English in a Minute: A Fish Out of Water

Have you ever felt like a "fish out of water?" Find out what this common expression means in this week's English in a Minute!

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Live Broadcast of Deaths Raised Ethical Questions

Recent shootings broadcast on live streaming apps are raising ethical questions about the use of the technology. The most recent case happened this week outside St. Paul, Minnesota. Police shot a man in his car during a traffic stop and the aftermath of the shooting was broadcast live over Facebook by the victim’s girlfriend. The girlfriend sat in the passenger seat as she streamed a 10-minute video on Facebook Live that was later posted on YouTube. The video shows the man, 32-year-old Philando Castile, bleeding and slumped over in the driver’s seat after being shot. She said police pulled the car over for having a broken tail light. The officer asked to see the driver’s license and registration. She said her boyfriend then told the officer he had a gun that he was licensed to carry. But she said “the officer shot him in the arm four or five times” as he reached for his wallet.  The girlfriend later cried in the video while explaining, “police shot him for no apparent reason, no reason at all.” Her boyfriend was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The officer involved in the shooting was put on leave while the incident is being investigated. The officer is heard in the video saying: “I told him not to reach for it. I told him to get his hand out.” The woman responds: “You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir.” Video streaming is more popular Deadly police shootings, especially those involving black victims and white officers, are widely covered in the U.S. media. Multiple incidents happened just in the last few weeks. Some shootings are discovered only after someone captured them on video. Television networks and local stations fill their broadcasts with social media video footage shot by witnesses on phone cameras. During coverage of the police killings in Dallas, broadcasters showed video from the chaotic scene of people running away right after shots were fired. In another video, a man hiding inside a building gave updates on the police search for a suspect nearby. But the popularity of streaming apps such as Facebook Live and Twitter’s Periscope have now made it possible for killings and other crimes to be broadcast live. Darrell West is vice president and director of Governance Studies at Brookings. He says the rise in live streaming shows that we have become “a reality culture.” “It’s possible to live stream a wide range of activities. Some perfectly benign, but others such as crimes and killings - even beheadings in the case of ISIS [also known as Islamic State] - that are very problematic. So it definitely raises a lot of ethical issues.”  West even sees the streaming technology being used by mass killers or terrorists in future attacks to reach a live audience.  “It’s only a matter of time before some mass murderer wears a body camera and live streams the crime. The technology is there, we are seeing it applied in other areas, and it’s not expensive for criminals to get a hold of that kind of technology,” he said. The Orlando gunman, Omar Mateen, was using Facebook during his attack on the Pulse nightclub that killed 49 people. He used Facebook to search the terms “Pulse Orlando” and “shooting” from inside the nightclub. He did not live stream the massacre, but did post messages about it. Video streaming raises the possibility that news networks might also decide to broadcast these live feeds. Darrell West said the networks will need to be cautious, but he predicts they will decide to show some of the live videos. “If there’s a really big event going on, like a crime or mass killings, they are going to put it on the air. Because there is going to be extensive public interest in that, and people want to know what happened. And the best way to tell them what happened is through live videos.” Chicago killing was streaming live Another killing was captured on a live Facebook stream last month in Chicago. Police said 28-year-old Antonio Perkins, a suspected gang member, was shot June 15. Perkins was live streaming on Facebook during the shooting. The 14-minute video showed him standing outside, together with friends, and talking into the camera. About six minutes into the video, he looks to his right and says, “Boy stop playin.” At that point, gunshots can be heard, the man collapses, and his phone falls to the ground. A few more shots are heard.    People at the scene can be heard on the video saying, “Oh my God. Call the police! Hurry up!” Police arrive shortly and Perkins is rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. That shooting was captured as part of a real-life event, and technology experts say this will happen again and again. Robert Thompson is the Director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. He said the rise in live streaming came about because almost everyone now carries a phone with a video camera. It also provides a way for people to broadcast internationally through the internet, which appeals to many people. “Now just because you happen to post a video on Facebook, doesn’t mean the whole world is going to watch it. But you’ve got the potential for the whole world watching it.” Diamond Reynolds, the girlfriend of Philando Castile, explained to a Facebook Live audience Thursday why she streamed the police shooting and final moments of Philando’s life. “I wanted to put it on Facebook and go viral so that the people could see. I want the people to determine who was right and who was wrong,” she said Robert Thompson said that with so many camera-capable phones out there, “every now and again, you are going to capture – just as life goes on – really horrible things happening.” The positive side of that, he says, is capturing crimes that would go unnoticed before. “With all of this recording, I think an awful lot of things are happening that people are having to account for, in a way that would not have been the case before.” But Thompson said other broadcasts by criminals or terrorists will be planned specifically for the camera.  “A lot of these bad things are done for the sake of the recording they are going to get. You could make the argument, pretty soundly, that September 11 was planned as a television production.” Despite the ethical issues with live streaming technology, Thompson said it is nearly impossible to stop. “Technology is relatively neutral. How do you only take the good from this and not the bad?” Darrell West agrees that there are very few ways for social media companies or the government to regulate live streams. “The genie is out of the bottle and there’s no way to put it back in. We can’t go back.” He added: “It used to be the first impulse was to call 911, now the first impulse is, grab your camera and take pictures and record videos.” I’m Bryan Lynn.   Bryan Lynn reported this story for VOA Learning English. Additional information came from the Associated Press and Reuters. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   ethical – adj. relating to questions of right and wrong behavior slump – v. to fall to the side while sitting or leaning chaotic – adv. state of complete confusion and disorder benign – adj. not causing harm or damage predict – v. to say something that will happen in the future brutality – n. cruel, harsh or violent treatment encounter – n. an unexpected or casual meeting with someone genie – n. a magic spirit that looks like a person impulse – n. a sudden strong urge to act  

