One in Four Married Americans Do Not Share Same Religion as Wife, Husband

Twenty-five percent of married adults in the United States have different religious beliefs than their husband or wife. That could be a Christian mother and a Jewish father, or a very religious mother and a father who is not religious. This information comes from the Pew Research Center, an independent research group in Washington, D.C. The center based its findings on a 2014 opinion survey of 35,000 Americans. Mother Knows Best Children raised in homes with parents of different religious beliefs were most influenced by their mothers, Pew found. Forty-eight percent raised in mixed religion homes identified with their mother’s religion, the center reported. Only 28 percent identified with their father’s religion. Nearly one in four people from a mixed religious home did not identify with either of their parents’ religious beliefs. How Important is Shared Religious Beliefs? People surveyed by Pew were asked about how important it was to them to share the same religious beliefs with their spouse. Forty-four percent said sharing the same religious beliefs is very important to a successful marriage. But that is not as high as the percentages of Americans who found other reasons important, Pew said. A bigger percentage, over 60 percent, found shared interests, a satisfying sexual relationship and sharing household duties as very important to a successful marriage. Forty-six percent said having enough money is very important to a successful marriage. That was higher than the percentage who identified shared religious beliefs as very important. Sixty-two percent of people married to someone of the same religion said this was a very or somewhat important to their decision to marry that person. Eighty-four percent of people who do not identify with a religion said the religious beliefs of their spouse were not important in their decision to marry. The center said the number of Americans raised in homes with people who do not share the same religious beliefs is growing. Pew reported that 39 percent of people who have been married since 2010 have a spouse with different religious beliefs. Only 19 percent of those who married before 1960 were married to a person of a different religion, Pew said. The religious make-up of Americans is also changing, according to Pew. Christianity is still the major religion in the United States. Over 70 percent of people surveyed by Pew described themselves as Christian in 2014. But that is down from 78.4 percent in 2007. About 1.9 percent of Americans describe themselves as Jewish, up from 1.7 percent in 2007. Muslims make up 0.9 percent of the population, up from 0.4 percent in 2007, Pew said. Nearly 22.8 percent of Americans said in 2014 that they are not connected to any religion, up from 16.1 percent in 2007. These can be people who do not believe in organized religion, or those who believe in the idea of a God, but not in any one religion. I’m Bruce Alpert. Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. Would you marry someone who has different religious beliefs than you do? Why or why not? ____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story spouse - n. someone who is married -- a husband or wife raise - v. to bring up or rear a child survey - v. an activity in which many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something  

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Nigerian Helps the Displaced by Selling Her Land

  Hajia Hawa is working to help Nigerians displaced by fighting with the Islamic militant group Boko Haram.  And she is doing it on her own terms. On an average day, Hawa walks along a busy road in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri. She very quickly gets the attention of the people around her.  Sometimes it is old or disabled adults. Very often, hungry children in torn clothing run to her. Many of them have not eaten a meal for days. Every time, they hold out their hands to her, and she gives each person a small piece of paper. The paper is a card that serves as a voucher. The cards can be exchanged for free food.  Hawa walks around Maiduguri handing them out. “This will allow you to come to my house in Moranti side to get food for up to six months,” Hawa tells them, describing the area in Maiduguri where she lives. In a city where many people are experiencing hunger, Hawa usually creates a lot of good feelings. God's work Hawa is not a rich woman. She was born and raised in Maiduguri.  She is well-respected among the poorest people in the community. She says she is only doing the work of God. “I’m Hajia Hawa, I’m suffering for people that need help.” More than one million people have moved to Maiduguri to escape violence from Boko Haram. The militant group has killed an estimated 20,000 people in its seven-year campaign against the Nigerian government. The conflict has forced around 2.3 million people from their home. The fighting has created a humanitarian crisis. Boko Haram has destroyed farms and crops. Some farm families are too afraid to return to home. This has led to a shortage of food in some areas. Hajia Hawa lost her husband in 2014. He went missing one day. She suspects that Boko Haram killed him. Hawa does not get money from the government. She pays for her acts of kindness by selling off her father’s land. But these days, she is running out of land to sell. Hawa says she now is forced to go to rich people and ask them for money. She uses the money to buy food, pass out clothing to those in need and print food vouchers. “Hajia Hawa gave me a sewing machine, and she always gives me food to eat. Nobody else is helping us. Hajia Hawa is our father, mother, everything for us.” Staying together During the past five years, the number of people who depend on Hawa has grown. She currently has a list of nearly 6,000 people who depend on her. “Even now, if I tell these people to leave me, they cannot leave me,” she says. “We have been together for a long time. We love each other. No matter how we suffer, we will still stay together.” Once, police officers arrested Hawa. She says the officers questioned how she earned her money. She said the officers suspected the money came from Boko Haram. They suspected she was attempting to influence people so they will support Boko Haram. The officers took her to the police station and kept her there for three days. However, thousands of her supporters went to the station to demand her release. Hawa has become an important person in her community. She wakes up every morning to see more people stopping by her home, hoping to find some sort of assistance. They look to Hawa as their leader. “They are all needy,” she says. “Some women here lost their husbands. Some are the children that lost their parents. We are here suffering. Some will beg, some will not beg, some will help me to work.” Hawa lives in a small house where she sleeps with her daughters. There is another building with two bedrooms where some of the displaced people sleep. She is building more buildings where more displaced people can sleep. Hawa often speaks to the displaced people under a tree on her property. She speaks to them about why they must stay together to help each other survive. One old man once told Hawa, “We support you 100 percent. Powerful men have neglected us and you have come to our aid.” I’m Phil Dierking. Chika Oduah wrote this story for VOANews.com. Phil Dierking adapted his report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. What do you think of the giving assistance to displaced people? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________ Words in This Story voucher – n. a document that gives you the right to get something, such as a product or service, without paying for it sewing – n. the act or process of using a needle and thread to make or repair something, such as a piece of clothing allow –​ v.  to permit (something) : to regard or treat (something) as acceptable​ beg –​ v. to ask people for money or food​ neglect – v.​ to fail to take care of or to give attention to someone or something

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Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Help Fight Depression

  From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle report. Researchers say a number of drugs currently used to treat autoimmune diseases also appear to treat signs of depression. These medicines are known as anti-inflammatories. They help to reduce inflammation in the body. Inflammation is the pain and expansion, or swelling, of damaged tissue. What is an autoimmune disease? An autoimmune disease is a disease where the body attacks itself. Examples include the skin condition psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes and Crohn's disease. White blood cells are part of the body’s natural defense against disease. They help to protect us against infection. In autoimmune diseases, the white blood cells are over-activated. Instead of simply attacking bacteria and viruses, the body’s natural defense system also attacks healthy tissue.   To treat an autoimmune disease, patients often are told to take anti-inflammatory drugs. Now, a study suggests that the drugs also appear to treat signs of depression. The study also suggests that anti-inflammatory medicines may soon take their place with traditional treatments to help people with this disorder.   Researchers looked at a number of drug studies that involved patients with autoimmune diseases. They noted an improvement in patients with signs of depression after the research ended. Anti-inflammatory drugs quiet the body’s natural defenses by disarming proteins known as cytokines. These proteins are important in the body's reaction to inflammation. A small amount of inflammation is necessary to activate the immune system to fight an infection. But too much pain or swelling is harmful. Golam Khandaker is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. "Slow burning inflammation that's circulating in our body can cause a number of physical and psychiatric conditions. For example, in the brain, it could lead to increased risks of depression. Similarly in the body, it could lead to increased risk of heart disease, particularly coronary heart disease such as stroke … or also type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes." People with autoimmune diseases often suffer from depression. Some earlier studies suggested these people are depressed because of their condition. But the new study suggests that inflammation changes the chemistry of the brain, causing depression. Antidepressant drugs work to help to re-establish the operation of brain chemicals, called neurotransmitters. However, the drugs are not always successful in treating patients with depression. Anti-inflammatory drugs, which work differently in the brain, give doctors another choice. For the study, Khandaker and his team looked at the results of 20 studies of people treated with anti-inflammatory drugs. These patients had arthritis, psoriasis or Crohn's disease. The researchers found that individuals who reported signs of hard-to-treat depression before the study had a mild to moderate reduction in those symptoms after the study. In fact, the results were similar to the effectiveness of antidepressants. "And what they showed is that patients who were inflamed at the beginning of the trial showed benefits from the anti-cytokine drug. And the higher the level of inflammation, the greater the improvement in the severity of depressive symptoms." The researchers published their findings in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. Researchers say anti-inflammatory drugs could someday be used in patients with depression for whom other drugs have failed. Depression will be the second highest cause of disease burden in middle-income countries by the year 2030. This prediction comes from the World Health Organization. For the Health & Lifestyle report, I’m Anna Matteo.   VOA science reporter Jessica Berman wrote this story for VOANews.com. Anna Matteo adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ___________________________________________________________ Words in This Story over-activate – v. make to active especially in a way that produces a bad result deactivate – v. to make (something) no longer active or effective activate – v. to make (as molecules) reactive or more reactive disarm – v. to make harmless psychiatric – n. a branch of medicine that deals with mental or emotional disorders burden – n. something oppressive or worrisome  

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Program Helps Ease Effects of Childhood Poverty in US

