Route 66 - Westward Expansion

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Water on Mars: What Does It Mean?

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VOA English Newscast: 1700 UTC November 6, 2015

  From Washington, this is VOA News. I’m Sarah Williams reporting. Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended all of his country's commercial flights to Egypt Friday. He acted as investigators continue to probe whether a bomb brought down the Russian jetliner last weekend that crashed into the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people onboard. The Russian leader acted quickly after the chief of the country's FSB security service recommended the halt in flights.  Russia had for days dismissed as speculative suggestions by U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron that Islamic State insurgents planted a bomb aboard the Metrojet flight from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. British vacationers encountered long delays in leaving Sharm el-Sheikh Friday. British Ambassador John Casson denied that Egypt had curtailed the planned departure of hundreds of Britons and pleaded with angry travelers for patience. “Flights are coming in that will allow us to take more people home later today. They are just challenging logistical issues involved in making sure that flights can leave and arrive in a busy airport in line with international regulations in a way that’s safe.” That is London’s ambassador to Egypt, John Casson. White House officials say U.S. President Barack Obama has concluded that Israeli and Palestinian leaders will make no significant progress toward peace before he leaves office in early 2017. That pessimistic forecast was disclosed as Mr. Obama prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.   Look at our website at voanews.com. This is VOA News. ___________________________________________________________ Words in This Newscast   commercial – adj. related to or involving the buying and selling of goods and services probe – v. to examine or investigate; to ask a lot of questions jetliner – n. a large airplane onboard – adj. carried or happening on a vehicle recommend – v. to propose or suggest speculative – adj. based on ideas about what might happen, instead of on facts insurgents – n. rebels; militants aboard – adj. or adv. on or within an airplane, train or ship   resort – n. a place where people go on holidays vacationer – n. someone who spends time away from home, school or business, often to travel encounter – v. to experience curtailed – v. to shorten the length of something departure – n. the act of leaving someplace pleaded – v. asked or appealed challenging – adj. difficult in a way that can be enjoyable logistical – adj. involving the process of planning and organizing regulations – n. rules concluded – v. to come to an end; to finish significant – adj. major or important pessimistic – adj. having or showing a lack of hope for the future forecast – n. a statement about what someone thinks will happen in the future disclosed – v. to make public or make known   We want to hear from you. Write to us in the comments section.

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Russian Flights Halted to Egypt

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stopped all Russian airline flights to Egypt. Investigators are looking for clues about how a jetliner was downed last week. U.S. intelligence sources say the crash happened after a bomb exploded onboard the Metrojet airliner. That airliner crashed in the Sinai Peninsula last Saturday. All 224 people aboard were killed. The flight was traveling from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. Putin issued the order Friday after Russian security advisors recommended halting flights. Flights will be stopped “until we have determined the true reasons” of the crash, said advisor Alexander Bortnikov. Russia at first dismissed suggestions that Islamic State members put a bomb on the plane. Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama said there was “a possibility” a bomb destroyed the jetliner. British Prime Minister David Cameron also says it is “more likely than not” the plane was bombed. The terror group Islamic State claimed that it brought down the plane. There is no proof Islamic State bombed the plane. A U.S. official says intercepted information points the finger at terrorists. Both black box recorders have been recovered. I'm Jonathan Evans.   The VOA staff reported this story for VOANews.com. Jim Dresbach adapted it for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   aboard – adv. on, onto, or within a train, a ship, an airplane jetliner – n. a large jet airplane used for carrying passengers stoppage – n. a large jet airplane used for carrying passengers shrapnel – n. small metal pieces that scatter outwards from an exploding bomb, shell, or mine We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or visit our Facebook page.  ​

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Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline Project