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The Otherworldly Beauty of Badlands National Park

In this week’s national parks journey, we explore a unique landscape in the north central United States. The land is big and mostly flat. There are endless fields of corn, wheat and soybeans. Colors of green and gold paint the earth for kilometers. But as we travel west, the farmland gives way to wild grasses. It grows tall here under a huge blue sky. Farther on, however, the grass becomes much shorter. A strong dry wind blows continuously from the west. Suddenly, the land is torn and rocky, dry and dusty. The green is gone. Now we are surrounded by light reds and browns. Purple and gold hues can be seen as well. All around are broken, disorganized forms. There are sharp walls of rocks, and hills and valleys of all sizes and shapes. Welcome to Badlands National Park in the state of South Dakota. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, this whole area was grassland. Then forces of nature destroyed the grass in some parts. Water and ice cut into the surface of the Earth, splitting open some of its oldest rocks. Nature beat at the rocks, wearing them away. The result is one of the strangest sights, a place of otherworldly beauty. All together, the Badlands cover more than 15,000 square kilometers. About 10 percent is part of the national park. The area is a study in extremes. Temperatures in the summer have been as high as 46 degrees Celsius. In the winter they have dropped to as low as 41 degrees below zero. Life in the Badlands is difficult. Its name comes from the Lakota Native Americans. They called the area “mako sica” or “land bad” because of the extreme temperatures and harsh landscape. The term “badlands” has come to be used for areas where soft rock is eroded in a very dry climate.         Looking at a rock wall in the Badlands is like looking back through time. The layers and colors in the Badlands’ strange formations were formed over millions of years. The long history of the Badlands began some 65 million years ago, around the time the dinosaurs died out. A huge sea covered the middle of North America. It was drying up. The land at the bottom of the sea was black shale rock. That shale is now at the bottom of the Badlands. The next level of rock is from what geologists call the Oligocene Epoch. That period began about 37 million years ago. At that time, the Badlands area was warm and wet. A jungle grew there. A large number of warm-blooded animals lived in the jungle. Some of these animals were buried in the mud left behind by floods. Over millions of years, their bodies turned to rock. These fossil remains are a record in stone of what ancient animals looked like. The Badlands holds the world’s richest collection of fossils from the Oligocene Epoch. The area contains fossils from rhinos, horses, and huge cats. Because of this evidence here, we know that the period was great for mammals. Their total population worldwide increased greatly. And they grew in body size to take over the land left by the dinosaurs. About 28 million years ago, the environment of North America became much drier and cooler. The jungle disappeared. The land in the center of the continent became a prairie. A prairie is a large open area of grassland. The prairie here is one of the world’s largest. The Badlands were created on the western edge of this great prairie. They started to take shape as rain, wind, snow and ice beat down on the land. The rain and ice tore deep cuts in the soft earth. Over time, they became wider and deeper. The wind dried the earth and blew away the top soil. Today, rain comes to the Badlands mostly in sudden, fierce storms. Often, the area’s rivers are cooked dry by the hot sun and wind. Yet when it rains, the rivers flood. Their waters cut ever deeper into the soft earth. The Badlands are very dry, but they are not a desert. They are filled with many living things. There are short native grasses and wildflowers. The national park is home to many animals. Bison, bighorn sheep and prairie dogs live here. Prairie dogs are small animals that dig tunnels in the earth and live underground. Every living thing in the Badlands must be able to survive the extreme conditions. That includes the humans who have called the area home. Several hundred years ago, the Sioux tribe of Native Americans lived all around the Badlands. At the time, the Badlands were rich with animals. There were wolves and bears, bighorn sheep and deer. The most important animal to the Sioux, however, was the bison. They look like huge, hairy wild cattle. The Sioux way of life was completely organized around hunting bison. They used every part of the animal. They ate the meat. They made clothing and tents from its fur and skins. They used the bones as tools. They even boiled the feet to make a sticky substance to hold things together. White settlers who came West also hunted bison. In fact, they hunted bison until very few remained. They also planted crops where the bison had once fed. In time, the Sioux way of life on the Great Plains came to an end. The settlers and the federal government did not respect Native American cultures. The government expected the Sioux Indians to learn to farm. But the Badlands harsh environment was not good farmland. With few bison left to hunt, the Indians were sent to live on a reservation next to the Badlands area. Becoming a national park The Badlands became a national monument in 1939. Congress declared it a national park in 1978. More than 1 million people visit Badlands National Park each year. The park is now a protected area for bison. The National Park Service moved bison back into the Badlands. The animals are doing well. So are the bighorn sheep, foxes, coyotes, golden eagles, and prairie dogs. Most of the wild animals must be watched from a distance, especially the bison. The Park Service says a full-grown bison can weigh as much as a small car. It can run faster than a horse, And it can become angry and dangerous easily. Today, of course, the history of the Badlands continues to be written. As measured in geological time, the Badlands are being destroyed rapidly. The area, with its unusually soft rock, is being worn away at a rate of one centimeter per year. In a few more million years, the Badlands will be worn away, forever. I'm Ashley Thompson.  And I'm Caty Weaver.  _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   otherworldly - adj. seeming to belong to or come from another world harsh - adj. difficult to experience; unpleasant erode - v. to gradually destroy (something) or to be gradually destroyed by natural forces (such as water, wind, or ice) geologist - n.  a scientist who studies rocks, layers of soil, etc., in order to learn about the history of the Earth and its life jungle - n. a tropical forest where plants and trees grow very thickly soil - n. the top layer of earth in which plants grow reservation - n. an area of land in the U.S. that is kept separate as a place for Native Americans to live

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Former US Army Reservist Identified as Dallas Gunman

