Third Book of English Readings - M.C. Enrique Ruiz Díaz, For You

The Third Book of English Readings of M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz, for Your English!.
The Third Book

of English Readings of
M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz,
for Your English!.
The empires of the futures are the empires of the mind.

Churchill, Winston.
From Theme 151 to 200. All rights reserved.

Go to: https://sites.google.com/site/mcenriqueruizdiaz/
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The Third Book

of English Readings of
M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz,
for Your English!.
All rights reserved.
Con ttulo y cdula profesional 5632071

en la Maestra en Ciencias de la Computacin.
Egresado del Instituto Tecnolgico de Orizaba. Veracruz, Mxico.
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Acerca de M.
Titulado en la Maestra en Ciencias en Ciencias de la Computacin, Cdula
profesional 5632071. Egresado del Instituto Tecnolgico de Orizaba, Ver., Mxico.
Antes, me Titul en la Licenciatura en Informtica, Cdula profesional 4046033.
Egresado del Instituto Tecnolgico de Tuxtepec, Oax., Mxico, distinguindome
adems, por ser el mejor promedio de mi generacin con 98%.
Bien, regresando al tema de mi Ttulo de Maestra en Ciencias de la Computacin,

para subrayar que sta, requiri el desarrollo de una TESIS. Otro aspecto muy
importante, fue que durante el desarrollo de mi Maestra escrib un ARTICULO,
mismo que fue aceptado para publicacin y con mi ponencia en el evento 'Primer
Encuentro de Estudiantes en Ciencia de la Computacin - E2C2' ISBN-10:970-360404-8 e ISBN-13:978-970-36-0404-3 celebrado en el Instituto Politcnico
Nacional, Mxico, D.F. 2007.
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Mi Diploma por mi Ponencia en el Instituto Politcnico

Nacional, durante mis estudios de Maestra, Mxico, D.F. 2007.
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A single hour a day, steadily given to the study of some interesting

subject, brings unexpected accumulations of knowledge.
William Ellery Channing
All successful people men and women are big dreamers.
They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect,
and then they work every day toward their distant vision,
that goal or purpose.
Brian Tracy
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You have the Index at the End of this

Document.
T tienes el ndice al final de este
Documento.
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Texts from 151 to 160.
Your library is your paradise.

Erasmus, Desiderius.
You can become an even more excellent person by constantly setting
higher and higher standards for yourself and then by doing everything
possible to live up to those standards.
Brian Tracy.
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151. President Theodore Roosevelt Decides to Build the

Panama Canal.
The Panama Canal.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America.
(MUSIC)
I'm Maurice Joyce. Today, Richard Rael and I tell the story of the Panama Canal.
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VOICE TWO:
For many years, people had dreamed of building a canal across central America to link the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans. The most likely place was at the thinnest point of land: Panama. Another
possible place was to the north: Nicaragua. President Roosevelt appointed a committee to decide
which place would be better.
Engineers said it would cost less to complete a canal that had been started in the eighteen eighties
in Panama. But the United States would have to buy the land and building rights from a French
company. The price was high: more than one hundred million dollars.
So, the committee decided it would be less costly, overall, to build a canal in Nicaragua. The
proposal went to the United States Congress for approval.
VOICE ONE:
The House of Representatives quickly passed a bill to build the Nicaragua canal. Then the French
company reduced its price for the land and building rights in Panama. It decided some money was
better than no money at all.
President Roosevelt was pleased. He gave his support to the Panama plan. When the Senate
began debate, however, it appeared the Nicaragua plan would win.
Then a volcano exploded in the caribbean area. A city was destroyed. Thirty-thousand people
were killed. Soon, reports said another volcano had become active and was threatening a town.
The volcano was in Nicaragua. Nicaragua's president denied there were any active volcanoes in
his country. But one of Nicaragua's postal stamps showed a picture of an exploding volcano.
That little stamp weakened support for the Nicaragua canal. The Senate passed a bill for a Panama
canal, instead. The House of Representatives changed its earlier decision. It approved the Senate
bill.
VOICE TWO:
At that time, Panama was a state of Colombia. Canal negotiations between America and Colombia
did not go smoothly. After nine months, the United States threatened to end the talks and begin
negotiations with Nicaragua. The threat worked.
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In January, nineteen-oh-three, Colombia signed a treaty to permit the United States to build the
Panama Canal. The treaty gave the United States a canal zone. This was a piece of land ten
kilometers wide across Panama. The United States could use the canal zone for one hundred
years. In exchange, it would pay Colombia ten million dollars, plus two hundred fifty thousand
dollars a year.
The United States Senate passed the treaty within two months. The Colombian Senate rejected
it. The Colombian government demanded more money.
VOICE ONE:
President Roosevelt was furious. He saw the issue in terms of world politics...not simply
Colombia's sovereignty. He said: "I do not think Colombia should be permitted to bar permanently
one of the future highways of civilization." Roosevelt was ready to take over Panama to build the
canal.
That was not necessary. A revolt was being planned in Panama to gain independence from
Colombia. The United States made no promises to support the rebels. But it wanted the rebels to
succeed.
Under an old treaty, Colombia had given the United States the right to prevent interference with
travel across Panama. Now, the United States used the old treaty to prevent interference from
Colombian troops. Several American warships were sent to Panama.
VOICE TWO:
The local leader of the Panamanian revolt was Manuel Amador. Amador had the support of the
French company that still owned the rights to build the Panama Canal. The chief representative
of the company was Philippe Bunau-Varilla. He worked closely with an American lawyer, William
Cromwell.
Bunau-Varilla and Cromwell provided Manuel Amador with a declaration of independence, a
constitution, and money. Amador used the money to buy the support of the Colombian military
commander in Panama City, the capital. He also got the support of the governor, who agreed to
let himself be arrested on the day of the revolt.
Amador formed a small army of railroad workers and fire fighters.
The rebel army planned to take over Panama City on November fourth, nineteen-oh-three. Just
before that date, five hundred Colombian soldiers landed at Colon, eighty kilometers away.
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The soldiers could not get to Panama City, however. All but one railroad car had been moved to
the capital.
VOICE ONE:
Manuel Amador gave a signal. The revolution began. There was a little shooting, but no one was
hurt. Most of the shots were fired into the air to celebrate the call for Panama's independence.
Colombian officials were arrested quickly. Then Amador made a speech. He said:
"Yesterday, we were slaves of Colombia. Today, we are free. President Theodore Roosevelt has
kept his word. Long live the Republic of Panama! long live President Roosevelt!"
Colombia asked the United States to help it re-gain control of Panama. The United States refused.
It said it would oppose any attempt by Colombia to send more forces there. The United States
also recognized Panama's independence. And, almost immediately, it started negotiations with
the new government on a canal treaty.
VOICE TWO:
The two sides reached agreement quickly. The treaty was almost the same as the one the
Colombian Senate had rejected earlier. This time, however, the canal zone would be sixteen
kilometers wide, instead of ten. And the United States would get permanent control of the canal
zone.
The treaty was signed on November eighteenth, nineteen-oh-three. That was just fifteen days
after Panama declared its independence.
VOICE ONE:
Colombia protested. It said the United States had acted illegally in Panama. Many American
citizens protested, too. They called President Roosevelt a pirate. They said he had acted
shamefully. Some members of Congress questioned the administration's deal with the French
canal company in Panama. Several investigations examined the deal.
Theodore Roosevelt did not care. He was proud of his success in getting the canal started. He said:
"I took the canal zone and let Congress debate. And while the debate goes on...so does work on
the canal."
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VOICE TWO:
It took ten years for the United States to complete the Panama Canal. The first ship passed
through it in August, nineteen fourteen.
In that same year, the United States signed an agreement with Colombia. The agreement
expressed America's regret for its part in the Panamanian revolution. And it provided a payment
of twenty-five million dollars to Colombia. Theodore Roosevelt was no longer president when the
agreement was signed. But he still had many friends in the Senate. He got them to reject it.
After Roosevelt's death, the United States signed another agreement with Colombia. The new
agreement included the payment of twenty-five million dollars. It did not include the statement
of regret. The Senate approved the new agreement.
VOICE ONE:
The issue of America's involvement in Panama caused much bitterness in other countries of Latin
America. Some did not feel safe from American interference. President Roosevelt said the United
States would not interfere with any nation that kept order and paid what it owed.
Roosevelt was worried because some Latin American countries were having difficulty re-paying
loans from European banks. He did not want the issue of non-payment used as an excuse for
European countries to seize new territory in the western hemisphere.
Roosevelt said the United States was responsible for making sure the debts were paid. His policy
led to further United States involvement in Latin America.
That will be our story next week.
(THEME)
VOICE TWO:
You have been listening to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English by the Voice
of America. Your narrators were Maurice Joyce and Richard Rael. Our program was written by
Frank Beardsley.
You can take the audio (mp3) from the next url, or, go to my Personal Page:
http://www.unsv.com/voanews/specialenglish/scripts/2006/01/26/0045/
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Map.
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President Theodore Roosevelt

Facts at a Glance
Term: 26th President of the United States (1901 1909)
Born: October 27, 1858, New York, New York
Political Party: Republican
Died: January 06, 1919
Source:
http://millercenter.org/president/biography/roosevelt-life-in-brief
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Term: 32nd President of the United States (1933 1945)
Born: January 30, 1882, Hyde Park, New York
Political Party: Democrat
Died: April 12, 1945
Source:
http://millercenter.org/president/biography/fdroosevelt-life-in-brief
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152. Book Pages Could Provide Safe Drinking Water.
The expression "a thirst for knowledge" may soon have a new meaning for millions of people who
have no way to get clean water. Researchers have developed a book with specially treated pages
that can make water safe to drink. The researchers say their invention could improve the lives of
many in the developing world.
An estimated 600 to 700 million people around the world are at risk of disease or even death
because their drinking water is not clean. The water is infected with harmful bacteria or other
contaminants.
But researcher Teri Dankovich has developed a special book that could turn dirty water into clean,
drinkable water.
The book contains 25 pages. Each page is about one millimeter thick. The pages contain very small
particles of silver. The pages can be used as filters to remove harmful microorganisms that can
pollute drinking water. The filter kills the organisms that pass through it.
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Ms. Dankovich says each page can treat up to 100 liters of water.
Pictures on the pages show the dangers of dirty water and how to use the book for those unable
to read. The pages are made of filter paper. They are designed to be torn from the book. Water
can be poured through the paper to be decontaminated.
Teri Dankovich and another researcher tested the drinkable book in Bangladesh, Ghana and South
Africa. The tests proved to be successful.
Ms. Dankovich recently presented her invention at the meeting of the American Chemical Society
in Boston, Massachusetts. She was asked whether she has considered adding classic literature on
the book's pages.
"The idea of classical texts - that's of interest maybe later. But we have discussed a little bit more
exciting text. But we really haven't had the time to go through that part, she says.
Water for Life, a non-governmental organization, has provided financial support for the project.
Im Jonathan Evans.
VOAs Jessica Berman reported this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans adapted it for
Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/book-pages-could-provide-safe-drinkingwater/2930404.html
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153. Introvert or Extrovert. Which one are you?
You are invited to a large party. Loud music is playing, and lots of people are dancing. Groups of
people are mingling with each other, making small talk about many different topics.
What do you do? Do you mingle all night and talk to as many people as you can? Later, you cannot
fall asleep -- you want more conversation!
Or do you prefer to have one-on-one conversations with just a few people? Maybe you find a
quiet corner and people-watch. Or perhaps you cannot wait to go home early and relax by
yourself.
Which of these people sound most like you? Person A, who tries to talk to everyone and stays
late? Or Person B, who prefers to talk to only a few people and leaves early?
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If you said Person A, you are probably more extroverted. If you said Person B, you are probably
more introverted. Or perhaps you are Person C and fall somewhere in the middle.
Introvert vs. extrovert

Introvert and extrovert are two commonly used words to describe a persons personality. And
they are also commonly misused and misunderstood.
Introverts may be viewed as quiet, shy and timid. They may be called wallflowers, meaning they
are so quiet they blend in with flowers on the wallpaper.
Extroverts may be viewed as bold, confident, loud and full of energy. They are often called
alpha, meaning a leader of the group.
Introverted and extroverted people may fit those descriptions. But these same descriptions do
not define introversion and extroversion properly.
Introverts and extroverts use their brains differently, and they get their energy differently.
Introversion is the state of being mostly concerned with one's own mental life. Extroversion is the
opposite. Extroversion is the state of being mostly concerned with what is outside oneself.
People who consider themselves introverts may say they need to be alone to charge their
batteries or that being in large crowds makes them tired. However, introverts may still love being
social and going to parties. But such activities require time to prepare and time to repair.
Extroverts may say, I dont need alone time. I feel more relaxed being around other people.
Even so, extroverts can still feel unsure or not confident among other people.
The power of introverts

Susan Cain is the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts.
In an article published in Psychology Today, she explains that shyness is often considered a
synonym of introversion. It is not. Shyness is having a fear of being judged poorly by others.
Introverts just prefer being in quiet environments.
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Bill Gates, creator of Microsoft, is an introvert but not shy.
For example, Bill Gates, the inventor of Microsoft, is quiet and bookish, she writes. But Gates does
not care about the opinions other people may have of him. He is an introvert, writes Cain, but he
is not shy.
The famous singer and actor Barbra Streisand has an outgoing, larger-than-life personality, adds
Cain. But Barbra Streisand, she writes, also has a paralyzing case of stage fright. This is a commonly
used fixed expression. Performers who suffer from stage fright can quite literally be frozen or
paralyzed on stage.
Cain considers Babara Streisand a shy extrovert.
In other words, there are nervous introverts and calm extroverts. And there are also shy
extroverts and bold introverts. And there are many other combinations in between.
Im Anna Matteo.
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Anna Matteo (an outgoing, social introvert) wrote this story for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly
(a thoughtful, social extrovert) was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/introvert-or-extrovert-which-areyou/3025369.html
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154. How Well Does Your Country Speak English?
For VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

The worlds English continues to improve, says a newly released study.
The report, called the EF English Proficiency Index, is a yearly report card on the English level of
adults in 70 countries. Sweden leads the world, while Libya is last. EF, a private education
company, produced the report.
The average level of adult English proficiency is up. But not all countries are improving. A few are
even getting worse.
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Europe
Europe leads the rankings. It is no surprise that Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway
take the top four places. These countries have excellent public education systems and native
languages that are structurally similar to English.
In almost every country surveyed, women speak much better English than men. But in the
northern European countries, the gender gap is very small.
France is the exception in Western Europe. Its English proficiency is much lower than its
neighbors. The French take great pride in their national language. The report says Frances poor
performance could be due to a cultural aversion to English. France ranks below less-developed
countries Indonesia, Ukraine, and Peru.
Turkey has the lowest English proficiency in Europe. Its ranking has gone down since 2012. The
report says Turkeys emphasis on grammar and memorization discourages students. But with its
young population, it could improve quickly if it took the right education reforms.
Asia
In Asia, China has slipped 10 places since last year. Part of this drop is because the survey added
three countries. The other reason is that seven Latin American countries showed more
improvement than China.
Minh Tran is EFs Director of Research and Academic Partnerships. He says China has made great
progress over the past 10 years and the overall trend is still positive. But he says China will have
to change the way it teaches English if it wants to reach a higher level.
Theyll need to significantly improve teacher quality and put a strong focus on a communicative
approach, right? Because, often in China, students are still learning English to pass a test, and not
yet to learn English to communicate. So that is perhaps the next step for China.
Chinas neighbors continue to invest heavily in English education. Singapore, Malaysia, and India
have the highest proficiency in the region. As former British colonies, these countries have long
histories of using English, especially in higher education.
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English fever continues in South Korea, where people spend more money on English education
than any other place in the world. But South Koreas average English level is not improving. South
Korean public schools fail to teach English at a high level, the report says.
Vietnam has improved slightly since last year. Thailand and Cambodia remain at very low
proficiency, despite their strong tourism industries.
Latin America
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Latin America has shown slow improvement over the past
eight years. Most of the gains are among young people. But the overall adult English level is still
low. Argentina is the first and only Latin American country to rank as high proficiency on the
survey.
The report says teacher quality is a major problem across the region. Young people who can speak
English can make far more money in fields outside of teaching.
Brazil has shown some improvement, but it still does not have enough competent English
speakers in its workforce, the report says. In preparation for the 2016 Olympics, the government
is offering free English lessons to 150,000 tourism professionals.
Last year, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the government will invest $690 million
USD in English education. Some of the money will be used to train 12,000 teachers and help pay
for private English lessons for 40,000 professionals.
Middle East and North Africa

In contrast to the rest of the world, English ability is going down in the Middle East and North
Africa. Youth unemployment is high throughout the region, even among college graduates.
The United Arab Emirates, with its large multinational work force, ranks better than its neighbors.
However, it still has low proficiency.
Education has suffered because of violence and instability in Iraq, Yemen, and Libya, where
English levels are very low.
Syria was not included in the survey.
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The Gulf kingdoms of Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia have very low English proficiency despite
their wealth.
The survey did not include sub-Saharan African countries.
Methodology
The EF English Proficiency Index is based on the online test scores of 910,000 adults in 70
countries. The results do not reflect the entire population of a country. The report is based on
data from people who took an EF online English test in 2014.
How does your English compare? You can take one of the tests used in the survey. It is called the
EFSET, and you can take it online for free.
Im Jill Robbins.
And Im Jonathan Evans.
How did your country rank on the survey? Do you agree with your countrys ranking? Write to us
in the comments section.
Adam Brock wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Jill Robbins and Kathleen Struck were the
editors.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/education-report-how-well-does-your-countryspeak-english/3035489.html
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155. Our Top 10 Separable Phrasal Verbs.
Welcome back to Everyday Grammar from VOA Learning English.

Today we return to a very common verb form in English phrasal verbs. You will find one phrasal
verb in every 192 words of written English. They will make your English sound more natural once
you begin using them correctly. In an earlier program, we explained how and why English speakers
use them.
Today we look at some often-used phrasal verbs. This type of phrasal verb allows a direct object
to come between the verb and the preposition or adverb. As you will hear, there is a special rule
that learners should know about when using these 10 phrasal verbs.
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The structure of phrasal verbs

As you know, a phrasal verb is a phrase with two or more words: a verb and a preposition or
adverb or both. We call the preposition or adverb a particle when it combines with a verb. Here
are two examples:
"Please put the lamp on the desk."
"I think you're putting me on."
In the first sentence, on is a preposition showing the position of the lamp. In the second sentence,
on is an adverbial particle. Put on is a phrasal verb meaning "fool" or "trick" in this sentence.
An important point is that a regular verb + preposition combination has two meanings. A phrasal
verb, that is, a verb + particle, has a single meaning within a sentence. Many phrasal verbs have
a number of different meanings in different situations. Yet the meaning of the verb + particle can
usually be expressed with a single Latin-based verb.
Here are two sentences with the same meaning:
"They tore down the old building."
"They demolished the old building."
The verb tear has its own meaning, and so does the preposition down. They can combine with
other words when they are alone. But as a phrasal verb, tear down, they have one meaning:
"destroy."
In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan visited West Germany. He told a crowd in the divided city
of Berlin, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
Separable phrasal verbs

Now for the tricky part. You know that some verbs are transitive, which means they have a direct
object. When such verbs appear as phrasal verbs, an object can either separate the phrase or
follow it. Heres an example.
"I decided to throw out my old jeans."
"I decided to throw my old jeans out."
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Both of these sentences are correct. The object of the phrasal verb throw out is jeans. You can
use a pronoun instead of jeans and ask,
"Are you sure you want to throw them out?"
However, you cannot ask, "Are you sure you want to throw out them?" Here, the pronoun them
must appear between the verb and the particle.
Finding the frequent phrasal verbs

In recent years, language experts began to use computers to examine a large collection, or corpus,
of written and spoken language. When researchers look for phrasal verbs, they find that many
deal with an activity. They also find a few verbs combine with many particles. Among the most
common verbs are come, put, get, go, pick, sit and take. These combine with the adverb particles
up, out, in, on, off, and down to make up a group of very useful phrasal verbs.
Now, lets look at transitive phrasal verbs. See the list at the end of the article. The verb get is part
of many phrasal verbs. For example, we use get up to mean "to wake oneself up" or "to awaken
someone." For example:
"My son loves to sleep late. I got him up on time to catch the bus this morning."
Remember, the pronoun has to come between the verb and the adverb, so we cannot say,
got up him."
"I
Notice how the Norwegian group A-ha uses a separable phrasal verb two ways in their song, "Take
On Me." Which one is correct in formal grammar?
I'll be coming for your love, OK?
Take on me, (take on me)
Take me on, (take on me)
I'll be gone
In a day or two
Remember, singers and poets have the right to use language as they please.
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For Learning English Everyday Grammar, Im Jill Robbins. And Im John Russell.
Now its your turn. Write a sentence that uses a separable phrasal verb and we will give you
feedback in the Comments Section.
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Heres our list of 10 useful phrasal verbs:
Phrasal Verb
Meanings
Example
wear, produce, fool, pretend
That cannot be true. You

must be putting me on.
put off
postpone, disturb
The report is due today.