  President Barack Obama has rejected the Keystone XL oil pipeline project. The project involved building a 1,900-kilometer oil pipeline to transport Canadian crude oil to southeastern U.S. states. Obama made his decision after the U.S. State Department reviewed the proposed project. The review said the project “would not serve the national interest of the United States. The decision is considered a victory for environmentalists. The announcement comes ahead of a United Nations conference on climate change in Paris. The conference begins on Nov. 30. There, Obama is expected to urge nations to adopt stronger measures to help reduce global warming. Obama said building the Keystone XL pipeline would not make a “meaningful, long-term contribution” to America’s economy. He also said it would not lower gas prices for consumers and would not increase U.S. energy security. The pipeline would have transported more than 800,000 barrels per day from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada. TransCanada was the company behind the plan. Many Republican lawmakers supported the construction of the pipeline. They argued it would create jobs, reduce oil prices, and reduce America’s dependency on foreign oil. Leaders of the Republican-controlled Congress reacted strongly to the announcement.  House Speaker Paul Ryan called the move “sickening” and “just wrong.” Many Democrats, including presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, applauded the decision. The president said his administration has aimed to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and increase its use of clean energy. He said those efforts show the world that the U.S. is a global leader on the environment. America is “leading by example,” he said, and approving the Keystone XL pipeline “would have undercut this global leadership.” Newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau supported the pipeline project. He voiced his disappointment in Obama’s decision, but said the Canada-U.S. relationship is “much bigger than any one project.” I’m Jonathan Evans. Mary Alice Salinas wrote this report for VOANews.com Ashley Thompson adapted the story with additional reporting from Reuters. Hai Do was the editor.  What do you think about President Obama's decision? Tell us in the comments section or on our Facebook page.  ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   environmentalist - n. a person who works to protect the natural world from pollution and other threats consumer - n. a person who buys goods and services dependency - n. the quality of relying on something or someone sickening - adj. causing you to feel sick undercut - v. to make (something) weaker or less effective

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Star Trek, US Elections, Jon Stewart’s Comeback

If you are a science fiction movie fan, you probably saw the last two Star Trek films. But did you know the films are based on the characters introduced in a 1960s television show? Fans of the series received good news on Monday when CBS announced it would launch a new series based on Star Trek. The people who love Star Trek are called “Trekkies.” They are famous for attending conventions dressed as their favorite characters. Of these characters, Spock was the most-searched Star Trek character on Google after the news came out. There is a huge collection of scenes from the show Star Trek online. And Trekkies used these scenes to make GIFs, or short animated images. They posted their GIFs on Twitter to show their approval of the news. Jon Stewart comeback One of America’s favorite political commentators is Jon Stewart. “The Daily Show” aired five nights a week on Comedy Central. The show was known for interviews that were very different from mainstream media. The show aired on Comedy Central, so it was known for its humor. But Stewart also produced sharp political commentary as well. Stewart resigned his position in August at the height of his popularity. He was only 52. But Stewart recently announced his new project: He will work with HBO, a cable television network, to produce online videos for their streaming service. Stewart said in a news release, “I’m pretty sure I can produce a few minutes of content now and again.” U.S. Elections Most Americans are focused on the big presidential election in November 2016. But another election took place on Tuesday. In the state of Washington, people voted to make buying or selling items made from threatened animals -- or the threatened animals themselves -- illegal. For example, items made from elephant tusks – or ivory – are now illegal. Other examples include products made from tigers, sea turtles and sharks. One of the most unique animals on the list is called a Pangolin. It is also called a “scaly anteater” because of the way it looks. This strange animal is from Asia and Africa. It is unfamiliar to most Americans.   As news spread about Washington’s vote, people started searching online for pangolin. It helped that commentator John Oliver also talked about pangolins on TV. But the most-searched term in the U.S. on Election Day was the vote to legalize marijuana in Ohio. A group of celebrities backed the proposal. It would have given the rights to grow marijuana plants in Ohio to very few people – like ten. One of them is former pop singer Nick Lachey who was married for a short time to singer Jessica Simpson. Voters rejected the proposal but Google reported over 500,000 searches on the topic. Robin Williams Comedian and actor Robin Williams committed suicide in August 2014. Many assumed that Williams was depressed. On Tuesday, his wife Susan Williams told the ABC television show “Good Morning America” that her husband suffered from early stages of Parkinson’s disease. He also had a disorder called Lewy body dementia. Most people had never heard of Lewy body dementia. The Mayo Clinic says the disorder causes a decline in mental abilities. It also affects muscle movement and alertness. Russian Airliner Bomb Reaction Last weekend, a Russian jet exploded over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. News of the tragedy spread on social media and remained in the news for the entire week. The Russian news channel RT published one of the first videos from the scene of the crash. That video was viewed over one million times. On Thursday night, President Obama said the U.S. is “taking very seriously” the possibility that a bomb was planted on board the plane. That is what caught people’s attention this week in the U.S. I’m Anna Mateo.   Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck and Hai Do were the editors. What were people talking about in your country this week?  We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   original – adj. happening or existing first or at the beginning science fiction – adj. stories about how people and societies are affected by imaginary scientific developments in the future phrase – n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence dementia – n. a mental illness that causes someone to be unable to think clearly or to understand what is real and what is not real unique – adj. used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone else peak – v. to reach the highest level