Income inequality in the United States is a major election campaign issue. It is an issue of interest to many people across the country. Studies have shown that 49 million Americans -- including one in four children -- are living in poverty. The United States Census Bureau says there were 43.1 million people in poverty last year. That is 3.5 million fewer than in 2014. A community development program in Georgia is working to improve neighborhoods and help lift families out of poverty. It also helps young people from poor families get a good education. The East Lake Foundation directs the community redevelopment programs in the East Lake neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. Daniel Shoy heads the foundation. “So by having a high-quality education pipeline we are able to provide first class opportunities for our children, and really for their families, to help them move beyond the intergenerational cycle of poverty, to expose them to what I consider a world of possibilities.” The program provides education to children from the age of three all the way to college. The three-year-olds attend classes where they focus mainly on reading. The program works to ensure the children can read well by the time they enter the third grade. As they grow up, their progress is followed and they are urged to work hard. They attend the same public high school which has an educational curriculum that requires mathematics, science and technology. “I’d say the most staggering result that we’ve seen is for our young people go from having only about five percent of its 5th graders be able to meet or exceed the state standard in math to now 95 percent of our young people across all core academic subjects meet and exceed that standard.” Shoy notes that the children “are performing well compared to their peers across the country.” The education program is just one of the activities offered to young people who live in the community. Jalil Spearman grew up in the program and is now in the 11th grade. He hopes to become an engineer. “Having all these different extra-curricular activities like engineering, dance, band, like, really helps you to, like, decide on what you like to do right now in high school, so when you go off to college you already know something that you want to do.” Many of the students from poor families are performing as well as middle-class students. Terez Chapman and her family moved to East Lake 15 years ago. She now attends college and works part-time. “Knowing that someone else other than your family has taken a(n) interest in you, it really encourages you -- and makes you want to do better and set the bar high for yourself to make your own accomplishments.” Terez Chapman says that support from teachers helps the students get the preparation they need to be successful in school and in life. I’m Caty Weaver.   VOA’s Chris Simkins reported this story from Atlanta, Georgia. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story pipeline – n. the system for developing and producing something intergenerational – adj. passing from one generation to the next cycle – n. a set of events or actions that happen again and again in the same order; a repeating series of events or actions expose – v. to cause (someone) to experience something or to be influenced or affected by something (often + to) focus – v. to direct your attention or effort at something specific curriculum – n. the courses that are taught by a school, college, etc. staggering – adj. very large, shocking or surprising core – adj. the most important or basic part of something peer – n. a person who belongs to the same age group or social group as someone else extra-curricular – adj. activities that happen at a school but not necessarily in a classroom, such as sports set the bar – expression to change the standard that is used to judge whether someone or something is good, successful, etc. accomplishment – n. something done, achieved or accomplished successfully  

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Halloween Excitement Takes over Twitter

  This is What’s Trending Today: “Happy Halloween” is the Number One trending topic on Twitter today. That is because October 31 is Halloween and people in the United States and elsewhere are excited to celebrate. Each year on the last day of October, children and adults celebrate the holiday by dressing in cute, frightening or humorous costumes. Young people carry out the Trick-or-Treat tradition to get candy from neighbors. People also cut faces or designs into pumpkins and light them from inside.   Many people hold Halloween costume parties. In fact, many Americans were celebrating Halloween all weekend long. The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers had a costume party. LeBron James dressed as a character from a 1990s television show. Even family animals are included. At an event in Boston, one dog came dressed as a Lobster sandwich.  Some costumes are popular every year. Since Halloween honors the dead, people often dress as ghosts or zombies. Many children like to dress as imaginary characters. Cinderella, Superman, Catwoman, Captain America and Wonder Woman are popular. But many adults like to represent a person who has been in the news. For example, many dressed as presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  Others chose Ken Bone, the man from Illinois who gained brief fame after he asked a question during the second presidential debate. Others like to dress as their favorite celebrities or characters from movies and television shows.  The hosts of a popular morning television program dressed like characters from the 1990s. They looked like actor Jerry Seinfeld, singer Baby Spice, former First Lady Barbara Bush and characters from the movie Pulp Fiction. The singer Usher even posted a photo showing scary-looking doughnuts.  But this year, some scientists made Halloween an educational holiday as well. The U.S. space agency NASA posted a video explaining a recently discovered kind of star called a “pumpkin star.”    And that’s What’s Trending Today. I’m Alice Bryant. Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. Did you celebrate Halloween? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story trending – v. to move upward or become popular celebrity – n. the state of being famous or celebrated cute – adj. clever in an appealing way scary – adj. causing fear costume – n. the clothes that are worn by someone (such as an actor) who is trying to look like a different person or thing character – n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show doughnut – n. a piece of sweet fried dough that is often shaped like a ring

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Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs Lights Out

Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs

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Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs Pi

Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs

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Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs PAC MAN

Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs

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Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs Carnival

Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs

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Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs SAW

Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs

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Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs Juno

Rocket Scientists Create Pumpkin Designs Juno

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China’s Internet Army Getting More 'Refined'

  There is a real Chinese army. It is called the People’s Liberation Army. It is the largest military force in the world. But there is also an online Chinese army. It is nicknamed the “50 Cent Army.” The name is connected to people who post comments online that are in support of China. Many people once thought that they were regular citizens who were getting paid 50 cents for each pro-China post they wrote. But a new study says that they are actually government employees working overtime. A Harvard University study found that the “50 centers” are not young Chinese writing posts to earn money. They are actually government employees who work overtime. They post online messages designed to seem like ordinary citizens wrote them. The Harvard study, published in August, said the posts are usually bland and pro-China. “Almost none of the Chinese government’s 50-cent party posts engage in debate or argument of any kind,” the study said. The “50 Cent Army” is busiest during patriotic holidays in China, or when the government wants to cover up news events, such as the independence protests in Hong Kong. David Bandurski is the editor of the University of Hong Kong’s China Media Project. He was one of the first media experts to write about the virtual army. He wrote about the 50 Cent Army in 2008. Bandurski said many in China are nervous during holidays or anniversaries of anti-communist protests. That is when the virtual army tries most to “redirect public opinion.” The 50 Cent Army began in the early 2000s.  At that time, most online discussions took place on message boards and in chat rooms. The army has had to change its methods in the “era of Weibo,” Bandurski said. Weibo is a Chinese social media site that is similar to Twitter and Facebook. “By this point, everyone is interacting online in real time,” he said. The Chinese government is also working with the Communist Youth League. The league is a powerful group of 89 million people. Its members are between the ages of 14 and 28. The government works with the youth league to “purify” the Internet. Experts say its members are more aggressive than the 50 Cent Army described in the Harvard study. They are also more skilled at posting on foreign social media sites that are blocked in China. The group wrote 40,000 negative comments on the Facebook page of an Australian Olympic swimmer who called a Chinese swimmer “a drug cheat.” They did the same thing when Tsai Ing-wen was elected president of Taiwan. Foreign Policy magazine reported that some 40,000 negative comments appeared on her Facebook page in just 12 hours. Bandurski called the youth league members “volunteer armies of mobilized, angry youth.” He said they are happy to “spam” the president of Taiwan. He described them as “version 2.0” of the 50 Cent Army. Bandurski said that he does not think the Communist Youth League members get paid to post the negative comments. They also often use their real names, he said. Experts say there is evidence that China is becoming more effective at controlling online opinions. Bandurski said efforts by the 50 Cent Army are getting ”more sophisticated and more refined.” “The 50 Cent Army doesn’t just fade away,” Bandurski said. I’m Dan Friedell. Joyce Lau wrote this story for VOANews.com Dan Friedell adapted this it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. What do you think of the 50 Cent Army? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   nickname – n. a name (such as “Moose” or “Lady Bird”) that is different from your real name but is what your family, friends, etc., call you when they are talking to you or about you overtime – n. time spent working at your job that is in addition to your normal working hours bland – adj. showing no emotion, concern, etc. virtual – adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet mobilize – v. to bring (people) together for action spam – v. to send unwanted e-mail or other messages to (someone) sophisticated – adj. having or showing a lot of experience and knowledge about the world and about culture, art, literature, etc. redirect – v. to change the path or direction of (something) patriotic – adj. having or showing great love and support for your country : having or showing patriotism  

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Many Americans Wearing Trump or Clinton Masks on Halloween

