Everyday Grammar: Either/Or, Neither/Nor

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Review of Lessons 45 -49

Nobody's Perfect We are teaching the present perfect tense in this group of lessons, but we are not perfect. This week, we have a "bloopers" video for you. Bloopers are mistakes that actors make when they are saying their lines on camera. They make both the actors and the audience laugh. We make a lot of mistakes while we are filming Let's Learn English, so we have been laughing a lot in the past year. It has been fun for us to make this course for you. We are very happy with the response from you, our audience, to this online course over the past year. You have been writing to us, sharing the lessons with your friends, and coming back week after week to see each new lesson. We know that you have been studying English well. How about the things you have done for fun? What else have you done this year? Write to us in the Comments section or by email. Review Quiz In this quiz, you can test your listening skills and review the last five lessons. Watch a short video and answer each question. Lesson Review Did you miss a lesson? Look back and see if you remember these grammar points and topics. Lesson 45: This Land is Your Land Grammar: Future continuous verb tense​ Topics: Talking about upcoming events​; Expressing desires to see sights or do activities on a trip Learning Strategy: Predict Speaking & Pronunciation: Reduced form of "will" in the future continuous verb tense Lesson 46: May I Borrow That? Grammar: Verbs lend, borrow, and loan Topics: Asking for permission Learning Strategy: Act It Out Pronunciation: Words that end in "r" in American English Lesson 47: How Can I Help? Grammar: Review of past and present continuous; review of reflexive pronouns Topics: Offering and accepting help Learning Strategy: Access Information Sources Speaking & Pronunciation: Reduced form of "I will" in American English Lesson 48: Have You Ever ...? Grammar: Present perfect verb tense​ Topics: Review of making recommendations; Talking about things to do and see Learning Strategy: Focus Attention Speaking & Pronunciation: Past participle of BE​ Lesson 49: Operation Spy! Grammar: Present perfect vs. present; Present perfect vs. Past tense Topics: Reacting to information; Research for work Learning Strategy: Find Practice Opportunities Speaking & Pronunciation: Reduced forms of has/have in present perfect tense Now it's your turn. How are you using Let's Learn English? Tell us about where you live and how often you do these lessons.  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 these lessons.

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Political Satire Has a Long Tradition in the US

