Monday, December 26, 2016

US Military Prepares for Inauguration of New President

  In the United States, the inauguration of a new president is one of the nation’s biggest ceremonies. Military officials plan the event using a 12-by-18 meter map of Washington, DC. The map is so big, it is shown in a large building called the DC Armory. Officials from across the country have gathered at the armory to plan the 58th presidential inauguration.  Lucas Hernandez is part of that group. He works for the United States Marine Corps. “It’s a lot of moving parts. We’ve got a fairly condensed space where we’re working on the Capitol grounds in a fairly short amount of time where we have to get all of these events done and completed in basically what’s a no-fail mission that day.” Aaron Lovely works for the United States Army. He says he looks forward to working with other parts of the government on the event. “We’re actually thrilled as the military to have the cooperative partnerships of the other federal agencies that we get to work with in the city, because we’re moving a lot of people through a lot of people.” Malik Freeman, who also works for the U.S. Army, says soldiers from all over the country will take part. “We have almost 7-8,000 soldiers coming from 40 states, so we have to ensure that we get them here, move them forward to their mission site, perform their mission on Inauguration Day, and get them back home within that 72-hour window.”  The weather also can be a concern. It is almost always very cold in Washington in January. Michelle Watson, who works for the Coast Guard, says that means planners must ensure that troops are not outside for very long. “You don’t want to keep the military members out there longer than they have to be.” Inauguration Day is Friday, January 20. Because of the disputed election, officials are planning for a complex inauguration and many protesters. They know their plans may change during the day. Thousands of members of the National Guard will be given the power to detain any protesters who break the law. One of the largest crowds gathered to attend President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. But, officials say, the troops did not make any arrests that year. Major General Bradley Becker is the commanding general of the Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region. He says the biggest concern for organizers is the number of possible protesters. More than 12 protest marches are planned during the weekend following the inauguration. On one group’s Facebook page, about 150,000 people have said they will be protesting. About 240,000 have said they are interested in doing so. Many groups also are expected to come to Washington to support the new president, Donald Trump. One of them is called “Bikers for Trump.” They have planned gatherings throughout the country in the weeks before the inauguration. They also plan to ride their motorcycles through the city on Inauguration Day. Stephen Fuller is a professor and faculty chair at the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University. He believes at least 200,000 people will attend inaugural events. And he says as many as one million protesters may come to the city on the day Trump takes office or the day after.  Fuller says local and federal officials will be able to deal with the large number of protesters. He says one of the biggest security difficulties of the day will be guarding the president-elect.   By comparison, guarding the protesters will be much easier, Fuller says. I’m Jill Robbins.  VOA Correspondents Arash Arabasadi and Esha Sarai reported this story from Washington. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted their reports for Learning English. Mario Ritter 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 inauguration – n. in the United States, the formal ceremony in which a new president is sworn into office condensed space – n. a small area grounds – n. an area of land site – n. a place that is used for a particular activity window – n. a period of time during which something can happen oddball – n. a person who behaves in strange or unusual, or even threatening, ways

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Many Americans Travel to Other Countries for Medical Care

