) about Google Android devices. Some people consider location tracking to be a threat(7) to personal privacy(8) and security. Allan Friedman is the research(9) director for technology and innovation at the Brookings Institution in Washington. He says all wireless(10) companies do some amount of(11) location tracking as part of their networks(12). Mr. Friedman says this information is usually(13) stored by the companies, not the devices, and there are laws(14) to protect it. He says: Law enforcement(15), for example, has to have a fairly(16) high standard(17) before it can access that data(18). And the phone company is also

prohibited from selling(19) that information.Congress discussed the issue(20) of mobile privacy last year. Now, two researchers reported that location tracking information is being stored directly on Apple devices. They said Apples newest(21) operating systems gather(22) global positioning system and timestamp(23) information. The information is stored on the device in a file(24) that is also uploaded to any computer that the device is connected to. The researchers say the information is available(25) to anyone who has access to the device or computer. Allan Friedman says applications that a user(26) buys or get tricked(27) into downloading might also be able(28) to access this data and somehow(29) misuse(30) it.Apple said it is not tracking the location of your iPhone. The company said the phone simply(31) keeps(32) a database(33) of Wi-Fi hotspots(34) and cell phone towers(35) near the users location. Apple said this is meant(36) to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately(37) calculate its location when requested(38). In late April, leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent(39) letters to some of the leading(40) mobile device developers(41). These include Apple and Google. The letters asked for more information about their location tracking systems. Allan Friedman says there should be(42) stronger(43) controls over things like(44) location data. He says we need to understand who is getting(45) this information, how long(46) are they keeping it and what exactly(47) they are doing with it.For VOA Special English, Im Carol Presutti. For more stories about technology and for English teaching activities, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

Trying a new way to stop Dengue

Dengue fever(1) feels like(2) a severe(3) case of the flu(4), including pain(5) in the muscles(6) and joints(7). The World Health Organization says there may be(8) fifty million dengue infections every year. Deaths(9) are rare(10), fewer than(11) thirteen thousand a year. But dengue has spread(12) sharply(13) since(14) the nineteen seventies. The disease(15) is found mostly(16) in cities. The WHO says forty percent of the worlds population is now at risk(17) in more than one hundred countries. Southeast Asia and the Western(18) Pacific are the most affected. Dengue is also found in Africa, the Americas and the eastern(19) Mediterranean. There is no vaccine against(20) dengue and no special treatment(21). Scott Ritchie of James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, says control efforts(22) target(23) the mosquitoes that spread dengue. He says the only way(24) to control it is through(25) the use of pesticides chemicals and perhaps(26) community education. But some mosquitoes are

getting resistant(27) to those pesticides. He and other scientists from Australia and the United States are working on a different plan of attack. They blocked the growth(28) of dengue virus in mosquitoes by infecting them with a kind of(29) bacteria called Wolbachia pipientis. Wolbachia is commonly(30) found in fruit flies(31) and is safe(32) for people. The researchers(33) released(34) mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia into an indoor(35) test area filled with(36) uninfected(37) mosquitoes. The infected ones mated with(38) the uninfected ones and successfully(39) spread the bacteria. The researchers then tried(40) their experiment outdoors(41). Over(42) a two-month period they released more than three hundred thousand infected mosquitoes in two Australian towns. Scott ONeill at Monash University in Melbourne says the mosquitoes quickly(43) infected wild(44) populations just as(45) they had in the indoor test. Once(46) the release has stopped, the Wolbachia continued to increase(47) until(48) the experiments ended. Next(49), the plan is to do tests over the next two to three years in an area where many people are infected with dengue. The researchers described(50) their work in two papers published in the journal Nature.Mosquitoes also(51) spread malaria. The kind of mosquito that injects the malaria parasite into the people it bites(52) is most active around sunset(53) and sunrise. So bed nets(54) can help protect people while(55) they sleep. But the mosquito that spreads dengue, Aedes aegypti, is most active during the day.For VOA Special English, Im , Im Alex Villarreal.