  Five police officers were shot and killed at a protest in Dallas, Texas, Thursday night. Seven other officers and two civilians were wounded in the deadly ambush, said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. The wounded were taken to local hospitals. Most were later released. No links to foreign terrorist groups have been reported. The ambush came the same week as two separate shootings of black men by police officers who are white. Both men died. Images of those shootings were captured on video. They have fueled public anger over the use of deadly force by police officers against minorities.   In Dallas, one suspect said to target whites In Dallas, police said the ambush Thursday night was a “well-planned” attack carried out by several people. The U.S. military has confirmed one of the people is a former Army Reservist who served in Afghanistan. Media reports identified him as Micah Xavier Johnson. Three other people were also detained in connection with the deadly attack. They have yet to be identified. Dallas Police Chief David Brown said police trapped one of the suspects after the attack. Brown said the suspect told a negotiator he wanted “to kill white people, especially white officers." He reportedly said he was acting alone and had no ties with any group. Police set off an explosion that killed the suspect after the negotiations broke down. Police used a bomb robot to set off an explosive device near him, the police chief said. Later Friday, Brown said the investigation showed “this was a well-planned, well thought out, evil tragedy by these suspects. We won’t rest until we bring everyone involved to justice.” Reaction centers on unity President Barack Obama spoke about the attack during a visit to Warsaw, Poland, where he is attending a NATO meeting. He said the shootings were a "vicious, calculated and despicable attack" on officers who were performing their jobs.  The president said police have "an extraordinarily difficult job," and the shootings are "a wretched reminder" of the dangers police face. In Washington, Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke to reporters. She urged unity in the face of the week’s divisive events. She asked Americans to, in her words, “Turn to each other, not against each other.” Lynch’s Justice Department is investigating the two earlier shootings involving police officers in Minnesota and Louisiana. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan also spoke about the Texas shootings from the floor of the House of Representatives. He said, “An attack on the people who protect us is an attack on all of us. Our hearts are with the Dallas Police Department. Our hearts are with the victims, and especially with their loved ones.”   Dallas protest in reaction to two incidents this week About 1,000 people had gathered in downtown Dallas Thursday night to protest the police killings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana. On Wednesday, a Minneapolis police officer shot and killed 32-year-old Philandro Castile in his car during a traffic stop. The man’s girlfriend and a child were also in the car. The woman recorded part of the incident live on video and posted it to the Facebook social media site. The other police shooting took place Tuesday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Alton Sterling was shot several times while being held by police.  Several violent protests have followed cases of police use of deadly force over the past two years. Protests in Baltimore, Maryland, became riots after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a young black man. He died of injuries while being held by police in April 2015. The Governor of Maryland declared a state of emergency and called the National Guard in to ease the violence. And, in August 2014, the killing of Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, led to intense protests that lasted for weeks. Concern over these and other incidents led to the spread of the Black Lives Matter movement. It seeks to bring attention to what supports say is disproportionate police use of deadly force against blacks. Groups supporting law enforcement officials want Americans to remember the concerns of police officers and their families. They note the number of law enforcement deaths. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund keeps statistics of officers who have been killed in the line of duty. That group says 124 officers were killed in 2015. I’m John Russell. Fern Robinson, Cindy Saine, Joshua Fatzick and Esha Sarai reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted the story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   ambush – n. hiding and waiting for a target to appear calculated – adj. planned out carefully despicable – adj. very bad, deserving of being denounced disproportionate – adj. not balanced, too much to one side or another

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'Transients in Arcadia' by O. Henry