  Eleven million people worldwide travel to other countries for low-cost medical treatment. This kind of travel is known as  “medical tourism.” Experts say people spend hundreds of billions of dollars on medical tourism every year. And, experts predict the industry will grow by up to 25 percent a year over the next 10 years. VISA and Oxford Economics recently studied medical tourism trends. The study found that such travel is increasing because of the rising cost of medical treatments, the aging of societies and advances in international transportation. About 340 new international airports will be built in the next 10 years, VISA says. A company called MedRepublic is connecting doctors with people around the world who need medical care. Robert Page founded the company. “Our software allows patients to use our website so they can search for doctors directly and talk to them," he said. Page says the top country for medical tourism is Thailand. The United States is second. He says the United States is “a country with a level of specialized medicine not found elsewhere.” The recent VISA study says the United States was the top destination for medical tourism, not Thailand. It also found an increasing number of people are traveling to Singapore, Germany, Korea, Spain, Britain, Canada and Israel for medical care. The VISA report predicts China will become the top destination within the next 10 years. Between 750,000 and 1.8 million Americans leave the country for medical reasons every year because of the high costs of treatments and surgeries. Page says Mexico is a common choice for American medical tourists. “For Americans, the main destination is Mexico due to its geographical proximity and the relation(ship) between both countries. The main reason is treatment for cancer,” he said. Many Americans also travel to other countries for plastic surgery, dental surgery, gastric bypasses and orthopedic surgeries. Susy Pozo was a medical tourist. Four years ago, she traveled to Mexico for stomach surgery. “I used to weigh 194 pounds," (or 88 kilograms).  "I had many health issues. It’s very expensive in the U.S. I was worried because of the security in Puerto Vallarta, but four years ago I made the best decision of my life: I traveled to Mexico and had stomach surgery at the Puerto Vallarta hospital.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that there are risks connected to less-costly medical treatments in other countries. Robert Page of MedRepublic says his company tries to lower those risks by helping patients talk directly with foreign doctors. “We are trying to resolve those issues with the right kind of information to show that a doctor and a hospital in India, for example, offer the same quality as a doctor or a hospital in the United States.” I’m Alice Bryant.  VOA Correspondents Arturo Martinez and Alejandro Escalona reported this story from Los Angeles. 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 trend – n. a general direction of change; a way of behaving, proceeding, etc., that is developing and becoming more common allow – v. to permit (something); to regard or treat (something) as acceptable destination – n. a place to which a person is going or something is being sent proximity – adj. the state of being near

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Lewis and Clark: An American Adventure Story



