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20020925 health report


This is () with the voa special english health report.
The world heart Federation has declared Sunday, September 29th to be world heart day. The world heart federation is a non-government organization with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Its purpose is prevention and control of diseases of the vascular system. The group wants to help people all over the world live longer by preventing heart attacks and strokes. These conditions kill 17 million people around world each year. The world heart federation includes 166 heart organizations in 97 countries.
Health experts say that lack of exercise increases the chances of developing high blood pressure and diabetes. Both conditions lead to heart disease. Experts also say taht between 65 and 85 percent of all people fail to get enough exercise. This is especially true for women and children. The world heart federation says more than 2 million people die every year as a result of a lack of physical exercise.
World heart day will be a time to help people change their lives by deciding to eat low-fat foods, stop smoking cigarettes and exercising more. International actor () has become be 'goowill ambassador' for the world heart federation. He says 30 minutes of exercise every day helps control weight and improves mental health. He also urges people to follow his example by eating less red meat and more fish, rice, vegetables and oatmeal.
79 countries are taking part in world heart day this year. Heart organizations in these nations have planned sports activities, concerts and public talks that urge people to improve their heart health. For example, The () Society of () is holding a great walk for the public on September 29th. The () heart foundation organized a golf tournament in () and a musical concert in (). It will also hold a special dinner and present awards to school students who wrote excellent essays about heart health.
The world heart federation says every one can help improve their heart health by walking more. The experts say people should walk up and down stairs instead of using elevators at work. They should stand up insead of sitting down during the day and plan a time for organized exercise.
This voa special english health report was written by (). This is ().

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2020926 education report


This is () with the voa special english education report.
This week we'll start a series of reports about how people from foreign countries can attend a college or university in the United States. Copies of these reports can be found on the special english website at www.voaspcialenglish.com.
Experts say you must plan early if you want to study in the United States. They say to begin at lest two years before you want to start your studies. The first step is to visit an American educational advising center. There are more than 400 such offices around the world. You can find the one closest to your home by using a computer. Go to this education report on the special english web site and click on the link to the state department education foreign students web page. Or ask the public affairs office at the United State embassy in your country to tell you where the nearest American educational advising center is. Educational advising centers have information about American colleges. They have computer so you can do a search to find the best school for you.
Colleges and universities in the United States offer different kinds of degrees that they require one or more years of study. For example, some schools offer certificate programs. These programs offer one year of training in subjects like office work, computer programing or car repair.
You may also choose a two-year junior college or community college. Such programs lead to an associate degree. For example, some two-year programs prepare students for skilled jobs in electronics. Studying at community college costs much less than that a four-year college. Many colleges and universities accept community college work as the first two years toward a four-year bachelor's degree. To get a bachelor's degree you study the  general subjects like English, history, mathematics and science during the first two years. During the last two years you take  classes in your major area of study.
If you already have a college degree, you may want to get an advanced degree at an American graduate school. A master's degree usually takes two or three more years of full-time study in one subject. You must attend graduate school if you want to be a college professor, medical doctor or lawyer. These special degree programs require between 3 and 6 years of additional study.
This voa special english education report was written by (). This is ().

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2002/09/30 development report



This is Bill White with the voa special english  development report.
Up to 500 million people are infected each year with a disease called (). Most of the victims are young children in poor countries.  An organism called the () parasite causes the disease. It is spread by the bite of sandfly. The insect passes the parasite from dogs to humans.
Recently a study found that children could be proteced from visceral () if dogs wear collars with chemicals to guard against insect bites.  Dog collars are worn around the neck.  They usually are made of metal or animal skin.
There are four forms of ().  Visceral () causes  high body temperature. It also can affect some organs of the body.  Victims may not produce enough white blood cells. The disease will kill if it is not treated. Most victims of visceral () are in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal and Sudan.
In the study, research scientists from Britain and () university in Iran stduied 18 Iranian villages during a period when () often is spread. The researchers gave chemically treated collars to dog owners. After one year, the researchers tested dogs and children in all the villages for the parasite known as () (). The infection rate was cut by 54 percent in dogs. The rate in children dropped by 42 percent.
Using chemically treated dog collars is one of several ways to control the spread of (). One method is to cover or spray houses with chemicals designed to kill insects. Another way is to destroy dogs without owners and other animals that shows signs of the disease.
These methods are reported to have helped in China. However, they have not been very effective in other areas. In Brazil, for example, the number of () cases has risen slowly during the past 20 years. The researchers report that 200,000 homes in Brazil were sprayed and 20,000 dogs destroyed each year during this period.
The world health organization estimates that 12 million people are infected with () worldwide. The WHO estimates that at least 350 million people in 88 countries may be at risk of infection.
This voa special english development report was written by (). This is Bill White.

