March 10, 2017

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

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English @ the Movies: 'To Take Charge'

On English @ the Movies today we talk about the saying "to take charge." It is from the movie "Monster Trucks." This movie is about a teenage boy, his truck and a monster friend. What do you think "to take charge" means? Watch the video, take the quiz and see if you get it right!

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South Korean President Forced from Office

Editor's Note: An audio for this story will be added when it is available.   The South Korean Constitutional Court has removed President Park Geun-hye from office. All eight members of the court agreed with a National Assembly measure calling for her removal. The eight worked to rule on the case by Friday before term limits reduced the normally nine-member court to seven justices. The South Korean constitution requires at least six justices to agree on any impeachment vote by the National Assembly. Chief Justice Park Han-chul was forced to leave the court in January when his term ended. Monday will be the last day of Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi’s term. Constitutional court’s ruling Lee read the ruling from the court’s offices in Seoul on Friday. She said Park’s “acts of violating the Constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust.” The court also criticized Park for being uncooperative and evasive in the investigations. It said she tried to stop the legislature from acting as a “check and balance” on presidential powers. The court said Park worked with a close friend to pressure large Korean companies to donate nearly $70 million to two organizations. Government lawyers had also accused the friend, Choi Soon-sil, of sending some of the money to businesses that she and her friends owned. “These violations undermine the rule of law and a representative democracy,” said the acting chief justice. Government lawyers studied reports that people close to the president were using her office to raise millions of dollars. Park has repeatedly denied the charges against her. Until the reports of corruption appeared, many South Koreans believed she was a strong and honest leader. Protests near the court house Two people died in protests near the court building after the ruling was announced. Thousands of Park supporters and opponents held competing demonstrations in the area. More than 21,000 police officers were sent there to prevent clashes between the groups. The constitution requires Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn to set a date for a new presidential election. The vote is to be held within 60 days. U.S. reaction to the ruling In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner released a statement after the court’s ruling. It said the United States “will continue to work with Prime Minister Hwang for the remainder of his tenure as acting president, and we look forward to a productive relationship with whomsoever the people of South Korea elect to be the next president.” The statement said the United States will continue to be a “steadfast ally, friend and partner” to South Korea, “especially with respect to defending against the threat from North Korea.” The South Korean military has been watching North Korea closely since the impeachment vote to guard against North Korean interference in the South’s politics.  Park’s family in South Korean politics The 64-year-old Park was the country’s first female head of state. She is now the first democratically elected South Korean president to be removed from office. Park had been part of the nation’s political community since she was a child. She is the daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, who ruled from 1961 to 1979.   She helped her father for five years after her mother, who was well-liked in South Korea, was shot to death by a North Korean agent. The killer was aiming for the president. Park Chung-hee was killed by the head of South Korea’s intelligence agency in 1979.  Before becoming president, Park Guen-hye served five terms as a lawmaker. She campaigned unsuccessfully for president before winning election to a five year term. In December, 234 members of the 300-seat National Assembly voted to impeach her. Park said any actions she took were to benefit the country. She said she has never personally benefited from her time in office. She apologized publicly three times for not knowing that people close to her may have been involved in some wrongdoing. While in office, she could not be tried on criminal charges. Earlier this week, a special prosecutor was named to investigate the charges of corruption. I’m Mario Ritter.   VOA’s Brian Padden, Youmi Kim and Fern Robinson reported this story for VOANews.com. Padded and Kim reported from Seoul. Robinson reported from Washington. John Smith adapted their report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   impeach – v. to charge (a public official) with a crime done while in office betray – v. to do something that does not agree with (your beliefs, principles, etc.) evasive – adj. not honest or direct checks and balances – n. a system in which the different parts of an organization (such as a government) have powers that affect and control the other parts so that no part can become too powerful tenure – n. the amount of time that a person holds a job, office or title steadfast – adj. very devoted or loyal to a person, belief, or cause; not changing benefit – v. to be useful or helpful to (someone or something)

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William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe, Part One

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5-Year-Old Girl, Youngest to Make National Spelling Bee