  Love him or hate him, President Donald Trump has been good for satire. Satire is a kind of humor that makes fun of people, groups or governments. It has been around in one form or another for over 2,000 years. The American TV show Saturday Night Live has been making fun of American presidents since 1975. The show is getting more viewers than any time in over 20 years. The show often has American actor Alec Baldwin wearing a wig with bright orange hair, pretending to be President Trump. In one recent show, Baldwin pretended to make phone calls to actors playing Australian President Malcolm Turnbull and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Trump has made it clear he is not a fan. He tweeted: “Just tried watching Saturday Night Live - unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad.” The National Review says Saturday Night Live has not only gone after Trump unfairly, but makes sexist comments about his wife, Melania, and one of his top aides, Kellyanne Conway. The National Review’s Carrie Lukas wrote, “SNL depicts Conway — the president of a successful polling company she launched at age 29 — as an airhead, a publicity hound, and a gold digger.” She added that it ignores the fact that Conway was the first woman to lead a successful presidential campaign. Sometimes it is hard to tell satire from “real news.” The White House recently ran a list of stories and comments on the White House website that it said praised the president’s budget. It included a story in The Washington Post with the title, “Trump’s budget makes perfect sense and will fix America, and I will tell you why.” But the article was actually a satire by Post writer Alexandra Petri. She wrote about a big reduction in money for the U.S. State Department. “With the money we will save on these sad public servants, we will be able to buy lots of GUNS and F-35s and other cool things that go BOOM and POW and PEW PEW PEW.” Trump supporters also watching Trump supporters let performers know when they feel they have gone too far in making fun of the president, said Ed Furman of the Chicago satirical group, “Second City.” They do so by booing -- a sound that shows disapproval, Furman said. He added that at one show, an audience member shouted out, “Get over it, you lost,” after a Trump joke. Still, Trump is giving today’s satirical performers a lot of material. Time Magazine Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs wrote Thursday, “Whether it's the size of his inaugural crowds or voter fraud or NATO funding or the claim that he was wiretapped, Trump says a great many things that are demonstrably false.” Larry Bogad is a performer and professor of performance studies at University of California Davis. He said satire is supposed to use exaggeration -- make something seem worse or better than it is. But he said it is difficult, in his words, "exaggerate all the incredible things Trump is saying and doing every day.” Long history of satire Satire goes all the way back to the ancient Greeks 2,400 years ago when Aristophanes made fun of the Peloponnesian War. Ben Franklin, an American founding father, wrote satire to make fun of the British during the war of Independence. Satire has sometimes been met with violence. In 2011, attackers broke the hand of Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat after he drew a cartoon showing President Bashar al-Assad leaving town with Moammar Qaddafi of Libya. In 2015, gunmen killed 12 people at the Paris satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The attackers reportedly shouted that they were avenging Prophet Mohammed. The magazine had run controversial cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed. More options today for satire Today, with television and the internet, satire is seemingly everywhere. American TV and cable shows such as “The Daily Show,” “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” often make Trump a target of their humor. Robert Thompson is director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at New York’s Syracuse University. He said satirical television shows are not giving Democrats a free pass. Thompson noted that Jon Stewart, the former host of The Daily Show, often made fun of Democratic President Barack Obama. “The performers may be left of center, but comedy always has to aim at the person who is in power,” Thompson said. The Capitol Steps is a Washington D.C.-based satirical group of former congressional staffers. The group is known for making fun of both Republicans and Democrats. Recently, the group made fun of Democrat Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 presidential election There are also satirical shows at state capitals from New York to Louisiana. Even a small community outside Washington D.C., called Bannockburn, does a yearly show making fun of politicians and local issues. Popular subjects might include neighbors who do not clean up after their dogs or teenagers being embarrassed by their parents. This year’s show, the group’s 61st, has 50 performers -- ages 8-86.   Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. ____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   wig - n. artificial hair that you wear on your head because you are bald or in order to change your appearance pretend - v. to imagine and act out a particular role or situation biased - adj. having or showing an unfair tendency to believe that some people, ideas are better than others fraud - n. a person who pretends to be what he or she is not in order to trick people or, in this case, to vote wiretap - v. to place a device on someone's phone in order to secretly listen to telephone calls cartoonist - n. someone who draws cartoons, drawings in a newspaper or magazine intended as a humorous comment on something avenge - v to harm or punish someone who has harmed you or someone or something that you care about controversial - adj. relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument embarrass - v. to make someone feel confused and foolish in front of other people

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Online Degree Programs May Change the Future of Higher Education