We present the short story "Transients in Arcadia," by O. Henry. The story was originally adapted and recorded by the U.S. Department of State. There is a certain hotel on Broadway that is very pleasant in the summer. Not many people have heard about it. It is wide and cool. Its rooms have walls of dark wood. There are green trees around it, and soft winds. It has all the pleasures of mountain living, and none of the pains. You will eat better fish there than you could catch for yourself in streams in the hills. You will have better meat than a hunter brings home from the forest. A few have discovered this cool spot in the hot summer of New York. You will see these few guests, eating dinner in the hotel restaurant. They are happy to be there, and happy to know that they are very few. They feel especially wise because they have found this delightful place. More waiters than necessary are always near. They bring what is wanted before anyone asks for it. The pleasing distant noise of Broadway sounds like running water in a forest. At every strange footstep, the guests turn quickly and look. They are afraid that the restless pleasure-seekers will find their hotel and destroy its pleasant quiet. And so these few live during the hot season. They enjoy the delights of mountain and seashore. All is brought to them in their Broadway hotel. This summer a lady came to the hotel giving this name: “Madame Héloise D’Arcy Beaumont.” The name was like a name in the story of a great romance. And Madame Beaumont was the kind of lady the Hotel Lotus loved. She was beautiful and her manner was very fine. Everyone wished to serve her. The other guests believed that as a guest she was perfection. This perfect guest did not often leave the hotel. In this, she was like the other guests of the Hotel Lotus. To enjoy that hotel, one needed to forget the city. New York might have been miles away. At night sometimes one might go out. But during the hot day one remained in the cool shade of the Lotus. Madame was alone in the Hotel Lotus. She was alone as a queen is alone, because of her high position. She rose from bed late in the morning. She was then a sweet, soft person who seemed to shine quietly. But at dinner she was different. She would wear a beautiful dress. I cannot find words fine enough to tell about it. Always there were red flowers at her shoulder. When the head waiter saw a dress like this, he met it at the door. You thought of Paris when you saw it, and of the theater and of old romances. A story about Madame Beaumont was told among the guests in the Hotel Lotus. It was said that she was a woman who had traveled all over the world. It was said that she knew the most important people everywhere. It was said that in her white hands she held the future of certain nations. It was no surprise, they said, that such a lady should choose the Hotel Lotus. It was the most desirable and the most restful place in America during the heat of summer. On the third day of Madame Beaumont’s stay in the hotel, a young man entered as a guest. His clothes were quiet but good. His face was pleasant. His expression was that of a man who had traveled and could understand the world. He said that he would remain three or four days. He asked about the sailing of certain ships. He seemed to like this hotel the best of all he had known. The young man put his name on the list of hotel guests: Harold Farrington. It was a name with a fine sound. And the young man belonged perfectly in the quiet life of the Lotus. In one day he became like all the other guests. Like them he had his table and his waiter. He also had the same fear that the wrong people might suddenly discover this hotel and destroy its peace. After dinner on the next day, Madame Beaumont dropped something as she passed Harold Farrington’s table. He picked it up and, following her, returned it. He spoke only a few quiet words as he did this, and she was pleased by his good manners. She knew that he was a gentleman. Guests of the Lotus seemed to understand each other very easily. Perhaps it was the result of having discovered this Broadway hotel. Guests felt sure that only especially fine people would enjoy the cool delights of the Lotus. Now, very quickly, a sudden friendship grew between Farrington and Madame Beaumont. They stood and talked for a few moments. “I have seen too much of the usual summer hotels,” said Madame Beaumont, with a small but sweet smile. “Why go to the mountains or the seashore? We cannot escape noise and dust there. The people who make noise and dust follow us there.” “Even on the ocean,” said Farrington, sadly, “those same people are all around us. What shall we do when they discover the Lotus?” “I hope they don’t discover the Lotus this week,” said