  This is What’s Trending Today… Schoolchildren across the United States have been taking part in local and state spelling competitions. These competitions are called spelling bees. The young competitors spell words that even some adults may never have heard of. More than 280 local winners will earn the right to compete in this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. The event will take place from May 28 to June 3 near Washington, D.C., at the National Harbor in Maryland. Most competitors in the National Spelling Bee are between the ages of 12 and 14. But this year, one competitor will be less than half that age -- five-year-old Edith Fuller. Last weekend, she won an area spelling bee in her home state of Oklahoma. The five-hour competition lasted 37 rounds. Edith correctly spelled words like sevruga (a kind of Russian caviar); jacamar (a kind of bird); and Nisei (a child of Japanese immigrants). Her winning word? Jnana, a sanskrit word that is related to having a higher level of knowledge. Remember, Edith is five. She is the youngest person ever to qualify for the National Spelling Bee.     Not so long ago, when she was just four, Edith surprised her parents when she was able to spell the word “restaurant.” At that moment, her mom and dad realized their child might have a mental gift. Her mother told the Tulsa-World newspaper this week, “We knew there was something special there.” Edith is homeschooled. So, her parents are able to spend a little more time teaching her to spell. Her mom says learning new words is fun for Edith. She told Tulsa-World that studying for the spelling bee helped Edith “learn about different countries and cultures and different kinds of food.” About two percent of U.S children are homeschooled. Yet, homeschooled kids usually make up 8 to 10 percent of those who make it to the National Spelling Bee. Her father spoke with Tulsa’s KJRH’s TV about the benefits of homeschooling Edith.  “We have the freedom to answer her questions, to help her advance at her own pace,” he said. Now, the Fullers must prepare young Edith for the national bee. But no matter how she does there, Edith is already being called a “spellebrity.” And that’s What’s Trending Today. I'm Caty Weaver.    Ashley Thompson wrote this article. Caty Weaver was the editor.  _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   qualify - v.  to give (someone) the right to do, have, or be a part of something gift - n. a special ability homeschool - v. to teach your children at home instead of sending them to a school​ benefit - n. a good or helpful result or effect advance - v.  to go forward : to make progress pace - n.  the speed at which something happens  