Stop putting it off and turn it
in.
put down
criticize, write
Put my name down for that

game.
give up
surrender, stop trying
Your singing is beautiful

dont give it up.
give, offer
That radio station gives

turkeys away for
Thanksgiving.
give back
return, restore
I got so much help from

the town, I want to give
something back.
get off
leave, finish, send
Please get the letter off

to them today.
put on
give away
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get up
awaken, rise
Mom had to get us up

every day for school.
pick up
collect, lift, learn, bring, clean
I picked the living room

up before our guests arrived.
take on
assume, fight
The union took on the huge oil

company
Dr. Jill Robbins and Adam Brock wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/top-10-separable-phrasal-verbs/3041841.html
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156. Six Foods That Changed the World
Food affects more than peoples bodies. It contributes to social status, empires and the outcome
of wars.
So what foods have helped shape civilization? Christopher Cumo, author of Foods That Changed
History, says these six crops have played a major role.
Potato
One food at the top of the list is the potato.
Ahh . When you think about foods made with the potato french fries, potato chips, mashed
potatoes and potato salad what is there not to like about potatoes?
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The potato is the worlds largest food crop. People in the English-speaking world call it the white
potato or Irish potato to distinguish it from the sweet potato.
Author Christopher Cumo says South Americans introduced the potato to the Spanish in the 16th
century. The Spanish loved it and quickly brought it back to Europe.
But many Europeans realized the potato plant was related to a lot of other plants that had
poisonous leaves and stems. They believed the potato was also poisonous. So for a time,
Europeans would not eat it.
However, Cumo says, Europeans attitudes changed when they learned how many calories one
small potato offered.
Farmers began growing potatoes and they were? so important because they provided a dense
packet of nutrients and calories. So that if you only had a limited amount of land and you had to
plant something that yielded abundant calories, you planted potatoes.
Farmers also liked the potato because it protected them against hungry soldiers. Cumo explains
that armies traditionally fed themselves by stealing grain from farmers fields.
"Well, farmers begin to understand that if they plant potatoes no army would camp long enough
to dig up all the potatoes because you are too vulnerable to counterattack at that point. So the
potatoes saved farmers from the traditional horrors of starvation during warfare.
Ireland even came to depend on the potato. However, in the 19th century a disease there killed
millions of acres of potatoes. The loss caused a mass famine. A million Irish people died, and
millions more migrated to the United States and Canada.
Sugar
Next on the list is that white, crystal-like substance used in many sweet desserts and sodas: sugar.
Beyond the way it expands our waists and rots our teeth, Cumo says sugar played a tragic role in
the new world.
Im thinking particularly about the tropics: the Caribbean islands and all of tropical America, even
Brazil and in countries of that sort. They all rapidly adopted sugar cane to feed the demand for
sugar -- sugar cane being the plant from which we derive sugar."
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These countries developed large, profitable sugar cane estates. But the workers kept dying of new
European diseases.
So landowners looked for a new source of labor. They found it in Africa. In other words, sugar
fueled the African slave trade.
So our sugar came at a terrible price, I would argue, at the price of many lives and aspirations
destroyed over many generations.
Corn
This next food is the most produced crop in the world. But three-quarters of it go to farm animals.
Cumo says maize also known as corn is not primarily a food for humans; however, it has
long been a cultivated crop for people in the Americas.
Worldwide, in large places in Latin America and Mexico, people are much more willing to eat
corn as a food. So its an important part of Mexican cuisine. You can go to any Taco Bell in the
world and order your corn tortilla.
Cumo says native people in North and South America always ate corn. To them, he says, it was
too important to feed to the llamas!
Today, corn that people and animals do not eat is converted changed into a variety of products.
For example, corn can be converted to ethanol that is used in alcoholic drinks as well as in
gasoline.
Corn can also be converted into corn syrup to sweeten sodas, chewing gum, yogurt and salad
dressings. If you ever had gravy or sauce on your food, cornstarch or corn flour is used as a
thickener.
And how about those non-food products such as batteries, make-up, explosives, insecticides,
detergents, leather, rubber tires and tobacco? Elements of corn are in those, too.
Bottom line: Corn is in many things. It is a part of life from birth to death. Corn is found in some
baby formulas for infants, as well as in embalming fluid to preserve the bodies of the dead.
Need I say more?
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Rice
Rice may be even more important than corn as a food crop. Corn is used for many items, but rice
feeds half the worlds population.
Cumo says most humans get the majority of their calories from rice. It is a major part of the diet
in China, Southeast Asia and much of India. Rice is also an important food in parts of Africa.
In fact, Cumo says rice is so important that it has a holy meaning. In some cultures, rice is a symbol
of women and fertility. Other cultures have special ways they farm and store rice. The rituals
honor the rice, as well as protect its power to give and sustain life.
So rice has not only sustained people but its sustained the religious belief of all of these millions
and now billions of people worldwide."
Fish
Fish is also essential. Many species of animals eat fish, including humans.
Modern humans used sharpened sticks to spear fish in Europes rivers and lakes; however, early
humans Neanderthals did not learn how to fish. Therefore, fish might have played some role
in their extinction 28,000 years ago.
Cumo says the fish has also become a worldwide symbol of Jesus.
You can read a number of stories in the (Christian) Gospels in which Jesus eats a piece of fish
after his resurrection, or tells his friends to cast their net in another part of the lake where theyre
able to capture many more fish. So fish has been enormously important in history."
As a result, he says, the image of a fish is often used to mean Christianity.
Beans
Beans are grown and eaten all over the world. They are members of the legume family. This
protein-rich, low-cost crop is related to a number of important food plants, including lentils, peas,
beans, peanuts and soybeans.
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Cumo explains that as farming developed, so did hierarchies. Those with money and power could
afford meat. But most people were not wealthy enough to buy animals to eat. So where did they
get their protein? Largely from beans.
Its interesting to note that if you combine say beans and corn which you have beans being
an American crop and corn being another American crop, both developed in southern Mexico
you get a complete package of amino acids so the body doesnt need anything more to meet its
daily protein requirements.
"And you find this true for people throughout the world. If they combine soybeans, a close relative
of beans, with whole grain rice, you get the perfect complement of proteins.
He says people after people after people have combined beans and grains to get almost all the
nutrients they need for their day-to-day existence.
In other words, beans along with potatoes, sugar, corn, rice, and fish have played a very
powerful role in human survival, as well as in human history.
Im Christopher Jones Cruise.
And I'm Marsha James.
Marsha James wrote this story for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/six-foods-that-changed-the-world/3084806.html
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157. More Latin for Your English!
From VOA Learning English, this is Words and Their Stories.

Today we continue our discussion of common Latin words and expressions in American English.
This is not an impromptu discussion. We have been planning it for weeks. In contrast,
impromptu means you do something without preparing ahead of time.
Heres another example. Lets say you recently graduated from college and moved to New York
City for your first job. Then one day you run into a group of your college friends in Times Square.
You and your friends have an impromptu reunion. You didnt plan it. It just happened.
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You and your friends are very happy to see each other. You talk about what you are doing now.
But soon you start telling stories about the old days at your alma mater. This doesnt mean you
are from the same nourishing mother, even though that is the Latin meaning. When we use
alma mater it means school, college, or university you once attended.
Perhaps some of your friends were really good students in college. They graduated with honors.
Laude in Latin means praise. When talking about graduating from college or university, laude is
often translated as honor.
Cum laude means graduating with honors,
magna cum laude means graduating with great honor and
summa cum laude means graduating with highest honors.
Speaking of good students, many people who do well on tests have good memories. They are able
to listen to a lecture and then repeat it back verbatim, or word-for-word. Others can repeat
poems verbatim. They know them by heart.
You can also write down someone elses words verbatim. But in some situations, doing this can
get you in trouble. If a student copies someone elses work verbatim, its called cheating.
In fact, lets say two of your old college friends well call them Marco and Amelia were once
caught cheating on an exam. The professor asked them, So, was it Marco who cheated off Amelia
or vice versa?
Vice versa means the reverse, or the other way around.
When you and your friends remember that story, you might say you were not surprised. You knew
that Marco was in love with Amelia and vice versa. Since Marco loved Amelia, and Amelia loved
Marco, maybe that is why they helped each other cheat.
If Marco and Amelia were so much in love that they talked about each other ad nauseam, they
talked about each other non-stop. Ad nauseam is when something or someone goes on and on
and on to the point that others feel sick. Thats the nauseam part. If you feel nauseated you feel
dizzy in your head and sick to your stomach.
Some would say that is very similar to how love feels.
But love is one of those things that makes life extraordinary.
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In the 1989 movie Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams plays a teacher at a private school for
boys. He uses the Latin phrase carpe diem, or seize the day, to inspire his students to make
their lives extraordinary.
"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a flying, And this same flower that smiles today
tomorrow will be dying."
"Thank you, Mr. Pitts. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. The Latin term for that sentiment is carpe
diem. Now, who knows what that means?"
"Carpe diem. Thats seize the day."
"Very good."
Today, I hope all our readers and listeners carpe diem!
Thats all for this Words and Their Stories.
We leave you with a well-known song by the rock band, U2. Gloria means glory in Latin and
In te domine means In Thee, O Lord.
Are they singing about religion or a beautiful woman named Gloria? U2 leaves it up to you to
decide.
Im Anna Matteo.
Gloria (Glory)
In te domine (In Thee, O Lord)
Gloria
Exultate (rejoice)
Anna Matteo wrote this story for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/words-and-their-stories-more-latin-forenglish/2927483.html
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158. Understanding How Tornadoes Work.
KATHERINE COLE: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Katherine Cole.
BOB DOUGHTY: And I'm Bob Doughty. This week, we will tell about the science of tornadoes.
Tornadoes have been observed in many parts of the world. But the storms are most often found
in the United States.
(MUSIC)
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BOB DOUGHTY: Tornado season has begun in the United States. Violent storms struck several
parts of the country last week. The National Weather Service said there were ten reports of
tornadoes across the central and southern Plains states last Thursday.
A tornado is a violently turning tube of air suspended from a thick cloud. It extends from a
thunderstorm in the sky down to the ground. The shape is like a funnel: wide at the top, narrower
at the bottom.
Tornadoes form when winds blowing in different directions meet in the clouds and begin to turn
in circles. Warm air rising from below causes the wind tube to reach toward the ground. Because
of their circular movement, these windstorms are also known as twisters.
The most severe tornadoes can reach wind speeds of three hundred twenty kilometers an hour
or more. In some cases, the resulting paths of damage can stretch more than a kilometer wide
and eighty kilometers long.
KATHERINE COLE: With a tornado, bigger does not necessarily mean stronger. Large tornadoes
can be weak. And some of the smallest tornadoes can be the most damaging. But no matter what
the size, tornado winds are the strongest on Earth. Tornadoes have been known to carry trees,
cars or homes from one place to another. They can also destroy anything in their path.
Tornadoes have been observed on every continent except Antarctica. But experts say they are
most commonly seen in the United States. On average, eight hundred tornadoes are reported
nationwide each year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration keeps records of tornado sightings. It says
tornadoes kill eighty people and injure one thousand five hundred others nationwide in an
average year.
(MUSIC)
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BOB DOUGHTY: Tornadoes are observed most often in the central part of the United States,
where the land is mostly flat. The area where the most violent tornadoes usually happen is known
as Tornado Alley. This area is considered to extend from north central Texas to North Dakota.
Tornadoes can happen any time of the year. But most happen from late winter to the middle of
summer. In some areas, there is a second high season in autumn.
KATHERINE COLE: Tornado seasons are the result of wind and weather patterns. During spring,
warm air moves north and mixes with cold air remaining from winter. In autumn, the opposite
happens. Cold weather moves south and combines with the last of the warm air from summer.
Tornadoes can strike with little or no warning. Most injuries happen when flying objects hit
people. Experts say the best place to be is in an underground shelter, or a small, windowless room
in the lowest part of a building.
People driving during a tornado are told to find low ground and lay flat, facedown, with their
hands covering their head. People in the path of a tornado often just have minutes to make lifeor-death decisions.
BOB DOUGHTY: The deadliest American tornado on record was the Tri-State Tornado of March
eighteenth, nineteen twenty-five. It tore across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. About seven
hundred people were killed.
A "tornado outbreak" is often defined as six or more tornadoes produced by the same weather
system within a day. But the outbreak of April third and fourth, nineteen seventy-four, set a
national record. It is remembered as the "Super Outbreak." One hundred forty-eight tornadoes
struck during a twenty-four-hour period. More than three hundred people were killed and nearly
six thousand others injured.
One tornado that was especially destructive hit Xenia, Ohio. The sound you are about to hear
comes from the website www.xeniatornado.com. It is one man's recording of the tornado moving
closer.
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(SOUND)
KATHERINE COLE: No two tornadoes look exactly the same. And no two tornadoes act the same
way.
Even a weak tornado requires the right combination of wind, temperature, pressure and
humidity. Weather experts can identify these conditions. And, when they observe them, they can
advise people that tornadoes might develop. But they are not able to tell exactly where or when
a tornado will hit. Tornado warnings still depend in large part on human observations.
Usually a community will receive a warning at least a few minutes before a tornado strikes. But
each year there are some surprises where tornadoes develop when they are least expected.
BOB DOUGHTY: The tornado reporting system involves watches and warnings. A tornado watch
means tornadoes are possible in the area. A tornado warning means that a tornado has been
seen. People are told to take shelter immediately.
Yet tornadoes can be difficult to see. Sometimes only the objects they are carrying through the
air can be seen. Some night-time tornadoes have been observed because of lightning strikes
nearby. But tornadoes at night are usually impossible to see.
Tornadoes that form over water are called waterspouts. But tornadoes cover a much smaller area
than hurricanes, which form over oceans.
Tornadoes can be measured using wind speed information from Doppler radar systems.
Tornadoes usually travel in a northeasterly direction with a speed of thirty-two to sixty-four
kilometers an hour. But they have been reported to move in other directions and as fast as one
hundred seventeen kilometers an hour.
KATHERINE COLE: In the United States, the force of a tornado is judged by the damage to
structures. Scientists inspect the damage before they estimate the severity of a tornado. They
measure tornadoes on the Enhanced Fujita scale or the EF scale.
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Ted Fujita was a weather expert who developed a system to rate tornados in the nineteen
seventies. The EF scale is a set, or collection, of wind estimates. They are based on levels of
damage to twenty-eight different kinds of structures and other objects. Tornadoes that cause
only light damage are called an EF-zero. Those with the highest winds that destroy well-built
homes and throw vehicles great distances are called an EF-five.
(MUSIC)
BOB DOUGHTY: Some people make a sport out of watching and following tornadoes. They are
called tornado chasers or storm chasers. Their work can be seen in the extreme weather videos
that are increasingly popular on television and on the Internet.
Some chasers do it just because it is their idea of fun. Others do it to help document storms and
warn the public. Still others are part of weather research teams.
Recently, an international team of scientists completed a tornado research project called
VORTEX2. More than one hundred researchers traveled throughout Americas Great Plains in two
thousand nine and two thousand ten. They used weather measurement instruments to collect
scientific information about the life of a tornado. The goal of the project was to examine in detail
how tornadoes are formed and the kinds of damage they cause.
A film about the VORTEX2 project opened at some theaters in the United States last month. The
film includes never before seen images of tornadoes. To safely capture up-close film footage of
tornadoes, some project participants traveled in a seven-ton, armored tornado intercept vehicle
directly into tornadoes as they formed.
KATHERINE COLE: The National Weather Service says the United States gets more severe weather
than any other country. For one thing, it is also bigger than most other countries. And it has many
different conditions that create many different kinds of weather.
There are seacoasts and deserts, flatlands and mountains. The West Coast is along the Pacific
Ocean, which is relatively calm. The East Coast is along the Atlantic Ocean, which is known for its
hurricanes. These strike mainly the southeastern states.
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(MUSIC)
BOB DOUGHTY: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Brianna Blake. June Simms was our
producer. I'm Bob Doughty.
KATHERINE COLE: And I'm Katherine Cole.
http://www.manythings.org/aitstudy_com//voa/p/?d=2011-0418&n=Understanding%20How%20Tornadoes%20Work&t=116862&a=4711
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Tornado en Coahuila provoca 13 muertos, 290 heridos y 750

hogares daados
El gobierno federal instalar un Comit de Evaluacin de Daos para cuantificar los destrozos que
caus el fenmeno en Ciudad Acua
Lunes, 25 de mayo de 2015 a las 23:37
Uno de los 750 hogares daados tras el paso de un tornado en Ciudad Acua (Cuartoscuro).
(CNNMxico) Un tornado dej en segundos 13 muertos, 290 heridos y 750 hogares afectados
en Ciudad Acua, Coahuila, al noreste de Mxico, informaron autoridades federales este lunes al
hacer una evaluacin de los daos que dej el fenmeno meteorolgico.
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El presidente de Mxico, Enrique Pea Nieto, que viaj el lunes por la tarde al lugar de los hechos,
sostuvo una reunin con autoridades federales, estatales y municipales, y garantiz el apoyo del
gobierno federal a los afectados por el tornado.
Pea Nieto dio a conocer que este martes, antes de regresar a la Ciudad de Mxico, recorrer
nuevamente la zona daada por el fenmeno a fin de constatar con mayor detalle la magnitud
de las afectaciones.
Adems, al medioda del martes, se instalar un Comit de Evaluacin de Daos para tener
cuantificados con exactitud los destrozos que caus el fenmeno.
El gobernador de Coahuila, Ruben Moreira, asegur que no hubo un aviso o alerta del fenmeno
meteorolgico y que es la primera vez que un tornado se registra en Ciudad Acua, fronteriza con
Estados Unidos.
Fue de una brusquedad terrible, es la primera vez que en la zona urbana de Acua se siente un
tornado, no hay registrados en la historia, indic el mandatario estatal.
Fuente:
http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2015/05/25/tornado-en-coahuila-provoca-13-muertos-290heridos-y-750-hogares-danados
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159. New Movie Shows an Unseen Underwater World.
Jean-Michel Cousteau has spent a lifetime exploring the seas, like his famous father, the ocean
explorer and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau. Now, Jean-Michel Cousteau has produced a 40 minute
long documentary from 100 hours of underwater videos. He and his crew used special equipment,
including an IMAX camera, to take pictures of the smallest life in the sea. The camera produces
high-resolution images that are sharp and like those seen in movies.
The technology enabled the crew to record microscopic underwater animals in slow motion in a
3D, or three-dimensional film. Mr. Cousteau documented 30 new species in the movie, called
Secret Ocean 3D. Many of these creatures are much too small to be seen with human eyes.
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When youre filming it, you bring it back to the boat where we are, and we have a 3D screen and
we can see, with glasses on, something we have never seen before. And sometimes we say, we
need to go back!"
The results are extraordinary. The new film presents us with a beautiful but often deadly world.
It shows how even tiny creatures are part of a complex food chain that sustains human life.
Here, natural resources are never wasted. But as Mr. Cousteau warns, pollutants from human
activity such as chemicals, heavy metals and plastic, threaten to destroy this life.
All the way up to the fish we catch and put in our plates. Were bringing back on land a lot of
that pollution.
Jean-Michel Cousteau is a supporter of de-salting ocean water to create clean water for humans
to drink and to water crops. But he says that a major desalination effort can only happen if we
stop the pollution from entering the oceans.
"Today between four and five thousand children under the age of five are dying every day, every
day, every day, because they have no access to clean water or enough water. That can change.
We can decide to make this happen."
Mr. Cousteau says a great part of the ocean remains unexplored. He says there are thousands,
maybe millions of species we have not yet identified. So, he says, we also have no way of knowing
how pollution is affecting them.
My dad used to say, people protect what they love, and I would say if you dont understand,
how can you protect it?
Jean-Michel Cousteau launched the Ocean Futures Society in 1999. The nonprofit organization
aims to educate people about the importance of ocean life and the dangers it faces. Mr. Cousteau
says films like Secret Ocean 3D also help do that.
He says he wants his films to be fun and beautiful to see. And he wants them to teach people that
there is only one water system on the planet. He says every plant and animal, including humans,
depend on the quality of that water for life.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
Penelope Poulou reported this story. Caty Weaver wrote it for VOA Learning English. George Grow
was the editor.
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Observation: the picture of this document is contribution of M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz, and it doesnt
have its place by the film mentioned in this document, precisely.
You can take the audio (mp3) from my Personal Page, or the next url:
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/movie-show-unseen-underwaterworld/2719938.html
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160. Museum of American Diplomacy to Open in 2017.
Consider this: There are more than 400 museums in the U.S. that celebrate the history of the
military.
But not a single one devoted to American diplomacy.
Thats about to change.
A new museum celebrating the history of American diplomacy is being built at the U.S.
Department of State. The U.S. Diplomacy Center (USDC) will feature 238 years of American
diplomatic history, as well as an education area for students interested in diplomatic careers.
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The USDC project is unprecedented the nations first education center and interactive
museum dedicated to inspiring and educating the public about the history, practice and
challenges of American diplomacy, said Kathy A. Johnson, Director of the USDC.
The U.S. Diplomacy Center has collected over 6,200 objects to display in the new, 20,000-squarefoot museum. Among them is a portion of the Berlin Wall, after it fell in 1989.
Diplomacy is not quite the worlds oldest profession, but it remains one of the most
misunderstood, wrote William Burns, a veteran American diplomat.
Burns recently retired after spending 33 years at the U.S. Department of State. He is president of
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The work of American diplomats has never been more important or more worthwhile, he wrote
in Foreign Policy in October 2014.
However, the American public may not be aware of the contributions of American diplomacy.
Sometimes it is the simple things that can start a diplomatic movement. Among the museums
collection is a ping-pong paddle given to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger by Chinese
table tennis champion Zhuang Zedong in 2007. Zhuangs chance meeting with a member of the
U.S. table tennis team in 1971 led to ping-pong diplomacy with China during the early 1970s,
said the USDC.
Kissingers diplomacy led to an historic accord between China and the United States. It was the
first U.S. contact with China since the Communists had come to power.
The museum will show the achievements of American diplomats from the earliest days of the
country. Benjamin Franklin, for example, was Americas first U.S. diplomat who won support for
the American Revolution and negotiated peace with Great Britain.
Although the USDC is still under construction, it has a social media presence. Their Facebook and
Twitter posts showcase USDC artifacts, highlight dates in U.S. diplomatic history, and promote
their ongoing education programs.
In addition, the USDC website Discover Diplomacy draws about 140,000 unique visitors per
month. It provides snapshots of work that U.S. diplomats conduct on a variety of issues around
the world, according to the USDC.
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The new museum will have a special hall devoted to education. Students can engage in mock
diplomatic talks. The goal is to inspire young people to pursue careers in diplomacy. There will
also be interactive maps and displays to illustrate how an embassy functions.
We are building partnerships with universities and community colleges around the country that
will enable us to develop conferences, programs, and media tools tailored to a student audience,
said Johnson.
Building started on the museum in 2014. Secretary of State John Kerry, along with five former
Secretaries of State, were present for the ceremony. Once all the funding and design plans are
completed, the museum is projected to open in 2017, said a spokesman for the project.
Private sector donors have provided $47 million to build the museum, according to the Diplomacy
Center Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit organization that is raising the money for the
museum from various corporations, individuals and foundations. It still needs to raise an
additional $20 million.
Im Mary Gotschall.
Mary Gotschall wrote this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/first-museum-of-american-diplomacy-slated-toopen-in-2017/3098819.html
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Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von.
The only limit to your impact is your imagination and commitment.
Tony Robbins.
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161. Do You Think You Can?.
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
Willpower is a mysterious force that helps us to control our actions and achieve our goals. We
also call willpower determination, drive and self-control.
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines willpower this way:
Willpower is the ability to resist short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals.
Willpower allows us to ignore unwanted thoughts, feelings or desires.
Willpower is a limited resource that you can use up.
That last part is important. The theory that our willpower is limited is where psychology experts
are divided.
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For many years in the world of psychology, the widely accepted theory has been that our
willpower our self-control is limited. If we are not careful, we can use up our willpower before
a task is completed or before a goal is reached.
Psychologists who believe that willpower is a limited resource say using up our willpower is the
main reason some of us fail to achieve our goals.
However, in recent years, other psychologists have challenged this theory. A new theory says that
the amount of our available willpower is affected by our attitudes about willpower.
But first, lets go back to the limited supply theory.
The Chocolate-and-Radish Experiment