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November 6, 2015

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

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Everyday Grammar: Our Top 10 Separable Phrasal Verbs

Welcome back to Everyday Grammar from VOA Learning English. Today we return to a very common verb form in English – phrasal verbs. You will find one phrasal verb in every 192 words of written English. They will make your English sound more natural once you begin using them correctly. In an earlier program, we explained how and why English speakers use them. Today we look at some often-used phrasal verbs. This type of phrasal verb allows a direct object to come between the verb and the preposition or adverb. As you will hear, there is a special rule that learners should know about when using these 10 phrasal verbs. The structure of phrasal verbs As you know, a phrasal verb is a phrase with two or more words: a verb and a preposition or adverb or both. We call the preposition or adverb a particle when it combines with a verb. Here are two examples:        "Please put the lamp on the desk."        "I think you're putting me on." In the first sentence, on is a preposition showing the position of the lamp. In the second sentence, on is an adverbial particle. Put on is a phrasal verb meaning "fool" or "trick" in this sentence. An important point is that a regular verb+preposition combination has two meanings. A phrasal verb, that is, a verb+particle, has a single meaning within a sentence. Many phrasal verbs have a number of different meanings in different situations. Yet the meaning of the verb+particle can usually be expressed with a single Latin-based verb. Here are two sentences with the same meaning: "They tore down the old building." "They demolished the old building." The verb tear has its own meaning, and so does the preposition down. They can combine with other words when they are alone. But as a phrasal verb, tear down, they have one meaning: "destroy." In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan visited West Germany. He told a crowd in the divided city of Berlin, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Separable phrasal verbs Now for the tricky part. You know that some verbs are transitive, which means they have a direct object. When such verbs appear as phrasal verbs, an object can either separate the phrase or follow it. Here’s an example.        "I decided to throw out my old jeans."        "I decided to throw my old jeans out." Both of these sentences are correct. The object of the phrasal verb throw out is jeans. You can use a pronoun instead of jeans and ask,        "Are you sure you want to throw them out?" However, you cannot ask, "Are you sure you want to throw out them?" Here, the pronoun them must appear between the verb and the particle. Finding the frequent phrasal verbs In recent years, language experts began to use computers to examine a large collection, or corpus, of written and spoken language. When researchers look for phrasal verbs, they find that many deal with an activity. They also find a few verbs combine with many particles. Among the most common verbs are come, put, get, go, pick, sit and take. These combine with the adverb particles up, out, in, on, off, and down to make up a group of very useful phrasal verbs. Now, let’s look at transitive phrasal verbs. See the list at the end of the article. The verb get is part of many phrasal verbs. For example, we use get up to mean "to wake oneself up" or "to awaken someone." For example: "My son loves to sleep late. I got him up on time to catch the bus this morning." Remember, the pronoun has to come between the verb and the adverb, so we cannot say, "I got up him." Notice how the Norwegian group A-ha uses a separable phrasal verb two ways in their song, "Take On Me." Which one is correct in formal grammar? I'll be coming for your love, OK? Take on me, (take on me) Take me on, (take on me) I'll be gone In a day or two Remember, singers and poets have the right to use language as they please. For Learning English Everyday Grammar, I’m Jill Robbins. And I’m John Russell. Now it’s your turn. Write a sentence that uses a separable phrasal verb and we will give you feedback in the Comments Section.   Dr. Jill Robbins and Adam Brock wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   transitive - grammar, of a verb. having or taking a direct object adverb – grammar. a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence and that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree preposition – grammar. a word or group of words that is used with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object object - grammar. a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that receives the action of a verb or completes the meaning of a preposition corpus – n. a collection of writings, conversations, speeches, etc., that people use to study and describe a language   Here’s our list of 10 useful phrasal verbs: Phrasal Verb Meanings Example put on wear, produce, fool, pretend That cannot be true. You must be putting me on. put off postpone, disturb The report is due today. Stop putting it off and turn it in. put down criticize, write Her boss was always putting her down so she resigned. give up surrender, stop trying Your singing is beautiful – don’t give it up. give away give, offer That radio station gives turkeys away for Thanksgiving. give back return, restore I got so much help from the town, I want to give something back. get off leave, finish, send Please get the letter off to them today. get up awaken, rise Mom had to get us up every day for school. pick up collect, lift, learn, bring, clean I picked the living room up before our guests arrived. take on assume, fight The union took on the huge oil company.