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Sunday, December 25, 2016

Fatherless and Abandoned, Vietnamese-Americans Search for Their Families

  Moki, Tan and Jannies were babies at the close of the American war in Vietnam in the 1970s. Their mothers were Vietnamese. Their fathers were American soldiers. In one way or another, they were all abandoned. Now, the search for their birth families has brought them together. Here are their stories. Moki  Moki was at an orphanage in Vietnam when her adopted mother saw her. Maria Eitz was single, but she had already taken in two mixed-race Vietnamese boys. Now she wanted her sons to have a sister. After all, Eitz knew what it was like to be an orphan. She was left in Germany without her parents at the end of World War II.   The women who worked at the Can Tho orphanage tried to show Eitz some mixed-race babies with light skin. But Eitz saw only a dark-skinned girl with a big stomach and curly hair.  “That’s my daughter,” Eitz said. She wanted a girl who looked like her two black-Vietnamese adopted sons. And, she said, she wanted a girl whom nobody else wanted. Eitz named her daughter Moki and brought her to San Francisco, California, where she and her sons lived. “I remember being very happy as a kid,” Moki said.  Her house was full of other children. Her adopted mother eventually married a kind, respectful man. Moki attended a good school and had close friends. Still, Moki thought about finding her biological parents. She imagined they had a love story. Their romance was like a fairy tale, she thought – like the show “Miss Saigon.”  When she was 18 years old, Moki herself became pregnant. Even at that young age, she was excited to have her own child. “I wanted my own blood,” Moki explained. She gave birth to a daughter, Kaitlin, in 1992. The following year, Moki found a growth on Kaitlin’s neck. She brought her daughter to the doctor. But she could not tell the doctor her family’s medical history. Mokie thought, “This is my child and I don’t know what’s wrong. And the doctors don’t seem to know what’s wrong. And I have no information.” The thought scared her. Now, she had to find her biological parents. The search was a medical necessity.  Tam Tam did not have as happy a childhood as Moki did. When he was three days old, someone left him in a box outside a bar. Many Americans soldiers spent time at the bar, located just outside Tuy Hoa Air Base, near the city of Nha Trang. Whoever left the baby was telling the American soldiers that the boy belonged to one of them. But none of the men claimed the baby. So the store’s owner, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Van, adopted him. She called him Nguyen Tam and raised him as her only son.  When Tam was only 11 years old, Ngoc Van left. She went with a boyfriend to Pleiku. Tam stayed with his adopted grandparents. But Tam remembers his adopted grandparents did not welcome him. “You don’t belong here,” his grandmother said. “Any day you are here you have to work for the food you eat.” In the late 1980s, a Vietnamese official came to talk to Tam’s grandparents. The official explained that the U.S. government had created a new program. It permitted the orphaned children of American soldiers, like Tam, to come to the United States.  And, the official explained, the child’s immediate family could come, too. Tam did not believe the official. He was afraid the Vietnamese government was trying to trick him. So he fled to Pleiku to find his adopted mother. The two confirmed that the program, called the Amerasian Homecoming Act, was real. But then his adopted mother did something surprising. She sold Tam to another family. In return, she received about 56 grams of gold. Yet Tam’s new “family” did not succeed in joining him in the United States.  At the age of 19, Tam left Vietnam alone. He was, again, all by himself.   Jannies Jannies also came to the United States through the Amerasian Homecoming Program. But she came with her mother and a stepsister. They were all searching for her father. Sol was a soldier working at an American base in Tam Quang. He and Nguyen Thi Chin lived together for four years before Chin gave birth to a baby girl, named Jannies. Four months later, Sol was ordered to withdraw from Vietnam. He promised to return for Jannies and her mother. He even sent letters and money. But when guerrilla forces entered Bien Hoa in 1972, Jannies and her mother fled. To protect her daughter, Chin destroyed all evidence of Sol. She burned his letters and photos. She tried to straighten her daughter’s curly hair. She claimed Jannie’s father was a dark-skinned  instead of a black American. Eventually, Chin moved back to her parents’ home in central Vietnam. They settled near Tam Quang on Highway 1. Jannies was five. Jannies said, “I got beat up every day. They said I’m from the enemy. They said I’m not supposed to be here. And I’m not supposed to go to school.” Others called her degrading terms for mixed race. They said her mother slept with her father for money.  These insults were common for mixed-race children. Throughout Vietnam, the children were ostracized because they looked different. People called them “bui doi,” meaning “dust of life.” Jannies learned to deal with the insults. She did not have a choice. Then, she learned about the U.S. government’s program for mixed-race children. Chin, Jannies, and a step-sister were accepted. They were invited to move to the American state of Oklahoma.  For 18 years, Jannies had been waiting for Sol to  bring her to the U.S. Finally she was going. But it was the U.S. government – not her father – that was bringing her.  “This is my family” Moki, Tan, and Jannies have these things in common: they are of mixed race, they now live in the United States, and they are all using DNA tests to search for their American families. Moki wants to investigate her connections so she can understand her medical history. She found evidence of a genetic link to a person in Alabama who appears to be a cousin. But she has not located a closer relative. The search is painfully slow. But, for now, she is pleased that her daughter is healthy again. Tam had a more fruitful experience. He found a close genetic match to a man from the state of Georgia named Chris Murray. Murray is Tam’s uncle. He explained that his brother, Danny, was Tam’s father. Danny was based in Tuy Hoa during the Vietnam War. But he died in 1989 in an automobile accident. Tam cried when he told the story. He said, “I’ve spent 43 years looking for my father. And he’s no longer alive when I found him.” Tam still wanted to recognize the connection to his American family. He changed his name to Thomas Danny Murray to honor his father and paternal grandfather.   Jannies has had the least success in discovering her American family. She still has not found Sol. But she has developed a deep relationship with the mixed-race “dust of life” community.  On a Saturday afternoon in November, Jannies was at an airport motel in Oklahoma City. Almost everyone else in the area was watching a television broadcast of a football game. But not Jannies. She was rehearsing traditional Vietnamese songs with 60 other “dust of life.” They were performing that night for a fund-raiser. The money would help others who were still left behind. Two of the Vietnamese-Americans orphans were singing. Jannies stopped to listen to the words: “I was born fatherless. My mother abandoned me when I was just an infant. Nobody cares about my life. No one shows mercy to the bi-racial child. There is only me on my own…” Jannies looked around her at the other abandoned children. “This is my family,” she said. “These are my brothers and sisters.”    Hai Do reported this story for VOANews.com. Kelly Jean Kelly adapted his report 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   degrading - adj. without respect ostracized - v. to be not included in a group fruitful - adj. producing a good result fund-raiser - n. a social event held to collect money

