Winter Rains Bring Attention to Los Angeles River

  It’s time for spring-cleaning in Los Angeles. Usually that term relates to housekeeping: throwing away unwanted items, organizing closets, and washing places that have become dirty over the winter. But in this case, we are talking about the massive project of cleaning up the Los Angeles River in Southern California. The river runs about 80 kilometers and passes through 14 cities. It ends at the Pacific Ocean in Long Beach. Usually the riverbed has very little water. But not now. California received record-breaking rainfall over the winter. As a result, the river is full again. All the water has brought plants, animals, and trash. Lots of trash. Plastic bags, paper cups and even old pieces of furniture found their way into the river. In addition, water wiped out camps on the riverbank where homeless people were living. Now volunteers are working to clean up the mess. Volunteers Lauren Scott works for the American Chemistry Council. It is a business group. Many of the group’s members are companies that produce plastic items for people to use. Some of those items wound up in the river. Along with picking up trash, Scott is trying to figure out what her organization can do to prevent trash from getting into the waterway. “Because everyone wants a clean river that we can swim and boat and hike in.” Candace Cable was out cleaning up the river, picking up trash from her wheelchair. She is a Paralympic Athlete. She is part of a group working to get the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Los Angeles. She hopes supporters of Los Angeles’ efforts to get the Olympics will help clean up the river, too. Christine Lee is a science applications engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, not too far from Los Angeles. She uses satellites to study water quality. She said waterways in cities are important for keeping plants, animals and people healthy. For example, the Los Angeles River helps control floods and keeps wetlands healthy. Wetlands are home to many important plants and animals. Some people feel like the annual cleanup is already making a difference. Residents are using walking and biking paths along the river more frequently than they used to. Lois Keller, another cleanup volunteer, said: “It’s been really exciting to start to see the river come back.” I’m Jill Robbins.   Mike O’Sullivan wrote this story for VOANews.com. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. Do you want to clean up a river in your city? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   massive – adj. very large and heavy wipe out – v. to destroy or cause great harm to something council – n. a group of people who provide advice or guidance on something propulsion – n. the force that moves something forward : the force that propels something

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Everyday Grammar: Grammar Rules

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American College Students Challenge Free Speech