Madame. “I only know one other place I like as well. It is the beautiful home of a prince in the mountains in Europe.” “The best people,” said Farrington, “are seeking for the quiet places, like this one, where they can escape the crowds.” “I promise myself three more days of this delightful rest,” said Madame Beaumont. “The next day my ship sails.” Harold Farrington’s eyes showed that he was sorry. “I too must leave then,” he said. “But I am not sailing for Europe.” “We cannot stay here forever, though it is so delightful,” said Madame Beaumont. “I like it better than my usual life, which is too full of people. I shall never forget my week in the Hotel Lotus.” “Nor shall I,” said Farrington in a low voice. “And I shall never like the ship that carries you away.” On their last evening the two sat together at a little table. A waiter brought them something cool to eat. Madame Beaumont was wearing the same beautiful dress. She seemed thoughtful. When she had finished eating, she took out a dollar. “Mr. Farrington,” she said, with the smile that everyone in the Lotus loved, “I want to tell you something. I’m going to leave early tomorrow morning because I must go back to work. I work selling women’s clothes at Casey’s shop. That dollar is all the money I have. I won’t have any more until I get paid at the end of the week. You’re a real gentleman and you’ve been good to me. I wanted to tell you before I went. “For a year I’ve been planning to come here. Each week I put aside a little of my pay, so that I would have enough money. I wanted to live one week like a rich lady. I wanted to get up in the morning when I wished. I wanted to be served by waiters. I wanted to have the best of everything. Now I’ve done it, and I’ve been happier than I ever was before. And now I’m going back to work. “I—I wanted to tell you about it, Mr. Farrington, because I—I thought you liked me, and I—I liked you. This week I’ve told you many things that weren’t true. I told you things I’ve read about. They never happened to me. I’ve been living in a story. It wasn’t real. I wanted you to think I was a great lady.  “This dress I’m wearing—it’s the only pretty dress I own. I haven’t paid for it yet. I’m paying for it a little at a time. “The price was seventy-five dollars. It was made for me at O’Dowd and Levinsky’s shop. I paid ten dollars first, and now I have to pay a dollar a week until it’s all paid. “And that’s all I have to say, Mr. Farrington, except that my name is Mamie Siviter, and not Madame Beaumont. Thank you for listening to me. This dollar is the dollar I’m going to pay for my dress tomorrow. And now I’ll go up to my room.” As Harold Farrington listened, his face had not changed. When she had finished, he took out a small book and began to write in it. Then he pulled out the small page with his writing on it, and gave it to her. And he took the dollar from her hand. “I go to work too, tomorrow morning,” he said. “And I decided to begin now. That paper says you’ve paid your dollar for this week. I’ve been working for O’Dowd and Levinsky for three years. Strange, isn’t it? We both had the same idea. I always wanted to stay at a good hotel. I get twenty dollars a week. Like you, I put aside a little money at a time, until I had enough. Listen, Mamie. Will you go to the pleasure park on Coney Island with me on pay day?” The girl who had been Madame Héloise D’Arcy Beaumont smiled. “I’d love to go, Mr. Farrington. Coney will be all right, although we did live here with rich people for a week.” They could hear the night noises of the hot city. Inside the Hotel Lotus it was cool. The waiter stood near, ready to get anything they asked for. Madame Beaumont started up to her room for the last time. And he said, “Forget that ‘Harold Farrington,’ will you? McManus is the name—James McManus. Some call me Jimmy.” “Good night, Jimmy,” said Madame. Download activities to help you understand this story here. Now it's your turn to use the words in this story. Have you ever lied to people about who you are or where you are from? Do you dream of living a different life? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   guest(s) – n. a person who pays to stay at a hotel or eat at a restaurant waiter(s) – n. a man who serves food or drinks to people in a restaurant or hotel footstep – n. the sound of a foot making a step seashore – n. the land along the edge of the sea that is usually covered with sand or rocks romance – n. a love story manner – n. the way that a person normally behaves especially while with other people dress – n. a piece of clothing for a woman or a girl that has a top part that covers the upper body and a skirt that hangs down to cover the legs shop – n. a building or room where goods and services are sold