  The more than 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States offer many different educational experiences. For hundreds of years, young people have come to these schools to learn new things and find direction in life. But now, with the help of technology, the way knowledge passes from teachers to their students is changing. In February 2016, the Babson Survey Research Group reported that 28 percent of all U.S. college students took at least one class over the internet. The research group, part of Babson College in Massachusetts, studies all levels of education across the country. Yet, having students take a few online classes during their college years is not the only change technology is driving. Many U.S. colleges and universities now offer full degree programs online. This opens up all kinds of possibilities for students around the world. One such student, Leanne from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, is using an online degree program to meet her needs. The 30-year-old asked VOA not to share her last name as she has yet to complete her studies. In 2012, Leanne earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing through a traditional study program at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. She then started working as a nurse in the Washington, DC area. After a few years, Leanne decided she wanted to earn a master’s degree to help further her career in medicine. However, she did not want to move to another city to continue her education, as can often be the case for students. Her job and her husband were in Washington, and she only wanted to study part-time. So, Leanne decided to look for an online program. "There were a lot of good, appealing things about doing it online -- it allowed me to work full-time and fit the schoolwork into my schedule, which often made it a lot more financially feasible. And … the nurse practitioner program, they have nationally gone … towards being online, to the point where it’s actually very difficult to find a program that was in person." In 2014, Leanne began taking nursing classes through the online master’s degree program at DC’s George Washington University. The program provides medical training videos through her home computer. She also is involved in discussion groups, takes tests, and submits projects online. Leanne says much of her studies are self-directed. But students also must physically visit the university at least four times during their three-year program for in-person testing. Leanne says her program appeals to a lot of people with full-time jobs. And, George Washington University is not alone in its efforts to spread online education. The communications company AT&T gave the Georgia Institute of Technology $4 million to create an online degree program in 2014. This led to an online master’s degree program in computer science. And in the past few years, the program has become a true success story, says Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of public policy at Harvard University. Goodman studied the effects of the online program. Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government published his findings last September. Goodman says online degree programs have faced two major barriers. First, it has often been lesser-known, lower-quality, or for-profit universities that have offered online programs. Second, well-known, high-quality schools charged the same price for online and in-person programs. This often led to students choosing the traditional programs. But the Georgia Tech program may have solved these problems, Goodman says. Many experts consider the university to have one of the best computer science master’s degree programs in the country. Also, Georgia Tech began offering the online program at less than one sixth of the cost of the traditional program. The school’s in-person program only has room for about 300 students. The online program had about 1,700 new students at the start of the school year. Yet Goodman argues it is not just the quality or the price that make Georgia Tech’s online program so successful. The average age of students trying to get into the traditional program is about 24. The average age of the online students is 34. These are people in the middle of their careers, Goodman notes. They are not free to drop everything and spend a few years studying instead of working. Goodman says before the Georgia Tech program, many of these people had no other good choices for furthering their education. "The folks who applied for this program … did not have other educational options that they would do if they didn’t get into this program. … What we found is that if they got into this program, they went, they did this degree. And if they didn’t get in, almost none of them went to another university. So it seems like this program is creating educational opportunities for mid-career people that would not have otherwise existed." Online degree programs seem to not only help students with non-traditional needs. In some cases, the appeal of the programs has helped the schools themselves. This is especially important considering many colleges and universities have struggled financially in recent years. Simmons College is a small, private college in Boston, Massachusetts. For several years, Simmons accepted more graduate students than undergraduates. In 2012, the school created a plan to start offering two of its most popular master’s degree programs online. The two are in nursing and social work. Last year, the college collected about $45 million in student payments for those programs. This year the programs are expected to bring in about $55.9 million. This is about $3 million more than all the in-person graduate programs Simmons offers, combined. Suzanne Murphy is the head of the online programs at Simmons. She says the reason those programs appeal to so many students is the quality. “You measure success in student outcomes,” Murphy said. “‘How are the students doing?’ ‘How are they progressing through the programs?’ Things like that. And the programs that we put online are the same programs that we have on the ground.” Leanne, Goodman and Murphy all agree there are many other ways to improve online degree programs in general. Next week, we will look at some of the problems such programs still face. I’m Pete Musto.   Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. How do you think online degree programs compare to in-person programs? What are the good or bad qualities you think online programs have? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   online – adj. done over the Internet class(es) – n. a series of meetings in which students are taught a particular subject or activity degree – n. an official document and title that is given to someone who has successfully completed a series of classes at a college or university open(s) up – p.v. to become or cause something to become available or possible bachelor’s – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study master’s – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after one or two years of additional study following a bachelor's degree allow(ed) – v. to let someone have or do something schedule – n. a plan of things that will be done and the times when they will be done financially – adv. relating to money feasible – adj. possible to do nurse practitioner – n. a nurse who is trained to do some of the things a doctor does, such as give physical exams or order certain medical tests folk(s) – n. people in general applied – v. asked formally for something, such as a job, admission to a school, or a loan, usually in writing graduate – adj. of or relating to a course of studies taken at a college or university after earning a bachelor's degree or other first degree undergraduate(s) – n. a student at a college or university who has not yet earned a degree outcome(s) – n. something that happens as a result of an activity or process 

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Indonesia Gives Some Control of Forests to Native Groups