For many years, American colleges and universities have let people speak on their campuses even if many students do not agree with their beliefs. College-aged students often do not agree with conservative political beliefs. But school officials believe that letting speeches by conservatives and others take place on campus can help lead to free and open debate. But recent protests show that beliefs about free speech on college campuses may be changing. Since February, protests have broken out at colleges across the country -- including the University of California-Berkeley, Middlebury College, the Claremont Colleges, and California State University, Los Angeles. Some of the protests turned violent. The protests started because conservative speakers were set to give talks about their beliefs. Some people have criticized the protesters for trying to prevent controversial speakers from being heard. Will Creely is the senior vice president of legal and public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). He told VOA that those who support free speech are worried about the protests. He says schools should work harder to protect speakers who may have different political beliefs than many students. Last month, a student group at Middlebury College in Vermont invited Charles Murray to speak on the campus. Murray is a political scientist and a fellow with the conservative American Enterprise Institute. His research has linked race and intelligence. The Southern Poverty Law Center calls Murray a white nationalist.  Hundreds of protesters shouted as Murray tried to speak. Officials moved him to another building, where he spoke with Professor Allison Stanger. His discussion with her was shown online. College spokesman Bill Burger says that as Stanger and Murray left the building, they were “physically and violently confronted by a group of protesters” who “set upon [their] car, rocking it, pounding on it, jumping on and trying to prevent it from leaving campus.” Stanger was taken to a hospital. She left wearing a neck brace. She said during the dispute with protesters, one of them grabbed her hair and pulled her backward. In a message on Facebook, Stanger wrote: “I feared for my life.” Earlier this month, students at Claremont McKenna College in California targeted Heather MacDonald. She is a researcher at the conservative Manhattan Institute and a well-known critic of the Black Lives Matter movement. Students said they disagreed with a book MacDonald published last year called The War on Cops. In it, MacDonald wrote that police officers are afraid to do their work because of increased attention from reporters following the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. Brown, who is black, was killed by a white officer. A student group invited MacDonald to speak on campus. But protesters stopped her from entering the building where she was to speak. She was forced to instead broadcast her speech on the internet. She did so from a room that was mostly empty; protesters had blocked people from entering. The protesters hit the room’s windows and shouted until MacDonald later said, “the cops decided that things were getting too chaotic and I should stop speaking.” Police officers then had to help MacDonald leave the building so she could safely escape the protesters. After her speech, more than 20 students signed a letter to David Oxtoby, one of the school’s presidents. They called MacDonald a “fascist.” The letter demanded that the university “take action” against an independent student newspaper for its reporting on the protests and for its “continual perpetuation of hate speech.” Oxtoby had previously condemned the protests and defended MacDonald’s right to speak on campus. He said the college supports “the exercise of free speech and academic freedom.” The students said MacDonald is a well-known figure and her beliefs have been reported many times by the news media. They said refusing to let her speak did not violate her rights. And they said MacDonald being on campus is “a form of violence.” Creely says incidents like the ones at Middlebury and Claremont are becoming increasingly common at American colleges. He called the trend “deeply troubling.” Creely also criticized university officials for accepting the demands of students. He says the students do not know enough about laws that protect free speech in the United States. He notes that “there is no hate speech exception to the First Amendment. There is an unfortunately prevalent problem of students being unaware of the extent of their rights and the rights of their peers,” he said. In 2015, the market research group YouGov asked students about free speech. In the opinion study, 43 percent of the students questioned said “making sure that students have an environment free from discrimination, even if that means placing some limits on what students can say,” should be more of a concern for colleges than protecting the “absolute right to free speech.” Gallup did a similar study in 2016. It found that 52 percent of students believe their college or university should stop people from speaking on campus who have a history of making hateful comments. Forty two percent of students did not agree with the statement, however. The debate about First Amendment rights continued earlier this month when the University of California-Berkeley canceled a planned speech by conservative writer and speaker Ann Coulter. University officials said they were worried that police would not be able to control a possibly violent reaction to Coulter’s speech. Riots took place at Berkeley earlier this year when conservative journalist Milo Yiannopoulos was invited to speak. The riots caused $100,000 in damage to buildings on campus. The school’s decision to cancel Coulter’s speech was criticized by many people. So officials changed their decision. They set a time for her to speak, but the time they set was one during which fewer people would be on campus.  The student group that invited Coulter to speak did not like the plan. It sued the school on Monday, claiming it was discriminating against Coulter. Lawyer Harmeet Dhillon and the Berkeley College Republicans said in the lawsuit that “this case arises from efforts by one of California’s leading public universities, UC Berkeley, once known as the ‘birthplace of the Free Speech Movement,’ to restrict and stifle the speech of conservative students whose voices fall beyond the campus political orthodoxy.” The school said the charge that Coulter is being punished for her political beliefs is “untrue.” The school said it “welcomes speakers of all political viewpoints and is committed to providing a forum to enable Ann Coulter to speak on the Berkeley campus.” I’m Alice Bryant. And I'm Pete Musto.   Joshua Fatzick wrote this story for VOANews.com Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report for Learning English. Ashley Thomson 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 controversial – adj. relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument; likely to produce controversy confront – v. to oppose or challenge (someone) especially in a direct and forceful way neck brace – n. a device that supports the neck, usually after an injury cop – n. (informal) police officer chaotic – adj. in a state of complete confusion or disorder fascist – adj. a person who supports a government that is ruled by a dictator who controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government perpetuate – v. to cause (something that should be stopped, such as a mistaken idea or a bad situation) to continue trend – n. a general direction of change; a way of behaving, proceeding, etc., that is developing and becoming more common prevalent – adj. accepted, done or happening often or over a large area at a particular time; common or widespread extent – n. used to indicate the degree to which something exists, happens or is true peer – n. a person who belongs to the same age group or social group as someone else stifle – v. to stop (someone) from doing or expressing something; to make something difficult or impossible orthodoxy – n. a belief or a way of thinking that is accepted as true or correct

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Former East German Plans Performance at US-Mexico Border