An experiment back in the 1990s formed the popular theory in psychology that your willpower is
limited. The experiment is known as the Chocolate-and-Radish Experiment.
Researchers put 67 study subjects in a room that smelled of freshly baked chocolate cookies.
Sounds good, right?
Wrong.
Instead of warm, rich chocolate cookies, researchers gave one group radishes to eat cold, bitter
radishes. The other group of subjects ate the chocolate cookies.
Then researchers asked both groups to solve a difficult puzzle.
The group that ate the radishes gave up on the puzzle after 9 minutes. The group that ate
chocolate cookies worked twice as long on figuring out the puzzle.
The researchers concluded that the group that resisted the chocolate cookies had used up their
willpower. Willpower is like a muscle that can lose strength and tire.
Other experiments that support this theory have found that willpower is like a hungry child in
need of a sugar fix. When we use our willpower, it robs our brain of energy, or glucose. So,
feeding the brain a little sugar when doing a difficult task helps you to fill up your willpower
resource.
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The new theory on willpower

But a new theory contradicts the idea that willpower is limited and can be charged up with sugar.
Carol Dweck is a professor of psychology at Stanford University. In 2013 she and her team asked
87 college students in Germany, Switzerland and the United States to describe their beliefs on
willpower.
Some said they believed willpower is a limited resource. Others said they believed willpower was
plentiful and even increases the more it is used.
Dweck then asked the study subjects to complete a difficult mental task. This first task was
followed by a second that required the subject to resist an impulse and use their willpower.
Dweck described the results in an interview with LiveScience. She said those who believed their
willpower was limited grew tired after the first task. They performed poorly on the second task.
But, if they received a sugary drink before the second task, they performed better.
Dweck also said that people who believed willpower is limited were always looking for signs that
they were running out of willpower, or they thought they needed the sugar fix.
However, the study subjects who believed willpower was unlimited did not tire during the second
task and they did not need a sugar boost.
Dweck said the results suggest that willpower is not in limited supply. Instead, it is peoples beliefs
about willpower that shape their behavior.
She and her team published their findings in August of 2013 in the journal The Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
Tips how to use your willpower limited or not

But what do all these studies mean to you?
Regardless of what you believe, the American Psychological Association website has advice for
people trying to achieve their goals.
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Avoid Temptations. If you believe that your willpower is limited, remove outside
temptations. This way you will not waste your willpower. As the expression goes, out of
sight, out of mind.
Make a Plan. For example, if you have to study over the weekend, set aside a certain
period of time to get your work done. But also make time for fun, too.
Think about your motivations. Are your goals your own or someone elses? Studies and
common sense suggest that people who pursue goals that are their own are more
motivated to reach them.
Focus on one goal at a time. Many push their willpower too much. They try to quit
smoking, save money, lose weight and get a better job all at the same time. This may use
up their willpower, if they believe in the limited supply theory. Instead, focus on one
goal at a time.
Think you can! There is evidence to support that if you believe you can do it, you can. A
little positive thinking goes a long way!
Im Anna Matteo.
What do you think? Is willpower a limited resource? Or do we have an unlimited supply to draw
from? Let us know in the Comments section.
Anna Matteo wrote this for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/willpower-do-you-think-you-can/3159018.html
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162. Thomas Jefferson, Third USA President.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy welcomed Nobel Prize winners to the White House. He said I
think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been
gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson
dined alone.
Kennedys comment shows how vividly Jefferson lives in the American imagination even more
than 100 years after his presidency and death. In the United States, Jeffersons name is often
linked to the countrys history of self-government, slavery, separation of church and state, and
public education.
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The Jefferson Memorial can be seen through cherry blossoms in full bloom along the Tidal
Basin in Washington, DC, April 13, 2014. (Elizabeth Pfotzer/VOA)
Founding father
Jefferson was born in 1743 and raised in the hills and low mountains of Virginia. He was
considered an aristocrat: his familys wealth permitted him an excellent education in classic
languages, science, literature, philosophy and law. Jefferson also learned to ride horses, dance
and explore the natural world.
In the 1770s Jefferson supported the coming American Revolution. He became a member of the
Second Continental Congress and is famous for being the lead writer of the Declaration of
Independence.
The document declared the American colonies separation from England. It also asserted that all
men are created equal and have the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
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Jefferson went on to hold many positions in the countrys new state and national governments.
He was a governor of Virginia, a minister to France, a secretary of state for President George
Washington, and the vice president under President John Adams.
Virginia planter and slave owner
President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande tour the grounds of
Monticello, President Thomas Jefferson's estate in Charlottesville, Virginia, Feb. 10, 2014.
But Jefferson often wrote to his friends about how he most wanted to retire from public service
and return to his home in Virginia. In the 1760s he designed a house on a hilltop he called
Monticello the word means little mountain in Italian.
Jefferson spent most of his life changing and improving the house. He hired dozens of workmen
to build it. He also put some of his slaves to work on it.
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During his life, Jefferson owned about 600 slaves. That meant about 130 lived on Monticello at
any time. They worked in Jeffersons house, tobacco and wheat farms, and on special projects
such as making cabinets and nails.
Jefferson expressed mixed feelings about slavery. He said he disliked the practice, and that he
believed God would judge slave owners severely. In 1782, he wrote, Indeed I tremble for my
country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever
And of course, many people pointed out that Jefferson himself wrote in the Declaration of
Independence all men are created equal, yet Jefferson did not use his power to end slavery. He
expected future generations would permit slavery in the United States to end slowly.
Jeffersons words and actions on slavery are contradictory. The contradiction is especially
significant because evidence suggests he had a long relationship with a young slave at Monticello.
Her name was Sally Hemings. Most historians now believe what the Hemings family has said all
along: Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings six children of record.
Presidential candidate: Election of 1800

Thomas Jefferson left Monticello to become the countrys third president. The election of 1800
was important for several reasons.
First, it resulted in a strange situation: both Thomas Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr,
received the same number of electoral votes.
The Constitution at the time did not require electors to say whether they were voting for
president or vice president. So when the two men tied, the House of Representatives had to
decide which man would take the lead position. But their votes, too, could not determine a
winner.
The election dragged on and on. Finally, one of Jeffersons chief political enemies, Alexander
Hamilton, decided that Jefferson was the lesser of two evils. In other words, he did not like either
candidate but decided Jefferson was the better choice.
Hamilton persuaded some of his allies to support Jefferson over Burr. After six days and 36 votes,
the House of Representatives gave the presidency to Jefferson.
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The strange situation provoked a change to the Constitution. The Twelfth Amendment clarifies
how the president and vice president are chosen.
The election of 1800 was also important because it was a break from the earlier administrations.
The first two presidents, George Washington and John Adams, were Federalists. In other words,
they supported a strong federal government.
Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, was a Republican although the term meant something
different in his time than it does for todays Republicans. Jefferson wanted to limit federal
government.
Historian Joseph Ellis explains that Jefferson supported the power of the states and the people
themselves.
So, in some sense, hes going to the federal government as the head of it to say were not going
to do anything. Our job is to get out of the way and to allow the citizens of the republic to pursue
their happiness without the interference of any federal authority whatsoever.
The Federalists disagreed with Jeffersons point of view. However, they accepted the results of
the election and permitted the government to transfer peacefully.
Third U.S. president

Some Federalists may have also been comforted by Jeffersons inaugural address the speech
he gave when he officially became president. In it, Jefferson famously said, We are all republicans
we are all federalists.
Many listeners probably believed Jefferson was saying his administration would support ideas
from both Republicans and Federalists.
But historian Joseph Ellis points out that Jefferson did not capitalize the names of the political
groups in his speech. Instead, Ellis says, Jefferson was likely saying the American public supported
a strong system of state governments united under a federal bond.
Indeed, Jefferson led his administration by his Republican beliefs mostly. As president he
greatly lessened the power of the federal government. He cut the national debt. He reduced the
military. He disliked the power of the Supreme Court over the laws Congress made. And he
rejected appearances that made the U.S. president look like a European king.
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One of the lasting images of Jefferson in the American imagination is of him receiving guests in
old clothes and slippers.
But as president, Jefferson also appeared strong and powerful when dealing with foreign nations.
Jefferson increased American naval forces in the Mediterranean to combat threats to U.S. ships.
And he permitted American officials to buy a huge area of land from France, even though the
Louisiana Purchase added to the national debt and exceeded the power the Constitution gave the
president.
In general, historians consider Jeffersons first term as president a success. Voters did, too,
because he easily won a second term.
But those last four years were more difficult. Jeffersons popularity suffered, especially when he
stopped all U.S. trade with Europe. Jefferson aimed to limit American involvement in a war
between Britain and France. Instead, he ruined the U.S. economy.
When Jefferson returned to Monticello in 1809, he was happy to leave the presidency behind.
And some people were happy to see him go.
Criticisms and legacy

Jeffersons critics attacked both his political ideas and his personal qualities. Even friends such as
John Adams and James Madison suggested in their letters that Jefferson was too idealistic.
Federalists, including Washington and Hamilton, worried Jeffersons Republican ideas would
weaken the strong federal government and national economy they had worked hard to create.
Jefferson is also negatively linked to the history of Native Americans and slavery in the U.S. He
tried to get Indian nations to enter into treaties that ultimately took away their land. He asked
that they become more like European-Americans. And his policies made them depend on the U.S.
government.
And Jefferson took no major action to end slavery, either in his personal life or as a public figure.
In fact, historian Joseph Ellis points out that some of Jeffersons actions increased the power of
the slave-holding south and supported slavery in the western states.
Jefferson doesnt put his presidency or the Louisiana Purchase on his tombstone. He never claims
any great credit for that. Its interesting. Because what happens is this area becomes the source
of controversy that leads to the Civil War.
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Jefferson instead wanted to be remembered for three things: writing the Declaration of
Independence, supporting religious freedom, and creating the University of Virginia.
For the most part, he is.

Jefferson's political opponents accused him of not being a Christian, although he said he was. But
many Americans supported Jeffersons views on the separation of church and state. He wrote
that government should worry only about acts that hurt other people; however, he said, it does
not harm him if his neighbor says, there are 20 gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor
breaks my leg.
Jefferson also famously supported free public education, especially for those who could not pay
for school. He established both the idea and the architecture for the University of Virginia in
Charlottesville. The public university remains one of the top colleges in the United States.
The Rotunda, designed by Thomas Jefferson, is the centerpiece of the University of Virginia
grounds. The part of campus designed by Jefferson is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Jefferson himself wrote proudly of these accomplishments at the end of his life. But his final years
at Monticello had many sorrows. His wife, Martha, had died in 1782 after difficulty in childbirth.
Five of the six children Martha had with Thomas Jefferson also died before him.
So while Jefferson often wrote about how much he enjoyed family life, he returned to Monticello
with only one living daughter, among those he acknowledged, and a few grandchildren.
In addition, the cost of improving and maintaining the house, as well as the money he spent on
fine wine and good food, had ruined him financially. Eventually, his daughter had to sell her
fathers beloved Monticello and the slaves who lived there to pay his debts.
Jefferson died at Monticello at the age of 83. The last detail of his life which Americans love to
tell is that he passed away on Americas birthday, exactly 50 years after the signing of the
Declaration of Independence.
Im Caty Weaver.
Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story. Caty Weaver was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/making-of-a-nation-thomasjefferson/3158825.html
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163. What Is That Thing Called?
Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.
It has happened to all of us. You want to talk about an object, but you forgot the name of it. Or
you never knew the name at all. Maybe you are not even sure there is a word for it.
For example, that thing that you need to fix your bicycle. Or perhaps it is something you need for
your computer. Or that part on your motorcycle that never, ever seems to work.
What are these things?
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They are called doohickies. A doohickey is a word you use when you do not know, or you have
forgotten, the real name of an object.
The MacMillan Dictionary defines doohickey as something such as a small object or tool that you
cannot remember the name of. The American Heritage Dictionary says it is something,
especially a small device or part, whose name is unknown or forgotten.
Language experts say the word first started being used in the United States in the early 1900s.
But other experts say they have seen examples of words like these in writings from the middle
1800s.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary for Learners of American English gives this example of how
native speakers might use doohickey: I need one of those doohickeys, you know, with the long
handle.
Merriam-Webster adds that doohickey may be a combination of two other words: doodad and
hickey. Strange as it may be, both of these words mean the same as doohickey. The dictionary
lists a lot of strange words as synonyms for doohickey. The most common are whatchamacallit,
whatnot and whatsit.
You will probably never see these words in official documents or newspaper reports. But you
might hear them in informal American English, when people are talking to each other.
Hey, what does this doohickey do, anyway?
Dude, bring me that thingamajig, willya?
Janine, can you get me one of those whatchamacallits?
Most Americans will know what you are talking about if you use one of those words. Just point at
the object, use one of these words, and they will bring it to you.
Doohickey and words like it have their own page on the Wikipedia website. Wikipedia calls them
placeholders. It says words like these are usually nouns and can be used for people, objects
and places.
Unofficial studies show Americans are using words like doohickey less than they once did. The
decline seems to have started a few years ago. Still, a recent search of Google News showed the
word was used in more than 1,000 news articles in just a couple months.
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One story told about a store where you can buy a cable that connects a thingamajig to a
doohickey. Another told about a doohickey for eggs and even a doohickey that connects to a
camera.
Workers who repair Kawasaki motorcycles use the word doohickey to describe the vehicles
counter balancing chain adjustment mechanism.
You can see a video of them using the word on YouTube.
Im Anna Matteo. This Words and Their Stories was written by Christopher Jones Cruise.
Christopher Jones-Cruise wrote this report in VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/what-is-this-thing-called-words-and-theirstories/2855544.html
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164. Some Volcanic Clays Kill Bacteria.
Blue and green clay might be able to kill MRSA (Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus). MRSA is an antibiotic resistant
bacteria, sometimes called a superbug. (REUTERS)
Ancient people knew that some kinds of clay have healing qualities. They rubbed clay on their
skin to cover wounds. They also used the natural rock or soil material to treat stomach problems.
Now, American researchers have discovered how different clays work as medicine. They are
researching the effectiveness of clays against antibiotic-resistant infections.
Blue and green clays are found in volcanic areas of the world. Around volcanoes, native peoples
used the clays to improve their health. It seems they knew what they were doing.
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Lynda Williams is a clay and mineral scientist. She works at Arizona State Universitys School of
Earth and Space Exploration in Tempe. She and her research team have been studying the
Aboriginal people of Australia.
"There is evidence of Aboriginals using clays for treating wounds and they eat it. Many cultures
eat clays to settle their stomach."
Williams and her team found the clay was effective against some pathogens. Pathogens are
bacteria and viruses that cause disease. They examined bacteria that have developed resistance
to other antibiotics.
In laboratory tests, they saw how a blue-colored clay is effective against the drug-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA. MRSA is a dangerous and sometimes deadly skin
infection.
The clay was also effective in treating Buruli ulcer, a skin disease found in the Ivory Coast.
Here is how the blue clay works. Iron is one of the chemicals found in the clay. The bacteria need
the iron to survive.
Some of these same clays also contain aluminum. The minerals work together. Lynda Williams
says aluminum lets iron flood into harmful bacteria. The iron oxidizes and then kills the bacteria.
"In the end, what we found is that aluminum is attacking the proteins in the cell wall of the
bacterium and allowing pores to open so that iron, reduced iron 2, goes into the interior of the
bacterium, (and) has reactions with the protein inside. It becomes oxidized and it destroys the
biomolecules inside the cell, killing the bacteria."
Williams says she hopes the study will interest drug companies that want to explore the healing
properties of blue and green clays.
The National Science Foundation provided financial support for the study. Williams and her
colleagues reported their findings in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.
Im Anna Matteo.
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Jessica Berman wrote this story for VOANews.com. Anna Matteo adapted it for Learning English.
George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/volcanic-clays-kill-bacteria/3183724.html
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165. Where Do We Come From?
Would you like to know where your ancestors came from? British and American scientists may
have found answers for you. They have developed a new algorithm to study deoxyribonucleic
acid, also known as DNA -- the building blocks of life.
The algorithm is a step-by-step operation for solving problems. It is called Geographic Population
Structure, or GPS. The report was prepared by researchers from the University of Sheffield in
England, and the University of Southern California. It was published in the journal Nature
Communications.
The researchers say GPS can find a village or tribe where genes became mixed as far back as 1,000
years ago, during population movements or invasions. At such times, people from groups that
were separated earlier came together and had children.
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The British and American scientists tested their algorithm by studying genetic information from
200 individuals. The people were from 10 villages on the Italian island of Sardinia. GPS correctly
placed 25 percent of the people directly in their villages. Most of the other individuals were placed
within 50 kilometers of their villages. A test involving more than 20 islands in the Pacific Ocean
produced similar results. In all, 98 percent of the information proved correct.
The scientists say the new method may be important not only for learning about ancestors, but
also for health reasons. They say that knowing ones genetic code may show what conditions and
sicknesses may be likely to affect a person.
But valuable as it may prove to be, there are more-traditional ways that people can learn about
their ancestry. Some families pass information about family history to the next generation. In
turn, those children pass the information on to their children.
And some people have their DNA studied through what is called bio-geographical sequencing.
This method places people correctly within about 700 kilometers in Europe. But the rate of
success is much lower in other parts of the world.
This story was narrated by Anna Matteo and Christopher Cruise. It was written in Special English
by Jerilyn Watson from a report by the VOA newsroom.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/dna-geographic-population-structure-ancestrysardinia/1969648.html
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Map.
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166. NASA Satellites Help Protect Developing Nations.
Satellite technology is the newest tool for helping developing countries deal with climate change
and natural disasters.
Satellites can measure conditions on the ground and share the data with communities. A
partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID) has developed such a system called SERVIR.
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SERVIR captures images and environmental data, like dangerous weather and changes in water
resource use. Scientists feed that information into complex computer programs. The results of
the analysis are shared with people living in the affected areas, as well as governments and
organizations, to help them react and prepare.
Dan Irwin is the director of the NASA SERVIR Coordination Office. He told VOA Learning English
that the SERVIR project shares important information with countries all over the world.
"So the main goal of SERVIR, really, is taking space-based information and making it available to
people around the world so they can really address issues that they have in their countries,
whether it be deforestation, air quality and bringing it down to village and making it available
to people for better decision-making...
We need to be able to convert that data to address the cares and concerns that countries have
around the world. And as NASA we can work with countries but it's then, How do we take it
even further? How do we go from space to country, down to state or provincial level, down to
the village level?'"
Jennifer Frankel-Reed is the Senior Climate Change Specialist for USAID. She explained how
SERVIR has helped warn Bangladeshis of flooding, and prevented people in El Salvador from
eating unsafe seafood.
In Kenya, which depends heavily on tea farming, farmers have avoided losing crops to rising
temperatures.
"The idea is that through our local partnerships with hubs, we can bring that data, analyze it ways
that people can use, translate it into easy to use formats and then help people with the decisions
that those data inform."
Developed in 2004, SERVIR brought together the U.S. agencies with the World Bank and Central
American Commission on Environment and Development. The first hub was established in
Panama in 2005, but was closed in 2011. Other hubs were established in Kenya, Nepal and
Thailand between 2008 and 2014.
Both Mr. Irwin and Ms. Frankel-Reed said the projects goal was to empower people with
information to help them grow.
"We hope to continue to expand but ultimately and absolutely the most important thing about
SERVIR is enabling amazing people around the world."
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The project now operates in more than 30 countries.