  The United States presidential election is affecting how some people celebrate Halloween. Halloween takes place on the last day of October. Many people celebrate by wearing costumes and masks to make themselves look like somebody else. This year, popular masks include those that look like the two major candidates for president -- Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Spirit Halloween is a company that sells Halloween costumes. It paid for a survey of 2,000 adults. It reported that 55 percent said they would choose the Trump mask and 45 percent the Clinton mask. Spirit Halloween said the number one reason people gave for choosing a Trump mask was to be funny. The top reason people gave for choosing a Clinton mask was because they liked her. Some stores are selling a Halloween set with one Clinton mask and one Trump mask. The set sells for about $38. It is being marketed as the perfect costume for husbands and wives or people undecided about who to vote for in the November 8th election. The “political masks” will be competing with masks and costumes that look like characters from popular culture. According to the Google website Frightgeist, the most popular for Halloween 2016 is a “Harley Quinn” costume. Harley Quinn is a villain in “Batman” movies and comic books. No. 2 on Google’s “Frightgeist” list is “Joker,” another Batman villain.   Children and adults, who never quite grew up, will go door to door on Halloween to collect candy. Most will be in costume. Lots of candy will be handed out Monday The National Confectioners Association represents candy makers. It says Americans will spend $2.7 billion on Halloween candy this year. According to the association, more than 75 percent of American adults buy Halloween candy. Seventy-two percent of adults say they will take some of the candy collected by their children, according to the candy association. Most will ask their children for some of the candy they collected on Halloween. But one in four adults admit they will help themselves to candy when their children are not looking. What is the most popular candy on Halloween? It is no mystery. Chocolate has been and likely will remain No. 1 on Halloween for years to come, according to the National Confectioners Association.   Daniel Kelly teaches philosophy at Purdue University in Indiana. He has become an expert on why people like to dress up in frightening costumes and watch frightening movies. Kelly said Halloween is fun for people of all ages because everyone knows it is all about people dressing up to look frightening. “You’re not actually in danger,” Kelly said. “The guy with the axe isn’t actually going to kill you.” Some people add frightening things to their homes -- such as the zombies in the front yard of the Buffaloe family in Alexandria, Virginia. “You can let your imagination run wild,” said Will Buffaloe. “It’s the one time of the year where you’re allowed to sort of let loose and be kind of crazy.” I'm Bruce Alpert. Bruce Alpert reported this story for VOA Learning English, based in part, on a video story by the VOA’s Deborah Block. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. Do you celebrate Halloween? If you do, how do you celebrate? ________________________________________________________________ Words in this Story   costume –n. costume – n. the clothes that are worn by someone who is trying to look like a different person or thing mask –n. a covering used to hide or disguise your face and, for Halloween, to make you look like someone else survey –n. an activity in which many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something character –n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show comic book - n. a magazine that is made up of a series of comic strips villain –n. a bad person in a film or book candy –n. a sweet food made with sugar or chocolate axe –n. a tool that has a heavy metal blade and a long handle and that is used for chopping wood zombie –n. a dead person who is able to move because of magic.

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Mars: How Will Humans Get There?

  Mars—how to get there and maybe even live there— has been in the news a lot lately. Governments and private industry around the world are discussing ways to get people to the so-called “Red Planet.” In mid-October, U.S. President Barack Obama attended a science and technology conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He spoke of his love of the subject.   “I’m a science geek,” Obama said. “I don’t make any apologies for it.” The president got laughter from a roomful of fellow science geeks. Obama first proposed a U.S. mission to Mars in 2010. He repeated his call this month to get humans to and from the Red Planet by the 2030s. Obama called for a partnership with private companies to develop a way to make it happen. In Pittsburgh, Obama examined a Boeing space flight simulator—a device that recreates what it would be like to fly in space. He also saw a SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft—the kind that carries cargo to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is part of ongoing research efforts to develop vehicles that could transport astronauts to the Red Planet.     “Cool stuff,” Obama said. At the conference, the White House announced it is giving about $300 million to research and development-- including money for the deep-space exploration project that supports the president’s Mars-related goals. “Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars. Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars…” Some scientists believe that the words of this popular Frank Sinatra song may come true one day. They want to return to the moon as a first step to exploring Mars. Some scientists question whether a trip to Mars is possible without huge amounts of money from the government. Paul Spudis is with the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas. “Any program where the payoff is 20-30 years in the future is effectively a dead issue in Congress because they do not deal in timescales like that. They deal in timescales from two to 10 years.” Spudis wrote a book called "The Value of the Moon."  In it, he argues for establishing an outpost on the moon. It takes only three days to get there, and three to come back. He says NASA missions have shown that there is water at the moon’s poles. “So, I have energy and I have materials.  I can live on the moon.  I can make rocket propellant.” Scientists and space experts gathered recently at Rice University in Houston, Texas, for the “Lost in Space 2016” conference. Former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao attended the meeting. He supports returning to the moon. “We can train crews. We don’t necessarily want the first crew on Mars to be rookies. We can train crews on the moon.” Michael Lembeck is president of CEPStone. He supports using the moon as a training base. But he questions the idea some scientists have of using it as a chemical refueling station. “If we talk about actually making the journey to Mars on chemical propulsion, that could be a dead end. We need high-speed transportation.” That is something private industry is already developing. Elon Musk is founder of SpaceX. His company is working on designing transportation to Mars. He used the social news site Reddit earlier this month to explain his plans to colonize Mars. People asked him about his plan to send up to one million people to the Red Planet sometime in the next 40 to 100 years.   Musk said the plan would begin with unmanned cargo missions. These missions would teach future crews how to land as well as the best way get water needed to make methane fuel. An unmanned ship would also be sent to Mars with equipment to build a plant to create refueling propellant for return trips to Earth. Musk said the first manned crew would have the job of constructing the plant. He has said that SpaceX is already working on equipment for the project. Musk also said his company will have actual models of the habitation, or living sections, “maybe in a year or two.” Musk’s plans also include 1,000 passenger ships flying all together to Mars. But much of the technology needed for the Interplanetary Transport System—the system to get people there—has not yet been developed. The recent crash of the European Space Agency probe as it landed on Mars shows how difficult it is to successfully get to, and land on, the planet. ExoMars Flight Operations Director Michel Denis said, “This didn’t land softly as we would have like to.” The probe hit the ground traveling much faster than it should have, he said. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is circling around the planet, took a picture of the crash site. The ExoMars program is a joint effort with Russia. The program aims to determine if there is life on the planet.  China is also working on its own mission to Mars. The country plans to land a rover vehicle on Mars by 2020. I’m Anne Ball.   Anne Ball wrote this story for Learning English with reports from VOA’s Greg Flakus, Marissa Melton and Reuters News Service.  Ashley Thompson was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit us on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   geek – n. a person who is very interested in and knows a lot about a particular field or activity simulator – n. a machine that is used to show what something looks or feels like and is usually sued to study something or to train people cargo - n. supplies outpost – n. a small military base or town far away from other towns propellant - n.  fuel rookies - n. a person who has just started a job or activity, a beginner colonize - v. to establish a place occupied by humans probe – n. a thin, long instrument that is used especially for examining

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Meet Some of America's First-Time Voters

Every four years, young Americans and naturalized citizens are able to vote for the first time for a president. This year, more than 10 million people have become eligible to vote for their first time. These new voters are diverse in age, background and political opinions. They will be a big part of what the Pew Research Center has called the most “diverse electorate in U.S. history.” A majority of newly eligible voters are between the ages of 18 and 29. The voting age in the United States is 18. But researchers say young people are the least likely group to vote on Election Day.  Naturalized American citizens will also have a chance to cast their votes for the first time this November. Many of them say they care about issues such as economic fairness and educational opportunity. Amanda Lugg is one of those first-time voters. She is a naturalized English and Ugandan-American citizen. “The disparity in this country between the haves and the have-nots has just grown wider and wider, and with that breeds, breeds so much animosity and fear and results in something like we’re seeing in, in the U.K. right now.” Jace Laquerre was the youngest delegate at this year’s Republican Party convention. He turned 18 in August. He says he hopes the party will listen to the opinions of young voters. “A lot of younger people are more liberty-oriented, a little more socially liberal than the older Republicans, and I think that's what’s costing us elections in the end, and so, you know, young Republicans are here to say this is what we think and hopefully if the older Republicans will listen we can help win the youth vote in the future and win some elections.” Aya Elamroussi is an Egyptian-American student and a first-time voter. She says many young Americans do not understand how much freedom they have. That includes the freedom to vote. “Voting is the basic act of a democratic country. Most of us in America, if you were to compare the lives here to the ones in Egypt, we live a comfortable life. We, at age 16, you, you are able to go out there and have a job and pretty much make your own money. Over there, that’s not something that happens.” More new voters support Democratic and Independent candidates than Republicans. But some new voters say they want Donald Trump to become president, including Christian Martinez. “Everything other than his radical statements, everything, I believe that he’s very well integrated when it comes to making a strong foundation with the, into the economy. The economy is something very fragile, but yet again it could revolve around giving us free health care, free education. If our economy is weak, we can’t do anything.” Elamroussi says she is frightened by the possibility that Trump could become president. “The idea is when the rhetoric that he says becomes normalized. When it can cause violence, when it can turn debate, peaceful debate, into physical violence. That’s where the problem comes in.” I’m Jonathan Evans.   VOA Correspondent Ramon Taylor reported this story from New York. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   diverse – adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other background – n. the experiences, knowledge, education, etc., in a person's past electorate – n. the people who can vote in an election (usually singular) bigotry – n. bigoted (having or showing a strong and unfair dislike of other people, ideas, etc.) acts or beliefs disparity – n. a noticeable and often unfair difference between people or things haves and the have-nots – expression/n. people who have a lot of money and possessions; wealthy people (usually used in the phrase “the haves and the have-nots”) breed – v. to cause or lead to (something) animosity – n. a strong feeling of dislike or hatred oriented – adj. interested in a particular thing, activity, etc. radical – adj. very new and different from what is traditional or ordinary fragile – adj. not strong revolve around – phrasal verb to have (someone or something) as a main subject or interest rhetoric – n. language that is intended to influence people and that may not be honest or reasonable normalize – v. usual or acceptable

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Everyday Grammar: Commonly Confused Words, Part Three

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Lesson 34: What Will I Do?