  For the first 20 years of Markus Rindt's life, he knew there were limits on how far he could travel. Rindt grew up in East Germany. He could not go farther west than the border wall that divided Germany into two countries. “I grew up with walls around me,” he remembers. “It was a weird situation, to see that the world seems to end at this wall. You feel that it cannot be that the world ends here.” In October 1989, Rindt fled to West Germany through Czechoslovakia with other East Germans. Just one month later, the border wall came down. Six years later, Rindt moved to the city of Dresden. He currently lives in Dresden, where he leads a group of musicians called Dresdner Sinfoniker. For the nearly 30 years since the wall came down, Rindt has been making music and traveling. He sometimes expresses his political beliefs through music. Now, Rindt has something to say about the planned border wall between the United States and Mexico. And, he wants to 'say' it with a music performance. He wants to bring his orchestra to the U.S.-Mexico border for a music and arts performance. He is raising money through the Internet to help finance the project. He hopes the performance will take place on or around June 12 – the 30th anniversary of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's visit to West Berlin. That was when Reagan called on the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to tear down the wall between East and West Germany. “Our plan,” Markus Rindt says, “is a very big plan.” Political climate leads to series of performances Rindt told VOA that “this project is the most ambitious project so far. I have no idea if it [will work] in the end." He strongly objects to U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to extend a wall along the Mexican border. “I feel the project is necessary in our time,” he said. “It is not only against this planned Trump wall, but against isolation[ist attitudes] around the world as well." That includes Europe where, last year, Britain voted to leave the European Union, and France, where nationalist Marine Le Pen is a leading candidate for president. #teardownthiswall Rindt believes Mexico’s government will approve his plans for a performance on the southern side of the U.S. border. He wants his orchestra to perform with 15 to 20 musicians and a children’s singing group from the Mexican city of Tijuana. However, he is not sure whether U.S. officials will let the Mexican musicians and children join his orchestra on the north side, in San Diego's Friendship Park. At the park, family members and loved ones on both sides of the border can talk to one another through holes in a closed, metal fence. Rindt has never been to the border between the United States and Mexico. He has invited U.S. and Mexican musicians to join the Dresdner Sinfoniker in June. And, he has raised more than half the money needed for his orchestra to travel there. Rindt knows he is not the first to attempt a cross-border music performance. Events like these have been happening for years. But Rindt hopes the event will grow hugely popular on social media. He wants musicians and artists to write about their performances using a hashtag linked to Reagan's speech: #teardownthiswall. 'There must be other ways' Rindt says he is not ignoring larger issues about the wall. He knows Trump says that the wall is needed for national security. “I’m aware of some problems: drugs, of course,” he said. “Some people will [say to] me 'what about drugs and criminals?' There must be other ways to solve such [a] problem.” Data shows that smugglers do work around border barriers. Trump recently told the Associated Press that: “People want the border." But, more Americans oppose the wall than support it. A public opinion survey from Quinnipiac University shows that 64 percent of Americans oppose plans to extend the current wall. Just after Trump's election in November, that number was 55 percent. I’m Alice Bryant. __________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   weird - adj. unusual or strange orchestra - n. a group of musicians who play usually classical music together and who are led by a conductor ambitious - adj. having ambition : having a desire to be successful, powerful, or famous isolationist - adj. having the belief that a country should not be involved with other countries  challenge - n. a difficult task or problem hashtag - n. a word or phrase that starts with the symbol # and that indicates what a message on social media (such as Twitter) is about smuggler - n. to move (someone or something) from one country into another illegally and secretly survey - n. an activity in which many people are asked a question or questions in order to gather information about what most people think about something

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Business Grows in US Town That Embraces Refugees