I'm Jill Robbins.
Pete Musto reported and wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the
editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/satellites-protect-developing-nations/2968184.html
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167. Languages Help Improve Military, International Relations.
A decision made by a soldier during battle can have a national and international political, social
and cultural effect.
When the decision is a poor one it can damage the credibility of the operation.
U.S. Army Colonel Philip J. Deppert works to help soldiers avoid tactical mistakes. Deppert is the
commanding officer of the Defense Language Institute (DLI), in Monterey, California. He told VOA
that cultural education is a major part of the institutes educational programs.
Deppert said DLI is famous around the world for producing well-trained military linguists who
understand both the language and the culture of a country.
The United States -- and specifically our military -- understands that in order to be the best
partner with all nations around the world we not only have to understand the language but the
culture embedded with that as well, he said.
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About 3,500 soldiers, Marines, sailors, airmen and civilians attend DLI. Their agencies pay for their
study.
DLI diplomacy
Wherever there is a U.S. embassy, there is a U.S. military representative who trained at DLI.
Air Force Major Braden Coleman is a foreign affairs officer. Six months ago, he began learning the
Urdu language at DLI in preparation for his deployment to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
He said DLI is preparing me to work at the embassy and to help with relations. So I will be in the
program for at least the next four years.
The DLI has about 1,800 specially trained teachers. Almost all of them are native speakers of the
language they teach.
Isabella Christopher teaches her students the Urdu language and the culture of Pakistan. She has
worked at DLI for about five years. She said if we tell someone that our students learn a language
in nine months, or 35 weeks, or 47 weeks, nobody believes that.
Emphasis on culture
In addition to native speakers, DLI students also learn from U.S. military teachers who are
educated in languages. U.S. Army Sergeant Garrick Bartlett received four years of education in
the Pashto language before he became a teacher at DLI.
He said his primary role is to help bridge the gap between Pashto and English, coming from that
of an English native-speakers background.
DLI has separate schools that focus on different areas of the world.
William Sameer al-Wahab heads one of the institutes Middle East Schools. He said the training
permits students to communicate on at least a basic level with people who live and work in the
areas where they are deployed.
Once the population feels that the soldiers are speaking their language, they will try to do the
same thing and be very helpful, he said.
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Total immersion
Besides language training, students are also sent to what DLI calls the Immersion Facility. There,
they experience possible real-life situations. They are not permitted to speak English. They wear
local clothing and communicate in the target language.
The Obama administration is broadening the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State
group in Iraq and Syria. U.S. special operations forces are to advise local U.S. allies. DLI will likely
play a major part in that effort.
Colonel Deppert said DLI would not send students from the school unless it believes they are fully
prepared. He said the training center can show proof of how well prepared its linguists are.
He said the school has linguists right now in Japan helping with earthquake relief in that country.
Im Caty Weaver.
Hasib Danish Alikozai reported this story for VOA. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English.
Christopher Jones-Cruise was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/us-soldiers-study-languages-and-culturediplomacy/3347369.html
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168. Lincoln's Words at Gettysburg.
On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln spoke at the dedication ceremony for the
National Cemetery of Gettysburg in the state of Pennsylvania. The brief address, known as the
Gettysburg Address, would be remembered as one of the most important speeches in American
history.
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"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation,
conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived
and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come
to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives, that
that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
"But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate -- we cannot consecrate -- we cannot hallow, this
ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our
poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here,
but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to
the unfinished work for which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather
for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead
we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under
God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for
the people, shall not perish from the earth."
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169. Artificial Intelligence: Helpful and Dangerous.
A humanoid robot operates a switchboard during a demonstration by

the German research centre for artificial intelligence, Hanover,
Germany. March, 5, 2013. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Computers and other machines have and will continue to change the way people do business and
how we live.
Many researchers use the term artificial intelligence (AI) to describe the thinking and intelligent
behavior demonstrated by machines. While AI can be helpful to human beings, scientists warn, it
can also be a threat.
We live with artificial intelligence all around us. A few examples are iPhones personal assistant
Siri, searches on the Internet, and autopilot programs on airplanes.
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AI is not new. But it is quickly getting more and more complex, and, well, more intelligent.
Stuart Russell teaches computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He says humans
should be sure to make AI products that we like.
If we are going to make systems that are going to be more intelligent than us, its absolutely
essential for us to understand how to absolutely guarantee that they only do things that we are
happy with.
In the future, Russell says, many of todays jobs that require a lot of physical labor will be replaced
by machines with artificial intelligence. These include agricultural jobs, and ones with repetitive
duties like telephone call centers. AI machines could also replace jobs like ones in the financial
industry jobs that require studying a lot of data.
This could lead to more questions.
But if we replaced all the jobs that require human physical labor and then we replace all the jobs
that require human mental labor, then you have to ask, well, 'Whats left?'
Russell sees artificial intelligence changing the economy and current way of life.
Most people will be employed, possibly even self-employed, in providing individualized personal
services to other human beings, that we wont have mass employment in manufacturing or in
financial services.
He says that means the large factory, or large office building with thousands of people doing the
same thing, will go away.
Guruduth Banavar is IBMs Chief Science Officer of Cognitive Computing. He sees a future where
new jobs such as data engineering will be created.
The future will require everybody to work with these learning reasoning machines. So I think the
skill set for many of these jobs will end up being different in the future.
The health care industry is one area artificial intelligence is already changing. AI can process huge
amounts of data, so doctors can use the most up-to-date information to diagnose and treat
patients.
IBMs Watson technology is already in use at hospitals in North and South America, Europe and
Asia.
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Banavar says Watson helps doctors keep up with information.

The difference between going to a doctor who has Watson versus not having Watson is very big,
because when doctors, you go to a doctor today you might find somebody who is 10 years out of
date.
There is also a dangerous side to artificial intelligence. One example is combining drone aircraft
technology and AI to create autonomous weapons.
Stuart Russell is working to create international treaties to ban such weapons. He says the risk is
that people will use this technology to develop a kind of poor mans nuclear weapon.
It is a race against time because the weapons are starting to emerge, the research is moving into
development, development is moving into production...
IBMs Banavar points out the value of artificial intelligence, including search engines and the
autopilot function on planes.
The debate about whether artificial intelligence is good -- or bad -- for humans continues.
Researchers agree there is no question that the technology is here, and will continue to change
life on our planet.
Im Anne Ball.
Elizabeth Lee wrote this story for VOA News. Anne Ball wrote it for Learning English. George Grow
was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/artificial-intelligence-helpful-anddangerous/3334422.html?ltflags=mailer
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170. Is Internet Important to Economic Development?
The World Bank says 9 billion electronic devices are connected to the Internet today.
But the bank says more than half of the worlds population is still not connected.
Technologists and government officials say getting connected to the Internet is critical to
improving the lives of millions of people.
Joe Mucheru is Kenyas Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Information, Communications and
Technology. He says technology is good for business.
We have got huge fights in terms of corruption, transparency, openness - and technology is really
the vehicle were using to ensure that whatever transactions are taking place, you can see them.
Theyre digital.
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But there are still many areas without Internet connections. That is what Hilton Romanski says.
He is the Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for the technology company Cisco.
Obviously we look at Africa, we look at Southeast Asia; there are large swaths obviously of the
population that are not connected.
Denis OBrien is chairman of Digicel, a mobile telephone service. He says once people start using
smartphones, they talk less and use more computer data, for text messages, pictures and video.
This makes for high-speed service or broadband a requirement for nearly all users. OBrien said
building the telecommunications infrastructure in developing areas is difficult but needed for
economic growth.
Everybodys built the easy bit, in other words theyve done the towns and the cities, but going
into rural communities they havent done it because the business case is very thin.
Technology experts say businesses and governments need to come together to bring the Internet
to developing areas to drive economic growth.
OBrien says broadband is not a secondary need.
Any country that wants to create investment and be a location for investment to create
employment, the first thing you need is broadband.
Is technology the answer?

But others do not think technology is a cure-all for economic growth.
Kentaro Toyama is Associate Professor of Community Information at the University of Michigan.
He has a warning for developing nations that see modern technology as the solution for economic
growth.
Toyama says the world has changed over the past 45 years because of developments in
technology. But all this digital innovation did not reduce differences between rich and poor
people in the United States.
During that same span of time, this country has experienced rising inequality. The median
income has declined.
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He adds that, in developing nations, a smartphone alone will not help people who are uneducated
and lack technological skills.
If they do have a mobile phone, people, for example, who are physical laborers on farms where
it doesnt make too much of a difference if you can have access to the latest agronomic research
paper as a way to improve your farming.
Denis OBrien disagrees.
Once you get broadband, you can educate people. You can create jobs for people, and people
from an agricultural point of view become much more efficient. He also pointed to cultural
differences in each country.
Joe Mucheru sees the issue as many Kenyans do.
The fact that maybe some of the people in the West havent come out of poverty because they
have not used their devices well is not the same for Africa.
Ciscos Hilton Romanski says it takes cooperation between private, government and non-profit
groups to make technology effective.
Its going to take all the parties coming together to drive the right cultural shift and the right
education into these countries so that the developing market can over the long term enjoy the
benefits of economic growth.
The experts do agreed that good things can happen if education about technology is combined
with the right policies.
Im Mario Ritter.
Elizabeth Lee reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted it for Learning English.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/is-fast-internet-most-important-to-economicdevelopment/3343812.html
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Learning is the beginning of wealth.

Learning is the beginning of health.
Learning is the beginning of spirituality.
Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.
Jim Rohn.
High achievement always takes place in the framework of high
expectation.
Charles Kettering.
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171. Amazing Amazon Hides Atlantic's Coral Reef.
Scientists studying the area where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean were in for a
surprise.
Under the muddy, dark Amazon River water was a large number of undiscovered reefs with
colorful sea fans, coral, plants, fish and very big sponges. It was one of the biggest surprises in
modern ocean science.
Most ocean reefs need sunlight to exist.
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On their boat that day in 2012, they carried a hand-drawn map that suggested maybe a large set
of reefs sat just below them.
Brazilian scientist Rodrigo Moura of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, brought the map. He
had read about the possible reefs in a 1977 research paper.
He lowered a dredging machine into the muddy water.
Oceanographer Patricia Yager was there too. With others, she leaned over the boats edge,
waiting to see what Moura would bring up from the bottom. They did not expect much.
"But we were very excited about the possibility, and of course he brings up the most amazing
animals I have ever seen, at least in this part of the world. They were colorful, coral, sponges, fish,
brittle stars, all kinds of things I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams, lived underneath
this river plume.
The team was studying the area where the Amazon River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Where
these waters meet, the worlds largest river moves out across the top of the ocean, spreading out
like a fan.
Yager teaches oceanography at the University of Georgia in the U.S. She explains that the water
from the river stays separate from the ocean as it moves across it, covering the ocean with its
dark and muddy water.
The reefs sit hidden in the ocean, about 50 meters below the surface of the water, says Yager.
And so it is not being bathed in the river plume itself. Its far below, in the very salty ocean, so
the fresh water is not touching the reefs, theyre in salty ocean water.
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The Amazon River plume where it meets the Atlantic Ocean off
Brazil's coast. River water is green.
The reefs run from the French Guiana border to Brazils Maranhao state, covering about 9,500
square kilometers.
Yager says she was surprised to find coral reefs below the dark muddy water.
You cant look down and see them like other reefs, theyre quite deep. And then on top of that,
the water, the surface layer of the water is very dark and turbid, so yeah, you cant see them from
the surface, thats why we didnt know they were there.
She says that she was taught that coral needs sunlight to survive. And yet, here were coral in the
lowlight of this area and they were just fine.
Some of the reefs do get sunlight for part of the year.
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She says in the areas that get less light, the living creatures are less dependent on photosynthesis.
Some of the coral reefs stand 30 meters high. They are home to lobster, red snapper fish and very
big sponges. But the area does not have as many different kinds of animals as some of the other
well-known reefs around the world, like Australias Great Barrier Reef.
On their trip in 2012, the team only had a short time to find and explore their surprising discovery.
The Brazilian scientists went back to the reefs in 2014 to do more studies of the reefs.
Recently they published their findings in the journal Science.
Yager says they plan to keep studying the area. One day, they would like to use they would like
to use submersiblesvehicles used under water, to explore the reefs.
It would be really nice to not have to dredge this system to understand it, because of course that
is a very destructive method. I would rather go down with cameras and look at it instead of
destroying it.
She says discovering these reefs is an example of how little is known about the oceans, and how
important exploration is.
We need to be open to discoveries, she says.
News about the reef comes when there is more bad news about the problems of coral bleaching
in Australias Great Barrier Reef. Scientists warn the bleaching is due to warming waters, and it is
very damaging to the coral.
Yager says it might help to study how these Amazon reefs survive with less sunlight. Maybe, she
says, scientists can find ways to help the other reefs suffering around the world.
But the Amazon reefs face their own threats. Companies want to drill for oil near the reefs. If they
go forward, Yager warns, those large-scale operations could damage the reefs.
Im Anne Ball.
Anne Ball wrote this story. Hai Do was the editor.
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Observation: the photograph of this document is contribution of M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz, and it
doesnt have its place by the original document of VOA, precisely.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/amazing-amazon-hides-coral-reef/3314107.html
What is a Plume? What is a Plume of River?

In hydrodynamics, a plume is a column of one fluid moving through another.
Fuente:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plume_(fluid_dynamics)
A plume occurs when a river empties into a large body of water.
Fuente:
http://faculty.gvsu.edu/videticp/plume.htm
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172. New Book Examines the Power of Young Introverts.
Book of Susan Cain
Speak up! Put yourself out there!

American society generally places high value on being friendly and speaking freely. That can worry
introverts. Introverts are people who tend to be more private and favor individual activities over
social ones.
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Susan Cain, an introvert herself, is an expert on the subject. She has become the voice of these
quiet people. In 2012, her book, Quiet: The Power of the Introvert in a World that Can't Stop
Talking, was a success.
In her new book, Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts, Cain takes her hopeful
message about introverts to teenagers. She says her goal is to help parents and teachers
understand their introvert teens and develop their secret power.
Introverted children are not necessarily shy. In fact, they can have excellent social skills. They just
tend to enjoy being alone, doing quieter things or being with just one friend at a time.
Susan Cain says that is how introverts get their energy. Their human "batteries" are actually
weakened by loud, busy activities.
"If you imagine an introvert going to a party where they're having a good time. At the end of two
hours, you kind of start to wish you were home in your pajamas because your battery is running
low.
Whereas for extroverts in the exact same situation, their batteries are getting recharged. So they
kind of want more time at the party. This has everything to do with how we're wired; how our
nervous systems react to stimulation."
Cain says the idea that extroverts are more successful than introverts is widespread but wrong.
"If you look around, you see introverts contributing to this culture in all kinds of ways, people like
Bill Gates and J.K Rowling and Dr. Seuss - any number of people you could name who are
introverts.
Cain says these people add much to society because of their quiet temperament. But somehow
this idea is not widely accepted. The author says American society pushes everyone to be
gregarious even if it is not natural for them.
Cain says there are more introverts than people think.
"You're talking about 1 in every 2 or 3 people. That's in the U.S. But then there are other studies
that look comparatively at the world and find that the U.S. is on the more extroverted side of the
spectrum. So there are probably more introverts in other countries."
Susan Cain spoke with hundreds of teens, parents and teachers to explore introversion among
teens. One of her important findings is that introverts can be effective leaders.
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"For example, there was one guy we profiled named Davis, who decided he wanted to run for
president of his class. He was running against one of the most popular, social girls in the school
who ran on a platform of more parties for everyone.
Davis was his characteristically, serious-minded, introverted self, and did a lot of deep thinking
about how he can make the school a better place. So he ran on a serious substantive platform of
proposals and his classmates really recognized the value of that and ended up voting for him, and
he became the class president."
In her book, Cain gives advice to parents and teachers. She tells parents that introverts usually
want to come home at the end of the day and spend time alone. She says they need to recharge
their batteries. She says they should not be pushed into after-school activities. For teachers, she
says, introverted students might not succeed in large study groups.
"By their nature they prefer to learn independently and autonomously. They don't want to be
learning calculus in a group. They want to be putting their heads down, and thinking a problem
through.
Susan Cain, author of Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts, says what she wants
young readers to take away from her book is that being introverted is not something to outgrow.
It is something to accept, develop and treasure.
I'm Caty Weaver.
Faiza Elmasry wrote this report for VOA News. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English.
Kathleen Struck was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/book-on-introvert/3371074.html
Pgina 98 de 212
Prodigious Truths, for you, by Susan Cain:
The beautiful Author: Susan Cain
1) Solitude matters, and for some people, it's the air they breathe.
2) ...true self-esteem comes from competence, not the other way around.
3) There's nothing more exciting than ideas.
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4) it takes approximately ten thousand hours of Deliberate Practice to

gain true expertise.
5) We see ourselves as a nation of extrovertswhich means that weve

lost sight of who we really are.
These quotes of the Author Susan Cain

were selected by M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz.
Pgina 100 de 212
173. 7 Step Process to Being Unstoppable, by Brian Tracy.
Dedicate yourself to becoming one of the most knowledgeable and competent

people in your field.
Brian Tracy.
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There are 7 disciplines you must develop if you want to achieve all that's possible for you. You
can learn these disciplines through practice and repetition until they become automatic.
1. Goal Setting
Every morning, take 3 to 5 minutes to write out your top goals in the present tense.
Get a spiral notebook for this purpose. By writing out your big goals at the beginning of each day,
you will program them deep into your subconscious mind.
This daily goal writing will activate your mental powers. It will stimulate your mind and make you
more alert. Throughout the day, you will see opportunities and possibilities to move more rapidly
toward your goals.
2. Planning and Organizing.

Take a few minutes, preferably the night before, to plan out every activity of the coming day.
Always work from a list and always think on paper. This is one of the most powerful and important
disciplines of all for high performance.
3. Priority Setting.
The essence of all time management, personal management, and life management is contained
in your ability to set proper priorities and use of your time. This is essential for high performance.
4. Concentration on your Highest-Value Activities.

Your ability to work single-mindedly on your most important task will contribute as much to your
success as any other discipline you can develop.
5. Exercise and Proper Nutrition.

Your health is more important than anything else. By disciplining yourself to exercise regularly
and to eat carefully, you will promote the highest possible levels of health and fitness throughout
your life.
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6. Learning and Growth.

Your mind is like a muscle. If you dont use it, you lose it. Continuous learning is the minimum
requirement for success in any field.
7. Time for Important People in your Life.

Relationships are everything. Be sure that in climbing the ladder of success, you do not find it
leaning against the wrong building. Make time for your relationships every day, no matter how
busy you get.
Action Exercise.
These 7 disciplines will ensure that you perform at the highest level and get the greatest
satisfaction and results from everything you do.
Study these 7 disciplines and then make a plan for how you can incorporate each of them into
your daily life.
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174. Six Critical Skills for Today's Global Economy.
Children and adults need to develop six important skills to succeed in the modern global economy.
This idea comes from two professors in the U.S. who study how people learn.
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff recently published a book called "Becoming Brilliant:
What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children."
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The authors advocate for changing the education systems of many countries around the world,
including the United States. They say modern schools need to help people develop a broader set
of skills than just reading and math. Those skills all begin with the letter C.
They are:
1. Collaboration: the ability to work with others, to have social-emotional control, and to
form communities.
2. Communication: the ability to develop strong reading, writing, listening and language
skills.
3. Content: competencies in subject areas, but also in learning to learn.
4. Critical
evidence.
thinking: the ability to gather information intelligently and to weigh
5. Creative
problems.
innovation: the ability to use information in new ways and to solve
6. Confidence: the ability to learn from failure and to persist in a problem.

With these skills, children and adults can better function in the 21st century, say the authors.
What is success in education?
As a first step, Hirsh-Pasek suggests that we reconsider what success in education means. She
says that most education currently focuses on reading, writing and basic math. As a result, she
says, many people view educational success in a narrow way: a good score on a reading or math
test.
One problem with this view is that children learn to be parrots rather than human beings. In other
words, people learn to memorize and repeat, but do not learn to think creatively, find
information, or collaborate.
Instead, Hirsh-Pasek wants to define educational success in a broader way. She says education
should aim to develop people who will be the creators, collaborators and citizens of the future.
Pgina 105 de 212
How do people learn?

Hirsh-Pasek and her co-author, Roberta Golinkoff, say they were inspired by education changes
in Canada and a few other countries. They decided to study the science of learning.
In other words, instead of thinking about how teachers teach best, they tried to think about how
people learn best.
Hirsh-Pasek describes what they found.
"The very most important thing in learning, especially in language, but even broadly, is to have a
relationship with the person that you are learning from. We are human beings, and our calling
card as human beings is to be social creatures..."
The idea, Hirsh-Pasek says, is this: Human beings will never be able to memorize information as
well as a computer.
What humans do well is work together in teams, or collaborate. After all, we are social creatures.
Hirsh-Pasek says that collaboration is the starting point for human learning. Collaboration is also
a highly desired skill in both public and private sector jobs.
What can you do?
Some good news is that people can build their collaboration skills as well as the other skills the
authors recommend throughout their lives.
Hirsh-Pasek recommends that students evaluate themselves to understand what skills they have.
Ask yourself: how well can I work with others? How well do I communicate? Do I think critically?
How willing am I to make mistakes?
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If you need to strengthen a skill, the most important thing you need to do is practice, says HirshPasek.
You will never get better at speech-making if you don't give speeches. You will never get better
at French, you will never get better at Chinese, if you don't practice it! And if you don't have
another person to practice it with.
So, if you want to improve your English skills, think about ways you can develop relationships with
your English teacher or with English-speaking friends.
Hirsh-Pasek adds that students need to learn to look for experiences that will help them learn.
She recommends being creative, and above all, not being afraid to mess up. Learning happens
when people make mistakes.
Im John Russell.
John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/six-critical-skills-for-global-economy/3409657.html
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175. What It Takes to Be an Astronaut.
Is it your dream to fly and to work in space?