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Jon Bon Jovi: Wedding Singer?

This is What’s Trending Today… When American rock star Jon Bon Jovi attended a wedding in Florida recently, he had no plans to perform. After all, there was already a band playing music for guests. However, the band’s singer, local jazz musician Lourdes Valentin, knew that Bon Jovi was among the wedding guests. So, she and her jazz band played his famous song, “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Valentin told the Associated Press that she did not think Bon Jovi would want to sing the song with them. But, that did not stop her from trying to persuade him to do so. As she sang, Valentin walked over to Bon Jovi’s table. He did not seem like he was interested in performing. At one point, he said to Valentin “you’ve got it.” But, after a few moments, Bon Jovi took the microphone from Valentin’s hand, and got on stage. He and the band performed a jazz version of the 1986 rock and roll classic. A trumpet player added a part in place of an electric guitar. Video of the performance appeared on social media. By Friday, it was a trending topic. Many people wrote that Bon Jovi did not look exactly pleased or excited. They felt bad that the wedding singer had troubled him during the wedding. One Twitter user said it looked like he had been “put on the spot.” Another called the performance, “painful to watch.” And that’s What’s Trending Today. I'm Dan Friedell.    Ashley Thompson wrote this report with materials from the Associated Press. Caty Weaver was the editor.  _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   persuade - v. to cause (someone) to do something by asking, arguing, or giving reasons trumpet - n. a brass musical instrument that you blow into that has three buttons which you press to play different notes  put on the spot - idiom. to demand that someone produce as expected. 

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July 8, 2016

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

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US, South Korea to Deploy THAAD Missile Defense