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Sprint Signs Telecommunications Deal in Cuba

  Sprint has become the first United States-based telecommunications company to provide direct roaming mobile phone service to foreigners in Cuba. The deal was announced Monday in Havana, the Cuban capital.  Sprint signed the deal with Cuba’s state-operated telecommunications agency Etecsa. Roaming service is the ability of mobile phone users to operate their devices when away from home or outside their local calling area. Sprint wants to reach rising numbers of foreign tourists in Cuba. The company says it expects the number of visitors there to reach five million a year within the next 10 years.  The deal comes as the United States and Cuba continue to explore possible business deals. The two countries reestablished diplomatic relations in July for the first time in more than 54 years. Under the new agreement, Sprint’s customers will now be able to generate and receive calls and text messages in Cuba from their personal mobile devices. Marcelo Claure is Sprint’s president and Chief Executive Officer. He considers the deal an important step for both countries.   "This is a big deal because it shows that the U.S. and Cuba working together in an area of progress which is communications, and we expect this to be the beginning of a long-term relationship between Sprint and between Etecsa." The agreement was announced at the Havana International Fair 2015. Reports say 900 businesses sent representatives to the fair. One third of them were Cuban. About 70 countries, including the United States, took part in the event. Sprint is not the only U.S. company offering telecommunications services in Cuba. One of Sprint’s main rivals is Verizon. That company announced in September that it would offer a roaming service to its clients visiting Cuba. However, that service is provided indirectly, through a third-party contracted by Etecsa. Some business watchers are concerned that U.S. companies have fallen behind those of Cuba’s strategic partners. Those countries include Cuba’s traditional allies, such as China, Russia and, more recently, Venezuela. Spain also has developed successful commercial relations with Cuba. The country had the largest foreign presence this year at the Havana International Fair. Of the 600 foreign companies taking part, 150 were from Spain. I’m Mario Ritter. Ramon Taylor reported on this story from Washington. Mario Ritter adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. What do you think about the U.S. and Cuba developing closer ties? Let us know in the Comment section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   roaming – adj. the use of a cell phone outside the usual area customer(s) – n. people or organizations that buy goods or services generate – v. to make or produce rival – n. a person or thing that tries to defeat or be more successful that another clients – n. a person who pays a professional person or organization for services strategic – adj. of or related to a general plan to reach a goal in business, politics or war commercial - adj. related to the buying or selling of goods and services

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Cybersecurity Market Growing with Increased Hacking