  Indonesian President Joko Widodo gave control of nine forests back to native, or indigenous, groups last December. The move was praised as an important step to recognize and protect forests traditionally held by indigenous Indonesians. However, indigenous groups were disappointed earlier this month when President Widodo did not attend a congress of Indonesian indigenous groups.  Instead, he sent Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya. She said the recent release of land was, in her words, “just the beginning.” The Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago, or AMAN, says an estimated 8.2 million hectares of forests belong to indigenous people. But, the group says only 20,000 hectares of forest have been divested back to indigenous leaders by Indonesia. The newly-elected secretary-general of AMAN did not blame the president, but those around him for slowing progress on the issue. In 2012, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court ruled that indigenous forests should be protected. But it took more than three years, after the ruling, for President Widodo to sign over the first forests. There are other issues that have slowed the transfer of land to indigenous groups. These include wide geographical differences between areas to be protected and environmental threats. Adding to that are the many different traditional laws among the country’s indigenous groups. Government action took time after forest ruling Wimar Witolar worked with the Environment and Forest Ministry until 2015. He said, “This is the first time anything like this has been tried on Indonesian lands.” He said the biggest part of the effort was to make a map of indigenous forests. Now that the maps are done, he says, transfers can go forward. Deny Rahadian is head of the Indonesian Community Mapping Network. Rahadian said getting district-level governments to supervise traditional village boundaries is important to speed the forest transfers. “For instance, it took eight years to recognize that certain West Javanese forests belong to the Kesapuhan Banten Kidul people,” said Rahadian. Environmental activist, Aleta Baun said the goal is to have the government turn over all eight million hectares to indigenous communities. She spoke at the meeting of indigenous groups. She said Jokowi’s absence at the indigenous meeting this month hurt efforts to transfer forest lands. Kinarang Boy is an indigenous person from the island of Borneo. He says that a forest being designated as indigenous does not protect it from farming or other activities. He says there are not yet any laws regulating the use of these traditional lands. “We have customary land rights that are not yet encoded into laws, but we use our land for many things.” That includes farming and caring for traditional relics and burial places. But these are not permitted by law. Forest management proves not easy but necessary Moira Moeliono is with the Center for International Forestry Research. She says the government has been slow to give forests to indigenous groups out of concern for how they will manage the forests. “Yet the government management of forests was not much better,” she said, adding that, “It was either use or conserve.” However, indigenous control of forests does not mean that business activity stops. One group in South Sulawesi still permits logging in its forests in some areas. Tropical forests are of special interest because they can have an effect on the world’s climate. A report from the Word Resources Institute and Woods Hole Research Center in 2016 said tropical forests on indigenous lands are important for storing carbon. It said more than one quarter of all carbon held in tropical forests is on indigenous lands. Kinarang Boy said indigenous people can deal with delays. “We will wait for our forests to be protected,” he said. “We have held on to our land(s) this far, and we don’t plan to sell them at any point in the future.” I’m Mario Ritter.   Krithika Varagur reported this story from Sumatra for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   Indigenous –adj. native to a place, from a place since the beginning Divest –v. to sell or give away something of value Quarry –v. to cut rock for use in building or other activities Designated –adj. to be identified as, to be officially considered a member of some group Relics –n. objects from the past

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After Months of Repairs, Burial Place of Jesus Reopens