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Scientists Looking for Life on Mars

  Pictures of the planet Mars show a rocky, lifeless scene. It is hard to imagine plants or animals could ever exist there. But scientists continue to look for evidence. NASA, America’s space agency, has found evidence that, a long time ago, there was surface water on the Red Planet. Scientists believe water is necessary to support life as we know it. So since that discovery, they have been looking for chemicals that would be present if there once was -- or still  is--- life on the planet. At a December 13 conference in California, NASA scientists reported a breakthrough. They said for the first time that they had found very small amounts of an interesting element. It is called boron. John Grotzinger is the lead scientist for Curiosity, the space vehicle on Mars that is exploring the planet.  “We have an instrument called the chemistry camera, which has made a detection of boron. And boron is interesting because in some scenarios for the origin of life, boron is able to help catalyze some of the reactions that build materials that could eventually become part of RNA molecules.” In other words, a camera on Mars showed the element boron. Boron is important because it could help build RNA molecules. And RNA molecules are important because they are one of the essential building blocks for life. What’s next? One of the next steps in the scientists’ search for life on Mars comes in 2020. That year, the next spacecraft is scheduled to launch. It will send rocks from Mars back to Earth.     Scientists in Britain are getting ready for those Mars rocks now. Using a powerful microscope, they have already examined 200-million-year-old volcanic rocks found deep in the Pacific Ocean. The microscope revealed holes made by tiny living things called microbes. Microbes are the oldest form of life on Earth. They are only the size of one cell. Peter Cumpson works with Newcastle University. “What we've been able to do is to look in detail at the carbon chemistry within those tiny structures and identify that as being the remnants of some form of life, probably fungal related.” Next, the scientists in Britain will examine meteorites formed from ancient material from Mars. The material comes from a time when Mars would have been more likely to sustain life. Graham Purvis explains what they will be looking for in the material. He is a geoscientist with Newcastle University.  “What we intend to do is have a look at some of the rocks that may be available from NASA, which date back to a time when Mars was much warmer and wetter, and have a look at some of the structures and chemical signatures that we see in those rocks.” The scientists hope to find tiny microbe holes in the ancient material similar to the ones they saw in the ocean rocks. If they do, they predict that the rocks coming directly from Mars will also show signs of life. That, in turn, could finally prove that we are not alone.   I’m Anne Ball. George Putic wrote this story for VOA News. Anne Ball adapted it for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly 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   origin – n. the point or place where something begins catalyze – v. to cause an action or process to begin RNA molecules – n. parts in cells in the body that are building blocks for life and help with genes remnant – n. the part of something that is left when other parts are gone fungal – adj. of, relating to or caused by fungus

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Malawi Launches Humanitarian Drone Testing Center