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Commonly Used Nouns

  From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. Imagine you hear a mother or father talking to a child. The parent wants the child to do well in school, but the child does not like to read books. The exchange might sound something like this: A: To get a good grade, the first thing you have to do is read books. B: Why do people always tell me to read books? I don't think books are fun. A: Lots of people don't read books – that's why they do badly in school. The last thing you want is a bad grade! Today's Everyday Grammar program is not about reading books, nor is it about how Americans lecture their children. In fact, our report is about something very different: commonly used nouns. Today we are going to explore two of the most commonly used nouns in American English: people and thing. What are nouns? A noun is traditionally defined as a word that names a place, object, or person. Nouns can be plural -- meaning more than one -- or possessive, or they can be both plural and possessive.* You can read more about these words in an Everyday Grammar program called "Understanding Noncount Nouns." You can find it and other stories on our website, learningenglish.voanews.com.  Are nouns common in conversation? Sometimes words take the place of nouns. These words are called pronouns. Examples include I, us, that, it and so on. In American English, speakers use pronouns much more often than they use nouns. This information comes from Susan Conrad and Douglas Biber, two experts on English grammar. Conrad and Biber say that Americans generally use pronouns more when speaking because they understand the activities and things that the pronouns represent. This is not to say that nouns are never heard in everyday conversation! In fact, a few nouns are often used in conversation. Two such words are people and thing. People The noun people is a plural noun. It does not generally suggest a specific group of individuals. Instead, American often use people when they mean everyone. Conrad and Biber say that people is the most commonly used noun when Americans are speaking with one another. They generally use this word to make a general statement about life. For example, you might hear someone say "Lots of people make the same mistake," or "Why do people always criticize me?" This use of people is considered polite and acceptable in formal and informal speech. You will hear it at school, at restaurants, in the workplace, and even in political speeches. Thing According to Conrad and Biber, the noun thing is almost as common in American English as the noun people. The word thing can suggest an object, but this meaning is rare in conversation. Instead, the word thing has several meanings. #1 Thing refers to an event or activity First, thing can mean an event or activity. For example, imagine you are traveling to a city and your friend wants to make a suggestion. He or she could say "After you arrive, the first thing you should do is eat a hamburger." #2 Thing refers to a speech or some kind of communication Second, thing can suggest a statement or some kind of communication. For example, you might hear students talking quietly after school: "The last thing I heard was that Tommy asked Laura to the dance." In this sentence, thing refers to some kind of communication – in this case, a rumor – about two people going to a dance together. #3 Thing refers to a general situation Third, the word thing can refer to a general situation. In many cases, the speaker will give a general opinion about the situation by using an adjective. For example, you might hear a person say "It's a good thing you bought an umbrella. I think it's going to rain today!" The speaker is showing that they have a good opinion about the other person's decision to buy an umbrella. Think back to the conversation Now, think back to the exchange at the beginning of our program. A: To get a good grade, the first thing you have to do is read books. B: Why do people always tell me to read books! I don't think books are fun. A: Lots of people don't read books – that's why they do badly in school. The last thing you want is a bad grade! You will notice several uses of people and thing in this conversation.   The word people is used to make a general statement about life. The word thing, in the example, is used to suggest a general situation in which the speaker expresses their opinion. Our goal here is not to give you a list of all of the meanings of people and thing. Instead we want to tell you about the most common meanings of these common nouns.   Learning how these two words are used will not only help you understand Americans when they speak. Using these words will also help you sound more natural to an American. The next time you are watching an American film or television show, try to listen to how the speakers use the nouns people and thing. Try to use what you know about the situation to understand the meaning. These definitions are difficult to learn, but the most important thing is that you do not give up. I'm John Russell. And I'm Jill Robbins.   John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. * Nouns in English are called either count or noncount. We will not study the difference between these nouns in this report, but if you want to learn more about them, you can read our earlier Everyday Grammar program, called "Understanding Noncount Nouns" ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   conversation – n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people lecture – v. to talk to (someone) in an angry or serious way possessive – n. relating to a word or a form of a word that shows that something or someone belongs to something or someone else rumor – n. information or a story that is passed from person to person but has not been proven to be true polite – adj. having or showing good manners or respect for other people formal – adj. suitable for serious or official speech and writing informal – adj. having a friendly and relaxed quality grammar – n. the set of rules that explain how words are used in a language  

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Uruguay School Teaches Students to Respect the Environment

A new school in Uruguay is teaching about environmental sustainability and practicing what it teaches. The school in the small town of Jaureguiberry was built with recycled materials. Clean energy powers the building. The students learn to grow their own organic food. And, a regular curriculum is combined with lessons on farming, recycling and water conservation. The 43 students at the school grow their own crops like tomatoes, basil, and strawberries.  The food they grow they get to eat too. The Uruguayan organization Tagma developed this school called Public School 294. Tagma supports responsible and sustainable ways of living and using natural resources. U.S. architect Michael Reynolds designed the school which opened in February 2016. Reynolds is known for his advocacy of sustainable building designs. Teaching sustainability and community This alternative school system is popular with the students. One of them, Felipe Sanchez, says the curriculum makes him more interested in class. “In my other school, we didn’t plant anything and it was not fun.  I was bored and my friends did not understand me nor treat me well.  In this school, my friends like me and we can plant and do a lot of things.” Solar energy powers the school. The school also uses filtered rainwater. Sixty percent of the building is made of recycled materials that the community collected. The school seeks tries to support a culture of community in the classroom.  Students from different grade levels learn together and help each other. Rita Montans is a teacher at Public School No 294. “Our core teaching is based on the principles of sustainability, environmental protections, and coexistence, so naturally it creates an environment where it is easier to make relations.  The multi-grade system enables a fourth grade child to study with a third grade student and monitor him or her.  A second grade student can be in pre-school and a first grade child can be with the third grade students.” The school is still young. But its teachers and administrators are hopeful that the lessons their students are learning will last a lifetime. “I hope that when younger children graduate from here, they take away with them this seed we sowed just like we grow plants in the nursery, and that the ideas to protect the environment and to live in harmony with the environment remain important.” I’m Phil Dierking.   Faith Lapidus reported this story for VOANews.com. Phil Dierking adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. Do you think that all schools should teach sustainable lifestyles?  Why? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. __________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   conservation – n. the protection of animals, plants, and natural resources crops – n. a crop (such as tobacco or cotton) that is grown to be sold rather than for use by the farmer curriculum – n. the courses that are taught by a school, college, etc. organic – adj. grown or made without the use of artificial chemicals recycling – n. to make something new from something that has been used before sow – v. to plant seeds in an area of ground