A team of scientists and workers has completed repairs on what is said to be the burial place of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem’s Old City. It was the first time that workers have repaired the religious shrine since 1810. The project took nine months to complete. The area reopened to the public on Wednesday. The limestone and marble structure stands at the center of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, one of the world’s oldest religious centers. ​     The shrine is considered among the holiest places in Christianity. It needed urgent repairs after years of damage from water, humidity and smoke. The Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic religions share ownership of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Disputes between them had prevented repairs from taking place on the grounds for more than 200 years. Bonnie Burnham is with the World Monuments Fund, an American non-profit group. She told the Associated Press: "If this intervention hadn't happened now, there is a very great risk that there could have been a collapse.” Work on the tomb finally began last year, after officials with Israel’s Antiquities Authority called the area unsafe.           The team worked mainly on repairing a small structure above the burial place. It is known as the Edicule. Workers removed an iron cage that long surrounded the Edicule. British crews set up the cage in the 1940s to help support the walls. After the repair work, supportive equipment is no longer needed.     Workers also cleaned the shrine’s walls of black soot, which had built up from many years of visitors lighting candles. Now, the tomb is closer to its original coloring, a warm, reddish yellow color.        Antonia Moropoulou is with the National Technical University of Athens in Greece. She oversaw the repair project. “Before this the monument was black,” she told Agence France-Presse. “This is the actual color of the monument, the color of hope.” Each of the three religious denominations reportedly donated money toward the restoration project. Jordan’s King Abdullah also reportedly made a donation. The repairs cost more than $3 million. I’m Ashley Thompson.   Ashley Thompson adapted this article for VOA Learning English. Her story was based on reports from Reuters and the Associated Press, plus additional materials. George Grow was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   shrine - n. a place connected with a holy person or event where people go to worship cage - n. ​a box made of wire or metal bars in which people keep animals or birds​ original - adj. ​happening or existing first or at the beginning denomination - n.  a religious group

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Farm Terms Are Good for Business

  Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories. Today, we are down on the farm! Since the 16th century, the word "farm" has meant "land used for agricultural purposes." But a much older meaning is related to economics. The English word farm comes from the Latin word firma, which means an unchanging payment. Experts say the earliest meaning of "farm" was a yearly payment made on a loan or as a tax. Centuries ago, English farmers did not own their land. They made payments to the owner for the right to grow crops. Okay, so the word “farm” has roots in economics. Therefore, it’s no surprise to hear about someone buying a farm -- a farm. That is very different from someone who has bought the farm. When someone tells you that someone bought the farm, do not offer your congratulations. “Bought the farm” is a light-hearted way to say that a person has died. Now, “buying the farm” is very different from betting the farm. When you bet the farm, you are willing to risk everything because you are confident in something. Used in conversation, it may sound like this: “Jack was out really late last night. I'm willing to bet the farm that today he will be late for work.” So, you can buy, own or bet a farm. You can also just farm, as in the verb. But today, the verb “farm” has come to mean something more than raising crops. To farm something out means to give work or duties to someone else to finish. This “farming” action is quite different from planting and raising crops. To do that, farmers plant seeds. You could say that seeds start the growth process. In business, seed money is the financing you need to launch a project or company.  