Summary In this lesson, Anna wants to go to a Halloween party. But she needs a costume. Will her friend Genie help her find the right one? Speaking Learn the new words for this lesson. Then, learn how to talk about the future in two ways.  You can use the modal verb "will" or the modal verb "might." ​ Pronunciation Use this video to learn a stress pattern to show strong emotion with the modal "might."​ Conversation   Anna: Hello! Halloween is very popular in the United States. Anna: Children trick-or-treat. They ask people for candy. Children and adults wear costumes and go to parties! Anna: In fact, there is a Halloween party tonight. I need my friend, Genie. Genie! Anna: Hi! Genie: Hi, Anna! What do you need? Anna: Tonight, there is a Halloween party. Genie: I love Halloween! Are you going? Anna: I might go. I might not go. I don’t have a costume. Can you help me? Genie: Dress as a genie! Anna: Great idea! I can do a genie trick like read minds! Genie: Anna, be careful. Things might go wrong. Anna: What can go wrong? Genie: Okay. Anna: Hey, look! I’m a genie! This is going to be fun! Genie: Remember, Anna. Be careful! Anna: Don’t worry, Genie! I will! Rebecca: Excuse me, are you really a mind reader? Anna: I might be. Rebecca: Okay, tell me what I am thinking. Anna: Sure! First, what do you do? Rebecca: I study. I'm a junior in college. Anna: What do you study? Rebecca: I study journalism. Anna: Okay. Wait. You are thinking … you will graduate from college in about one year. Rebecca: Well, yeah. That’s the plan. I told you, I’m a junior in college. Anna: Right, um, wait. There’s more. You are thinking … you might get a job writing the news. Rebecca: I MIGHT get a job writing the news? I MIGHT! That means I might not. And I'm studying really hard. Anna: No, no, no, no. Uh, no, you will! You WILL get a job writing the news. Rebecca: I will? Anna: You will. Rebecca: I will. I think. Anna: 'Bye. Happy to help! Kaveh: Can you really read minds? Anna: I might. Kaveh: Well, today, I will ask my girlfriend to marry me. What am I thinking? Anna: Wait. Wait, you are thinking ... you might have a wedding very soon! Kaveh: Might? MIGHT? She won’t say "no," will she? Anna: No, no! She WILL say “yes”! Kaveh: I will have a wedding, won’t I? Anna: You will. You will! Kaveh: Thanks. I think. Anna: Good luck! Anna: This is hard. Genie! Genie! Genie: Anna, what’s wrong? Anna: I don’t want to be a genie for Halloween. I might not go to the party. Genie: Of course you will go. I have another costume for you! Anna: I’m a rock star! You read my mind! Genie: No. You told me you like rock music. Anna: Oh, right. Well, I love it! Genie: Have fun, Anna! Anna: Thanks, Genie!! Anna: I am ready for the Halloween party! But I am not going to read minds. I might play some rock music! Or I might not. Until next time … Writing What do you think about your future? Where might you live and work in five years? What might happen in your life? Write to us by email or in the Comments section. Click on the image below to download the Activity Sheet and practice talking about the important things that happen in our lives. Learning Strategy Learning Strategies are the thoughts and actions that help make learning easier or more effective. The learning strategy for this lesson is Make Your Best Guess​.  That means using what you know about the world to make a guess.  When we do this with language, it can help us understand and speak more fluently.  For example, Anna says she might be able to read minds. But she is really guessing. After she hears Rebecca say, "I'm a junior in college." Anna says, "You are thinking … you will graduate from college in about one year." She knows that "junior" means a student in the third year at a four-year college, so she can make a good guess that Rebecca will be graduating in one year. Can you find another example in the lesson of Anna making a guess? Write to us about it in the Comments section or send us an email. Teachers, see the Lesson Plan  for more details on teaching this strategy. Quiz Listen to short videos and test your listening skills with this quiz. ​______________________________________________________________ New Words candy - n. a sweet food made with sugar or chocolate college - n. school that offers courses leading to a degree (such as a bachelor's degree or an associate's degree) costume - n. the clothes that are worn by someone (such as an actor) who is trying to look like a different person or thing dress - v. to put clothes on (yourself or someone else) girlfriend - n. a woman with whom someone is having a romantic relationship graduate - v. to earn a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university Halloween - n. the night of October 31 when children dress up as ghosts, witches or monsters, and go to houses to ask for candy journalism - n. the activity or job of collecting, writing, and editing news stories for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio junior - n. US:a student in the third of four years in a high school or college marry - v. to become the husband or wife of (someone)orto become joined with (someone) in marriage might - modal. used to say that something is possible mind - n. the part of a person that thinks, reasons, feels, and remembers rock star - n. a person who plays a kind of popular music with a strong beat that is played on instruments that are made louder electronically think - v. to form or have (a particular thought) in your mind trick - n. something that causes confusion or that makes something seem different from what it actually is trick-or-treat - expression. a custom on Halloween in which children knock on people's doors and say “trick or treat” when the doors are opened to ask for candy wedding - n. a ceremony at which two people are married to each other ______________________________________________________________ Free Materials   Download the VOA Learning English Word Book for a dictionary of the words we use on this website. Each Let's Learn English lesson has an Activity Sheet for extra practice on your own or in the classroom. In this lesson, you can use it to practice talking about life events. For Teachers ​ See the Lesson Plan for this lesson for ideas and more teaching resources. Send us an email if you have comments on this course or questions. Grammar focus: Modal verb "might" Topics: Asking about the future; Talking about life events Learning Strategy: Make Your Best Guess (Inferencing) Speaking & Pronunciation Focus: Using modal verb​s "will" and"might;"  ​patterns of intonation with modal verbs   ____________________________________________________________ Now it's your turn. What do you like best about using Let's Learn English? Send us an email or write to us in the Comments section below or on our Facebook page to let us know what you think of this lesson.

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Immigrants Become Citizens at U.S. National Park

  Theodore Roosevelt Island is small and peaceful. It sits in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. The island is a tree-filled memorial to America’s 26th president. It includes several trails and a huge statue of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. The island is one of more than 400 sites within the U.S. National Park Service. On most days, local people visit the island to escape city life. They walk or run its forested paths. Tourists also visit the island to see the memorial that honors Teddy Roosevelt, known as the "conservationist" president. They often take photos of themselves with the statue. But, on a recent Monday morning, more than 40 people from 28 countries arrived at the island for a different reason. Instead of exploring, they recited an oath of allegiance. Instead of just taking pictures of the Roosevelt memorial, they sat in its shadow, holding American flags. On that morning, they became citizens of the United States. "I'd also like to thank the National Park Service for hosting us here at Theodore Roosevelt Island…" That is Sarah Taylor. She is the Washington district director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS. It is celebrating the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary this year by holding citizenship ceremonies in national park sites across the country. The agency has already done more than the 100 ceremonies it had planned. In August, for example, 15 people became American citizens at the Grand Canyon. In September, 37 people gained their citizenship at Yellowstone National Park. The naturalization ceremony at Theodore Roosevelt Island was the 13th such event in the Washington, D.C. area this year. Alexcy Romero is superintendent of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. The National Park Service protects this historic road and the scenic area around it. Romero spoke at the ceremony. It was his first time attending a naturalization ceremony. "This ceremony is really very fitting, having it in a national park, our national parks: people know them as their natural beauties, those scenic views, that are breathtaking, but we also have incredible sights that tell the American story. These naturalization ceremonies are a good piece - integrating their citizenship with our national parks, where they can learn and understand our democracy and how we came to be who we are today." The ceremonies mark the end of an immigrant’s effort to gain citizenship. But they also mark a new beginning. The naturalization process "Naturalization" is the legal act of becoming a citizen. In general, a person can become a naturalized American citizen if they are over the age of 18 and if they have lived in the U.S. for five years, without leaving the country for more than 30 months. The naturalization process has several steps. A person must first take a test in English on American civics. They must also prove they are of good character. To do that, two American citizens must verify that the nominee will be a good and loyal citizen of the United States. The process also includes completing paperwork and interviews. The final step is to take an oath of allegiance to the country at an official naturalization ceremony. At Theodore Roosevelt Island, Sarah Taylor with USCIS led the crowd in the oath of allegiance. …and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God. Congratulations, you are America’s newest citizens!” During the last 10 years, more than 6.6 million people have become naturalized American citizens. Last year, more than 700,000 people gained their citizenship. Those who became naturalized citizens at Theodore Roosevelt Island came from 28 countries, including Vietnam, Turkey, Pakistan, Venezuela and the Philippines. For some, the path to citizenship was a long one. Moid Ali works at a bank in northern Virginia. He is originally from Pakistan. "I came here in January 2012. And, my wife is a U.S. citizen. So I moved here with her." Ali called his path to citizenship a "rigorous process." "It's been a rigorous process, as far as like six or seven years back. So, multiple documentations and interviews, getting my Green Card, and applying for the citizenship."   After the ceremony, he felt relieved. "I'm relaxed. Excited. Definitely an overwhelming experience, you know, being a part of the whole ceremony." Aaron Gaza said he wanted to become a citizen to serve the nation in the U.S. Navy. He came to America from the Philippines three years ago. He joined the Navy in January. To become a U.S. citizen for me is very important, to be able to do my job in the Navy, in the U.S. Navy." Gaza was chosen to lead the rest of the group in the pledge of allegiance. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God..." Zainab Bangura left her native Sierra Leone to continue her education in America. She arrived five years ago. “There was a certain time in my country when we had the civil war and rebels were all over. And education-wise was like, going down the drain, we don’t have enough infrastructure. And like, coming to America, I see this as an opportunity to expand and further my education.” Bangura said becoming a U.S. citizen was an easy process for her. “It was pretty much smooth for me. I went through it, I registered, and it was exciting. It takes like three months.” Bangura and other newly naturalized citizens now have all the liberties and rights of a full American citizen. The only real limit she faces? She cannot become the president or vice president of the United States. But she and other naturalized citizens across the country will play a part in electing the country’s next leader. New citizens and new voters  The citizenship ceremony at Theodore Roosevelt Island took place on the final day to register to vote in nearby Virginia. New citizens who live in the state lined up at a small tent near the site of the ceremony. Workers there helped them register.  For Maria Sifontes, the ability to vote [in the upcoming U.S. elections] was a major reason why wanted to become a citizen this year. Sifontes is from Venezuela. She came to the U.S. in 2007 to study English. She stayed in the country to study criminal justice. Sifontes now works in the Washington area as a lawyer. “I decided to become a citizen because I really wanted to vote this year. I feel that we need to be more involved in the democracy of the country. We work hard, and I think it’s fair enough to participate and that our voice can be heard.” Park Superintendent Alexcy Romero said he was honored to watch 42 new Americans gain their citizenship.  “Just sitting there watching their expressions as they were being sworn in, wondering what was going on through their mind and … the struggles to get to this point, the struggles of leaving their country and to become an American citizen. It’s just moving. It was just one of those events that I was honored to share it with them.” I'm Ashley Thompson.  And I'm Caty Weaver.  Ashley Thompson wrote this story. Caty Weaver was the editor.  Now it's your turn. What do you think of the naturalization ceremony in a national park? Does your country have such public citizenship ceremonies? Write to us in the Comments section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   breathtaking - adj. very exciting​ incredible - adj. extremely good, great, or large civics - n. the study of the rights and duties of citizens and of how government works character - n.  the way someone thinks, feels, and behaves : someone's personality verify - v. to prove, show, find out, or state that (something) is true or correct rigorous - adj. very strict and demanding relieved - adj. feeling relaxed and happy because something difficult  has been stopped, avoided, or made easier relaxed - adj.  calm and free from stress, worry, or anxiety overwhelming - adj. very strong in emotion down the train - expression. spoiled or wasted smooth - adj. happening or done without any problems register - v. to put your name on an official list​ (to be able to vote)  