Malawi has launched a testing center for humanitarian drones. The project is intended to explore the best ways to use drones to transport medicine and blood samples. Malawi’s government will operate the testing center in cooperation with United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF. It is the first center of its kind in Africa. Officials from the government and UNICEF held a launch ceremony last week in the capital Lilongwe. Flights are expected to be fully operating by April 2017. The drones will be carrying materials as far as 40 kilometers. The most immediate use of drones in Malawi will be to help speed up the identification of HIV in babies. HIV is the virus that causes the disease AIDS. Malawi has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world, especially among babies and children. Each year, about 10,000 children die in Malawi of HIV, according to UNICEF. Currently, it can take up to 11 days to transport blood samples to laboratories by motorcycle or ambulance. It can then take another four weeks for blood test results to be returned. UNICEF officials are hoping the drone flights will save many lives by cutting the time it takes to get HIV test results. It is important for infected children to get treatment as soon as possible to increase their chances for survival. In March, UNICEF-Malawi successfully completed its first drone test flight. A drone traveled 10 kilometers to deliver materials from a community health center to a hospital in Lilongwe. Drones also will be tested to see if they can support transportation and collect information. These are important tasks in Malawi, where severe droughts and flooding can make damage assessments difficult during emergencies. Drone aircraft are also being used in other parts of Africa to transport blood, medicine and humanitarian supplies. Earlier this year, the Rwandan government signed a deal to cooperate with a U.S.-based company to transport supplies to medical centers across the country. In Madagascar, drones fly blood and laboratory materials from rural villages to a research station for testing. The aircraft help doctors speed up the identification of disease in patients and make quick deliveries of vaccines. I’m Bryan Lynn. Lameck Masina reported this story for VOANews.com. Bryan Lynn adapted it for VOA Learning English, with additional material from Agence France-Presse and UNICEF.  Mario Ritter 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   drone – n. a small flying machine flown remotely by a pilot ambulance – n. a vehicle that transports sick people deliver – v. take something to a person or place assessment – n. the act of making a judgement about something  

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Everyday Grammar: Would You Mind



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Let's Learn English Holiday Greetings

This week, we are sending a special greeting out to all of our audience members: learners and teachers around the world. It has been a wonderful year filled with the adventure of producing this course, getting feedback from every corner of the globe, and making new friends online. Learn some holiday words with the video and audio files here. We'll be back with a lesson for you next year! Script   Anna: Hello, from Let’s Learn English! Happy Holidays! Dr. Jill: During the holidays, we spend time with our families and friends. Anna: So, we made a holiday video card for you! ALL: Happy Holidays! Anna: People in the United States celebrate the holidays in many different ways. Dr. Jill: There are three big holidays at this time of year: Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Christmas. Phil: Hanukkah and Kwanzaa last for many days. Anna: Candles are important to both celebrations. Sometimes people call Hanukkah the Festival of Lights. Pete: Kwanzaa celebrations often include music, songs, dance and storytelling. Phil: Christmas falls on December 25. Penelope: Christians believe this holiday is the birthday of Jesus Christ. Anna: Religious people often go to places of worship to celebrate the holidays. Phil:  But many religious and nonreligious people celebrate the holidays. Pete: Some families decorate their homes and put up Christmas trees. Phil: Presents are a big part of Christmas. Penelope: Young children tell Santa Claus what they want. They write him letters or visit him in department stores. Dr. Jill: All these holidays have one thing in common – big meals and special foods! Anna: The most important part of this time of the year is spending time with family and friends. New Words candle - n. wax that has been formed into a stick or another shape and has a string in the middle that can be burned celebrate - v.  to do something special or enjoyable for an important event, occasion or holiday Christmas - n.  a Christian holiday that is celebrated on December 25 in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ or the period of time that comes before and after this holiday Hanukkah - n. an eight-day Jewish holiday that is celebrated in November or December - n. the 12th and last month of the year holiday - n. a special day of celebration holiday card - n. an illustrated piece of card or high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship usually given on holidays Jesus Christ - n. the man who Christians believe is the son of God and whose life, death, and resurrection as reported in the New Testament of the Bible are the basis of the Christian religion Kwanzaa - n. an African-American cultural festival held from December 26 to January 1 present - n.  something that you give to someone especially as a way of showing affection or thanks religious - adj. believing in a god or a group of gods and following the rules of a religion (nonreligious = not following the rules of a religion) Santa Claus - n.  a jolly man with a white beard and a red suit who gives toys to children at Christmas worship - n.the act of showing respect and love for a god especially by praying with other people who believe in the same god ______________________________________________________________ Holiday Songs Want to sing carols or just practice singing in English? Here's a cute video you can sing along with. Free Materials   Download the VOA Learning English Word Book for a dictionary of the words we use on this website. ____________________________________________________________ Now it's your turn Are you celebrating a holiday at this time of year? What are you doing to celebrate? 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. And answer our poll about our next program. ​