Refugees often arrive in the United States with few clothes and other belongings. From these simple beginnings, most refugees rebuild their lives, overcoming language and cultural barriers. Some even set up small businesses, helping to improve the economy in the community where they have resettled. Yasha Ismailov is one such person. He owns and operates an automobile repair shop in Charlottesville, Virginia.  “We can fix any car. So you know, it happens a lot of times when nobody can fix it in town, they send it here. They know already we'll fix it if no one can fix it.” Ismailov bought the business, called Larry’s Auto, nine years ago. "When we came (to the) United States, we (were) working so hard (for the) first three years before we started (the) business. We (were) working for people, sometimes (working) double jobs. First, my job was painting, second job (was) installing the AC. Third, my job was electric..." Ismailov was born to a Meskhetian Turkish family in Uzbekistan. Meskthetians are an ethnic subgroup of Turks. They were expelled in railroad cars by the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, during World War II. Most of them were left in Uzbekistan. "My family had to run to Russia because (there was a) massacre in Uzbekistan (of) Turks in 1989." Ismailov was seven years old at the time of the attacks.  But Russian officials were not very welcoming. Meskhetian Turks were barred from Russian citizenship, owning property and holding jobs. When the United States began accepting Meskhetian Turks as refugees in 2004, Ismailov, his brother and parents were resettled in Charlottesville. Ismailov was 22 years old. He is now 35. “When we came to Charlottesville back in 2005, we just bring clothes. That’s all.” He says the International Rescue Committee (IRC) told him Charlottesville “was a nice place, good and ‘you will like it, so go there.’ We felt free. We felt better than over there. We felt safe.” Charlottesville is a small city about 190 kilometers from Washington, D.C. It is known as a place where refugees are welcome. More than 3,000 refugees have restarted their lives there since the late 1990s with the help of the IRC. Harriet Kuhr is the director of the group’s local office. “There are jobs for them here. And then, as they become more stable, they are opening their own small businesses. It really adds a lot of diversity, but it also adds economic impact. So the refugees are not takers. They’re giving back by helping the community grow economically.” Ismailov’s car repair business now has seven employees who work on about 150 cars a month. He has also begun to sell used cars. “We (are) still working so hard to try to do business better. The second business -- the dealer(ship) business -- is going so well, too. Now we almost sell like two, three cars every day...” Ismailov is now a U.S. citizen and owns his house. He married another refugee. “My life in America is good. I have two kids. I have my wife. They are in a good school. I have nice neighbors. I have (a) job, and nobody bothers me. I'm proud to be able to contribute to the community in Charlottesville. My daughter (is a) swimmer, and I hope one day she wins (an) Olympic medal for (the) United States.” Yet Ismailov worries about the increasing number of refugees around the world. “I (could) be one of them, too. I am lucky I am here, (but) they (are) not. I feel sorry about them. So I’d like to help them with something if I can.” I’m Alice Bryant.   VOA Correspondent June Soh reported this story from Charlottesville, Virginia. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the 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 install - v. to add something to an existing structure, such as a building AC - n. air conditioning massacre - n. the act of killing a number of people diversity - n. the act of having many differing parts subgroup - n. a smaller group within a larger group or community stable - adj. not changing; firmly established contribute - v. to give or supply something to others

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Media Rights Groups: Press Freedom 'Never Been So Threatened'

  Two media rights groups have reported a sharp drop in press freedoms around the world in 2016. The two groups note that much of the decline in media rights took place in democratic countries. Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders say North Korea, Syria and China were the countries with the most restrictions on media in 2016. They noted that all three countries were among the worst offenders of press freedoms in recent years. But what is changing is that democracies, such as the United States, also had a decline in press freedom last year. Jennifer Dunham is the research director for Freedom House. “One of the biggest trends we saw were declines in democracies, and this was one of the most disturbing trends we saw.” Dunham also spoke about U.S. President Donald Trump. She noted that Trump attacked media organizations and individual reporters during the 2016 presidential campaign -- and since his election. Dunham said free speech is still valued in the United States. “Right now, we are very concerned about the U.S., but we haven’t seen any kind of dramatic decline.” Delphine Halgand is the North America director of Reporters Without Borders. She says Trump’s criticisms of the media are making leaders in other countries more willing to limit press freedoms.   “This hate speech contributed to disinhibit attacks on the media almost everywhere in the world, including in democratic countries.” In its report last Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders said “media freedom has never been so threatened.” It said 62 percent of countries measured showed a decline in press freedom. The report said the reductions in press freedoms were sharpest in places where “the authoritarian strongman model has triumphed," such as Poland, Hungary and Turkey.     The report said the Middle East and North Africa continued to be the most dangerous area for journalists and media crews last year. Eastern Europe and Central Asia were also dangerous places for reporters. Reporters Without Borders identified five countries with the highest level of freedom for journalists last year. They are Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands. Laos, Pakistan, Sweden, Myanmar and the Philippines were the countries with the most improvements in press freedom. I’m Caty Weaver.   VOA’s William Gallo and Chris Hannas reported on this story. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted their reports for VOA 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   decline - n. the process of becoming worse in condition or quality trend - n.a general direction of change dramatic- adj. sudden and extreme disinhibit - adj. make (someone or something) less inhibited      inhibited - adj. unable to act in a relaxed and natural way​ authoritarian - adj. expecting or requiring people to obey rules or laws : not allowing personal freedom

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The Lunatic Fringe: Life on the Edge of Society

English in a Minute: Crawl Out of the Woodwork

"Woodwork" is anything in a building or home that is made of wood. But what could this expression possibly mean?