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Do You Believe in Ghosts?

First-Generation College Students Experience School Differently

  Students who are the first in their family to attend college have a different experience than students with college graduate parents. Young people today do have many resources available to them. Books and websites offer advice on getting accepted into a school and dealing with life away from home for the first time. Also, most high schools in the United States have counselors and college advisors. Their job is to help students understand the process of applying to schools. But when Christopher Curran started looking for the right university, he had one less resource than most students in the U.S. His parents never went to college. So, they had little advice to give. Curran is from the town of Whitman in the northeastern state of Massachusetts. He is the oldest of five children. Curran always worked hard to impress his parents in school and in his daily life. So, his parents decided he would have what they never did. Curran’s parents had little money. But they worked hard to send him to Boston College High School, a well-known and respected private high school, in 2000. Curran says he always felt different from his classmates. They had money for new clothes while he worked at a part-time job to pay for his transportation to and from school. Also, when his classmates began considering which college to attend, their parents could share advice and connections from their own experiences as graduates. Curran, however, is considered a “first-generation” student, meaning he is the first in his family to attend college. He is not alone. The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce is an organization that studies the link between education and career success. Research from the organization suggests almost 32 percent of undergraduate students in the U.S. are first generation. The research also suggests first generation students have a much more difficult college experience than those whose parents hold degrees. Researchers found only about 40 percent of first generation students completed a degree or certificate program after six years of study. About 55 percent of students with degree-holding parents completed their programs in the same amount of time. In 2004, Curran chose to attend Bridgewater State University because it was close to his family. He admits that it was difficult to be unable to ask his parents for advice on specific things like choosing classes. His mother was more worried about the risky behavior that can happen at colleges, especially involving alcohol. Curran says at first he felt he had to work harder than other students to prove himself. He wanted to show his parents all the effort of sending him to a special high school and to college was worth it. But soon, he understood that having to succeed without the same resources as others also helped make him the man he is today. "I realized it was a lesson. And I realized that a lot of those kids that I went to high school with weren’t going to have the same understanding of how the real world works because they’ve never had to work for it. So, when I got into college I definitely had a respect for what it took to get there and what it took to succeed. In that it wasn't just something that happened." Curran finished his undergraduate degree in 2008 and then went on to complete a master’s degree as well. He says his path was long and never easy. But, he says, if a person never tries they will never know if they can succeed. Maria Urena is a college adviser with the College Success Foundation. Her organization works to improve college graduation rates among first-generation students and other minority groups. She says Curran’s story is very common among first-generation students. Urena notes that not all first-generation college students are the same. They may be from high or low income families. They may have been born in the U.S. or a foreign country. Urena works with students at A.C. Davis High School in the northwestern state of Washington. About 80 percent of the students there live in poverty, she says. Also, 49 out of the 50 students in her program have parents who never completed high school. Most of these students also have had to deal with traumatic experiences in their lives, Urena adds. This includes family members dying or going to prison. Also, families often need older children to work to provide extra income. Many of her students believe there is no chance they will ever go to college, she says. And those who do make the choice to seek higher education do not know what it requires. "A lot of times, students don’t even know where to begin the process, like what kind of questions they need to be asking" That is why Urena meets regularly with both students and parents to discuss their goals and how to reach them. She brings community members in to help students with their application materials. The library at A.C. Davis High School stays open late so students can do things like apply for financial aid in their free time. Nichole Smith agrees that first-generation students need the extra help with the many steps in the application process. Smith is the chief economist at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. She says colleges should ensure all the information they provide to interested young people is easier to understand. But she adds that barriers for students are not completely removed once a college accepts them. First generation students often feel like they do not belong. They also feel greater stress and pressure to succeed, which can cause problems for them, she says. "When you ask them ‘What are some of your biggest challenges and some of your greatest fears?’ They have a great fear of failure, because they feel if they fail, they not only fail themselves. They fail their parents. They fail their children or their potential children, if they don't have children yet. They fail their other relatives." Smith suggests that colleges and universities should do more to measure the progress of first-generation students. In that way, the dream of a college education can come true for them and hopefully their children as well. I’m Pete Musto. Pete Musto reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Did your parents attend college? Are your children first-generation college students? What do you think are the best ways to support them? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   graduate(s) – n. a person who has earned a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university advice – n. an opinion or suggestion about what someone should do counselor(s) – n. a person who provides advice as a job  apply(ing) – v. to ask formally for something (such as a job, admission to a school or loan) usually in writing undergraduate – n. a student at a college or university who has not yet earned a degree degree – n. an official document and title that is given to someone who has successfully completed a series of classes at a college or university certificate - n. a document that is official proof that you have finished school or a course of training realize(d) – v. to understand or become aware of something master’s degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after one or two years of additional study following a bachelor's degree income – n. money that is earned from work, investments or business challenge(s) – n. a difficult task or problem

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Indian Centers Prepare School Dropouts for Return to Classroom

Voluntary education centers in India are providing dropouts an opportunity to learn the necessary skills to return to school.

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English in a Minute: Music to My Ears

This expression is not exactly about music. Find out why you might call something "music to your ears" in this week's English in a Minute!

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Jury in Oregon Finds Occupiers of a Wildlife Refuge Not Guilty

A jury found brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five others not guilty of conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs at a refuge in Oregon

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Investigation of Hillary Clinton Emails to Be Reopened

  The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced it is reopening an investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. FBI chief James Comey made the announcement Friday, less than two weeks before the presidential election. The investigation concerns the Democratic presidential candidate’s handling of email while she served as secretary of state. Comey sent a letter to several Republican congressional leaders. It said the agency has learned of emails that appear to be important to the investigation. He said investigators will examine them to learn if they have secret information in them and if they are important to the agency’s investigation. Comey said he could not predict how long it will take to complete the investigation. Clinton led the State Department during the first term of President Barack Obama. A State Department official told VOA that “nobody knew this was coming.” Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan called the development “long overdue.”  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told supporters Friday that he was happy about the news. He said he is glad the FBI will, in his words, “right the horrible mistake” it made in ending an earlier investigation into the emails. The FBI began an investigation into the emails in 2015. In July, the agency said there was no reason to charge Clinton. But Comey did say Clinton and her aides were, in his words, “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” I’m Kelly Jean Kelly. VOANews.com reported this story from Washington. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter and Caty Weaver were the editors. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   server – n. the main computer in a network which provides files and services that are used by the other computers

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Emojis Find Their Place in Art