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20020927 environment report


This is () with the voa special english environment report.
Chronic wasting disease is infecting large animals like deer and elk in several areas of the United States. The disease was first discovered in 1967 at a wildlife research center in the western state of Colorado. It was identified as transmissible spongiform () in 1978.
Biologists believe an abnormal form of a protein causes the disease. The protein infects tissue and spreads quickly. Chronic wasting disease causes weight loss and death in animals like deer and elk.
In the 1980s, the disease was found in wild deer and elk in Colorado and Wyoming. Wild groups of animals and deer raised on farms in other areas developed the disease. Today chronic wasting disease is found in at least eight American states and two provinces of Canada.
Biologists are concerned about chronic wasting disease because it may be similar to mad cow disease, the common name of () spongiform (). Mad cow disease can be spread to humans. The human form of disease is called () disease. It causes brain damage that leads to death. The New York Times reports that about 300 Americans become infected with that diease each year.
Currently, there is no evidence that chronic wasting disease can affect humans. The United States department of agriculture also says it does not believe that this disease can be spread to other kinds of animals.
The middle western state of Wisconsin has found 31 wild deer infected with chronic wasting disease. The state has ordered that 25000 deer be destoryed. It wants to test another 25000 animals for the disease.
However, some people oppose destorying so many animals. They say less than 3 percent of the deer tested for the diseaes had it. They say it is impossible to completely destroy the disease in the wild.
Hunting for deer in Wisconsin is a huge industry. Experts say the disease will hurt the state's economy. Also many people who hunt for food may have to change their way of life. Experts say the spread of chronic wasting disease may affect the tradition of hunting in America.
This voa special english environment report was written by (). This is ().

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2002/10/01 agriculture report


This is ()  with the voa special english agriculture report.
Soil conservation efforts protect soil from wind and water that can blow or rush it away.
Good soil produces food crops for both humans and animals. One important form of soil conservation is the use of windbreaks. Windbreaks stop the wind from blowing soil away. They also keep the wind from destroying or damaging crops.
Windbreaks are barriers formed by trees and other plants with many leaves. Farms plant windbreaks in lines around their fields. They are very important when grains such as wheat are grown.
For example, in parts of western Africa, studies have shown that grain harvests can be 20 percent higher on fields protected by windbreaks compared to those without such protection.
Windbreaks are effective when a wall of trees and other plants blocks the wind.
The windbreaks should also limit violent motions of the wind to those areas closest to the windbreak.
Windbreaks seem to work best when they allow a little wind to pass through. If the wall of trees and plants stops wind completely, then violent air emotions will take place close to the ground. These emotions cause the soil to lift up into the air where it will be blown away. For this reason, a windbreak is the best if it has only 60 to 80 percent of trees and plants needed to make a solid line. An easy rule to remember is that windbreaks can protect areas up to ten times the height of the tallest trees in the windbreak.
There should be at least two lines in each windbreak. One line should be large trees. The second line right next to it, can be formed from shorter trees and other plants with leaves.
Windbreaks not only protect land and crops from the wind. They can also provide wood produce. These include wood for fuel and longer pieces for making fences. Locally-grown trees and plants are best for windbreaks.
You can get more information about windbreaks and other forms of soil conservation from the group volunteers in technical assistance. VITA is organization that helps people around the world use science and technology to solve problems.
You can contact VITA through the internet at its world wide web address,www.vita.org.
This voa special english agriculture report was written by (). This is ().