Now, sometimes we call the act of raising crops "sowing crops." To sow means to plant seeds in the ground. The verb “sow” also means to set in motion or to cause something to exist -- especially things such as fear, doubt or suspicion. We use the word “sow” in two common idioms. Let’s say you have a friend who shows a lack of common sense and does stupid, crazy things. You might defend their behavior by saying: “Oh, he doesn’t mean any harm. He’s just sowing his wild oats.” When someone “sows their wild oats” they act foolishly and make bad decisions when they are young. Many people learn from their wild mistakes of youth -- some the hard way. They might have to reap what they sow. This expression means that we all must deal with the results of our actions. Young and old alike might one day have to reap what they sow. However, if your friend continues to act foolishly, you could plant a seed of caution in him. To plant a seed in someone is to influence another person’s thinking or behavior. And as we just heard, you can plant a seed of something. Americans often use the expression to plant a seed of doubt. If that “seed” -- whether of doubt, caution or some other idea -- takes root, it begins to develop into something bigger. If it dies on the vine, it doesn’t grow into anything worth keeping -- just something else to clean up. We can also say that a plant, person or idea has gone to seed. To go to seed is to "worsen in condition because of lack of care." This expression is based on the actual meaning of plants that “go to seed.” They stop producing flowers and start producing seeds. Now, let’s hear these common farming expressions used in a casual conversation about work. Two friends on their way to work stop for coffee and to “talk shop” -- they talk about work. Dialogue: I want to stop for coffee before heading into work. Do you have time? Sure. Actually, I want to hear about your new start-up. So, how is your new product launch going? It’s going better now. But I ran into a rough patch a few weeks ago. What happened? Well, a man who worked for me was trying to steal my customers. After every meeting with a customer, he would pull them aside and try to plant seeds of doubt about whether my business was the right fit for them.   Wow, that’s awful. What did you do? I fired him. It’s a good thing his attempts to hurt your business didn’t take root. Actually, in the end, it only hurt him. Word got around and now people don’t trust him. So, he hasn’t been able to find another job. I saw him the other day and he looks awful. He has really gone to seed. You know what they say: “You reap what you sow.” If you do bad things, you will sooner or later have to deal the results. That is so true. But now, I have another problem -- money. I used up all the seed money I had saved for the project. I know you pretty well. I’ll bet the farm that you will not let your business die on the vine. No way. I have already found another investor. And I started farming out the art work to some university students. That will save me a lot of money. Well, it sounds like you’re really busy, but happy. I love my work. You know, I was talking to an old college friend last night. We both sowed our wild oats when we were younger. Now, that we’re older and, hopefully, wiser we are perfectly happy spending much of our time on work. You know, I never did anything too crazy when I was younger. Maybe these restless feelings I have are my wild oats that I didn’t sow. Maybe I’ll quit my job and travel around Europe for a month! That sounds fun. But let me plant a seed of caution -- before you quit your job, save up a lot of money and have another job waiting for when you get back. Well that doesn’t sound like a crazy, wild time. Exactly. You’re not in your 20s any more. Good point. Well, here’s our coffee order. This one’s on me. If you’re going to be traveling around Europe, you’d better start saving your money now. Cheers! Cheers! And that brings us to the end of Words and Their Stories. Hopefully some of these farm expressions will take root in your everyday English. I’m Anna Matteo. "You can have a lot of fun in a New York minute, but there some things you can't do in those city limits. There ain't no closing time, there ain't no cover charge, just country boys and girls getting down on the farm."   Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Marilyn Rice Christiano wrote the text involving the origin of the word "farm." At the end of the story, Garth Brooks sings "Down on the Farm." ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   light-hearted – adj. free from care, anxiety or seriousness doubt – n. a feeling of being uncertain or unsure about something neglect – v. to leave undone or unattended to especially through carelessness talk shop informal phrase to talk about work: They like to talk shop during lunch. start-up – n. a newly established business reap – v. cut or gather (a crop or harvest)  