Do you want to be a NASA astronaut?
Like many jobs, the first thing would be to fill out the application.
A recording-breaking 18,300 people filled out applications recently to be an astronaut. NASA
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said that is how many people applied when
it announced it was filling its 2017 Astronaut Candidate program.
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But out of those 18,300 applicants, just eight to 14 will be hired by the U.S. space agency.
That means chances of becoming an astronaut are less than 0.08 percent. That makes getting into
this program 65 times harder than getting into Harvard University. Their acceptance rate is 5.2
percent.
It will take NASA 18 months to decide who will be in the new class of astronauts.
Anne Roemer is NASAs Selection Manager. She said it is a very hard job making the selections
-- one they will do very carefully.
It starts by us reviewing all of the files to make sure they meet the basic qualifications, and then
we actually utilize our current team of astronauts to come in and review the files as well."
The first requirement is the applicants must be U.S. citizens. They need a college degree in
engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science, or mathematics. They also
need at least three years of experience in a similar field or at least 1,000 hours as a jet airline pilot.
There are requirements to pass a physical test. And then there are personality tests as well.
What kinds of personality qualities is NASA looking for in an astronaut?
I think leadership, teamwork, the ability to both work on a team, lead a team, but also follow,
be a follower on a team. Communications certainly plays a role, so its some pretty common skills
that I think translate into even other professions.
About 120 applicants will be invited to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, for a first
round of interviews. Then, about half of them will go back for a second round.
Once the astronauts are selected, they must complete two years of training. This is when
astronauts learn a little bit of everything about spaceflight, Roemer said. Things like learning
about all the systems used by NASA, and Russian language training.
Until the U.S. has a working vehicle to launch into space, NASA still depends on Russia to get
astronauts into space.
They also learn EVA, or Extravehicular Activities. In other words, they learn all about walking in
space.
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So they do a little bit of everything in that two-year window before moving into that mission
specific training.
This is the group that may fly on as many as three new spacecraft still being developed. They
include NASAs Orion, which will be taking people into deep space exploration. NASA hopes to get
humans to Mars in the 2030s.
If you are you a young person interested in a space career later, Roemer offers this advice:
The piece of advice that we always like to tell young folks that are interested is to pick a career
that you are passionate and enthusiastic about, because you tend to do well with things you like,
and then being an astronaut would be the icing on the cake to hopefully what would otherwise a
very fulfilling career."
If you are chosen to be an astronaut, you would be part of a rare and prestigious group. The first
seven astronauts were picked from the military in 1959. Since then, only 338 others have been
chosen as NASA astronauts.
Im Anne Ball.
Peggy Chang reported on this story for VOANews.com. Anne Ball adapted this story for Learning
English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/what-it-takes-to-be-an-astronaut/3367765.html
Pgina 110 de 212
176. Young Traveler Hopes to Visit Every National Park.
Many Americans dream of the day they can retire and take a long-awaited road trip across the
country. But Mikah Meyer believes that life is too short to wait.
At 30 years old, he is about to start an all-American road trip, one that he hopes will take him to
every U.S. national park.
If he reaches his goal, he will become the youngest person to visit all 411 sites within the National
Park Service. He will also be the only person to ever do so in one continuous trip.
Meyers trip is driven by tragedy. He was 19 years old when his father died.
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My dad passed away at age 58 before he got to retire, when I was 19 years old, and it really
made me realize that life is short and we don't always get the retirement or the time that we
think well have to fulfill our dreams. So I wanted to do my dreams now at age 30 while I'm still
alive to make sure I can reach them.
Every year since his fathers death, Meyer has taken a road trip. But nothing quite as extensive
the one he is about to begin.
To honor his father, Meyer will start his trip on June 19, Fathers Day in the United States.
He has already spent the last few months visiting the many National Park Service sites near his
home in Washington, DC.
I lived in DC for four years and didn't realize that there were about 40 national parks within 30
miles of my house, he said. We always hear people say, 'Oh, I've never gone to that place. It's
just down the road. I think it's easy to forget about all the amazing places that are close to us.
Meyers first plan was to visit all 59 of the major national parks in America, like the Grand Canyon,
Yellowstone and Yosemite.
But then I learned that this National Park system is way more than these capital P parks. Its
everything from national seashores to national monuments to national historical sites to national
battlefields. It's this entire system that's so much more than just vistas.
Meyers trip will take him to all 50 states. He will be on the road for about three years, driving
and living in a special van.
Meyer receives an ink stamp in his National Parks Passport book for each site he visits. The
passport book is issued by the National Park Travelers Club, an organization that helps visitors
follow their national park visits.
His first stamp of the trip came from his visit to the Washington Monument. He said he wanted
his first stamp to be something iconic, something all Americans and people around the world
recognize, but maybe not know is a national park.
He saved for his trip for four years and worked two jobs. But, he says, he is only fully funded for
the first year. After that, he says, he hopes to raise money online and through sponsorships.
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Meyer plans to share his journey on social media. He also started a website for his trip.
He hopes to encourage more young people to visit national parks. The average age of visitors to
Yellowstone National Park, for example, is 54.
Its important to me to show everyone around the world that the United States has this amazing
national park system that has so much to offer beyond just the Grand Canyon
He plans to end his long journey at Washingtons Lincoln Memorial, just a short distance from
where his adventure began.
Im Ashley Thompson.
Julie Taboh reported this story from Washington. Ashley Thompson adapted it for Learning
English. Hai Do was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/young-traveler-hopes-to-visit-every-national-park-inamerica-/3378000.html
Pgina 113 de 212
177. Who Makes Grammar Rules?.
Nobody will go to jail for ignoring grammar rules. But they [and
we, moreover] will have difficulty getting into the best schools
and finding good jobs.
From This Same Document.
If you learned about grammar in school, you were probably taught to think about correct and
incorrect ways of using a language.
Maybe you had to unlearn some grammar patterns that you heard at home because your
teacher said they were wrong.
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Prescriptive Grammar
The traditional way of teaching grammar in school is called prescriptive grammar. Grammar is
seen as a set of rules to follow. The rules are passed from one generation to another. Those who
do not follow the rules are looked down upon as being careless or poorly educated.
In America, the style of grammar used in academic, government, and professional situations is
called Standard American English. There is no official government agency in the United States that
makes rules for the English language. In fact, the United States does not even have an official
language.
Teachers usually rely on tradition and popular style guides to decide what proper grammar is.
Descriptive Grammar
Descriptive grammar takes a different approach. Descriptive grammarians observe and analyze
language as it is used in different communities. They look for rules and patterns that people
follow. In descriptive grammar, there is no correct or incorrect way of using grammar.
For example, a prescriptive grammarian might say, Dont use a double negative because it is
illogical. A descriptive grammarian might say, Some communities use double negatives and
some do not. Why is that? Well talk more about double negatives later.
Dr. Richard Epstein is a linguist at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. Dr. Epstein says that
most people do not understand the social and political processes behind grammar rules.
Nobody knows why we should not use aint or why we should not use double negatives because
the teachers teach these things as if they were simply rules that came down from some higher
power, authority, maybe God, and theres no rhyme or reason taught for the reason what the
reason is for the existence of these rules. So it seems quite boring and totally arbitrary.
The Case of the Double Negative

Dr. Epstein says grammar rules have nothing to do with logic. Instead, they are based on social
fashions, politics, and power. He gives the example of the double negative.
Pgina 115 de 212
As we mentioned on an episode of Everyday Grammar, certain types of double negative words

are not allowed in Standard American English. For example, I dont know nothing. The two
words dont and nothing are both negative. Most Americans were taught that double
negatives are illogical.
In math, two negatives equal a positive. But is this true in language? Does I dont know nothing
mean I know something.? Of course not. It just makes a stronger negative. The rule against the
double negative does not come from math; it comes from Robert Lowth, the bishop of London.
Robert Lowths book A Short Introduction to English Grammar, first published in 1762, prohibited
the double negative. Dr. Epstein says that random grammar rules were a way for the upper classes
of London to protect themselves from a rising middle class.
The upper classes became concerned that people below them were getting educated and getting
access to sources of power. So to protect their own status and authority people started to
prescribe rules for grammar. And if you couldnt follow those rules then you didnt have access to
power and authority like the rich people of the day.
Aint aint a word?
Heres another example. American children are taught that aint is not a word. However, many
Americans say aint in place of is not or are not. Listen to this song by Bob Dylan.
Someone to open each and every door
But it aint me, babe
No, no, no it aint me, babe
It aint me youre looking for, babe
American school teachers told children to stop using the word aint in the 1800s. But long ago,
the word aint was the proper negative contraction for I am not. Ironically, the British upper
classes continued to use aint after the Americans banned it. Dr. Epstein explains.
Knowing that regular folks used aint but the upper classes of the United States didnt, they
created this sort of fake rule that you shouldnt use aint because it didnt make sense. Of course
it makes perfect sense to anybody who says it. But now we have this rule.
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So who makes the grammar rules? In America, the grammar patterns of rich white men are the
basis of Standard American English, Epstein says. Nobody will go to jail for ignoring grammar rules.
But they will have difficulty getting into the best schools and finding good jobs.
You aint seen nothin yet
B-b-b-baby you just aint seen nothin yet
Im Adam Brock.
Adam Brock wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/who-makes-grammar-rules/3325780.html
Pgina 117 de 212
178. At the US-Mexico Border, Many Depend on Trade.
President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pea Nieto

(L) speak at the White House in Washington, July 22, 2016.
REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Immigration and border security are two major issues in the United States presidential election
campaign.
The candidates of the two main parties have voiced different ideas about border security. The
Republican Partys candidate, Donald Trump, has proposed to build a wall along the U.S. border
with Mexico.
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Partys nominee, has taken aim at that proposal.
Pgina 118 de 212
On July 22, President Barack Obama hosted his Mexican counterpart, President Enrique Pea
Nieto, at the White House. The idea was to publicize the good relations between the two
countries.
Americans living near the Mexican border have as many different views as those voiced at the
recent U.S. political conventions.
Some want to continue good relations with Mexico. They want to keep the boundary area secure.
They also want to increase business with their neighbors on the other side of the border.
For example, goods and people cross between Nogales, Mexico, and the U.S. city of Nogales,
Arizona, at the new Mariposa inland port.
Many Mexicans with visas pass through the crossing station to buy goods or work on the U.S. side.
There is a long wait on both sides of the line, and a large barrier has been built along the border
there.
The Reverend Randy Mayer is a migrant rights activist. He says many Mexicans decide to stay in
Mexico when they see the crossing.
What happens here along the border is that commerce and business is almost stopped, and what
should be a multi-billion dollar industry is actually suffering.
Cross-border commerce continues to help Nogales and also the city of Tucson, Arizona, which is
about 100 kilometers to the north.
Mike Varney is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce.
He supports a balance between border security and commerce.
We want to keep bad people and bad things out of our country, but at the same time, we dont
want to put the brakes on cross-border trade...
Varney points out that Mexicans seem to add a lot to the local economy.
Mexican citizens come to the Tucson area and spend about a billion dollars a year in our stores
and our hotels, buying all kinds of services and products here.
However, Varney says companies that do business across the border are even more important.
These include companies that open headquarters or special offices in Tucson to direct crossborder manufacturing projects.
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Import-export businesses also are important to the areas economy.

Varney is frustrated by the way the border issues is discussed in national news stories.
Economic expansion and job growth just doesnt have the sizzle that a drug bust does, but
obviously we cherish the international trade that we enjoy here in Arizona, and we want to do
everything we can to expand that...
Many Arizonans blame illegal immigration for suppressing wages in the United States. And they
say illegal immigrants increase education and health care costs, and violent crime.
Voters in Arizona have supported proposals to limit immigration. But Varney notes that business
leaders have lobbied for less restrictive measures.
Its a mix of politics; its a mix of trade and economy; its a mix of international relations, so it is
a complicated recipe and we need to pay attention to all the ingredients that go into that recipe.
He says there are even more possibilities for bilateral trade and commerce once other border
crossing stations are completed and fully operational.
Mexico is Americas third largest trade partner. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says
trade between the two countries is valued at more than $580 billion.
Mexico is currently the second largest export market for U.S. goods and services.
Im Mario Ritter.
VOA correspondent Greg Flakus reported this story from Tucson, Arizona. Mario Ritter adapted
it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/us-mexico-border-many-depened-ontrade/3439045.html
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179. More Than a Place, Silicon Valley Is a Culture.
Monisha Perkash and her parents moved to the United States from Nepal.
She never imagined that one day she would be heading a company in Californias Silicon Valley.
In fact, she once had plans to become a doctor.
Perkash is the chief executive officer of a new business, or start-up company, called Lumo
Bodytech. It creates sensors people can wear while running, walking or working. These wearable
sensors can judge a persons posture and help prevent back pain or other injuries.
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Silicon Valley stretches from San Francisco to San Jose in northern California. The area is home to
many technology companies, such as Apple, Google and Facebook.
Yahoo, which recently made news for being sold to Verizon Communications, started at a small
office building in Silicon Valley.
Perkash remembers her father once tried to find the area on a map. She says he called her and
said I cant find the Silicon Valley anywhere!
But Perkash says the Silicon Valley community is not just a location, it is also an attitude and a
culture.
People who are interested in creating technology businesses move to the area. Once they are
there, they find a culture that helps businesses find success.
People work together to help businesses grow.
Perkash says she and her partners started Lumo Bodytech so they could use technology to help
improve peoples lives. Their system is called Lumo Life. One of the wearable sensors, called Lumo
Lift, will shake when the user is slouching in a chair. Another sensor can be used to give runners
feedback and send the information to a software program for mobile phones.
Andrew Chang is one of the start-up companys founders, with Perkash and Charles Wang. Chang
says a start-ups small size helps it when making decisions and providing products.
You cant even compare the speed that you move at, the speed at which you make decisions
and so on, because there is a lot less bureaucracy.
However, Wang says that fast-paced environment can also create problems. You have to learn
quickly and respond to challenges every day.
Ive learned so many different things in the role that Ive had here.
Perkash says her business is proving to be a success. But what about her plan to be a doctor?
It seems her parents are happy as long as shes successful.
I want to make them proud and I want them to know that by giving us this opportunity to pursue
anything we want, pursue our dreams, that Im carrying that on. So in a lot of ways, its honoring
them that I do what I do.
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Im Dan Friedell.
Elizabeth Lee wrote this story for VOANews.com. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/silicon-valley-start-upculture/3440394.html?ltflags=mailer
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180. Using the Passive Voice.
This Everyday Grammar is all about the passive voice. The passive is a verb form in which the
subject receives the action of the verb. For example, "I was born on a Saturday."
Most sentences in English follow the subject-verb-object pattern known as the active voice. For
example, "I love you." In this example the subject is "I," the verb is "love" and the object is "you."
The subject performs the action of the verb.
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But sometimes the subject is acted upon, or receives the action of the verb. This is called the
passive voice. Imagine that someone stole your wallet, but you do not know who did it. You could
say, "My wallet was stolen." In this passive sentence, "my wallet" is the subject, "was stolen" is
the verb. There is no direct object -- the wallet did not steal itself. The speaker does not know
who stole the wallet.
To form the passive, use a form of the verb "be" followed by a past participle verb form. You can
form the passive in several verb tenses, but the simple present and simple past are the most
common.
Only transitive verbs can be passive. Intransitive verbs, or verbs that cannot take a direct object,
cannot be passive. You cannot say "I was arrived by train" because the intransitive verb arrive
cannot be followed by an object.
Most of the time, users should avoid the passive voice. The passive voice can make the speaker
or writer seem indirect and weak. Which would you rather hear: "I love you" (active voice) or "You
are loved by me" (passive voice)?
But there are several situations when you should use the passive.
The most common reason to use the passive is when the actor is unknown or unimportant. For
example, "My visa was processed," and "My shoes were made in India" and "The car was
imported from Germany." In these examples, it is not necessary to know exactly who performed
the action.
Sometimes speakers use the passive even when they know the person who did the action. In this
case, use the word by followed by the actor.
For example, "Great Expectations was written by Charles Dickens." You could also use the active
voice: "Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations." Both are correct. The passive voice
emphasizes the book; the active voice emphasizes the writer.
In informal speech, the verb "be" can be replaced with the verb "get." For example, instead of
saying "I was hit by a car," you can say, "I got hit by a car." Listen to this famous song by the
Eurythmics. You will hear two active and two passive sentences.
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
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Some of them want to abuse you

Some of them want to be abused
Notice how singer Annie Lennox used the passive with both "get" and "be."
Another reason to use the passive is to avoid naming the person who performed an action. This
is common in politics and law.
At times, powerful people want to admit to a mistake without blaming specific people. In this
case, they often use the passive phrase "mistakes were made." Listen to a TV interview with
President Obama. A reporter asked the president about a report of abuses by the Central
Intelligence Agency. Here is how President Obama replied:
"Any fair-minded person looking at this would say that some terrible mistakes were made."
And here is President George W. Bush using the same phrase. A reporter asked him about the
firing of some prosecutors.
"And he's right, mistakes were made. And Im frankly not happy about them."
You might hear the passive voice in a courtroom. For legal reasons, sometimes lawyers have to
use the passive voice to avoid directly blaming a suspect for a crime. Listen to this courtroom
dialog from a popular TV drama The Good Wife. A prosecutor is accusing a person of killing a man
named Wagner.
Prosecutor: And how did he kill Wagner?
Defense attorney: Objection!
Prosecutor: Withdrawn. How was Wagner killed?
Did you notice how the prosecutor switched his question from the active to the passive voice?
Listen one more time.
Prosecutor: And how did he kill Wagner?
Defense attorney: Objection!
Prosecutor: Withdrawn. How was Wagner killed?
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At the beginning of the clip, the prosecutor asked, "How did he kill Wagner?" The defense
attorney objected to the question. The prosecutor rephrased the question in the passive voice to
avoid blaming the suspect. He asked, "How was Wagner killed?"
Overusing the passive voice is major problem in student writing, even for native speakers. Try to
keep your passive sentences under 10 percent of your total. Try converting some of your long
sentences into simple subject-verb-object sentences.
There is much more to learn about the passive, including the stative passive and participle
adjectives. We'll address those topics in a future episode of Everyday Grammar. Until then, sweet
dreams!
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
Ive traveled the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
I'm Jonathan Evans.
And Im Ashley Thompson.
Adam Brock wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Jill Robbins was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/using-the-passive-voice/3247545.html
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If you want it, measure it. If you can't measure it, forget it.
Peter Drucker.
All successful people men and women are big dreamers.
They imagine what their future could be.
Brian Tracy.
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181. 3 Keys to Lifelong Employment, by Brian Tracy.
Brian Tracy.
The five steps in teaching an employee new skills are preparation, explanation,
showing, observation and supervision.
Bruce Barton
I was a government employee in the morning and a writer in the evening.
Naguib Mahfouz
I call them associates; I don't like the word 'employee.'.
Mickey Drexler
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Your goal is to organize your life in such a way that you enjoy a good income, a high standard of
living, and that you are the master of your economic destiny rather than a victim of changing
economic times. Does this sound consistent with your goals?
Contribution Is the Key

Your job is an opportunity to contribute a value to your company in excess of your cost. In its
simplest terms, your job is as secure as your ability to render value in excess of what it costs to
keep you on the payroll. If you want to earn more money at your current job, you have to increase
your value, your contribution to the enterprise.
Add Value Every Day

If you want to get a new job, you have to find a way to contribute value to that enterprise. If you
want any kind of job security, you must continually work at maintaining and increasing your value
in the competitive marketplace.
And here's a key point. Your education, knowledge, skills and experience all are investments in
your ability to contribute a value for which you can be paid. But they are like any other
investments. They are highly speculative.
Once you have learned a subject or developed a skill, it is a sunk cost. It is time and money spent
that you cannot get back. No employer in the marketplace has any obligation to pay you for it,
unless he can use your skill to produce a product or service that people are ready to buy, today.
Prepare For Your Next Job

Whatever job you are doing, you should be preparing for your next job. And the key question is
always: Where are the customers? Which businesses and industries are growing in this economy,
and which ones are declining?
Where Is The Future?

I continually meet people who ask me how they can increase their income when their entire
industry is shrinking. I tell them that there are jobs with futures and there are jobs without
futures, and they need to get into a field that is expanding, not contracting.
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Never Be Without A Job

There are three forms of unemployment in America: voluntary, involuntary, and frictional.
Voluntary employment exists when a person decides not to work for a certain period of time, or
not to accept a particular type of job, hoping that something better will come along. Involuntary
unemployment exists when a person is willing and able to work but cannot find a job anywhere.
Frictional unemployment is the natural level; this includes the approximately 4 or 5 percent of
the working population who are between jobs at any given time.
Three Keys to Lifelong Employment

However, there are always jobs for the creative minority. You never have to be unemployed if
you will do one of three things: change the work that you are offering to do, change the place
where you are offering to work, or change the amount that you are asking for your services. You
should consider one or more of these three strategies whenever you are dissatisfied with your
current work situation.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, look around you at your current job and find ways to create added value every day. There's
always something more you can do.
Second, identify the kind of work you want to be doing in the future and then make a plan to
develop the knowledge and skills you will require to do it well.
Brian Tracy
Observation: This document doesn't have mp3.
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182. Improve Your English by Looking for Patterns.

Eli Hinkel, a professor at Seattle Pacific University, says that English learners need to learn to
recognize patterns in the English language.
These patterns, she says, are actually phrases terms or expressions that relate to speaking and
writing.
Examples of patterns
So, what exactly are these phrases?
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Here is a real-life example. The author of this story sent an email requesting a time to speak with
Hinkel.
The email was similar to this one:
"Hi, Dr. Hinkel,
"My name is John Russell, and I work for the Learning English Division of Voice of America Are
you available for an interview sometime in the next two weeks? We're looking for advice from
education experts, and your input would be greatly appreciated."
Hinkel gave examples of important phrases in the email:
"Hi! My name is something and something. I work for VOA. Are you available ? We're looking
for .
"You did not come and say 'Hey! I saw you speak ... Give me an interview."
The important pattern-like phrases that she spoke about are the phrases "Hi! My name is," "I
work for," "Are you available ?" and "We're looking for "
These expressions are considered polite ways, in American English, to introduce yourself or to ask
another person for something.
These phrases are socially acceptable and grammatically correct.
Building a large set of socially acceptable and grammatically correct phrases can make the
language learning process easier, says Hinkel.
Anna Uhl Chamot also has studied learning strategies. She advises learners to look for patterns as
they learn a language. Chamot calls this strategy "Finding and Applying Patterns."
Academic articles follow patterns

Eli Hinkel says English academic writing, in particular, uses patterns more often than writing in
other European languages.
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"So, French article writing is not formulaic, German is not formulaic, in general, Central and
Eastern Europeans don't do formulae. So, it (the English language) is highly formulaic in practically
every way not just the structure, but also the mode of expression."
Hinkel adds that English academic articles often begin with a statement of purpose and then uses
common patterns throughout.
She gave an example of common and important phrases for introducing a topic and giving a
summary in academic writing:
"This paper will discuss X, Y, and Z.
"First, it will consider A, B, and C, then it will also take a look at blah-blah-blah, and in conclusion,
the paper will explain B, C and D. So, in general, these formulae are something that most learners
don't notice."
The important phrases that learners don't often notice include the following: "First, it will consider
," "then it will take a look at ," and "in conclusion, the paper will explain "
There are many other common phrases in academic writing.
For example, you will often see statements such as "I claim that ," which is a common way to
make an assertion, or "One suggestion is that ..., " which is a common phrase for making a
recommendation.
Future education stories will discuss more common phrases in academic writing.
Three steps to improving your writing

One common problem for English learners is that they often do their writing assignments without
a clear goal in mind.
For example, Hinkel says, when learners write personal narratives they may choose their subject
with little planning.
So, they (English learners) just simply say 'Alright, I'm going to write about my memory from
childhood. And it was about my greatest grandfather in the world. And I love him, and he has
been long dead.' "
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She adds that English learners can improve their writing by planning what they want to write:
"So, my first and first and first and second and third and fourth tip: Whatever it is that learners
are writing personal memory, scientific article, or a write-up of an interview like this one follow
the pattern
"So, that requires three things:
"First, identify similar genre.
"Second, analyze the stinking thing to death, until you can identify this pattern. And then follow
the yellow brick road."
In other words, learners should choose stories, identify patterns in the stories, and then use the
patterns that they find in their own writing.
Try looking for patterns

So, try to find patterns the next time you read a story on
learningenglish.voanews.com. Then try to use the patterns that you find.
our
website,
Remember, you should not copy a paper line by line. Copying a paper is considered plagiarism,
and plagiarism is unacceptable in English-speaking academic work!
However, you should look for examples of pattern-like phrases in the stories. Then, try to include
the phrases in your writing or speaking.
Im John Russell.
John Russell reported on this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/3313410.html
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183. John Adams Second USA President.
President John Adams.