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Saturday, December 24, 2016

Mystery at The Ice Castle Inn: Part 2

Somali-American Community Concerned After Ohio State Attack

  Last month, a student at Ohio State University ran into people with a car and stabbed them with a knife. The victims survived, but police shot and killed the attacker, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, at the place the incident happened. Since then, members of the Muslim community have been trying to understand what made Artan carry out such violence. Artan was a Somali refugee who came to the U.S. with his family in 2014. He had been a successful student. He earned honors at a local community college before going to Ohio State, one of America's largest universities. Officials at the mosque near the family's home say Artan was not well-known to them. They add that they are concerned that others may judge the entire community by the actions of one young man. Concerns increase in the local Muslim community Robert Fitrakis is a lawyer representing Artan's family. He describes how the family fears the political climate in the United States. "I'm not sure they want their face on camera," he says. Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed is a member of the Muslim community at Abubakar Assiddiq mosque in Columbus. "I've been in this country 25 years, so we are Americans, but we are Muslim, too. We should not be viewed as people who came from another planet. We are not aliens. We are citizens of this country." The issue of refugees and migration has become an important political issue in the United States. Supporters of strict immigration policy say the attack shows the danger that immigrants, or refugees, could present. Earlier this month, for example, President-elect Trump said the attack at Ohio State University was "yet one more tragic reminder that immigration security is now national security." However, refugee resettlement supporters point to the need to help people from conflict areas around the world. Becca Heller is the director of the International Refugee Assistance Project. She criticized the words used by Trump in an interview with NPR news. "That rhetoric has had an impact. Trump has been successful in politicizing refugee admissions in a way that they have not been politicized before." The number of refugees admitted to the United States has increased since 2002. However, the number of refugees admitted to the U.S reached "historically low levels" in the year following the September 11 attacks in 2001. A report by Congressional Research Services, or CRS, says that 27,131 refugees were allowed into the country in that year. The number of refugees admitted in 2017 could reach 110,000, the CRS report says. Any possible changes to immigration and refugee policy remain unclear as the Trump administration begins on January 20. I'm John Russell. Arash Arabasadi wrote this story for VOA News. John Russell adapted it and used additional sources for this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   honors – n. plural special credit or recognition given to students who have successfully done work at a high level strict – adj. used to describe a command, rule, etc., that must be obeyed rhetoric – n. formal often disapproving : language that is intended to influence people and that may not be honest or reasonable politicize – v.  disapproving : to relate (an idea, issue, etc.) to politics in a way that makes people less likely to agree  

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Step-By-Step Guide to a Great College Paper