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Afghanistan, a Dangerous Place to Be, to Have a Baby

Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to live and have children, says a United Nations report.

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English in a Minute: Jump on the Bandwagon

A "bandwagon" was once a vehicle that carried circus performers. In this idiom, it has a different meaning. Practice using this popular expression with this week's EIM!

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Talking Movies on Words to the Wise

Many of you might watch American movies to help you learn english. I'm Caty Weaver. My colleague Ashley Thompson is here in the studio with me. Hey, Ashley! Hey, Caty! Today on Words to the Wise the two of us are going to talk about movies. Well, not movies directly. We are actually going to talk about how Americans talk about movies. We'll go over some common words and phrases that you might not have heard before -- or maybe some you have heard and wondered about. So, Caty, do you go the movies?  I do! I especially like horror flicks. Ooh, flicks -- that's a good word. Can you explain what it means? Flick is another word for movie. It comes from the word flicker.  Back in the early days of movies the equipment in theaters that they used to show the movies was not very advanced.  So, the film would go from bright to dark very, very quickly.  The light in the film would flicker. So, people called movies "flickers" and then, "flicks." So, it evolved from flicker to flick. Mm-hmm, 'cause we like to shorten words. Yes, we do. Now, when you go to the movie theaters today, you don't see the flicker effect anymore because the machines are much improved, or more advanced. But the name flick for movie has stuck.​ I think it might be losing favor, though. I don't hear young people use the term very much. Cinema is probably going the same way; probably losing favor among young people Right, so the first definition of cinema is movie theater. But it might also mean the art or industry of moviemaking. People might talk about 'American cinema' or '20th century cinema,'  for example. People also use the word "Hollywood" to refer to movies and movie making. Often when they say Hollywood, though, they are talking more about the industry, or the business of making movies. And when they talk about cinema, they are talking more about the art of movie making. Another fun term for Hollywood that you might hear is tinseltown. Tinsel is long narrow strips of shiny metal that we use for decoration. People might put tinsel on Christmas trees. And, actually, it can also be used in clothing, as well. So, does that mean Hollywood is a bright shiny place? I guess, in a way. It is in full of bright and shiny stars -- movie stars. But the name also suggests a falseness. Tinsel is not really a high quality metal, of course. It shines like it's silver or gold but it's definitely not. It's seen kind of as false or fake, and some people might say that about Hollywood in general. So, another term you might hear in movie talk is "blockbuster." It sounds a little dangerous but every filmmaker wants one, right? Yes, definitely. So, if someone calls a movie a blockbuster hit that means it's made a lot of money and its very popular -- many people bought tickets to go see it theaters. This year, in fact, "LaLa Land," that musical, was a huge hit. It was a blockbuster. Definitely, the blockbuster of the year. Right. Another term referring to how a movie does is "sleeper." When a movie is big hit but it wasn't expected to be; or if there wasn't a lot of buzz -- or talk -- about it before it came out but it does really well, it's called a sleeper. Yeah. You might hear this about films that had a lower budget or were not directed by some of the most famous names in Hollywood. They might be independent movies; a lot of them become sleeper hits. Right. Also called "indies." So, sometimes a movie might get a lot of buzz but then it's a flop. Which means it does poorly at the box office and also sometimes with critics, too. A movie that's a big flop is kind of a disaster for its makers. So to flop as a verb means to fall or hang, kind of in a heavy, loose way.  So when a movie flops, it's a very hard fall -- really another way of saying failure. So, we hope this Words to the Wise has not been a flop. We'd love to know what you thought of the show and, also we'd like suggestion for future shows -- what kind of words or phrases you'd like to hear about. I'm Caty Weaver. And I'm Ashley Thompson. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story colleague - n. a person who works with you: a fellow worker​ flicker - v. to burn or glow in an unsteady way : to produce an unsteady light​ buzz - n.  the things that are being said about something​ hit - n. something that is very successful​

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'William Wilson,' by Edgar Allan Poe, Part Three