Courtesy The White House Historical Association
Do you recognize that song? It is the opening to the show The Addams Family.
But today we are talking about a different Adams family one from the history books, not the
television program of the 1960s.
Being second is not always easy. When you are the second president of a new country, following
a popular first president such as George Washington, it is even harder.
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John Adams, patriot lawyer from Boston, Massachusetts, found himself in that difficult position.
In 1796, he was elected the second president of the United States of America.
John Ferling is an historian who has written about the colonial times. In 2015, he published a book
called Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War That Won It.
Ferling says a big problem for John Adams is that, unlike George Washington, he really had no
experience as an executive before becoming president. Adams had a different background: he
served two terms as vice president under Washington, and he served in the Congress and as a
diplomat abroad.
But he had never managed an army, a business or a country.
And the result was Adams made a key blunder at the very outset of his presidency, and the
blunder he made was the he retained Washingtons cabinet.
Adams kept Washingtons official advisers his cabinet mostly to satisfy some of his political
opponents. These opponents were members of Adams own party, but they did not support
Adams.
Later, Adams learned that some of his advisers did not support him either. They were more loyal
to the former secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton did not hold elected office
at the time, but he continued to influence the nations affairs.
Historian John Ferling says Adams was in kind of over his head, and started swimming upstream
almost from the start of his presidency.
He didnt know what he was getting into. I dont think he really understood their loyalty to
Hamilton. Maybe he was just incredibly naive.
Adams also was known for getting angry easily and often acting depressed. Ferling says the
second president may have suffered from an immune disorder called Graves disease, which could
have caused his dramatic changes in emotion.
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The busiest lawyer in Boston

Even though Adams struggled as president, he was successful in other parts of his life.
John Adams Birthplace in Massachusetts in winter. National Park Service, Adams National
Historical Park
He grew up outside the city of Boston, Massachusetts. His father was a farmer, as well as a church
official and town leader. He hoped his son would be a minister; however, John Adams chose to
attend Harvard University and become a lawyer.
Adams was a very good lawyer. In fact, he was one of the busiest lawyers in Boston. His success
enabled him to buy a big, two-story house that still stands in Quincy, Massachusetts. At that time,
the average farmer lived in a home the size of todays two-car garage.
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The Adams family

He also had a happy marriage.
John Adams married Abigail Smith in 1764. They had six children together.
John and Abigails relationship is one of the most well-known of that time because they wrote
many letters to each other over the years they were apart. More than 1,000 of their letters still
survive today.
John Adams home study in Massachusetts. National Park Service, Adams National Historical
Park
John and Abigail Adams were both passionate patriots who supported the American Revolution.
They also agreed about the issue of slavery. John and Abigail believed it was a revolting
institution, according to historian John Ferling. Unlike many founding families of the U.S., the
couple did not own slaves and spoke out against the practice of people owning other people.
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A troubled presidency
Adams was elected president at a fragile time for the United States. People did not know if the
country would hold together in the transition from one president to the next.
The election of 1796 followed the original rule in the U.S. Constitution. At that time, the
Constitution said the person who received the majority of votes became president. The person
with the second largest number of votes became vice president. In 1796, that rule meant that
Adams became the nations second president, and his political opponent, Thomas Jefferson,
became the vice president. Even though the two leaders were personal friends, they often
struggled over competing ideas about the role of the federal government.
In addition to the challenges of leading a divided administration, Adams struggled to deal with a
foreign policy crisis. The Revolution in France threatened to spread to other European countries.
Many countries, including Great Britain, answered the threat by allying against France. Historian
John Ferling says that the crisis in Europe shaped Adams presidency and caused him endless
troubles.
Adams worked hard to make sure the United States did not get pulled into a war between France
and Great Britain. But France did not trust the U.S.; it tried to interrupt trade between the U.S.
and Great Britain by seizing U.S. ships.
John Adams wanted to resolve the problem peacefully. He threatened military action, but he also
sent diplomats to talk with French officials. Adams aimed for an honorable peace with France.
Eventually, he got it.
My sense of Adams presidency, is while there were a great many failures in Adams presidency,
ultimately he succeeded. He succeeded in avoiding war.
In fact, many years later, Adams wrote that the greatest jewel in his crown was achieving peace
with France.
No friend of immigrants
Something that Adams was not favorably remembered for is signing the Alien and Sedition Act in
1798. The four Acts extended the time from five to 14 years that immigrants had to wait before
becoming U.S. citizens. They permitted the government to detain citizens from enemy nations
without a reason during wartime. They allowed the president to deport foreign citizens he
believed were dangerous. And they made it a crime to criticize the president or Congress.
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Adams said the laws aimed to control people in the U.S. who supported France. But many
politicians at the timeas well as historian John Ferlingpointed out that the laws mostly
affected people who supported the opposing political party, the Republicans.
I think its purely partisan and what they were trying to do, on the one hand, was silence the
Republican press, and second they were trying to reduce the number of voters who would be
voting for the Republican Party.
Ferling says Adams may have been using the Alien and Sedition acts to protect his political career.
But in fact, they damaged the presidents reputation. They made many immigrants flee the
country, and raised the question for the first time of whether states had the right to ignore a
federal law if they disagreed with it.
Adams and Jefferson

Adams faced a difficult re-election in 1800. His old friend Thomas Jefferson opposed him. Both
parties carried out ugly personal attacks.
When Jefferson won, Adams retired to his farm in Massachusetts. His loss, however, was not the
end of a John Adams in the presidential mansion. One of his six children, John Quincy Adams,
served as the sixth president of the United States from 1825-1829.
In his later years, Adams wrote an autobiography and many letters. They eventually included long
letters to Thomas Jefferson. The two men often corresponded in the last years of their lives. They
discussed their families, their thoughts on politics and religion, and their nations history. Adams
and Jefferson were the last living members of the original Americans who started a new county.
Then, on July 4, 1826 the nations 50th birthday these friends, patriots and former U.S.
presidents both passed away. On the same day.
The last words John Adams ever spoke were: Jefferson lives.
In fact, Jefferson had died five hours earlier. But, in the days before telephones or Internet, Adams
had no way of knowing his friend had gone before him.
Im Anne Ball.
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Anne Ball wrote this story. Kelly J. Kelly was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/john-adams-the-nations-secondpresident/3142052.html
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184. Unkind Words Hurt the Brain.
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
There is a popular saying in the English language: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but
names will never hurt me.
Well, that is not true.
Unkind words, name-calling or even the so-called the silent treatment can hurt children as
much as being physically hit, sometimes even more so.
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A recent study of middle school children showed that verbal abuse by other children can harm
development in the brain. The study was a project of researchers at Harvard Medical School in
Massachusetts.
Researcher Martin Teicher and his team studied young adults, ages 18 to 25. These young men
and women had no experience with domestic violence, sexual abuse or physical abuse by their
parents.
The researchers asked the young people to rate their childhood exposure to verbal abuse from
both parents and other children. Then the researchers performed imaging tests on the brains of
the subjects.
The images showed that the individuals who reported suffering verbal abuse from their peers in
middle school had underdeveloped connections between the left and right side of the brain.
The two sides of the brain are connected by a large bundle of connecting fibers called the corpus
callosum. This was the area that was underdeveloped.
The middle school years are a time when these brain connections are developing. So, unkind,
hurtful comments from children or adults during this period had the greatest effect.
The researchers tested the mental and emotional condition of all the young people in the study.
The tests showed that this same group of individuals had higher levels of fear, depression, anger
and drug abuse than others in the study.
The researchers published their findings online on the American Journal of Psychiatrys website.
We cannot control what other people say to our children. But we can prepare them. A website
called CreativeWithKids.com suggests 64 things that all children need to hear.
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Here, are our top 20.
I am curious what you think.

You are creative.
I believe in you.
You can ask for help.
You make me smile
I have faith in you.
You are imperfect. So am I.
You are a good friend.
I will do my best to keep you safe.
Trust your instincts.
My world is better with you in it.
I love you.
Its fun to do things with you.
You are valuable.
Your choices matter.
You can change your mind.
You make a difference.
Im ready to listen.
You can learn from your mistakes.
Im proud of you.
Share one or more of these statements with a child in your life. Actually, maybe we all need to
hear some of these statements.
Choose another and say it to an adult you care about.
Im Anna Matteo.
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Anna Matteo wrote this for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/health-and-lifestyle-unkind-words-hurt-thebrain/3491496.html
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185. Thomas Jefferson's Collection Still Impresses 200 Years

Later.
To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be
strengthened by education.
Thomas Jefferson
The United States Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. It has a huge collection of
books and other sources of information, including documents, maps and photographs. The Library
of Congress carries out research for the U.S. Congress. But the librarys three buildings in
Washington are open to the public. People can visit, use the reading rooms and see the exhibits.
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The Library of Congress opened in 1801. Its first home was the U.S. Capitol building. The United
States and Britain fought during the War of 1812. During the war, British forces burned the
Capitol, destroying many of the librarys 3,000 books.
The third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson, offered his personal library as a replacement. At the
time, Jefferson had the largest personal collection of books in the country. In those times, books
were costly. Most were made in Europe and shipped to the United States. Jefferson bought some
of the books when he was serving as a diplomat in France.
Jefferson had been born into a wealthy family so he was able to buy the books he wanted. Two
hundred years ago, on January 30, 1815, Congress bought Jeffersons collection of 6,487 books
for $23,950. After the purchase, the Library of Congress had more than two times as many books
as it had when the British attacked. Today, many of Jeffersons books are permanently displayed
at the library.
Thomas Jefferson loved books and learning. He collected books on almost any subject.
Mark Dimunation is Chief of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Library of Congress.
He liked books about clever invention. Massive holdings on law and then his great love,
architecture.
He says the original library was very different from Jeffersons collection.
It was a working library that members of Congress would need -- law, trade, dictionaries, some
classical history.
Mark Dimunation says Jeffersons many interests changed the Library of Congress approach to
collecting.
It completely altered the notion of what was appropriate for that collection -- from needlepoint
designs to architecture.
Marcelo Alvez is an engineer and college professor from Brazil. He closely studied some of
Jeffersons books.
Its quite surprising to see a leader, a president that is interested in philosophy, mathematics,
physics, agriculture. So he was a man of huge knowledge that we wont find today.
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Jefferson wrote the American Declaration of Independence from Britain. He read some of the
most important and influential books on philosophy and politics. He also had an English-language
copy of Islams holy book, the Koran. He got it when he was studying to be a lawyer.
Jefferson, we think, acquired it because the teaching was that the Koran was Arabic law (so) this
would cover his understanding of international law on the part of Muslim countries.
In 1851, a fire in the U.S. Capitol destroyed many books in the library and almost two-thirds of
Jeffersons collection. After the fire, a large and beautiful building was put up across the street
from the Capitol for the Library of Congress.
Mr. Dimunation says the library is seeking replacements of all of Jeffersons books that were
burned. It has been successful in that effort -- the collection is almost complete.
So out of the 4,000 or so books that I needed to replace to reconstruct Jeffersons library as it
was before the 1851 fire, I am down to just less than 250 books to go.
After Jefferson sold his beloved books, he never saw them again.
But he soon began building another collection of books. When he was finished he had several
thousand. They were sold in 1829 after his death to pay his debts.
The former president loved books, but he also wanted to share them. So even today the Library
of Congress still lets researchers use his books. Almost two hundred years after he died, Jefferson
is still serving the nation he helped create.
Im Christopher Cruise.
VOA Correspondent Deborah Block reported this story from Washington. Christopher Cruise
wrote the story in VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/third-us-presidents-library-continues-to-impress-200years-later/2630494.html
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186. Hillary Clinton - Her Voice Does Presence in VOA-ERD, For

You.
I think that you can disagree with people and debate over their positions with issues without
engaging in the politics of personal destruction.
Dignity does not come from avenging insults, especially from violence that can never be justified.
It comes from taking responsibility and advancing our common humanity.
I always run inclusive and successful organizations.
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It is a fact that around the world the elites of every country are making money.
You have to test your ideas in a public forum.
When I became secretary of state, I felt one of my primary jobs was building relationships around
the world.
In the aftermath of September 11, and as the 9/11 Commission report so aptly demonstrates, it
is clear that our intelligence system is not working the way that it should.
Europe is a miracle.
I'll get involved in philanthropy.
No nation can meet the world's challenges alone.
You don't make peace with your friends. That's the bottom line. You end conflicts by trying to
find some political resolution.
The most important questions for anybody thinking of running for president are not 'Will you
run and can you win?' There is, 'What is your vision for America? And can you lead us there?'.
America is stronger because of President Obama's leadership, and I'm better because of his
friendship.
But I can tell you another engine for growth and job creation would be comprehensive
immigration reform.
To me you cannot be fully human, fully civilized, unless you recognize humanity in everyone.
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187. Improve Your Writing by Using Concept Maps.
English learners face a common problem: their writing often lacks clarity and cohesion.
That is according to Babi Kruchin and Alan Kennedy who teach at the American Language Program
at Columbia University.
They recommend that English learners use concept maps images that show how ideas are
connected.
What is important is how you put it together
Lets consider a comparison. In some ways, the writing process is like cooking.
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Gathering the ingredients for a meal requires effort. But, understanding how to put all the
ingredients together is far more difficult.
Similarly, learning nouns, adjectives, and verbs can be hard to do. But, putting them together into
a meaningful story, email, or essay is what is difficult.
Doing these things becomes even more difficult when you are writing in a second language.
So, writing clear, cohesive paragraphs or essays, can be hard for English learners.
To overcome this problem, Kruchin and Kennedy recommend that students make concept maps
before writing.
Kennedy says concept maps show a writer when his or her writing lacks clarity.
Kruchin adds that concept maps help visual learners people who learn better by seeing ideas.
What are concept maps?

Concept maps are tools for organizing ideas. They usually have three parts: concepts, arrows, and
linking phrases.
The concepts, which are the main ideas, are in circles or boxes. They are often nouns or noun
phrases.
Arrows show how concepts are connected.
Linking words or phrases go above the arrows and explain how the concepts relate to one
another.
Linking phrases are especially important. They are the groups of words that show relationships
between concepts.
Joseph Novak, the creator of concept mapping, says such linking phrases give meaning to
statements:
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"If you say dog and food, those two concepts by themselves don't mean anything. They don't
make a statement about the world. But if you say "dogs need food", then you begin to express an
idea that's significant."
A clear relationship between the concepts 'dog' and 'food'
Novak adds that the linking words or phrases should be short. "You do not want a story between
two concepts," he says, "just the expression that is needed to say, 'this concept is significantly
related to another concept.'"
Generally, the generic ideas are at the top of the concept map and the specific ideas are at the
bottom.
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Kennedy explains what this looks like:

"So, for example, if you wanted to explain that trees provide wood, and wood is used to make
furniture, you could have a circle around the word trees and then you could have an arrow
between the word wood and the word furniture, which would also be in a circle, and on top of
that arrow it would say "is used to make""
Simple Concept Map
From this starting point, writers can expand concept maps to include many concepts, arrows, and
linking phrases.
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An example of a concept map from Kennedy and Kruchin's article

(PDF attached to this story)
Source of the previous Concept Map of the Trees:
http://ange-portfolio.pbworks.com/w/page/8570584/Concept%20Map
Regardless of how simple or complex the map is, the most important point is that every concept
has at least one arrow attached to it, and that every arrow has a linking word or linking phrase.
Building a concept map before writing an essay or email will make you think about how your ideas
relate to one another.
You will realize when you are not explaining the relationships between ideas if you make a
concept map that does not have arrows or linking phrases.
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What can you do?

So, what can you do to start practicing concept maps?
You can start by reading and learning common linking words.
#1 Start by building a concept map of a paragraph

Kruchin recommends that English learners begin to use concept maps by studying the writing of
others.
Learning how good writers have connected and developed ideas is an important starting point for
learners who want to improve their own writing.
Kruchin adds that English learners should begin with a small amount of writing, such as a
paragraph.
Kruchin suggests that English learners study the paragraph, or essay, by looking for the following
information:
"The author's main idea is this, because of A, B, and C and here is one example to support A, one
example to support B, one example to support C."
Doing this exercise, Kruchin adds, will give English learners information about how they can show
relationships between ideas in their own writing.
#2 Learn common words and phrases that connect ideas

Kennedy recommends that English learners master words and phrases that show relationships
between ideas. These linking phrases often show cause and effect or tell about the order of
events.
English learners, Kennedy explains, should practice using a few of these phrases before moving
to phrases that are more complex.
In particular, he recommends that English learners first use phrases such as "leads to", "causes",
"is a type of" and "requires", before moving on to other phrases.
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Read the article that goes with this story

Whether your goal is to write novels, poetry, or a message to a co-worker or friend, being able to
show a relationship between ideas is an important skill.
Concept mapping might seem complicated, but Kennedy and Kruchin wrote an article that can
help clarify their ideas. You can find the article on this page in PDF format. Download the article,
read it, then try practicing with concept maps.
Let us know how concept maps work for you!
I'm John Russell.
John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/improve-your-writing-using-conceptmaps/3486794.html
Pgina 158 de 212
Other way, how to find the article mentioned of Kennedy and Kruchin about Concept Maps?
Options:
1) Employ the link:
https://mcenriqueruizdiaz.blogspot.mx/2016/09/using-concept-maps-by-alan-skennedy.html
2) In the searcher of the blog:

https://mcenriqueruizdiaz.blogspot.mx/
Write:
Using Concept Maps ..., by Alan S. Kennedy and Babi Kruchin
Pgina 159 de 212
188. Jennifer Webb-McRae: 'I'm Passionate About Doing Justice

Every Day'.
Jennifer Webb-McRae.
Jennifer Webb-McRae always knew what she wanted to be when she grew up.
I really never wanted to be anything else when I grew up. I knew I wanted to be a lawyer and
that was because my family kind of put that notion in my head. They used to tease me and say I
argued every point, so I should grow up and be a lawyer.
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But neither Webb-McRae, nor her family, knew how far she would go -- all in her home state of
New Jersey.
I am the Cumberland County prosecutor, which means that I am the Chief Law Enforcement
Officer for the county of Cumberland. There are 21 county prosecutors throughout the state. I
happen to be the first African American and first female prosecutor of Cumberland County.
Webb-McRae was raised in Vineland, New Jersey. She received her law degree just 40 minutes
away from home, from Camden School of Law at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Early on, Webb-McRae was interested in family law. She clerked for a judge involved in that field.
He became a lifelong mentor. However, she found she had a passion for criminal law when she
worked with the juvenile justice system.
I was fortunate enough to get a job very quickly at the Office of the Public Defender representing
juvenile defendants. So it was interesting because it gave me a passion for criminal justice, but it
also kind of suited that social work element of me to want to do justice and help serve the whole
person and kind of started me on my way in the criminal justice world.
Webb-McRae says her responsibilities as Chief Prosecutor of Cumberland County are complex.
There are a lot of hard issues that you face when you have to made decisions that affect peoples
lives in the criminal justice system. However, with some of the national issues that are going on
in our country, with you know with Ferguson, with mass incarceration, with a lack of confidence
in law enforcement. Its been a challenge being the first African-American prosecutor.
Sometimes the challenges might feel personal.
"Also being a mother of an African-American boy, to reconcile that I have a role to play in this
system and how to do that responsibly. One of the things that we work really hard on, and I
hopefully have brought to the forefront, is that I understand that my primary responsibly here is
to prosecute people who break the law in Cumberland County as well as protect the citizens of
this great county.
There are many ways to serve that purpose, however. Webb-McRae says she works to help
people make good choices, especially when they are young. She recognizes the power of peer
pressure that children face. She notes the strong no-snitching culture among young people that
can block needed intervention.
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To battle this, Webb-McRae launched an Annual Back to School Initiative. After just six years in
existence, the program now involves 40 schools. McRae and her office staff attend over 30 backto-school events each year. They share information about programs that help keep kids safe.
Earlier this year, Webb-McRae also launched a community engagement series.
With Ferguson, with police-involved shootings, its important that we dialogue with the
communities in times of rest and when things are calm, so that we can capitalize on those
relationships when we have unrest or we have crises that we all have to deal with together.
Prosecutor Webb-McRae hopes her example will inspire girls in Cumberland County.
Im passionate about what I do. Im proud to be career woman. Im proud to a role model for
other young women who are embarking to be decision makers and I'm passionate about doing
justice every day.
Jennifer Webb-McRae plans to continue to grow in her career. She hopes to become a judge
someday. Her belief in community involvement, public service and justice will continue.
I believe that everyone is a stakeholder in our community and everyone has a right and a vested
interest to make sure that the justice system is fair and just and equitable for everyone. Our
system is not perfect, our justice system across the country certainly is not perfect, but Im
passionate about doing my little part to make it better. I believe in action and moving the ball
forward.
Im Marsha James.
Marsha James wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/people-in-america-jennifer-webb-mcrae/3505743.html
Pgina 162 de 212
189. African Films Explore Our Sense of Time.
Artist Rachel Rymont did not plan on spending part of her day inside a dark building when she
visited Washington, D.C. But she changed her mind after taking one look at a new exhibit at the
world-famous Smithsonian Institution.
The exhibit can be seen at the Smithsonians National Museum of African Art. It is called "Senses
of Time: Video and Film-based Works of Africa."
"Senses of Time" is a video and film show that explores how people experience time.
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"It is a really different experience than being in a gallery or looking at a painting," said Rymont,
who lives in Baltimore, Maryland. "It kind of forces you to step back and co-exist with the piece
instead of just glancing at it."
Time is the main subject that connects all of the works, although the subject matter differs from
work to work.
The exhibit includes Yinka Shonibare's work "Un Ballo in Maschera." It is based on Giuseppe
Verdi's 1859 operatic work, A Masked Ball.
Shonibares piece questions the nature of time. In it, a leader, played by a woman, is killed. She
then rises again and dances once more.
Moataz Nasr's film, The Water, is very different from Shonibares colorful work.
Nasr's film is in black and white. Faces appear in water on the ground, but before you, the viewer,
can see any details, a foot steps on the image.
Art and Politics

Rachel Rymont liked how the exhibit was political, but did not try to teach about politics in an
unwanted way.
"A lot of time with political work, there's a tendency for things to get a bit cold or didactic, but
that didn't happen in there," she said. "All of it was very moving, and it was very human."
Perhaps the most openly political piece is Sammy Baloji's "Memoire. It was filmed against a series
of former copper mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Choreographer and dancer Faustin Linyekula does a dance, while speeches from some of the
country's earlier and current leaders play.
The piece shows how the reality of the present has not lived up to the promises of the past.
Linyekula expresses this idea in a heartbreaking way by shouting, "Vive l'independence" (Long live
independence) to nothing but silence.
Other works tell of difficulties that political activists faced in the past.
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For example, Sue Williamson's work, called "There's Something I Must Tell You", shows six South
African women from the generation of former President Nelson Mandela. The women talk about
their experiences to their young relatives.
In total, seven films are shown at the same time in the African art museums exhibit hall. The
experience tests not only perceptions of time, but also ideas about what artists can accomplish
with film.
Im John Russell.
Rosie Brown wrote this report for VOANews.com. John Russell adapted it for Learning English.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/african-films-explore-sense-time/3469297.html
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190. Modals for Asking Permission.
For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.

