VOA Special English -- October 29

老胖

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An Afghan begger sleeps on a street in Kabul. By 2015, the United Nations hopes to cut in half the number of people living on less than one dollar a day.

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Last Monday, science journals around the world published what was called a "Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development." Organizers at the Council of Science Editors said the project involved two hundred thirty-five journals from thirty-seven countries.

The council said the goal was to increase interest and research in the subject and to spread the results as widely as possible. It said the journals were publishing more than seven hundred fifty articles involving eighty-seven countries in all parts of the world.

A partial list of the articles is on the Council of Science Editors' Web site. The group has urged all journals that published articles to make them available free to the public.

This is the third time a global theme issue has been published. The first issue in nineteen ninety-six dealt with worldwide threats from diseases. Thirty-six journals published articles. The second issue in nineteen ninety-seven was on aging. Articles appeared in ninety-seven journals.

The editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA, organized the two earlier issues. JAMA published several articles for the newest one. The research examined how knowledge about effective health interventions can be put to use locally to help the poor.

Other widely read journals that published articles included Science, Nature and The Lancet. The project also included journals on medicine and biology from the Public Library of Science. That nonprofit organization publishes its journals free of charge on the Internet.

The United States National Institutes of Health held an event to launch the Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development. A group of experts from N.I.H. and the Council of Science Editors chose seven articles for recognition. The subjects included childbirth safety, H.I.V./AIDS, malaria treatment and the effects of influenza on children.

The United Nations recognized the link between health and development in the Millennium Development Goals approved in September of two thousand. But many experts believe the targets for health improvements will not be reached at current rates of progress.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. For a link to the list of journals that took part in the global theme issue, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

MP3 声音（1.78 M） Real 声音（610 K）

出处：http://www.studioclassroom.net/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=6750&extra=page%3D1

[ 本帖最后由 老胖 于 2007-10-29 18:02 编辑 ]

老胖

THIS IS AMERICA - What Is Your Favorite Song About Autumn?
MP3 声音（8.03 M） Real 声音（2.65 M）

Autumn leaves in Pennsylvania

VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Barbara Klein. It is autumn in the northern part of the world. So it is time to play some of our favorite songs about this season.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
People have written and recorded hundreds of songs about autumn. Many of these songs express sadness that summer is over. The days are shorter. It is getting darker earlier each day. The weather is cooler. The skies are gray. Birds fly south because they know winter is coming. The leaves turn colors of red and gold and then die, falling to the ground. Some songs about autumn also express the sadness of lost love.
Mary Dawson, in her Internet Writing Journal, writes that this season influenced songwriters to write some of the greatest songs of all time. Here are some of our favorite songs about autumn.
VOICE TWO:
"September Song" by Kurt Weill is one of the most well known, and saddest, songs about the season. It was introduced back in nineteen thirty-eight in the Broadway musical "Knickerbocker Holiday." Many people have recorded this song. Probably the most famous version is sung by Frank Sinatra.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Another famous song about this season is "Autumn Leaves." This song also expresses sad emotions. It was first introduced in a French movie in nineteen forty-six. Later, the famous American songwriter Johnny Mercer was asked to write English words to the music. Since then, many artists have recorded it. Here is a lovely version by Eva Cassidy from her album "Songbird."
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
The Moody Blues are a British rock band that first became famous in the nineteen sixties. They also recorded a song about fallen leaves, darker days and lost love. It is called "Forever Autumn."
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Here is another sad song about things that happen in autumn. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is by the band Green Day from their album "American Idiot." The song is about the death of a father.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
The rock group the White Stripes has a song called "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground," from their album "White Blood Cells." Jack White sings about a woman who did not wait for him while he was away.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
But not all the songs about autumn are sad. Here is a more hopeful song, James Taylor's "October Road" from his album by the same name. The song is about leaving the big city for the countryside, going home again after a long time away.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
For people who live in New York City, autumn is an exciting time of the year. New plays open in theaters on Broadway. The season also brings the promise of new love. Vernon Duke wrote the song "Autumn in New York" in nineteen thirty-four. Many famous artists have recorded it. We leave you with Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong singing this famous song.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Our program was written by Shelley Gollust and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Steve Ember. You can hear other American songs on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts and audio archives of our programs. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

出处：http://www.studioclassroom.net/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=6750&extra=page%3D1

[ 本帖最后由 老胖 于 2007-10-29 18:03 编辑 ]

shirogumo

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chris_110

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