We present the third of four parts of the short story "William Wilson," by Edgar Allan Poe. The story was originally adapted and recorded by the U.S. Department of State. You will remember that in the last part of my story I told of my experiences in my first school; I spoke of my early meetings with a boy who looked and behaved as I did – whose name was even the same as mine: William Wilson. I told of the night when I went to Wilson’s room, with a plan to hurt him. What I saw that night so frightened me that I left the room and the school forever. As I stood looking down at his sleeping form and face I might have been looking at myself in a looking glass. It was not like this — surely not like this — that he appeared in the daytime. The same name, the same face, the same body, the same day of coming to school! And then his use of my way of walking, my manner of speaking! Was it, in truth, humanly possible that what I now saw was the result and the result only — of his continued efforts to be like me? Afraid, I left the old school and never entered it again. After some months at home, doing nothing, I went to study at the famous school called Eton. I had partly for gotten my days at the other school, or at least my feelings about those days had changed. The truth — the terrible truth — of what had happened there was gone. Now I doubted what I remembered. Now I called the subject into my mind only to smile at the strength of the strange ideas and thoughts I had once had. My life at Eton did not change this view. The fool’s life into which I carelessly threw myself washed away everything that was valuable in my past. I do not wish, however, to tell here the story of my wrongdoing — wrongdoing which went against every law of the school and escaped the watchful eyes of all the teachers. Three years of this had passed and I had grown much larger in body and smaller in soul. Three years of wrongdoing had made me evil. One night I asked a group of friends who were as evil as I to come to a secret meeting in my room. We met at a late hour. There was strong drink, and there were games of cards and loud talking until the new day began appearing in the east. Warm with the wine and with the games of chance, I was raising my glass to drink in honor of some especially evil idea, when I heard the voice of a servant outside the room. He said that someone had asked to speak with me in another room. I was delighted. A few steps brought me into the hall of the building. In this room no light was hanging. But I could see the form of a young man about my own height, wearing clothes like those I myself was wearing. His face I could not see. When I had entered he came quickly up to me, and, taking me by the arm, he said softly in my ear: “William Wilson!” There was something in the manner of the stranger, and in the trembling of his uplifted finger, which made my eyes open wide; but it was not this which had so strongly touched my mind and heart. It was the sound of those two, simple, well-known words, William Wilson, which reached into my soul. Before I could think again and speak, he was gone. For some weeks I thought about this happening. Who and what was this Wilson? — where did he come from? — and what were his purposes? I learned that for family reasons he had suddenly left the other school on the afternoon of the day I myself had left it. But in a short time I stopped thinking about the subject; I gave all my thought to plans for study at Oxford University. There I soon went. My father and mother sent me enough money to live like the sons of the richest families in England. Now my nature showed itself with double force. I threw aside all honor. Among those who spent too much money, I spent more; and I added new forms of wrongdoing to the older ones already well-known at the university. And I fell still lower. Although it may not be easily believed, it is a fact that I forgot my position as a gentleman. I learned and used all the evil ways of those men who live by playing cards. Like such skilled gamblers, I played to make money. My friends trusted me, however. To them I was the laughing but honorable William Wilson, who freely gave gifts to anyone and everyone, who was young and who had some strange ideas, but who never did anything really bad. For two years I was successful in this way. Then a young man came to the university, a young man named Glendinning, who, people said, had quickly and easily become very rich. I soon found him of weak mind. This, of course, made it easy for me to get his money by playing cards. I played with him often. At first, with the gambler’s usual skill, I let him take money from me. Then my plans were ready. I met him one night in the room of another friend, Mr. Preston. A group of eight or ten persons were there. By my careful planning I made it seem that it was chance that started us playing cards. In fact, it was Glendinning himself who first spoke of a card game. We sat and played far into the night, and at last the others stopped playing. Glendinning and I played by ourselves, while the others watched. The game was the one I liked best, a game called “écarté.” Glendinning played with a wild nervousness that I could not understand, though it was caused partly, I thought, by all the wine he had been drinking. In a very short time he had lost a great amount of money to me. Now he wanted to double the amount for which we played. This was as I had planned, but I made it seem that I did not want to agree. At last I said yes. In an hour he had lost four times as much money as before. For some reason his face had become white. I had thought him so rich that losing money would not trouble him, and I believed this whiteness, this paleness, was the result of drinking too much wine. Now, fearing what my friends might say about me, I was about to stop the game when his broken cry and the wild look in his eyes made me understand that he had lost everything he owned. Weak of mind and made weaker by wine, he should never have been allowed to play that night. But I had not stopped him; I had used his condition to destroy him. The room was very quiet. I could feel the icy coldness in my friends. What I would have done I cannot say, for at that moment the wide heavy doors of the room were suddenly opened. Every light in the room went out, but I had seen that a man had entered; he was about my own height, and he was wearing a very fine, long coat. The darkness, however, was now complete, and we could only feel that he was standing among us. Then we heard his voice. In a soft, low, never-to-be-forgotten voice, which I felt deep in my bones, he said: “Gentlemen, I am here only to do my duty. You cannot know the true character of the man who has tonight taken a large amount of money from Mr. Glendinning. Please have him take off his coat, and then, look in it very carefully.” While he was speaking there was not another sound in the room. And as he ended, he was gone!   Download a lesson plan to use with this story here. Now it's your turn to use the words in this story. Have you ever done something even though you knew it was wrong to do? How do you deal with what happens after you do something you know is wrong? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   looking glass - n. an old fashioned term for ‘mirror’ manner - n. the way that something is done or happens wrongdoing - n. behavior that is morally or legally wrong cards – n. a small piece of stiff paper that is marked with symbols or pictures to show its value, comes in a set, and is used for playing games delighted - adj. made very happy; full of great pleasure or satisfaction height - n. a measurement of how tall a person or thing is; the distance from the bottom to the top of a person or thing gentleman - n. a man who treats other people in a proper and polite way gambler - n. someone who plays games in which you can win or lose money or possessions; to bet money or other valuable things paleness - n. the quality of being light in color or lacking color coat - n. an outer piece of clothing that can be long or short and that is worn to keep warm or dry

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