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2002/10/02  health report


This is Bill White with the voa special english health report.
Scientists in Sweden have shown that removing cancerous prostate gland reduces the chance of dying from prostate cancer. Yet their findings have failed to stop debate over how best to treat the disease.
The prostate is a small gland in men. A gland is a tissue or organ that produces a useful chemical substance. The prostate is important for sexual activity.
Cancer of the prostate usually develops in men over the age of 50. Prostate cancer is most common in northwestern of Europe and northern America. In the United States alone, the disease will be discovered in 189,000 men this year.
Prostate cancer can kill if it spreads to other parts of body. Yet it can be cured if discovered early. Men in need of treatment have a number of choices. One is an operation to remove the cancerous prostate. Another is radiation. Both treatments affect the patient in other ways. They can make a man unable to perform sexually. Or they can make him unable to control the release of liqud of waste from his body.
Many doctors say that men with early prostate cancer may not need any immediate treatment. Prostate cancer growns slowly. Treatment can be started later if the cancer grows. Medical experts had no evidence that an operation or other treatment was better than doing nothing.
The Swedish study attempted to answer this question. Its results was published in the new England journal of medcine. The study involved almost 700 men with prostate cancer. Half had  operations to remove the cancerous gland between 1989 and 1999. The other men received no treatment.
After about 6 years, 31 men in the no treatment group had died of prostate cancer. The disease kill 16 of men who had the operation. However survival rate for men in both groups were about the same.
Supporters of the aggressive treatment praise the findings. Other doctors say the study does not help prostate cancer patients because it did not look at other treatments, such as radiation. They say men still do not really know what treatment choice is best. Medical experts say men with prostate cancer must understand their own situations. And make the decision with their doctors.
This voa special english health report was written by (). This is Bill White.

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2002/10/03 education report


This is Bill White with the voa special english education report.
This week we continue our reports about how people from around the world can attend a college or university in the United States.
We tell difference between college and univeristy in the United States. A copy of this report can be found on the special english web page at www.voaspecialenglish.com.
People attend a college or university to continue their education after high school. This prepares them for work. It also provides them with a greater understanding of world and its past. And it helps them value the arts and sciences.
Students usually attend a college for four years to complete a program of study. Those who are sucessful receive a bachelor's degree. Colleges generally do not offer additional programs or support research projects. Universities often are much larger than colleges. Universities carry out research. They also offer several programs in many areas of study. Universities offer bachelor's degrees after four years study. They also offer graduate degrees that require additional years of study.
Modern universities developed from those of Europe's middle age. They took their names from Latin word universitas. It meant a group of people organized for one purpose.
The first European colleges were groups of students who came together because of the same interests. In England, colleges were formed to provide students with living places. Usually each group was studying the same thing. So the word college came to mean one area of study.
Today most American colleges offer an area of study called liberal arts. The liberal arts are subjects first developed and taught in ancient Greece. They trained a person's mind.They were considered different from  subjects that were useful in life.
The word college also means a part of a university that teachs one area of study. That is because the first American universities divided their studies into many areas and called each one a college. For example, the university of Texas at Austin has 14 different colleges. It also has the most students of any single university in the country.This year more than 52,000 men and women are studying there.
This voa special english education report was written by (). This is Bill White.

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2002/10/04  environment report


This is (name) with the voa special English environment report.
One of the most popular kinds of cars in the United States is  not really a car at all. It's the combination of a car and a truck. It is called a sports utility vehicle or SUV. Some people criticize the vehicles. They say SUVs use too much fuel and increase air pollution. They also say SUVs may even be dangerous in some situations.
The market for SUVs continues to grow. About 22 percent of all cars and trucks sold in America are SUVs. One reason may be that the SUV seems like a vehicle that can do many different things. (name) is an official for car and driver magazine. He says that women like SUVs. He says the vehicles have a lot of space to transport children and food.
Many Americans like the feeling they get from driving an SUV. The vehicles are larger than other cars on the road. This gives many drivers a feeling of safety. Yet, the size of SUVs is concern. SUVs use more fuel than passenger cars. SUVs are designed with larger engines because they are meant to carry heavy loads. In fact they are considered light trucks by the government.
Car-makers have been designing larger SUVs as the vehicles grow more popular. For this reason, the average fuel use for light trucks has not changed much since 1985.
SUVs also produce more pollution than passenger cars do. SUVs create larger amount of carbon dioxide, a gas that is said to cause climate change. One study found that an SUV will release about two times as much carbon dioxide as a car over the life of the vehicle. Critics say SUVs also produce more substances like carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. These gases form polluated airs or smog.
There is evidence that SUV may not be as safe as many people believe. The national highway traffic safety administration compared SUVs and normal cars in deadly accidents. Its study found that car passengers died in 80 percent of deadly accidents between cars and SUVs. Other studies showed SUVs can turn over more easily than cars. The vehicles do not have the same safety requirement as passenger cars.
The department of transportation can continue to study information about SUVs. For now, the vehicles remain among the most popular in America.
This voa special english environment report was written by (name). This is (name).