The global cybersecurity market is expected to grow 121 percent in the next five years, says a new study. The size of the industry will grow from $77 billion in 2015 to $170 billion in 2020, reports the Indian research firm Markets and Markets. The cybersecurity market is rising at a very fast rate. The digital age has brought a variety of scams. The scams threaten individuals, companies, governments and organizations across the world. Computer hackers steal credit card numbers, bank account information and tax records from individuals and corporations. Hackers steal credit card information online, then use it to conduct illegal activities. For example, a hacker can buy items online using a stolen name and information.  The cost of these online attacks is huge. The Center for Strategic and International Studies is a policy research group in Washington, D.C. CSIS did a study in 2014 showing that cybercrime costs the global economy about $445 billion each year. The study found that the world’s biggest economies suffer the greatest losses. The United States, China, Japan and Germany had losses of $200 billion in 2014.  Many companies have had software hacked by cyber criminals. Software tells a computer how to act and what to do. Major companies like Target and General Motors have been hacked. Individuals can be victims of cybercrime. Identity theft – when someone’s personal information is stolen online -- is one example. There are 15 million victims each year in the U.S. That’s roughly the population of Moscow. Asher Kotz is a cybersecurity business expert in Fairfax County, Virginia. He said identity theft costs $50 billion each year. There is also a risk from cyber terrorists. Ted Koppel is a well-known American journalist. He wrote a new book called “Lights Out: A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath.” He writes that a major cyberattack on America’s power grid is “not only possible, but likely,” said the publisher’s website. “The government has no plan” to protect against such an attack, he warned.    Nonetheless, the U.S. government will spend $14 billion on cybersecurity in 2015, said Kotz. This represents 16 percent of the total amount spent globally every year on information technology. Dan Woolley is general partner of MACH37, a cyber accelerator at the Center for Innovative Technology in Virginia. An accelerator helps new cybersecurity startups and provides funding. He said threats on the Internet are constant. So new solutions must be devised continually.  Hackers come from all over the world, reported Bloomberg. But the four countries with the most hackers are China, the U.S., Turkey and Russia. Bulgaria and Romania also are centers for computer hackers, reported Reuters. Communist countries invested heavily in technology talent in the 1980s, Reuters said.       International organizations collaborate to fight cybercrime, said Kotz. Governments, universities and investors participate. The European Union (EU) is focusing on this issue. The EU is a political and economic union of 28 countries.   Guido Landheer is deputy vice minister for foreign trade at the Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Next year, the Netherlands will serve as president of the EU. “We are putting cybersecurity on the agenda and need cooperation internationally,” Landheer said at the conference. Other organizations in Europe work with the U.S. on cybersecurity. This includes the Hague Security Delta (HSD) in the Netherlands. Ida Haisma is director of the HSD. Haisma said the Hague Security Delta is Europe’s largest security group with more than 200 partners. They include corporations, universities and non-profit organizations. Some U.S. states are targeting cybersecurity as a growth area for their economies. Virginia is one of them. Many government military agencies are located in Virginia. The region also has the largest presence of data centers in the U.S. and perhaps the planet, one expert said. I’m Mary Gotschall.   Mary Gotschall wrote this story for Learning English.  Kathleen Struck was the editor. Have you or a friend been hacked? Let us know in the Comments section below, or on our Facebook page.  ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   cybersecurity – n. the state of being protected or safe from harm while using computer technology digital – adj. using or characterized by computer technology challenges – n. a difficult task or problem : something that is hard to do foil – v. to prevent (something) from happening or being successful hacker – n.  a person who secretly gets access to a computer system in order to get information, cause damage, etc. : a person who hacks into a computer system scams – n. a dishonest way to make money by deceiving people software – n.  the programs that run on a computer and perform certain functions aftermath – n.  the period of time after a bad and usually destructive event  networks – n. a system of computers and other devices (such as printers) that are connected to each other devised – v. to invent or plan (something that is difficult or complicated) accelerator – n. an organization that helps new companies grow faster agenda – n. a list of things to be considered or done dominant – adj. more important, powerful, or successful than most or all others campus – n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school, etc. ​

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Nigerians Say Oil Company Left Spills Behind

Villagers in the Niger River Delta area of Nigeria say they live in unclean conditions because oil companies have not cleaned up spills. The claims against Shell Oil Company and Italian Oil’s ENI were published in a report earlier this year by Amnesty International, a rights group. Shell blames the pollution on oil theft and illegal refining. Shell and ENI admitted to more than 550 oil spills in the Niger Delta last year.   Documents released in a legal action in Britain showed Shell knew of pipeline problems in Nigeria. The documents said the company knew one of its main pipelines was old and dangerous. Four spill sites in Nigeria remain polluted. Shell claimed the sites were cleaned in 2011. Five pipelines meet at one of the sites, called the Bomu manifold. It is near the village of Kegbara Dere and is called Nigeria’s “oil central.” The pipelines carry 150,000 barrels of oil a day to an export terminal. Rusty pumps and 50-year-old pipes increase the chance for spills. Over the past five years, the Bomu manifold site continues to be contaminated.  Shell operates almost 50 oil fields in the Niger delta. The company also owns 5,000 kilometers of pipeline. Shell’s own investigation reported 1,693 oil spills and 350,000 lost barrels of oil in the area. I’m Christopher Jones-Cruise. Jim Dresbach wrote this story for Learning English, using information from Amnesty.org and TheGuardian.com. Kathleen Struck 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   delta – n. a piece of land shaped like a triangle that is formed when a river splits into smaller rivers before it flows into an ocean theft – n. the act or crime of stealing manifold – n. a device that diverts oil or gas, without flow interruption, from the well for disposal terminal – n. a central area to which oil is moved for distribution rusty – adj. covered with rust, a reddish substance that forms on iron or other metals, usually when it comes in contact with moisture or air  

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