This week we will give you some tips on how to use modals to make requests and give permission.
Some common modals for expressing permission are may, can and could. But these modals have
multiple meanings that can be confusing for English learners.
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Can and May

Children in American schools learn to use the modal may when asking for permission. A student
might ask the teacher, "May I be excused?" before leaving the room. When students asked, "Can
I leave the room?" their teachers often made a joke, "You can, but you may not."
The teacher was saying the student is able to leave the room, but does not have permission to do
so. May is the most formal way to ask for permission. The distinction between can and may is
slowly disappearing in English.
These days, it is not always clear if may is being used to express permission or possibility or
both. Let's look at some examples in the language of internet privacy policies.
When you visit a website for the first time, you often see a popup box asking for permission to
collect information about you. Privacy laws in some countries require websites to tell you what
information is collected and how it will be used.
A common privacy statement includes this sentence: We may collect various types of
information when you visit any of our sites.
Let's see what this legal language really means. "We may collect information" means that you
give the company permission to collect information about you. In other words, you allow the
company to save your email address or your computer's address.
But may has multiple meanings. In addition to expressing permission, may also expresses
possibility. For example, It may rain means that there is a possibility of rain.
Lets go back to our privacy example.
We may collect various types of information when you visit any of our sites. The policy
contains some clever legal language. We may collect information means We have permission
to collect information. But it could also mean, There is a possibility that we will collect
information. One could make an argument for both meanings. As an Internet user, you should
assume both meanings of may are part of the policy.
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Could and May

A third modal for making polite requests is could. For example, Could I please have some water?
Could is the past tense of can. However, when asking for permission, could does not have a past
tense meaning.
Could has the same meaning as may when making requests. It is equally polite to say, Could I
leave early? or May I leave early?
Could is used with any subject to ask for permission. For example Could I open the window? or
Could you open the window? are both grammatical.
Be careful with may. When making a request using may, only I can be the subject. If you are
making a formal request to dance with someone, you would say, May I have this dance? not
May you have this dance? May followed by you does not express a request; it expresses a wish,
as in May you live long.
But thats another episode. Until next time, well leave you a song of permission by the
Temptations.
May I have this dance
May I, may, may I have this dance
Im Jonathan Evans with Ashley Thompson.
Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this story for Learning English. Adam Brock was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/modals-permission-everyday-grammar/3355585.html
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Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.
Lisa See.
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never
reads lives only one.
George R.R. Martin.
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191. Education and Empowerment.
Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower
others.
- John C. Maxwell
People want guidance, not rhetoric. They need to know what the plan of action is and how it will
be implemented. They want to be given responsibility to help solve the problem and the authority
to act on it.
--Howard Schultz, Starbucks
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The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.

Diogenes
Our future growth relies on competitiveness and innovation, skills and productivity... and these
in turn rely on the education of our people.
Julia Gillard
Education remains the key to both economic and political empowerment.
Barbara Jordan
My work in government has flowed from the fundamental idea of personal empowerment. It's
about giving people the tools they need to pave their own way.
James Langevin
My job as a leader is to make sure that everybody in the company has great opportunities and
they feel they are having meaningful impact to the good of society.
-- Larry Page, Google
You cannot have faith in people unless you take action to improve and develop them.
--Sumantra Ghoshal
You don't build a business, you build people, then people build the business.
--Zig Ziglar
An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and
opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success.
--Stephen Covey
Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purposea point on which the
soul may fix its intellectual eye.
Mary Shelley
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An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Benjamin Franklin
Education is the movement from darkness to light.
Allan Bloom
Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
Will Durant
Education is all a matter of building bridges.
Ralph Ellison
Education is the transmission of civilization.
Will Durant
Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every
society, in every family.
Kofi Annan
Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it
today.
Malcolm X
People only see what they are prepared to see.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose
wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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192. Nobel in Physics Awarded for Strange States of Matter.
Three British-born scientists have won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Physics.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award on Tuesday.
The academy is recognizing David J. Thouless, F. Duncan Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz for their
work in topology, an advanced field of mathematics. Topology describes the properties of objects.
Thouless, aged 82, once taught at the University of Washington, but is now a professor emeritus.
Haldane, 65, is a physics professor at Princeton University in New Jersey. Kosterlitz, 73, is a physics
professor at Brown University in Rhode Island.
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The men launched their experiments in the 1970s. The academy said their research projects
brought about a new and unexpected understanding of the way solid materials behave. It said
they also developed their own mathematical equations to explain the behaviors.
In a statement, the Nobel judges said, This year's laureates opened the door on an unknown
world where matter can assume strange states. Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now
on for new and exotic phases of matter."
The judges said there is hope that topological materials will help create new generations of
electronics and superconductors.
Haldane told reporters he was very surprised and very gratified to win the award. A lot of
tremendous new discoveries that are based on this original work are now happening.
He added that the discoveries came by accident, which is often the case with science. You
stumble on it and you have the luck to recognize what you've found is something very
interesting.
The Associated Press spoke by telephone with Kosterlitz, who was in Finland. He said he was a
little bit dazzled and still trying to take it in.
The Nobel Prize for Physics comes with a monetary prize of $930,000, which is split among the
winners. The Nobel laureates will also collect a medal and diploma at an award ceremony on
December 10.
The first Nobel Prize of this year for Physiology or Medicine - was announced Monday. That
award went to Japanese scientist Yushinori Ohsumi for experiments related to bakers yeast.
Other Nobel prizes will be announced this week and next week.
Joshua Fatzick reported this story for VOANews.com. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for Learning
English. Additional information came from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence FrancePresse. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/nobel-prize-in-physics-awarded-for-research-in-strangestates-of-matter/3536682.html
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193. Express Your 'Self'.
Hello! From VOA Learning English, this is Words and Their Stories.
Have you ever talked to someone who only wants to talk about themselves? Its me, me, me or
I, I, I from them all day long! This kind of talk can be a real turn off to the people listening.
But at times, perhaps we are all guilty of being selfish or self-absorbed. For those days, here are
some self-centered expressions you can use.
Today our program is all about you!
Lets start with the word self.
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Self can be added to many words to make new words. If you are self-conscious, you are aware
of yourself in a bad way. You carefully plot your every move. People who are self-conscious can
seem nervous around others and perhaps not very self-confident.
However, self-awareness is a good thing.
Self-awareness means you recognize both your good points and bad points. A person who is selfaware understands that what they say and do affects the people around them.
The difference between being self-aware and self-conscious may seem minor. But there is a big
difference.
Self-employed people are people who work for themselves. They are their own bosses. But people
who are self-serving only think of their own needs. However, if you are self-employed, being a
self-serving business person is a good thing. No one is there to help you. You must look after
yourself.
Self-preservation is also good thing. You have to depend on yourself to survive. However, selfpity is not a good thing to have. Nobody likes to be around people who always feel sorry for
themselves.
You dont have to be filled with self-pity to annoy other people around you.
If you are unable to make a decision, people could say to you, suit yourself. This expression is a
response when you dont really care what someone does. It means "do as you please." In other
words, have it your way!
Lets listen to an example:
I dont think Im going to the party tonight.
But you just said you were going and that you would give me ride!
Okay, Ill go.
Look, suit yourself. Dont go because of me. But make up your mind!
Some expressions using the word self can sound strange.
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Take, for example, the saying to be beside yourself. To many people, this might sound like you
are having an out-of-body experience. But to be beside yourself means to be affected by a strong,
usually negative emotion, like anger or sadness.
Here are a few examples:
When her mother died, she was beside herself with grief.
He was so upset that he was beside himself.
Another unusual-sounding expression is to be full of yourself. This means that you think so highly
of yourself that you are full; there is no room for anyone else.
If you are full of yourself, you might think that you are the greatest thing since sliced bread -- a
common expression in American English.
If you are full of yourself, you may need to get over yourself. To get over yourself may sound
like a difficult physical exercise. But it only means that you need to think of others not just
yourself.
If you are way too caught up in your own life or think you are better than everyone else, others
might say to you, Get over yourself.
Now, getting out of your own way is different. This means that the thing or barrier keeping you
from getting what you want is you!
If you are the reason you are not achieving your goals, a friend could say to you, You have to get
out of your own way!
People who experience hard times can become a shadow of their former self. This means they
have less influence or strength than they once did.
For example, imagine a man who has a loving wife, a high-paying job and helps out in his
community. Then his wife leaves him. She blames herself for the separation. But this doesnt help.
The man turns to alcohol to escape his marriage problems. Then he loses his job, his home, his
friends. When you see how low he has fallen, you could say he is a shadow of his former self.
But enough about him.
Lets get back to you. Practice using some of these self expressions to express yourself.
Pgina 177 de 212
Im Anna Matteo.
Anna Matteo wrote this article for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. The song
at the end is Express Yourself sung by Madonna.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/words-and-their-stories-express-your-self/3275094.html
Pgina 178 de 212
194. Nobel Prize Winners Studied Agreements Affecting

Everyone.
Two professors at American universities have won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. They
were honored for their work on business agreements that affect billions of people worldwide:
contracts.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Sveriges Richsbank Prize in
Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for 2016 to Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom for
their contributions to contract theory.
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Goran Hansson, the Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the
prize Monday.
Oliver Hart is a professor at Harvard University. Bengt Holmstrom is at the nearby Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, or M.I.T.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the prize was awarded for work on the theory of
contracts. These agreements affect almost every part of modern life.
Contracts are everywhere

Insurance, loans, buying agreements, employment, property rights, political constitutions and
marriage are all kinds of contracts.
Hart and Holmstrom developed a theory for understanding how contracts work. Their research
has been used to design contracts. It relates to contracts in private markets and in public policy.
Contracts are agreements between a principal and an agent. One example of this relationship is
the one between an employer and an employee.
The leader of a company and its shareholders also have a contractual agreement.
Hart and Holmstroms work raised questions about tying the pay of high-level officials to a
companys current profits. They found that performance-based pay might not be the best policy
in some cases. Doing so, may give a business leader an incentive to make decisions that increase
profits for a short period of time. Those same decisions may harm the company over the long
term.
The two also studied insurance contracts. They argued that people may become careless if
insurance companies fully replaced things that are damaged in an accident, such as cars. So,
insurance companies often have contract holders pay a deductible toward repair. Insurers also
limit what they are willing pay for or replace in many cases.
Holmstrom worked with others to describe how contracts meant to improve one kind of
performance can hurt overall job performance. For example, if teacher pay is tied to student test
scores then many other parts of a teachers job could be negatively affected.
Hart and Holmstrom worked together to show that contracts cannot describe every part of a job.
Contracts are in some ways always incomplete.
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The two said contracts cannot predict every need and requirement in the future. Holmstrom
researched the subject for many years. He advised that contracts should make clear what needs
to be done to deal with future disagreements between parties rather than center on specific
requirements.
The new Nobel prize winners also examined whether some jobs are better done by government
or private industry.
In 1997, Hart worked with others in a study that showed the incentive to reduce costs is usually
stronger among private contractors. The research called into question the policy of some privately
run public services, like prisons.
The Nobel committee praised Hart and Holmstrom for providing the tools to think about and
design better contracts in many different fields.
Oliver Hart was born in London. He spent much of his professional life at American universities.
Co-winner Bengt Holmstrom was born in Helsinki, Finland. He also spent most of his career in the
United States.
The two have been friends for years. The Nobel Prize committees twitter account Tweeted Harts
reaction:
My first action was to hug my wife, wake up my younger son ... and I actually spoke to my
fellow Laureate Oliver Hart #NobelPrize
The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 10, 2016
The two will share the economics prize worth $924,000. It is the only Nobel prize not established
by Alfred Nobel. Swedens central bank established the prize in his honor.
The Nobel prize for literature will be announced Thursday.
Im Mario Ritter.
Pgina 181 de 212
Richard Green reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for Learning English. Caty
Weaver was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/nobel-prize-winners-studied-agreements-affectingeveryone/3547858.html
Pgina 182 de 212
195. Former VOA Learning English Reporter Publishes a Book.
Where did Jeri Watson go?

For 24 years, Jeri wrote and reported for VOA Learning English. She covered many subjects. In her
final year at VOA, she also began working as a broadcaster. People who had enjoyed her stories
since 1990 finally got to hear some of them in her own voice.
They liked what they heard -- her voice was clear and easy to listen to -- and, like Jeri, friendly.
Many people wondered why she had not been broadcasting earlier.
Pgina 183 de 212
Then, 19 months ago, Jeri was no longer heard on VOA. And her byline was no longer seen.
Where was she?
After a long career in journalism, Jeri simply and quietly retired.
She said she wanted to spend more time visiting her children and grandchildren.
Jeri returned to visit her friends at VOA recently. Everyone was happy to see her again. She said
she misses her work at VOA, but she does not regret retiring.
We all reach a, a time when work comes to an end. For me it was about 25 years with VOA and
working for a Chicago daily newspaper years ago. I felt that I had a wonderful career and it was
time to sleep late in the mornings.
Jeri also wanted to complete the novel she had been writing in her spare time. Finally, she was
able to spend hours every day on the project.
I write on my sunporch, with only the company of my cat -- two cats to tell the truth -- and that
felt very strange after working all these years with good friends at VOA. We talk(ed) to each other
constantly, so writing in the quiet felt lonely at first.
But you like it now?
I have totally adjusted. And I have to say I had no trouble adjusting to sleeping a little later in the
morning.
The book has just been published. It is called Sorrow Street. The main character is an American
reporter named Sandra Shelton. She is sent to Brazil to report from Rio de Janeiro. She is
depressed over a recent end of a relationship. She is also unhappy leaving Washington, D.C.
Jeri says Sandra is modeled on the many reporters she has known who have dealt with serious
disappointments in their life.
In Rio, Sandra tries to help some mysterious children -- a young boy and his younger sister -- who
appear to be living on the citys dangerous streets alone. The reporter is pulled into a drug dealers
dangerous kidnapping plot. She also discovers a part of her past -- a past she has tried hard to
forget.
Pgina 184 de 212
Jeri Watson has travelled to Brazil many times. The book includes details that only someone who
experienced the complex and beautiful country first-hand could know. Jeri first visited Brazil 18
years ago. Several return trips followed. She was back again last year.
Just walking around and talking to people and seeing how things were going. And you would
have to be not very observant to miss the fact that things had been economically better for quite
a time there and having bad days again, corruption again, has made people feel very sad.
Jeri says those who have read the book, including other authors, have said they enjoyed it.
Here, Jeri reads from Sorrow Street. Pedro, the little boy Sandra has been trying to help, is now
in a shelter.
It was after midnight but the shelter was still noisy. A couple of young kids cried and mumbled
in their sleep. Pedro rolled around restlessly on the soft bed. It seemed to swallow his body. Hed
often longed for a softer place to sleep than the pavement, but now he thought a cot was kind of
flimsy.
He dreamed of ice-cream with pieces of chocolate cookies in it. He dreamed of his mother, her
wide red and blue cotton skirt swishing as she pulled up the threadbare sheet to his waist, as she
patted at the deflated, torn pillow under his head on the mattress. She spoke softly as she leaned
over him.
Jeri is very active in her retirement. She swims and hikes. And twice a week she teaches people
from around the world American English. In her classes, she uses some of the stories she has
written for VOA Learning English.
Jeri seems very happy and looks great. Retirement agrees with her. That means it is good for her.
Jeri is now writing another book. It will tell about her long life and the many adventures she has
had. She thinks it will be easier to write than a fiction book. When it is published, we will write
about it and you will hear from Jeri Watson again.
Im Christopher Jones-Cruise.
Pgina 185 de 212
Christopher Jones-Cruise reported this story from Washington and wrote it in VOA Special English.
Caty Weaver was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/former-voa-learning-english-reporter-writes-abook/3550851.html
Pgina 186 de 212
196. Improve Your English by Practicing Effectively.
English learners can improve their ability to use different words by practicing. One way to practice
effectively is through repetition doing something over and over again.
Repetition, however, does not mean repeating a new vocabulary word the same way every time.
It means repeating the word while using it in different contexts or situations.
This idea comes from Sarah Lynn, who works as an educational consultant and teacher at Harvard
University's Bridge Program.
Pgina 187 de 212
She says that English learners often have trouble using new words in different situations. They
are unable to put their knowledge and skills to use in new ways.
Common problems
If you are like many students learning a foreign language, you have probably faced a situation like
the one Sarah Lynn describes here:
"We learn a new word, and then, when the moment comes to actually use it, we can't retrieve it
or we can't use it in a new situation and in a new expression."
The problem, she explains, is that the learner's language is not alive yet. He or she is not able to
transfer what they have learned to a new situation.
In an earlier Education story, we discussed the importance of dendrites. Dendrites are
connections in the brain. They grow thicker and stronger with practice.
Lynn suggests that better dendrite connections can improve retrieval, the ability to remember
and use vocabulary words. One way to grow dendrite connections in the brain is to make
connections to what you already know.
Another way to grow dendrite connections is to practice. "They say practice makes perfect" says
Lynn, "but actually, practice makes permanent."
How to overcome the problem

The solution for effective practice, she says, is repetition. However, repetition does not mean
what many people think it does:
"And it's not just about repeating it the same way every time...you need to repeat, but not just
mimicking but actually thinking about it and putting it in next contexts and new situations."
If the English learner wanted to learn a new word, they would repeat the word. But each time
they repeat the word, they should try to mentally put the word in different contexts and
situations.
Pgina 188 de 212
After this, Lynn says that the next step for language learners is to search for the new word while
reading. If the learners read a mix of different writings, they will find the word used in different
contexts.
In addition, Lynn suggests that English learners consider what role the word plays in a sentence.
Lynn says the learners should think about this question: Is the word acting as a noun, adjective or
verb? Lynn explains the reasons for doing this exercise:
"The more you do that variation, and the more you bring in different modalities in how you learn,
the more robust the learning will be, but also the more transferable it will be."
Concordances and Corpora

One way you can practice her suggestions is to use concordances or corpora. Concordances are
lists of all of the words that occur in a written work. There are concordances of famous historical
works, such as the writings of William Shakespeare.
They show all of the words he used, and tell you where to find all of the examples of that word.
Concordances can help you look for words in different contexts, and suggest other words that
may be related to the word you have learned.
Corpora, the plural of corpus, are databases that gather information from many sources.
When you go to one of the many free online corpora, you can put in a new word and it will show
you how the word is used.
If you wanted to learn the word 'sunglasses', you could type the word into Brigham Young
University's corpus, for example. You will see a screen that highlights the word you are looking
for in many contexts.
What can you do?

The next time you learn a new vocabulary word, try to be an active learner by placing the new
vocabulary word in different contexts.
As Lynn suggests, try looking for the new word while reading.
Pgina 189 de 212
Ask yourself questions about the word. While repeating the word, think about the different
contexts in which the word could be used.
In other words, practice the same way, but differently. Give it a try, and let us know how it works
for you.
Im John Russell.
John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/improve-english-by-practice/3456166.html
Pgina 190 de 212
197. One-Third of Worlds Population Cannot See The Milky

Way.
If you have ever seen the Milky Way galaxy, you know what a beautiful sight it is: a truly massive
group of shining stars stretching across the night sky.
But a new study finds that one-third of the worlds population no longer can see the Milky Way
at night.
The findings were reported in the journal Science Advances.
Pgina 191 de 212
The new report says that in the United States, it is even harder to see the Milky Way. For 80
percent of Americans, it is impossible or very difficult to see the galaxy at night.
The problem is light pollution. The sky is brightened at night by street lights and other artificial,
or man-made, lighting. This is especially true in big cities.
Light pollution not only blocks our viewing of the stars and planets; it can also affect natural
events or activities here on Earth.
What is the Milky Way?