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WHO: New Treatments Needed for Antibiotic-Resistant 'Superbugs'

  The World Health Organization (WHO) has made an appeal to scientists, drug manufacturers and governments. The WHO wants them to work together to develop drugs to fight 12 bacteria. These bacteria are able to resist powerful antibiotic drugs. The resistance is so unusually strong all 12 have been given a special name: “superbug.” The United Nations agency reported this week the 12 superbugs are a threat to human health. It said they have the ability to turn easily treatable infections into killers. A few examples are blood, lung and brain infections, food poisoning and gonorrhea, a disease spread by sexual activity. The WHO says superbugs can also pass along genetic material that helps other bacteria become resistant to drug treatment. Marie-Paule Kieny is the U.N. agency’s assistant director-general. She said “antibiotic resistance is growing and we are fast running out of treatment options.” She urged governments to give drug companies reasons to develop new treatments. “If we leave it to market forces alone, the new antibiotics we most urgently need are not going to be developed in time,” she said. Antibiotic drugs can lose their effectiveness when people take more or less of than the amount required by doctors. When this happens, infections that were at one time easily treated become resistant. Germs can also be spread in nature from air, water and animals. I’m Jill Robbins.   VOA’s Kenneth Schwartz reported this story from Washington. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   gonorrhea - n. a disease of the sex organs that is spread by sexual contact option - n.  the opportunity or ability to choose something or to choose between two or more things market forces - n. the actions of buyers and sellers that cause the prices of goods and services to change without being controlled by the government 

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Undocumented Immigrants Seek Shelter in American Churches

  Ishmael Delgado has been living in the United States since the early 1990s. Delgado entered the country without legal permission. He came alone across a desert. Two years ago, the U.S. government told him to return home because he is an undocumented immigrant. A short time later, Delgado fled to a church in Phoenix, Arizona. Today he sleeps on a bed in the bottom floor of the building. “I came alone with my clothes, and the first day I don't remember, too much things passing in my head.” Delgado has exchanged his freedom for the safety of Shadow Rock Church. “Pastor Ken -- at the beginning, I saw him, I saw his eyes. He wants to help me. He says ‘The doors of Shadow Rock are open for you’ -- oh my God.” The Reverend Ken Heintzelman is the head of the church. “He (Delgado) needs a chance and our system doesn’t allow for many chances for people.” Delgado admits the U.S. immigration system might not give him another chance. But he says living in the church has changed him. “Right now I don’t say bad words. I don’t need alcohol to live. I don’t smoke. I don’t need it.” Sixto Paz, another undocumented immigrant, joined Delgado at the Shadow Rock Church nine months ago. “I feel like my son, my little son is my power. This is something that can give me more strong to stay and fight.” Sixto sees his son from time to time, but he misses have a job. “Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. In the morning, sometimes you feel like everything is going fine. If you go check TV, someone coming like saying Trump doing this law, Trump just signed this up. It changed. You feel like ‘what’s going on? What happened with the world?’” Other undocumented immigrants are living in fear of the U.S. government. They know the protection offered by some religious groups can last only so long. I’m Marsha James.   VOA Correspondent Katherine Gypson reported this story from Phoenix, Arizona. John Smith adapted the story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