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2002/10/05   In the News


This is (name) with the voa special english program, In the News.
A labor dispute in the United States closed 29 ports along west coast at the beginning of this week. The ports are extremely important to the economy. About 300,000 million dollars worth of goods pass through them every year. Half of all American imports and exports pass through the west coast ports. Financial experts say the closings cost the United States economy as much as 1000 million dollars a day.
The Pacific Maritime Association ordered the closings. It represents west coast shipping companies and port operators. It says port workers had been purposely and illegally slowing operations. The port owners say they would not continue to pay the workers if they were not going to work at full production levels.
The men and women who worked at the ports are called longshore men or dockworkers. Some of workers load and unload ships. Others carry out administrative duties. The workers belong to the international longshore and warehouse union, a powerful labor group. The shutdown of the ports forced more than 10,000 dockworkers to stop working.
The union denies that its members had purposely slowed their work. It says that workers were simply following safety rules and other work terms more closely than in the past. Union officials say they order the workers to do so after the deaths of five longshore men this year.
The longshore men's union and the port operators have been trying to negotiate a new labor agreement since May. The last work agreement ended in July. Both sides say there is one major disagreement blocking the agreement. It is a dispute over the possible use of new technology that would speed the movement of goods. The port operators say the technology is needed for the business to complete fairly. But the union says the technoloy threatens the jobs of its workers.
The closings of the ports caused more than 100 huge ships to wait near the west coast of the United States. Most of the ships are too large to travel on the Panama Canal to get to east coast ports. The ships are filled with millions of containers of goods from Asia. These include cars, electronics, sports goods, clothes and food for American stores. The ships also carry parts needed for building automobiles, computers, machinery and many other products.
Some companies are considering shipping some goods by air. However, that costs about four times more than transport by sea.
On Thursday, a federal labor offical began meeting with representatives of the Pacific Maritime Association and longshore and warehouse union. They are trying to settle the dispute.
This voa special english program In the News was written by (name). This is (name).

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2002/10/03  the Making of a Nation


This is (name). And this is (name) with the Making of a nation, the voa special english program about the history of the United States.
Today we continue the story of America's 36 president, (name). After (name) was murdered, Vice president, (name), served the last 14 months of (name)'s term. He then was elected to his own full term. It began in January, 1965. Much of his time and energy would be taken up by the war in Vietnam.
By early 1964, America had about 17,000 troops in Vietnam. The troops were there to advise and train the south Vietnamese military.
Vietnam had gained its independence from France in 1954. The country was divided into north and south. The north had a communist government led by Hu Chi Ming. The south had an anti-communist government led by (name).
In 1957, communist rebels, (name), began a campaign of terrorism in south Vietnam. They were supported by the government of north Vietnam and later by north Vietnamese troops. Their goal was to overthrow the anti-communist government in the south.
President Johnson believed that the United States had to support south Vietnam. Many other Americans agreed. They believed that without American help, south Vietnam would become communist. Then all of southeast Asia would become communist, too.
As Johnson's term began, his military advisers told him the communists were losing the war. They told him that north Vietnamese troops and Vietcong forces would soon stop fighting.
On February 6, however, the Vietcong attacked American camps at (address) and (address). The Johnson administration immediately ordered air attacks against military targets in the north.
Some obersvers in the United States questioned the administration's policy. For example, a leading newspaper writer, (name), said president Johnson was carrying out an undeclared and unexplained war in Vietnam. Johnson defended his policies. He said withdrawal would not bring an end to a conflict. He said the battle would continue in one country and then another.
In March, 1965, the first American ground troops arrived in south Vietnam. Congress supported the president's actions at that time. However, the number of American who opposed the war began to grow. These people said the war was a civil war. They said the United States had no right, or reason to intervene.
For 6 days in May, the United States halted air attacks on north Vietnam. The administration hoped this would help get the north Vietnamese government to begin negotiations.
The north refused. And the United States began to build up its force in the south. By July, 125,000 Americans were fighting in Vietnam.
Some Americans began angry. Anti-war demostrations took place in the cities of San Francisco and Chicago. More and more students began to protest. They wanted the war to end quickly.