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President Trump First 100 Days

April 29th is the 100th day of Donald Trump's presidency. The power of a president is usually greatest in his first 100 days. Learning English looks at what happened in the early days of the Trump presidency.

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Going to College on 'Words to the Wise'

  Today’s we are going to school on ‘Words to the Wise.'  I’m Caty Weaver. Here with me in the Learning English studio is Pete Musto. Hi Pete! Hi Caty. So, we got a comment on an earlier Words to the Wise program from Ahmed. He wrote: “Thank you very much for your help. I would like you to talk about curriculum and tertiary education.”  So, that’s why we’re going to school today. That's right. And that’s why it's great you are here, Pete. Pete is an education reporter for Learning English. And he is quite the scholar when it comes to university education issues. Well, that’s kind of you to say, Caty. So, I guess scholar can be our first education word to define. A scholar is a person who has studied a subject a lot and is knowledge about it as a result. The adjectival form is scholarly. People often call research publications, scholarly journals. The Journal of American Medicine is a famous one. Experts usually write the pieces found in scholarly publications. And sometimes these experts are university professors. Now, we all know what a professor is, but there are kind of professors that confuse me. What is an adjunct professor, Pete? And, is it the same as an associate professor? No, no, no. Adjunct mostly means part time, with no permanent tie to the college or university. The adjunct professor usually teaches just one or two classes. The teaching agreement with the school is often made individually for each course. Oh, OK. So, an associate professor has a permanent position. These are full-time professors, and together, professors and teaching staff, make up what's called the faculty. That's right.  So professors usually have tenure. I think that's another term we should explain, right Pete? Tenure is something professors can earn over time, right? Oh yes. And it is important. It means permanent employment with a university. It usually provides the teacher with strong protection against dismissal. But, it's mostly common in the United States. Professors in other countries don't really have tenure. And, of course, the word tenure is not only used for academic settings. Your tenure at a job, for example, refers to your period of service. But, when most people hear the word, they think of higher education, or what our friend Ahmed called “tertiary education.” Tertiary comes from the Latin, right -- for three or third? That’s right. So, university is the third part of a person’s formal education. First, there is primary school, then secondary school and, finally, higher education or tertiary education. Ahmed also used the term curriculum. Some English learners may not be familiar with that word. Curriculum is the program of study for a subject. The program of study will include many different courses. Right. A course is a series of classes on a subject. For example if you seek a degree in psychology, your curriculum might require courses in human behavior, personality development and cognitive psychology. So, psychology sounds like an interesting major. A major is what we call the central academic subject of your college studies. So schools usually require students to declare their major by the end of their second year. You are able to change your major at most universities in the United States at any point. Sometimes it can be a really good idea. Absolutely. So, does all this tertiary education talk make you wish you were back on a college campus, Caty? If you mean walking around a beautiful university’s grounds…sure! But I can do without the homework, tests and papers! Yeah, I agree with you. I think I'll just stick to academic vocabulary for now. Maybe we could even do another education Words to the Wise soon.  To be sure...many more words to cover. And we’d love for our fans to keep posting messages about what subjects they’d like to hear about. A big thanks to Ahmed! I’m Caty Weaver. And I’m Pete Musto. ____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   scholar - n. a person who has studied a subject for a long time and knows a lot about it adjunct - n. ​something that is joined or added to another thing but is not an essential part of it associate - n. a member of a group or organization who is at a level that is below the highest level​ staff  - n. ​a group of people who work for an organization or business​ tenure  - n. ​the right to keep a job (especially the job of being a professor at a college or university) for as long as you want to have it tertiary - adj. related to education at the college or university level  primary - adj. ​happening or coming first familiar  - adj. ​frequently seen, heard, or experienced​ curriculum - n. the courses that are taught by a school, college, etc. course  - n. ​a series of classes about a particular subject in a school​ major  - n. ​the main subject studied by a college or university student​ campus - n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school, etc.