The Milky Way is a spiral structure. Earth is actually part of the galaxy, so we cannot take a picture
of the entire formation.
From where we are, the Milky Way has looked like a massive star formation stretching across the
night sky.
NASA, the American space agency, says the Milky Way is about 100,000 light years across, from
one end to the other. Our galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars.
And where does the Milky Way, our galaxy home, fit into the universe? It is just one of hundreds
of billions of galaxies in the known universe, according to NASA.
Since the beginning of time, humans have gathered to look at stars in the night sky. The Milky
Way at first might look like a group of storm clouds. But actually, it is many stars in cloud-like
groups. They shine so brightly they give off white light the same color as milk.
The ancient Greeks had a story that said the white band of stars was milk left in the sky by a
goddess.
Light Pollution Study

The study in the journal Science Advances is the work of an international team of scientists. The
team created a series of maps that show where the worlds light pollution is strongest and
weakest. Their maps were based on from satellite data and sky brightness measurements.
Pgina 192 de 212
I hope that this atlas will finally open the eyes of people to light pollution, said the studys lead
author Fabio Falchi. He works for the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute in Italy.
The Institute says its goal is to limit light pollution and the negative effects on the night
environment. The new guide is a follow up to the first World Atlas describing light pollution in
2001.
The new study found that Singapore, Italy and South Korea have the most widespread light
pollution.
There are only small areas in Western Europe with low levels of light pollution. Those places are
mostly in Scotland, Sweden and Norway. The western United States has huge amounts of wide
open space. But the study found that nearly half of the U.S. experiences light pollution.
The researchers found that two other countries, Canada and Australia, have the most dark sky
or night-time light levels low enough to see the stars.
Dan Duriscoe of the U.S. National Park Service was the studys co-author. He says that U.S.
national parks are just about the last havens of darkness. He pointed out that places such as
Yellowstone and the desert southwest have the darkest night skies.
Were lucky to have a lot of public land that provides a buffer from large cities, said Duriscoe.
Researchers have looked into the increase of artificial light over the years. They say not only does
it affect our view of the Milky Way, but it has been shown to have a big impact on human health
and on wildlife, too.
Scientists have found that artificial light can confuse insects, birds and sea turtles. It can also put
them in situations that can kill them.
Im Anne Ball.
JoElllen McBride wrote this story for VOANews.com. Anne Ball adapted her report for Learning
English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/one-third-of-the-world-cannot-see-the-milkyway/3391308.html
Pgina 193 de 212
198. Why Do People Join the US Military?
President Barack Obama in West Point
Many countries require young men to serve in the armed forces. But in the United States, military
service is voluntary. And joining the U.S. military is not an easy process.
Staff Sergeant Terrelle Thomas joined the Air Force nine years ago. He now works as a military
recruiter in Woodbridge, Virginia.
His job is to get volunteers to join the U.S. armed forces.
Pgina 194 de 212
At the time I was going to school, I was paying for, for school out of my pocket. And I was like
'Man, this is tough,' and I was staying home with my parents. I was like, I don't know if I like this
as much anymore. So I went in, talked to a recruiter. He was cool. He broke it down for me, and
next thing you know, I'm in...
Benjamin Spahr volunteered for the military. He says other members of his family have served in
the armed forces.
My mother was enlisted in the Air National Guard and my father was an officer in the Air Force.
So I was accustomed to that lifestyle from a young age moving around...
The armed forces pays its members to attend school, both while they are on active duty and after
they leave the military. But not everyone can join the armed forces. There are age limits and
volunteers must be successful at mental and physical tests. They must also not be abusing alcohol
or taking other drugs.
Training for new recruits is difficult and intense. The recruits must be strong and in good health.
An increasing number of women are joining the military. Madison Foote is one of them.
Its just the pushups I'm worried about. I'm not very good at pushups. But I think I can do
everything else...
Some Americans volunteer for the armed forces, even when their parents object. The parents are
worried about their children because the military deploys troops to many dangerous areas
throughout the world.
Oludare Ogunmadewa is a new recruit. He says not everyone in his family supports his decision
to enlist in the military.
My parents are worried, my whole family is worried as well, but its a risk I feel is necessary for
myself -- more for my children, to secure their future.
The United States ended forced enlistment in 1973, during the Vietnam War. Now, recruits
voluntarily sign an agreement to stay in the military for three to six years, depending on their
chosen job.
Some volunteers choose to stay longer. Staff Sergeant Thomas says that is because they discover
that serving in the military is unlike any other job they could have.
Pgina 195 de 212
A lot of veterans that serve their 20, 30 years, the main thing that they talk to me about -especially when they bring their, their children to the office -- is the camaraderie they establish
with the people they met.
Im Christopher Jones-Cruise.
Odil Ruzaliyev reported this story for VOANews.com. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report
for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/why-do-people-join-the-us-military/3497702.html
Pgina 196 de 212
199. What Are the FBI and Department of Justice?
FBI
The Department of Justice
The reopening of an FBI investigation into Hillary Clintons email has raised questions about
whether the action could influence the U.S. presidential election.
Last week, FBI Director James Comey announced the agency was reviewing a new set of emails
recently discovered. The emails could be important to an investigation into Clintons email
practices that was closed earlier this year. Hillary Clinton is the Democratic candidate for
president.
The FBI director reportedly acted on his own to announce the reopened investigation, after being
warned by officials at the U.S. Department of Justice not to. The officials reportedly told Comey
that informing Congress about the new material was not in line with department policy.
Pgina 197 de 212
The incident raises questions about the relationship between the Justice Department and FBI, and
how the two agencies cooperate. The FBI generally conducts investigations for the Justice
Department, which is responsible for enforcing the laws and administering justice.
Beginnings in 1908
The FBI is an agency based in Washington D.C. It was started in 1908 by the head of the U.S.
Department of Justice at the time, Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte.
The bureau began as a special investigative force of the Justice Department with fewer than 35
employees. Today, it remains one of many agencies coming under the Department of Justice.
It is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community, a grouping of 16 agencies. These agencies
work separately and together on intelligence activities related to U.S. foreign relations and
national security.
The FBI investigates specific crimes assigned to its agents. It also provides other law enforcement
agencies with fingerprint identification services, laboratory examinations, and training.
The U.S. president appoints a director for the agency. Barack Obama appointed James Comey in
2013. The appointment takes effect if the U.S. Senate confirms it. FBI directors can serve as long
as ten years, but no longer.
The FBI website describes the bureau as an intelligence-driven and threat-focused national
security organization with both intelligence and law enforcement responsibilities. Its mission is
to protect the American people and uphold the United States Constitution.
The FBI has 56 locations in major U.S. cities, as well as more than 60 offices around the world. It
employs nearly 35,000 people. This includes special agents, intelligence experts, language
specialists, scientists and information technology specialists.
DOJ launched in 1870

An act of Congress created the Department of Justice in 1870. The Attorney General heads the
agency. At the time, the government faced increasing legal cases brought against the United
States.
Pgina 198 de 212
The Department of Justice website says the main goal of the agency is to enforce the law and
defend the interest of the United States according to the law.
Loretta Lynch currently leads the Justice Department. She took office in 2015 after President
Obama nominated her and the Senate confirmed the nomination.
FBI Director Comey reports to Lynch. Comey also has experience at the Department of Justice,
where he served as deputy attorney general from 2003-2005.
Im Caty Weaver.
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/what-are-the-fbi-and-department-ofjustice/3579760.html
Pgina 199 de 212
200. Improve Your Writing by Studying Critical Thinking.
For me, I think the greatest achievements of science is to allow humanity to

realize that our world is comprehensible. Through science, rational thinking, we
can understand how the universe works.
Jim Al-Khalili
It's important to realize that sometimes the information you need is hidden
behind the information available.
Anne Elizabeth Moore
Pgina 200 de 212

Developing ideas in writing is the greatest problem that students face, says Babi Kruchin.
She serves as a lecturer in the American Language Program at Columbia University in New York
City.
Students, she says, can learn language rules, vocabulary words, and even how to structure essays.
Learning how to develop ideas in writing is what proves most difficult for them.
Why is critical thinking important?

When Kruchin talks about the development of ideas in writing, she is referring to critical thinking
the ability to think clearly and form a judgment.
Writing, she says, shows how a person thinks. Students who have not learned to think critically
often have a hard time developing ideas in writing.
Schools and employers put a high value on critical thinking skills. The importance of critical
thinking shows up on standardized tests, such as the SAT with its "Critical Reading" and "Writing
and Language" sections.
Such tests measure how well students understand arguments, judge information, and make
inferences. These skills are very important for success not only in school, but also in the
workplace.
Diane F. Halpern is a professor of psychology emerita at Claremont McKenna College in California.
She writes that critical thinking is an important skill to develop in life.
"Critical thinking is using the skills or strategies that are most likely to lead to a desired outcome.
It is the sort of thinking we should be engaging in when deciding what and whom to believe, which
of two job offers to accept, or whether vaccinations really do cause autism."
Halpern adds that critical thinking is a skill that is important in the modern job market.
"Those who care about the future for todays children understand that the jobs of the future will
require the ability to think critically. So lets be sure that our students are ready for college,
careers and citizenship by including deliberate instruction in critical thinking. It is probably the
most difficult topic to teach and learn, but it is also the most important."
Pgina 201 de 212
Critical thinking is hard to teach and hard to learn

Babi Kruchin of Columbia agrees that critical thinking is hard to teach and difficult to learn. She
says that students can overcome grammar and vocabulary problems. Developing an original idea,
then supporting it, is what students find difficult.
"Sometimes the writer might think 'Oh! I have the topic sentence, I have the supporting details.'
But there is no depth of thought How do you really analyze and interpret and explain all these
ideas?
"You can take care of the grammar, you can take care of the vocabulary, you can take care of the
format, but the depth of development the critical thinking part of writing is, I think, the
greatest issue that any domestic or international student faces ...
"It's not articles, it's not conjunctions because these are all teachable things, and these are all
learnable things. And critical thinking is also teachable, and students are able to learn, but it's
harder to teach and to learn."
Practical tips:
So, if learning critical thinking is difficult, what can you do?
Kruchin suggests that students can start improving their writing and critical thinking skills by
reading.
Students, however, should not read without a goal in mind. Students should be active readers by
studying how other writers build their arguments. In other words, they should consider the critical
thinking of each author they have read.
Kruchin says that students should consider the writing of an author by asking a few simple
questions while reading:
"How is the content organized here? How is the writer connecting these ideas? Look at the quote
that the writer used. What comes after this quote? Does the writer just leave it as is, or analyze
it and adds his or her own idea?"
The goal of this exercise, Kruchin says, is for students to develop the ability to understand how
others think. In addition, it helps students to discover the critical thinking resources that they
have inside themselves.
Pgina 202 de 212
"Because writing is thinking, it is a reflection of how somebody thinks. So it is the constant exercise
of seeing how other authors think and then training the students to
"I don't think we teach critical thinking. It is almost a way to get the students to see inside and
see that yes, they do think critically we all have opinions, we all have judgments. But how do
we voice them in an academic form?
"It is an exercise in using the resources that are already exist within the students. I don't believe
they are less intelligent; some may not be as well trained in this discourse."
What can you do?

The next time you are reading a book or an opinion piece in a newspaper, try to ask yourself some
of the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the argument that the writer is making?

What evidence does the writer use?
How does the writer present their ideas?
How is the writer connecting their ideas?
How does the writer evaluate information?
Asking these questions will give you a point to start understanding how other people think. It will
also help you to think about how you can write better and practice your critical thinking skills,
too.
Im John Russell.
John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/improve-your-writing-studying-criticalthinking/3357371.html
Pgina 203 de 212
Improve Your Writing by Studying Critical Thinking, has the very

special Distinction of Being the Theme Number 200. Inside the
Collection ERD-VOA, For You.
The Bill of 200 Pesos of the United Mexican States;

and, a Great Analogy with The Institution Of VOA-ERD
200.
M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz.
Pgina 204 de 212
Sor Juana Ins de la Cruz, Acerca de.
Pgina 205 de 212
Juana Ins de Asbaje y Ramrez de Santillana, ms conocida como sor Juana Ins de la Cruz (San
Miguel Nepantla, 12 de noviembre de 1651 - Mxico, 17 de abril de 1695) fue una religiosa de la
Orden de San Jernimo y escritora novohispana, exponente del Siglo de Oro de la literatura en
espaol. Cultiv la lrica, el auto sacramental y el teatro, as como la prosa. Por la importancia de
su obra, recibi los sobrenombres de el Fnix de Amrica, la Dcima Musa o la Dcima
Musa mexicana.
A muy temprana edad aprendi a leer y a escribir. Perteneci a la corte de Antonio de Toledo y
Salazar, marqus de Mancera y 25 virrey novohispano. En 1669, por anhelo de conocimiento,
ingres a la vida monstica. Sus ms importantes mecenas fueron los virreyes De Mancera, el
arzobispo virrey Payo Enrquez de Rivera y los marqueses de la Laguna de Camero Viejo, virreyes
tambin de la Nueva Espaa, quienes publicaron los dos primeros tomos de sus obras en la Espaa
peninsular. Muri a causa de una epidemia el 17 de abril de 1695.
Sor Juana Ins de la Cruz ocup, junto con Juan Ruiz de Alarcn y Carlos de Sigenza y Gngora,
un destacado lugar en la literatura novohispana. En el campo de la lrica, su trabajo se adscribe a
los lineamientos del barroco espaol en su etapa tarda. La produccin lrica de Sor Juana, que
supone la mitad de su obra, es un crisol donde convergen la cultura de una Nueva Espaa en
apogeo, el culteranismo de Gngora y la obra conceptista de Quevedo y Caldern.
La obra dramtica de sor Juana va de lo religioso a lo profano. Sus obras ms destacables en este
gnero son Amor es ms laberinto, Los empeos de una casa y una serie de autos sacramentales
concebidos para representarse en la corte.
Fuente:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sor_Juana_In%C3%A9s_de_la_Cruz
Pgina 206 de 212
I N D I C E.
Texts from 151 to 160. ______________________________________________________ 7
151. President Theodore Roosevelt Decides to Build the Panama Canal. ______________________ 8
152. Book Pages Could Provide Safe Drinking Water. _____________________________________ 16
153. Introvert or Extrovert. Which one are you? ________________________________________ 18
154. How Well Does Your Country Speak English?________________________________________ 22
155. Our Top 10 Separable Phrasal Verbs. ______________________________________________ 26
156. Six Foods That Changed the World ________________________________________________ 32
157. More Latin for Your English! _____________________________________________________ 37
158. Understanding How Tornadoes Work. _____________________________________________ 40
Tornado en Coahuila provoca 13 muertos, 290 heridos y 750 hogares daados ________________________ 46
159. New Movie Shows an Unseen Underwater World. ___________________________________ 48

160. Museum of American Diplomacy to Open in 2017. ___________________________________ 51
Texts from 161 to 170. _____________________________________________________ 54

161. Do You Think You Can?._________________________________________________________ 55
162. Thomas Jefferson, Third USA President. ____________________________________________ 59
163. What Is That Thing Called? ______________________________________________________ 67
164. Some Volcanic Clays Kill Bacteria. _________________________________________________ 70
165. Where Do We Come From? ______________________________________________________ 73
166. NASA Satellites Help Protect Developing Nations.____________________________________ 76
167. Languages Help Improve Military, International Relations. ____________________________ 79
168. Lincoln's Words at Gettysburg. ___________________________________________________ 82
169. Artificial Intelligence: Helpful and Dangerous. ______________________________________ 84
170. Is Internet Important to Economic Development?____________________________________ 87
Texts from 171 to 180. _____________________________________________________ 90

171. Amazing Amazon Hides Atlantic's Coral Reef. _______________________________________ 91
172. New Book Examines the Power of Young Introverts. _________________________________ 96
Prodigious Truths, for you, by Susan Cain: ______________________________________________________ 99
173. 7 Step Process to Being Unstoppable, by Brian Tracy. ________________________________ 101
Pgina 207 de 212
174. Six Critical Skills for Today's Global Economy. ______________________________________ 104
175. What It Takes to Be an Astronaut. _______________________________________________ 108
176. Young Traveler Hopes to Visit Every National Park.__________________________________ 111
177. Who Makes Grammar Rules?.___________________________________________________ 114
178. At the US-Mexico Border, Many Depend on Trade. __________________________________ 118
179. More Than a Place, Silicon Valley Is a Culture. ______________________________________ 121
180. Using the Passive Voice. _______________________________________________________ 124
Texts from 181 to 190. ____________________________________________________ 128

181. 3 Keys to Lifelong Employment, by Brian Tracy. ____________________________________ 129
182. Improve Your English by Looking for Patterns. _____________________________________ 132
183. John Adams Second USA President. ______________________________________________ 136
184. Unkind Words Hurt the Brain. ___________________________________________________ 143
185. Thomas Jefferson's Collection Still Impresses 200 Years Later. _________________________ 147
186. Hillary Clinton - Her Voice Does Presence in VOA-ERD, For You. _______________________ 150
187. Improve Your Writing by Using Concept Maps. _____________________________________ 152
188. Jennifer Webb-McRae: 'I'm Passionate About Doing Justice Every Day'. _________________ 160
189. African Films Explore Our Sense of Time. __________________________________________ 163
190. Modals for Asking Permission. __________________________________________________ 166
Texts from 191 to 200. ____________________________________________________ 169

191. Education and Empowerment. __________________________________________________ 170
192. Nobel in Physics Awarded for Strange States of Matter. _____________________________ 173
193. Express Your 'Self'. ____________________________________________________________ 175
194. Nobel Prize Winners Studied Agreements Affecting Everyone. ________________________ 179
195. Former VOA Learning English Reporter Publishes a Book. ____________________________ 183
196. Improve Your English by Practicing Effectively. _____________________________________ 187
197. One-Third of Worlds Population Cannot See The Milky Way. _________________________ 191
198. Why Do People Join the US Military? _____________________________________________ 194
199. What Are the FBI and Department of Justice? ______________________________________ 197
200. Improve Your Writing by Studying Critical Thinking. _________________________________ 200
Sor Juana Ins de la Cruz, Acerca de. ____________________________________ 205
Pgina 208 de 212
Discover The VOA-ERD Collection for Your English. _____________________ 210
Know the Project: Books of English, from English 1 to 5, for all the CBTIS of
the United Mexican States._______________________________________________ 211
Links, for Your Preparation. ____________________________________________________ 212
Pgina 209 de 212
Discover The VOA-ERD Collection for Your English.
Visit my Personal Page. Get ahead.

Pgina 210 de 212
Know the Project: Books of English, from English 1 to

5, for all the CBTIS of the United Mexican States.
The Students can do the organization as they like it; but

absolutely, the Responses are written by hand, and the Works are
Presented by Groups with a Maximum of 5 persons.
I formulated a project for the CBTIS (Technological Industrial and of Services Center of
Bachelor Degree) 107 of Tuxtepec, Oax., Mxico consisting in giving to the Library of this
Institution with five volumes of English language, of my authorship. A book for each semester,
from the first English book to fifth English book (according to the plan of studies in this regard of
the CBTIS). At no cost to the Institution, because this is a donation (in the staff, I solve my expenses
of the project with income of my employment as a professor that I would be in this CBTIS).
One of the major advantages of this project is to solve the need of the student of spending
in books of English language because the books will be at your complete disposal into the student
community in the Library of the institution.
Afterward, in an immediate subsequent phase of this project is that among the student
community of this CBTIS and all the CBTIS of the United Mexican States will have these 5 volumes
of English language by means of a page of Google; read it, neither cost nor restriction to obtain
them.
Well, as a last note, I must say that these books will have the format of 'workbook'. This,
as an intelligent work with foundations and then their respective exercises to resolve, into a
concurrent process.
M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz.
Con ttulo y cdula profesional 5632071 en la Maestra en Ciencias de la Computacin. Egresado
del Instituto Tecnolgico de Orizaba, Veracruz, Mxico.
Pgina 211 de 212
Links, for Your Preparation.
We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims. Buckminster Fuller
For virtually everything that you want to do there are books and courses on how to
do it. Jack Canfield
People who consider themselves victims of their circumstances will always
remain victims unless they develop a greater vision for their lives. - Stedman
Graham
Visit: https://sites.google.com/site/mcenriqueruizdiaz/
Also: https://sites.google.com/site/mccenriqueruizdiaz/
And: https://mcenriqueruizdiaz.blogspot.mx/
Get Instruments for your Training.

Pgina 212 de 212

Third Book of English Readings - M.C. Enrique Ruiz Díaz, For You

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The Third Book of English Readings of M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz, for Your English!.

The Third Book

The empires of the futures are the empires of the mind.

From Theme 151 to 200. All rights reserved.

The Third Book

Con ttulo y cdula profesional 5632071

Bien, regresando al tema de mi Ttulo de Maestra en Ciencias de la Computacin,

Mi Diploma por mi Ponencia en el Instituto Politcnico

A single hour a day, steadily given to the study of some interesting

You have the Index at the End of this

Texts from 151 to 160.

Your library is your paradise.

151. President Theodore Roosevelt Decides to Build the

The Panama Canal.

President Theodore Roosevelt

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

152. Book Pages Could Provide Safe Drinking Water.

153. Introvert or Extrovert. Which one are you?

Introvert vs. extrovert

The power of introverts

Bill Gates, creator of Microsoft, is an introvert but not shy.

154. How Well Does Your Country Speak English?

For VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

Middle East and North Africa

155. Our Top 10 Separable Phrasal Verbs.

Welcome back to Everyday Grammar from VOA Learning English.

The structure of phrasal verbs

Separable phrasal verbs

Finding the frequent phrasal verbs

Heres our list of 10 useful phrasal verbs:

wear, produce, fool, pretend

That cannot be true. You

The report is due today.

Put my name down for that

surrender, stop trying

Your singing is beautiful

That radio station gives

I got so much help from

leave, finish, send

Please get the letter off

Mom had to get us up

collect, lift, learn, bring, clean

I picked the living room

The union took on the huge oil

156. Six Foods That Changed the World

157. More Latin for Your English!

From VOA Learning English, this is Words and Their Stories.

158. Understanding How Tornadoes Work.

Tornado en Coahuila provoca 13 muertos, 290 heridos y 750

159. New Movie Shows an Unseen Underwater World.

160. Museum of American Diplomacy to Open in 2017.

Texts from 161 to 170.

Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.

161. Do You Think You Can?.

The Chocolate-and-Radish Experiment

The new theory on willpower

Tips how to use your willpower limited or not

162. Thomas Jefferson, Third USA President.

Virginia planter and slave owner

Presidential candidate: Election of 1800

Third U.S. president

Criticisms and legacy

For the most part, he is.