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Twitter Fights Abuse, But Free Speech Activists Worry About Censorship

  The social networking website Twitter has put new measures in place to try to stop users from being harassed or from seeing things that offend them. Some free-speech activists are worried that the changes could lead to unpopular ideas being censored. The measures were announced last week. They include hiding possibly threatening messages even if no one has complained to the company that the person who sent them is abusive. In a statement announcing the change, the company said, “We’re working to identify accounts as they’re engaging in abusive behavior -- even if this behavior hasn’t been reported to us." The company said it would take action only when it strongly believes abuse has taken place. It uses software to identify abuse. Risk to free speech? But some free speech supporters are worried about the changes. Suzanne Nossel is the executive director of the free speech activist group PEN America. She said Twitter is considering taking action, in her words, “where there is really no problem that needs to be solved. To take action when there hasn’t been a complaint raises the concern of whether there will be mistaken blocking of accounts or suspending of accounts,” she said. “That raises a risk.” Twitter has been pressured to deal with abusive speech in the past few months after some famous people complained about long-term, planned abuse campaigns. Actress Leslie Jones left Twitter for a brief time last year after she received many racist messages and death threats. Several months after she met with the head of Twitter, the company announced it had developed new ways to deal with abusive messages. Those ways included strengthening the ability of users to stop receiving messages that had certain words or expressions in them, and expanding the ability of users to report abuse. Twitter also retrained its workers on how to deal with online abuse. Esha Bhandari is a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. She told VOA that she supports these kinds of changes, which permit users to have more control over what messages they see and from whom they receive messages. She said the ACLU encourages companies to focus less on ways it can stop abuse and more “on tools that allow users to control their experience on the platform." Low-quality tweets and safe search function But some tools launched by Twitter give the company a lot of power to decide what messages are seen. In February, the company began hiding what it called “potentially abusive or low-quality tweets.” The messages will still be able to be seen, but only if people search for them. VOA asked Twitter many times for more information on how it decided which messages are “low-quality.” Twitter did not answer our questions. Also in February, Twitter introduced a “safe search” function that removes messages that have “potentially sensitive content” from search results. VOA also asked the company how it identified this kind of message, but Twitter again did not answer our questions. Global town square As a private company, Twitter is not forced to permit free speech. However, spokespeople say the service permits free expression. And they say they believe in “speaking truth to power.” PEN America and the ACLU support this role. Nossel and Bhandari say they consider Twitter a kind of global town square, where everyone’s voice has equal weight. Bhandari  said, “As a practical matter, decisions made by Twitter have a huge impact on the messages that we receive, and I hope that Twitter and other companies take those responsibilities seriously." Nossel noted that Twitter has financial reasons to be careful as it seeks to balance free expression and stopping abuse. “The power and influence of their platform depends on the free flow of ideas, so I think there are commercial reasons why they would not want to limit (free speech),” Gnossel said. “And I think for their users, they do have a kind of softer, implicit contract that they are going to be a platform in which you can express things freely.” I’m Ashley Thompson.    VOA News Writer Joshua Fatzick reported this story from Washington. John Smith adapted the story for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly 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   account – n. an arrangement in which a person uses the Internet or e-mail services of a particular company​ complain – v. to say or write that you are unhappy, sick, uncomfortable, etc., or that you do not like something​ engage in – phrasal verb to do (something) encourage –​ v. to make (something) more appealing or more likely to happen​ allow – v. to make it possible for someone or something to have or do something​ focus – v. to direct your attention or effort at something specific​ racism – n. the belief that some races of people are better than others potentially – adv. capable of becoming real​ function – n. the special purpose or activity for which a thing exists or is used​ platform – n. something that allows someone to tell a large number of people about an idea, product, etc. practical – adj. likely to succeed and reasonable to do or use​ impact – n. logical and reasonable in a particular situation​ implicit – adj. understood though not clearly or directly stated​  

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News Words: Hybrid

Do you know what a hybrid is? Learn with News Words.

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