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Wins and Losses for President Trump’s First 100 Days

  No president has had a first 100 days like Donald Trump. He won confirmation of a new Supreme Court nominee and ordered the bombing of a Syrian air base. He moved to cancel policies by former President Barack Obama and promised to stop North Korea’s expanding nuclear program. But he received almost as much attention for his tweets. He often uses Twitter to criticize the news media and his political opponents, sometimes unfairly, according to fact checkers. But Trump also uses Twitter to explain what his administration is doing. On Thursday morning, he explained why he decided not to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, hours after aides said he was considering doing so. The  tweet read: “I received calls from the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada asking to renegotiate NAFTA rather than terminate. I agreed...” Mark Peterson is chair of the Department of Public Policy at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He said, “As a general proposition, there hasn't been a first 100 days like what we have experienced with President Trump.” Joshua Stockley, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, said the start of the Trump presidency has been frantic. By frantic, he means wild and hurried activity.       Among the most frantic were the five days leading to Saturday, the 100th day of his presidency. On Wednesday, Trump offered a new proposal for what an aide said is “one of the biggest tax cuts in American history.” That same day he invited the entire United States Senate to a briefing on North Korea. Senators were told Trump plans to pressure North Korea to pull back on its nuclear weapons program and that war is a last resort. Trump also continued to issue executive orders. By Saturday, the White House said the total should reach 30, the largest number in a president’s first 100 days since President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. Orders blocked and setbacks But three executive orders related to immigration have been blocked by federal judges. Two were orders to temporarily block travel from some Muslim majority nations. Another would cut federal funding to local governments that fail to enforce immigration laws. The court decisions were not Trump’s only setbacks. During the campaign, Trump, a Republican, promised to repeal and replace Obama’s health care bill, known as Obamacare. But a congressional vote on a repeal bill was cancelled because there were not enough votes to pass it. A newly negotiated health care plan could get a vote soon, but approval remains uncertain.   Adding to Trump’s problems are FBI and congressional investigations into whether members of Trump’s presidential campaign worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Sean Spicer is Trump’s chief spokesman. He said that Trump has been carrying out his promises, particularly on reducing illegal immigration. “I think we feel very proud of what we've been able to accomplish and fulfill the promises that he’s made to the American people,”  Spicer said. Tweets getting attention Sometimes Trump’s policy announcements get less attention than his tweets, often written in the early morning hours. That was the case with four Trump tweets on March 4 that charged Obama with wiretapping his phones at Trump Tower during the election. One of them said, “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” Members of Congress and the U.S. FBI director said Obama did not wiretap Trump. Country still divided A Washington Post/ABC News poll this week found that only two percent of people who voted for Trump regret doing so. But with Democrats and many independents expressing negative views, Trump’s approval rate averages 42 percent, according to Real Clear Politics. That compares to an average approval rate of 69 percent for the last 12 presidents nearing 100 days into their presidencies. Peterson, the UCLA political expert, said the good news for Trump is that people who voted for him still support him. Many who voted against Trump are over their shock of his surprise victory, but remain fearful of what Trump will do as president, he said. Susan Roberts is a political science professor at Davidson College in North Carolina. She said many cannot get used to Trump after eight years of President Obama. Obama was often described as “no drama Obama.”  By “no drama,” people meant that Obama  generally appeared calm. Supreme Court choice important to Trump voters Tony Perkins is president of the Family Research Council, a Christian conservative group. Perkins said a major reason Trump voters continue to back him is his choice of conservative judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court. “This is why so many people went out to vote for Donald Trump, getting a conservative Supreme Court justice and hopefully more,” Perkins said.   Trump on TV 24/7 People who watch American cable news or late-night comedy programs are used to seeing lots of Donald Trump. On Comedy Central this week, “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah discussed the first three+ months of the Trump presidency. “It’s 100 days in Trump time. For us, it’s 15 years,” Noah said. ​In an interview this week with Reuters, Trump said his first 100 days as president were difficult. "I loved my previous life, I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. I actually...this is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier." I'm Bruce Alpert and I'm Ashley Thompson.   Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English based on reports by VOA News, the Associated Press, Reuters and other sources. 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   terminate - v. to end something proposition - n. a plan or proposal presented to a person or group of people to consider last resort - n. an action taken only when everything else has been tried and failed repeal - v. to officially make a law or regulation no longer valid particularly - adv. more than usually accomplish - v. to get something done view -  n. an opinion or way of thinking about something previous - adj. existing or happening before the present time  

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