  This is What’s Trending Today. Did you think you could only see emojis on your mobile phone? Well, think again. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City recently received 176 emoji icons created by a Japanese communications company.   They came as a gift from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. The emojis will now be displayed in the same building as works by artists like Andy Warhol, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso. The graphics are only 12 pixels by 12 pixels. Some of them are in the shape of the moon, a video game controller, a cat, a car and a high-heeled shoe. Emojis first appeared around 1999, but took a long time to catch on. The Unicode Consortium works to make sure computer data and computer code can be understood around the world. It was only in 2010 that the organization translated the emojis into Unicode Standard, a character coding system. That means a person in France can send a message to someone in the U.S. and the emoji will look the same to both people. Now there are almost 1,800 emojis. Some people consider emojis a new language since some messages do not use traditional text.  Visitors will be able to see the emojis in the museum’s lobby through the end of 2016. In a post on Twitter, one person said she “can’t wait to see this.”   Paola Antonelli is the senior curator of the Department of Architecture and Design at the museum. She said the idea of emojis goes back hundreds of years and “covers all of human history. There is nothing more modern than timeless concepts such as these.” And that’s What’s Trending Today. I’m Dan Friedell. Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English based on a story by the Associated Press and VOANews.com. Mario Ritter was the editor. Will you go see the emojis in the Museum of Modern Art? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   emoji – n. a picture used to express an idea through mobile phone messaging icon – n. a small picture on a computer screen that represents a program or function pixel – n. any one of the very small dots that together form the picture on a television screen, computer monitor, etc. translate –v. to change words from one language to another character –n. a letter or other symbol concept – n. an idea of what something is or how it works

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October 28, 2016

A look at the best news photos from around the world.

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Police Remove Pipeline Protesters from Private Land in North Dakota

Police have removed more than 100 protesters from private land in the midwestern state of North Dakota. The protesters were showing their opposition to an oil pipeline in a demonstration that turned violent. An official with the Morton County Sheriff’s Department told the Associated Press 141 people were arrested Thursday. Police officers used pepper spray to break up a camp of protesters. Among those arrested was one person who had fired three shots at police. No serious injuries were reported. One man was treated for a leg injury, according to the AP. Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said protesters were given a final warning Wednesday to leave the private land, but they did not go. Protests by Native Americans and their supporters have been held in the area since July. The demonstrators oppose the building of the Dakota Access pipeline. Much of the 1,700-kilometer pipeline is nearly complete. When finished, it would transport about 400,000 barrels of oil a day from North Dakota to Illinois. From Illinois, other pipelines could then transport the supply to shipping ports and refineries across the United States. The pipeline’s path comes within one kilometer of land belonging to American Indians from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. The tribe has said the pipeline, which would be buried under the nearby Missouri River, could endanger its water supply. It also believes construction could destroy sacred Native American historical sites.   The movement supporting the tribe’s position has expanded to include environmental groups. Supporters include Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, civil-rights activist Jesse Jackson, Hollywood celebrities and U.S. Congress members. Hundreds of protesters had gathered on nearby U.S. government-owned land to hold demonstrations. Others have been arrested since those protests began in July.  But this week, the protesters occupied land owned by Energy Transfer Partners, which leads construction of the pipeline. The company has rejected the protesters’ arguments and says the project meets all legal requirements.  Supporters of the project say the pipeline is a safer and more cost-effective method than using roads or railways to move the oil.    The tribe brought a legal case in court to dispute the approval of permits by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for construction on federal land. A federal judge denied a request in September to halt the project. But three federal agencies took action to stop construction on land owned by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps is currently deciding whether to reconsider the environmental impact of the pipeline. This would stop construction for a longer period. A spokesman for the protesters said the latest police action will not silence the movement. He said they plan to build a new camp at another location in the pipeline's path - but this time on federal land. I’m Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Additional material came from VOA News, the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Do you think the government should keep blocking construction of this pipeline? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   pepper spray – n. ​ substance made from peppers that causes irritation to the eyes, nose and skin when sprayed barrel – n. ​ a standard measure for oil that is equal to about 159 liters refinery – n. factory where substances such as oil are made pure sacred – adj. relating to religion or consider holy permit – n. written document or license granting authority impact – n. effect of a situation or thing on something else  

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Mammoth Cave: Grand and Gloomy

  This week on our national parks journey, we head to the southeastern state of Kentucky. Here you will find rolling hills and thick green forests. But beneath the land is a strange and silent underground world. One early explorer described it as “grand,” “gloomy” and “peculiar.” Welcome to Mammoth Cave National Park! Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world. It is two times as large as the world’s second-biggest cave system. Its size helped give it its name. Mammoth as an adjective means “extremely large.” Mammoth Cave National Park is in Kentucky’s Green River valley. The park covers over 20,000 hectares. It protects the river valley and hilly land, as well as the vast underground cave system. The U.S. Congress formed Mammoth Cave National Park in 1941. Forty years later, it was named a World Heritage Site. And in 1990, it became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve site. Researchers and explorers have mapped than 600 kilometers of passageways in Mammoth Cave. And scientists continue to explore it.   Water formed the cave over millions of years. Other than the Green River, few sources of water exist above ground. That is because water seeps quickly into the earth. Soil made of broken-down limestone absorbs the water. It has created a vast and complex system of chambers and passageways. A delicate and unique ecosystem exists inside the cave. More than 100 kinds of animals live in Mammoth Cave. Some of them live their whole lives in total darkness. Cave shrimp and many other kinds of eyeless, colorless species can be found. Mammoth Cave was once home to about 10 million bats. They included species like Indiana bats, big brown bats, little brown bats and the eastern small-footed bat. Now, they number in the thousands. Humans first entered Mammoth Cave about 4,000 years ago. They discovered uses for minerals inside the cave. Researchers describe them as “primitive miners.” Humans explored Mammoth Cave for nearly 2,000 years. Then, their exploration appears to have ended. The caves would not be explored again until the end of the 1700s. Many stories name John Houchins for re-discovering the cave. They say he was hunting in the area when he came upon a black bear. The bear was close to the entrance of the cave. Houchins shot the bear, but he failed to kill it. The bear ran, and Houchins followed. It led him into the cave. Experts do not agree on the exact year of Houchins’ discovery, and some people question the story entirely. Slaves played many important roles at Mammoth Cave during the 1800s. During the War of 1812, slaves mined the cave for a mineral called saltpeter. It was used to produce ammunition used during battle. And in 1816, slaves began guiding visitors on cave tours. At the time, the cave was still privately owned. One of the greatest early explorers of the cave was a slave named Stephen Bishop. He arrived at Mammoth Cave in 1838, when he was a teenager. He learned the tour paths from white guides. But Bishop wanted to push beyond the cave’s toured areas. He set off to explore parts of the caves no human had ever seen. Bishop and a companion sought to cross an area called the Bottomless Pit. Its unknown darkness had stopped people from trying to go beyond it. But fear and darkness did not stop Bishop. The areas he discovered beyond Bottomless Pit are still open to visitors today. Bishop started naming different areas of the cave he discovered -- Fat Man’s Misery, Cleaveland Avenue, and Mammoth Dome, among others. He was also the first to discover a river running through the cave. Bishop created a map of Mammoth Cave in the early 1840s. It included 16 kilometers of passageways. Most of the passages had been discovered or explored by Bishop himself. His map remained in use for more than 40 years. Bishop gained his freedom in 1856, but he died the next year at the age of 37. His grave lies within Mammoth Cave National Park. It was Bishop who described Mammoth Cave as “grand, gloomy and peculiar.” For national park visitors who venture into the cave today, Bishop’s description remains true. About 500,000 people tour the cave each year. They are among the more than two million visitors to the park itself. Mammoth National Park offers campsites for those who want to sleep under the stars. There is also a hotel in the park. And there are plenty of activities outside of the cave. People ride horses on the more than 100 kilometers of park trails. They also fish and boat in the park’s rivers. But the main draw of Mammoth Cave National Park remains the dark mystery of an underground world, with so much more to discover. I'm Caty Weaver. And I’m Ashley Thompson. Ashley Thompson wrote this story with materials from the National Park Service. Caty Weaver was the editor.  ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   gloomy - adj. somewhat dark peculiar  - adj. not usual or normal mammoth  - adj. very large vast  - adj. very great in size, amount, or extent seep - v. to flow or pass slowly through small openings in something primitive  - adj. to flow or pass slowly through small openings in something venture - v. to go somewhere that is unknown, dangerous, etc.  