Strong writing is one of the most important skills for any college student. Many non-native English speakers have no idea what professors in the U.S. expect from a college paper. A college paper is a piece of writing than can be as long as 20 or more pages. Even native English-speaking college students struggle with how to succeed with such a difficult responsibility. Deborah Dessaso is the Writing Resource Coordinator at the University of the District of Columbia. Dessaso helps students reach the level of writing that college professors expect. She says college writing is very different from what many students experience earlier in their education. "Usually… a lot of high schools stress a lot of creative type writing. And so you can pretty much say what you want. Meaning is what you say it is. When you get to college you need to be able to formulate an argument and then defend it using credible sources." A credible source provides verifiable information from experts. This includes books, interviews, newspapers or studies. Most U.S. high schools teach students how to write five paragraph essays. Students are often unprepared for the amount of research they have to do for a college paper. Nabila Hijazi is one of the assistant directors of the University of Maryland Writing Center. Hijazi is also an international student from Syria in the second year of her PhD program in English studies. She says the language barrier is not the biggest problem for students whose first language is not English. "Sometimes I see international students who know English grammar more than the native or the U.S.-born students. But maybe… they do not know about the writing systems that we have here, in terms of organization, thesis, transition… They do not know how to connect sentences; how to be direct." In a traditional paper, the first paragraph often contains the thesis statement. This statement is a one-sentence summary of the paper's main argument. The first paragraph of a college paper, or any paper, is usually the most challenging. The first paragraph is also the most important because it will guide the structure and show the voice of the entire paper. But not every type of writing is the same. There are also case studies and field reports in addition to traditional papers. Dessaso says that the best option for a student who wants improve their writing is to read. "One professor tells me, 'You write something in your head before you write it on paper'… Until you learn to imagine when you read, you'll never be able to imagine something that you have to write before you have to write it." Reading examples of the type of paper your professor expects you to write can be very helpful. Professors sometimes provide examples. You can also search the Internet for examples of papers about similar topics. But, you should never copy another person's work. Professors will find out if the work is copied and you will get in a lot of trouble.  Hijazi adds that writing a paper takes time. Students should let other students read their work and listen to criticism. "I try to teach them that the first draft is not the final draft. They need to be open to the idea that writing is a process. They have to go through different steps, different revisions." College graduates around the world will tell you they have all been in this situation. It is the middle of the night. Your paper is due in eight hours and you have no idea what to write. Let's imagine that your professor tells you to write a five-page paper on this topic: "The SAT is an unfair test for international students and should no longer be required. Do you agree or disagree?" Here are four examples of how to begin writing on this topic: 1. Tell a Story – "Nadia dreamed of going to Harvard from the time she was 5 years old. 'It was my mother's dream for me,' she said. Every Saturday, she spent 10 hours at a "cram school" studying for the SAT while her friends went to the mall and watched movies…" 2. Use a Quote – "All the SAT measures is how well you take the SAT. It does not show how smart a person you are," wrote blogger Amanda Chan. Chan is one of a growing number of people who argues that SAT is unfair. 3. Present a Fact – "Of the 1.6 million students who took the SAT in 2013, only 43 percent of test-takers met the SAT's definition for being prepared for college. It is natural to blame teachers and test takers for not studying hard enough. But perhaps the test itself has problems…" 4. Describe a Problem – "Every year millions of international students are unhappy with their performance on a single test — the SAT. Years of hard work are reduced to a single test on a single day. Is the SAT the best way for universities to choose the best students? ..." The next time you have to write a paper, remember that planning is very important. Think about what you are going to write before you start writing. Think about all the information you need to include and how you will present it. If the ideas still are not coming, read your class materials again with these four methods in mind. Sooner or later, an idea will come. I'm Pete Musto.   Adam Brock first wrote about this topic for the Learning English blog. Pete Musto updated and added to the story. Kathleen Struck was the editor. Now it's your turn. What is some writing advice teachers or other students have given you? In your opinion, what is the most difficult part of writing a paper? Let us know in the comments sections or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   page(s) – n. one side of a sheet of paper especially in a book or magazine stress – v. to give special attention to something formulate – v. to create, invent, or produce something by careful thought and effort credible – adj. able to be trusted or believed verifiable - adj. something you can prove or show to be true paragraph – n. a part of a piece of writing that usually deals with one subject, that begins on a new line, and that is made up of one or more sentences transition – v. a change from one state or condition to another case studies – n. published reports about a person, group, or situation that has been studied over time field report(s) – n. a collection of information that explains something that is in the process of happening or recently happened draft – n. a version of something such as a document that you make while working on a project or task revision(s) – n. a change or a set of changes that corrects or improves something graduate(s) – n. a person who has earned a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university blogger – n. a person who uses a Web site to write about their personal opinions, activities, and experiences

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