United States and South Korean officials have announced plans to deploy a U.S. missile defense system to South Korea. The officials said the deployment is to answer North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile development programs. General Thomas Vandal is the chief of staff for U.S. Forces in Korea. He and South Korean Deputy Minister of Defense Ryu Je-seung made the announcement in Seoul. Vandal said the two countries had to defend themselves from North Korean weapons. He criticized North Korea’s continued development of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. The missile system is called THAAD, short for Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense. It can shoot down ballistic missiles before they hit their targets on the ground. On Friday, North Korea criticized the U.S. and South Korean agreement. China also expressed strong opposition to the planned deployment and urged the U.S. and South Korea to put a stop to it. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the missile system is not helpful for keeping peace on the Korean peninsula. It also said the deployment will harm the security of countries in the area, including China. In the past, Chinese officials have raised concerns that the THAAD radar system could be used to observe Chinese territory. The U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement that the only weapons to be watched will be North Korean weapons. The Russian government also criticized the planned deployment. It said THAAD will have “irreparable consequences” and will increase tensions in East Asia. South Korea and the United States opened talks about THAAD in February. That followed North Korea’s most recent nuclear test and launch of a long-range rocket. U.S. officials say North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and missile program in violation of United Nations sanctions. Last month, North Korea launched a partially-successful test of a Musudan missile. That missile flew about 400 kilometers before falling into the sea. But there were signs the North Korean military had or is close to developing the ability to reach U.S. bases in Asia and on islands in the Pacific Ocean. North Korea is believed to have 30 Musudan missiles. The North Koreans also have close to 1,000 other Soviet model missiles. These missiles can reach targets in South Korea and Japan. American officials have said they believe North Korea has enough plutonium to make eight to 12 nuclear weapons. I’m Jonathan Evans.   Brian Padden wrote this story for VOA News. Jim Dresbach adapted it for Learning English. Youmi Kim in Seoul and VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb provided additional information. 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   altitude – n. the height of something peninsula – n. a piece of land that is almost entirely surrounded by water and is attached to a larger land area ballistic missile – n. a weapon that is shot through the sky over a great distance and then falls to the ground and explodes irreparable – adj. too bad to be corrected or repaired sanctions – n. actions that are taken or orders that are given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country plutonium – n. an element that is used to make nuclear energy and nuclear weapons

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Balancing Life, Olympic Hopes on the Big Screen

Look out for Alexi Pappas at the Olympics in August. She is a Greek-American long-distance runner. Pappas will run in the 10,000 meter event for Greece. She grew up in the United States but her grandmother was born in Greece. That is why she can run for Greece at the Olympics. Pappas is not just a runner. She is also a writer, actor and filmmaker. Her first full-length movie, “Tracktown,” came out this summer. The film is about a young woman training in a small city in Oregon for a chance to compete in the Olympics. Just like Pappas. And Pappas plays the character, named Plumb Marigold. Plumb is trying to balance her training with her interest in having a social life. A love interest develops when she meets a man at a bakery. “Tracktown” is named for the city of Eugene, Oregon. Eugene is called Tracktown because it is an important place for track and field events in the U.S. A lot of competitive runners live and train there. It is also the location of the USA Track and Field team Olympic trials. The trials conclude this weekend. The top finishers of every race and competition there will earn a place on the USA Olympic team for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Many people wonder how Pappas is able to train for the Olympics and make a movie at the same time. But she says she enjoys having something that can keep her mind off running. However, Pappas is extremely busy. She could not even attend her film’s opening night in early July. Pappas was in Amsterdam running for Greece at the European Athletics Championships. She finished the race in 32 minutes, 27 seconds and placed 11th. Jeremy Teicher is Pappas’ real-life boyfriend. They made the film together. At the movie’s opening event, Teicher said, “there's a real convergence of life imitating art and fiction." Teicher called the city of Eugene a “really special location.” That is one reason why he and Pappas wanted to make a movie there. If you watch the movie carefully, you will see some other real-life Olympic runners in the movie. One of those runners is Nick Symmonds. Symmonds competed at the Beijing and London Olympics. “Tracktown” will be shown at some film festivals in the future. The producers hope it will then be released at theaters around the U.S. “Our secret goal is that there will be tour buses in Eugene one day taking you around to the locations where we shot,” Teicher said. I’m Dan Friedell.   Tom Banse wrote this story for VOANews.com. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. Now that you know some more about Alexi Pappas, will you watch for her at the Olympics? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   convergence – n. when two things join together imitate – v. to make or do something the same way as (something else) trials – n. a test of the quality, value, or usefulness of something character – n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show feature – n. a movie that is made to be shown in a theater for entertainment: a full-length movie bakery – n. a place where bread, cakes, cookies, and other baked foods are made or sold

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English @ the Movies: 'Get Her Digits'

This English @ the Movies phrase is from the movie "Hello, My Name is Doris." This is a funny movie. Doris is an older woman who likes her new, and much younger, co-worker. The phrase is "get her digits." Does it mean he is in danger? Listen and see if you are right.

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After Twenty Years by O. Henry

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