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'The Boy on Graves-End Road,' by Caty Weaver

Editor's Note: This is a weekly multimedia series of American short stories for English language learners. Each story has video, audio, quizzes, and a lesson plan for teachers. Hope you enjoy reading and listening to this story! Please leave your questions and comments below. October 31 is Halloween. In the spirit of this ancient holiday, we present a story written by our own reporter and producer Caty Weaver. It's called "The Boy on Graves-End Road." Kelly Ryan was making dinner. Her 10-year-old son Benjamin was watching television in the living room. Or at least she thought he was. KELLY: "Benny-boy, do you want black beans or red beans?" BEN: "Red beans, Mama." Kelly: "Ah! Don't do that, Ben. You scared me half to death! You're going to get it now ... " Ben had come up quietly right behind her. KELLY: "I'll get back to you, stinker!" Kelly goes to the phone, but as soon as she lays her hand on it, the ringing stops. KELLY: "How strange. Oh, the beans!" Kelly turns her attention back to cooking. As soon as she does, the phone rings again. KELLY: "Honey, can you get that?" BEN: "Hello? Oh, hi. Yes, I remember. Sure, it sounds fun. Let me ask my mom. Can you hold? She might wanna talk to your mom. Oh, um, OK. See you tomorrow." KELLY: "Ben, your rice and beans are on the table. Let's eat." KELLY: "So, what was that call about?" BEN: "That was Wallace Gray. You know him, from class. He wants to play tomorrow. Can I go home with him after school? Please, Mom? I get bored around here waiting for you after work." KELLY: "But, I don't even know his parents. Maybe I should talk to them." BEN: "You can't, Mom. He was with his babysitter. He said his parents wouldn't be home until late tonight and they would leave before he went to school in the morning. Please Mom, Wallace lives right over on Graves-End Road. It's a five-minute walk from here. PLEASE,?” KELLY: "Well, OK. What's so great about this guy, anyway? You've got a ton of friends to play with." BEN: "I know. But Wallace is just different. He's got a lot of imagination.” The school week passes, and Ben starts to go home almost every day with Wallace. Kelly notices a change in her son. He seems tired and withdrawn. His eyes do not seem to really look at her. They seem ... lifeless. On Friday night she decides they need to have a talk. KELLY: "Sweetie, what's going on with you? You seem so tired and far away. Is something wrong? Did you and your new friend have a fight?" BEN:"No, Mom. We've been having a great time. There's nothing wrong with us. Why don't you like Wallace? You don't even know him, but you don't trust him." KELLY: "Benjamin, what are you talking about? I don't dislike Wallace. You're right, I don't know him. You just don't seem like yourself. You've been very quiet the past few nights." BEN: "I'm sorry, Mom. I guess I'm just tired. I have a great time with Wallace. We play games like cops and robbers, but they seem so real that half of the time I feel like I'm in another world. It's hard to explain. It's like,  it’s like ... " KELLY: "I think the word you're looking for is intense." BEN: "Yeah, that's it -- it's intense." KELLY: "Well, tell me about today. What kind of game did you play?" BEN: "We were train robbers. Or Wallace was. I was a station manager. Wallace was running through a long train, from car to car. He had stolen a lot of money and gold from the passengers. I was chasing right behind him, moving as fast as I could. Finally he jumps out of the train into the station to make his escape. But I block his path. He grabs a woman on the station platform. She screams 'No, no!' But he yells 'Let me through, or she dies.' So I let him go." KELLY: "What happened then?" BEN: "Well, that's what was weird and, like you said, intense. Wallace threw the lady onto the tracks. And laughed. He said that's what evil characters do in the games. They always do the worst." Later, after Ben went to bed, Kelly turned on the eleven o'clock news. She was only half-listening as she prepared a list of things to do the next day, on Halloween. KELLY: “OK, let's see, grocery shopping, Halloween decorating, the dog’s gotta go to the groomer,  I gotta go to the  hardware store, clean up the garden ... [TV in background] NEWS ANNOUNCER: "Reports say it appears she was pushed off the station platform into the path of the oncoming train. It happened during rush hour today. Some witnesses reported seeing two boys running and playing near the woman. But police say they did not see any images like that on security cameras at the station. KELLY: "No! It can't be. The station is an hour away. They couldn't have gotten there. How could they? It's just a coincidence." The wind blew low and lonely that night. Kelly slept little. She dreamed she was waiting for Ben at a train station. Then, she saw him on the other side, running with another little boy. It must be Wallace she thought. The little boy went in and out of view. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped and looked across the tracks -- directly at her. He had no face. Saturday morning was bright and sunny, a cool October day. Kelly made Ben eggs and toast and watched him eat happily. KELLY: "You know, Benny-boy, a woman DID get hurt at the train station yesterday. She actually got hit by a train. Isn't that strange?" She looked at Ben. BEN: "What do you mean, Mom?" KELLY: "Well, you and Wallace were playing that game yesterday. About being at a train station. You said he threw a woman off the platform, and she was killed by a train." Kelly felt like a fool even saying the words. She was speaking to a ten-year-old who had been playing an imaginary game with another ten-year-old. What was she thinking? BEN: "I said we played that yesterday? I did? Hmmm. No, we played that a few days ago, I think. It was just a really good game, really intense. Yesterday we played pirates. I got to be Captain Frank on the pirate ship, the Argh. "Wallace was Davey, the first mate. But he tried to rebel and take over the ship so I made him walk the plank. Davey walked off into the sea and drowned. Wallace told me I had to order him to walk the plank. He said that's what evil pirates do." KELLY: "I guess he's right. I don't know any pirates, but I do hear they're pretty evil!" BEN: "So can I play with Wallace today when you are doing your errands? Please, Mom? I don't want to go shopping and putting up Halloween decorations." KELLY: "Oh, whatever. I guess so. I'll pick you up at Wallace's house at about five-thirty, so you can get ready for trick or treating. Where does he live again? BEN: "Graves-End Road. I don't know the street number but there are only two houses on each side. His is the second one on the left." KELLY: "OK. I can find that easy enough. Do you still want me to pick up a ghost costume for you?" BEN: "Yep. Oh, and guess what, Mom: Wallace says he's a ghost, too! I suppose we'll haunt the neighborhood together." Everywhere Kelly went that day was crowded. She spent an hour and a half just at the market. When she got home, decorating the house for Halloween was difficult. But finally she had it all the way she wanted. KELLY: "Oh, gosh, five already. I don't even have Ben's costume." She jumped into her car and drove to Wilson Boulevard. The party store was just a few blocks away. Kelly soon found the ghost costume that Ben wanted. She bought it and walked out of the store. EILEEN: "Hey, Kelly! Long time no see. How's Benjamin doing?" KELLY: "Eileen! Wow, it’s great to see you. How's Matt? We've been so busy since the school year started, we haven't seen anyone!" EILEEN: "Matt's good. Well, he broke his arm last month so no sports for him. It is driving him crazy, but at least he's got a lot of time for school now!" KELLY: That's good, yeah. EILEEN: "Anyway, Matt was wondering why Benny-boy never comes by anymore. We saw him running around the neighborhood after school last week. It looks like he’s having fun, but he's always alone. We don't need to set up a play date. Ben should know that. You just tell him to come by anymore. We took him running around the neighborhood after school  last week. It looks like he’s having fun, but he’s always alone. We don’t need to set up a play date. Ben should know that. You just tell him to come by.   KELLY: "Wait, wait a  minute. Alone? What do mean alone? He started playing with a new friend, Wallace somebody, after school, like everyday this past week. Ben hasn't been alone. Wallace Gray, that's it. Do you know him? Does Matt?" EILEEN: "Oh, Kell. Kelly, I'm sure he's a fine kid. I don't know him but don't worry, Ben's got great taste in friends, we know that! I'm sure he wasn't really alone, he was probably just playing hide and seek or something. I didn't mean to worry you. I guess everybody's on edge because of what happened to the Godwin boy this morning." Kelly suddenly felt cold and scared. What Godwin boy? And what happened to him? She was not sure she wanted to know, but she had to ask. EILEEN: "Frank Godwin's youngest boy, Davey, the five-year-old. You know Frank, we call him Captain. He used to be a ship captain. Well, this morning the rescue squad found Davey in Blackhart Lake. They also found a little toy boat that his dad made for him. Davey and his dad named it the Argh. Davey must have been trying to sail it. It’s so sad." KELLY: "Wait, he's dead? EILEEN: "Yes. Davey drowned." KELLY: "Where's Blackhart Lake?" EILEEN: "It's right off Graves-End Road, right behind that little cemetery. That's why they call it Graves-End. Kelly, where are you going?" Kelly: "I've got to get Benjamin." Kelly raced down Main Street. She had not idea who Wallace Gray was or how he was involved in any of this. But she did not trust him and she knew her child was in danger.   Finally she was at Graves-End Road. BEN: "Only two houses on each side." She remembered what Ben had told her. EILEEN: "Right behind that little cemetery." And what Eileen had told her. Kelly got out of the car and walked down the street. She looked around. BEN: "It’s the second one on the left." She could see the lake. Some fog was coming up as the sky darkened on this Halloween night. But there was no second house. Instead, what lay before her was grass and large white stones. The cemetery. Kelly walked through the gate into the yard of graves. KELLY: "Ben?" No answer. She kept walking. KELLY: "Ben? Answer me. I know you're here." Again no answer. But the wind blew and some leaves began to dance around a headstone. Kelly walked slowly toward the grave. Suddenly the sky blackened -- so dark, she could not see anything. She felt a force pushing at her. It tried to push her away from the grave. But she knew she had to stay. KELLY: "Benjamin Owen Orr, this is your mother. Come out this second!" No one answered, except for the sound of the blowing wind. The darkness lifted. Silvery moonlight shone down directly onto the old gravestone in front of her. But Kelly already knew whose name she would see. KELLY: "'Wallace Gray. October 31, 1900, to October 31, 1910. Some are best when laid to rest.'" Kelly took a deep breath. Then ... KELLY: "Wallace Gray this play date is OVER! Give me back my son. Wallace, you are in TIME-OUT." Suddenly, the ground shoots upward like a small volcano. Soil, sticks and worms fly over Kelly's head and rain down again -- followed by her son, who lands beside her. BEN: (COUGHING, CHOKING) KELLY: "Ben! Ben!" BEN: (COUGHING, CHOKING) "Mom, Mom! Are you there? I can't see. All this dirt in my eyes." KELLY: "Ben, I'm here, I’m here baby, right here. Oh, sweet Benny-boy. Can you breathe? Are you really ok? What happened? How long were you in there?" BEN: "I don't know, Mom. But I didn't like it. I didn't like where Wallace lives. I want to go home." KELLY: "Oh, me too, Sweetie. C’mon, Ben, put your arm around me. C’mon. BEN: "And Mom, one more thing ... " KELLY: "What is it, Ben?" BEN: "I don't want to be a ghost for Halloween." _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   scare - v. to cause (someone) to become afraid cemetery - n. a place where dead people are buried : graveyard intense - adj. of a person : very serious platform - n. a flat area next to railroad tracks where people wait for a train or subway headstone - n. a stone that marks the place where a dead person is buried and that usually has the person's name and birth and death dates on it weird - adj. unusual or strange ghost - n. the soul of a dead person thought of as living in an unseen world or as appearing to living people worm - n. a long, thin animal that has a soft body with no legs or bones and that often lives in the ground choke - v. to become unable to breathe usually because something gets stuck in your throat or because the air is not good for breathing Now it’s your turn to use these Words in this Story. In the Comments section, write a sentence using one of these words and we will provide feedback on your use of vocabulary and grammar. Or post it on our Facebook page. 

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Auction Brings New Life to Old Treasures

  Each week, crowds of people fill a sleepy town in the American state of Maryland for a fast-moving auction. Buyers and sellers from up and down the East Coast go there in hopes of finding deals on furniture, jewelry and more. The town of Crumpton is about 160 kilometers east of Washington, D.C., in an area known as Maryland’s Eastern Shore. An auction is a public sale -- where things are sold to the buyer who offers the most money. Things sold at an auction do not have a set price. If an owner decides to sell something, he or she is taking a risk. A person known as an auctioneer has the job of announcing the current price for a product or item. The people who attend auctions are called bidders. They say the price they will bid for an item. An auction is a competitive way to sell something. Several people may want to take something home, but only one person can do so. That makes the seller happy, because the price could be higher than it might have been in a private sale. Bill Caruso has worked for Dixon’s Auctions in Crumpton for 40 years. Caruso is an auctioneer. He speaks quickly and announces the current selling price. “What you need to know is you need to know your buyers, and you need to know your merchandise. You got to get them both together.” The price increases until only one bidder is left. People visit the Crumpton Auction for many reasons. Perhaps they own a small antique store and are looking to buy items that they can offer to their customers. Other visitors come for a little fun and excitement. They hope they will bring something interesting and possibly valuable home. At Dixon’s, many items are selling at the same time. Dixon’s website says there can be 200 items sold in just one hour. Bruce Conover likes to visit the auction. He said he once owned an antique shop, so he came to the auction to buy things he could sell later. "Well I used to have an antique shop so then it was a benefit to come every week to buy stuff and resell it of course. But right now, I'm retired and just having fun, coming out and see what I can buy for my house." Carol Knight said she comes to the auction looking for a surprise. "You could always end up with something you know nothing about. And much to your surprise, if you research it, it could be something good." Some people see something at the auction and think they could take it home, fix it up and then sell it for a higher price. Sandy Jones and Rick Rossi own an antique shop in Maryland. "Sometimes you pay a little more, sometimes you pay a little less. But you get great deals, and there's good people here." I’m Dan Friedell. Elizabeth Cherneff wrote this story for VOANews.com. Dan Friedell adapted her report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Have you ever attended an auction? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   furniture – n. chairs, tables, beds, etc., that are used to make a room ready for use auction – n. a public sale at which things are sold to the people who offer to pay the most bid/bidder – v. to offer to pay (a particular amount of money) for something that is being sold : to make a bid at an auction merchandise – n. goods that are bought and sold antique – n. art, furniture, jewelry, etc., that was made at an earlier time and is often valuable  

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English @ the Movies: 'Give Me A Couple Pointers'

Do you know what "give me a couple pointers" means? It is our English @ the Movies phrase today from the movie "Little Men." In the film, one of the boys wants to be an actor. Watch our story, test yourself, and see if you get it right!

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Grammar and Presidential Elections: Part One

  Political candidates like to use one or more grammatical structures when they speak. They use grammatical structures because they can have a rhetorical effect. In other words, the order of words and the way they are used can direct attention to important ideas and help make points clearer. This clarity, the candidates hope, will influence likely voters to choose them. So, what grammatical structures can you find in political speeches? What can you learn from such speeches? In our report today, we explore one grammatical structure commonly used in the American election campaign. This structure is called the deliberate fragment. Complete sentences and sentence fragments In English, a complete sentence has a subject and a predicate. A predicate is something that expresses what is being said about the subject. Consider the sentence "I am going to the store." The subject is "I" and the predicate is "am going to the store." We say the words “am going to the store” are an incomplete sentence or fragment. When English speakers use a deliberate fragment, they often present a noun or verb phrase as a sentence. The result is that the sentence does not have a subject and predicate. So, a sentence fragment might be: "Going to the store." In this example, the fragment does not have a subject. The Everyday Grammar team avoids sentences like that. We know many of our readers are English language teachers. And we want to give learners a good model of English. However, when used in a careful and intelligent way, sentence fragments can have great effect. Poets, songwriters, politicians and speechwriters have known this for a long time. What do these sentence fragments look like? Let's find some in recent speeches. Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton used them when they officially accepted their party’s nominations three months ago. In their acceptance speeches, both Trump and Clinton used complete sentences before presenting sentence fragments. They use these fragments to highlight or publicize ideas. Consider these examples: "Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism. Men, women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A nation in mourning." "Our military is a national treasure. We entrust our commander-in-chief to make the hardest decisions our nation faces. Decisions about war and peace. Life and death." You may note that both Trump and Clinton begin their statements by using complete sentences. Trump says, "Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism". Clinton says " We entrust our commander-in-chief to make the hardest decisions our nation faces." Both of these statements are complete sentences: they have subjects and predicates. They are not missing any important words. However, after using complete sentences, both candidates presented sentence fragments. They use these fragments for rhetorical effect. Trump's use of fragments Let's listen again to Trump's statement. "Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism. Men, women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A nation in mourning." At the end of the comment, Trump uses a clear sentence fragment: "A nation in mourning." This sentence has no verb -- it is only a noun phrase. This unusual structure directs the listener's attention to it. The fragment "A nation in mourning" notes the results of the terrorist attack. It describes the effect of the violence, and notes the important point Trump wants to make: in his opinion, the world is not a safe place because there have been recent terrorist attacks. What about the other sentences? Men, women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. Trump is using a form of parallelism and the passive voice. Parallelism is when something is very similar to something else. In passive voice sentences, the verb acts on the subject, not the other way around. The passive voice does not give information about the person responsible for the violence. Instead, it only gives information about the effects of the violence. You can read about this subject in an earlier Everyday Grammar program. The effect of this grammatical structure – using short, passive sentences and sentence fragments – is to create a strong mental image of the effects of the attack. This grammatical choice – to highlight the effects of the violence – makes sense. Trump wants to persuade voters that Hillary Clinton will not be able to stop violence around the world. Clinton's use of fragments Now, let's listen again to Clinton's statement. "Our military is a national treasure. We entrust our commander-in-chief to make the hardest decisions our nation faces. Decisions about war and peace. Life and death." Clinton also uses sentence fragments after presenting a complete sentence. She follows her first two statements with a fragment, "Decisions about war and peace." This, too, does not have a verb. Clinton could have said "The commander-in chief makes decisions about war and peace."   Or she could have said "The commander-in-chief decides when we go to war and when we remain peaceful." Both of these possible sentences, even if they carry the same meaning, are longer and less direct. By using two fragments – "Decisions about war and peace. Life and Death," Clinton is able to direct our attention to the importance of the decisions that the president makes. She is telling voters that she understands the importance of these decisions. She is also able to keep moving through her sentences without losing her listeners. She knows that if she keeps using the same sentence structure in every sentence, the listeners may soon lose interest in her ideas. Should you use sentence fragments? Both Trump and Clinton used sentence fragments because they have rhetorical effect. When they presented these fragments, they directed listeners’ attention to ideas that they wanted to publicize. They kept the listeners’ attention because they did not keep using the same basic sentence structure again and again! Politics is not the only place you will hear or see sentence fragments. They also appear in songs, poetry, books, newspapers, and daily conversations. Native speakers use sentence fragments because they can be a useful tool when you want to add something special to a long series of sentences. However, in general, fragments are best used only once in a while – and only if you understand what you are doing with them! Instead, you should be working on developing strong, coherent sentences that have a complete subject and predicate. Remember: sentence fragments are like spices. You would probably never eat a meal that only has spices like black pepper or paprika. In the same way, you should not write a story in English that only uses sentence fragments. Such an essay would quickly become unreadable, in the same way that a meal made of pepper would probably be hard to eat! I’m Jill Robbins. And I'm John Russell.  John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story rhetorical – adj. of, relating to, or concerned with the art of speaking or writing formally and effectively especially as a way to persuade or influence people deliberate - adj. done or said on purpose fragment - n. an incomplete part grammatical – adj. following the rules of grammar phrase – n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence conversation – n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people coherent – adj. logical and well-organized

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