Verbs and Gerunds in Speech and Fiction Writing

  The American rock group Journey released the song "Don't Stop Believin'" in 1981. This song, still popular in karaoke music bars, can help you learn about English grammar. Let's listen to some words from the song: Don't stop believing Hold on to that feeling Today, we are going to examine the grammar behind the song's famous words. Specifically, we will talk about verb + gerund structures. "Stop believing" is one example of this kind of structure. Gerunds and Infinitives Let us begin with a few definitions. A gerund is the form of a verb that ends with the letters “ing”. Such words act like a noun. For example, in the sentence "I love learning," the word "learning" is a gerund. An infinitive is the basic, or simplest form of the verb. Sometimes it has the word "to" in front of it. In the sentence "I like to read books," the words "to read" are an infinitive. Some verbs can be followed by an infinitive or a gerund. Knowing when to use an infinitive and when to use a gerund is difficult. The good news is this: only a few verbs commonly appear with gerunds. Verb + gerund structures are less common than verb + infinitive structures. When English speakers use verb + gerund structures, the verbs often come from one of three groups. The groups have meanings that suggest beginnings and ends, thoughts and memories, and sights and sounds. These three groups are common in everyday speech and fiction writing, but rare in school-related or academic writing. We will now look closer at each of the groups. #1 Begin, continue Here is our first meaning group: beginnings and ends. Gerunds often follow verbs that suggest a beginning or ending. The most common examples include the verbs begin, start, and stop. Famous works of American fiction have examples of this structure. The 1988 novel Tracks, written by Louise Erdrich, begins with the following words: "We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall." In the example, the gerund "dying" follows the verb "started" - a verb that suggests a beginning. The words from Journey's song show how speakers use verbs that suggest an ending: "Don't stop believing." Here, the gerund "believing" follows the verb "stop." Now, we will begin exploring our second meaning group. #2 Remember, think about, think of The second group is thoughts and memories. Gerunds often follow verbs that suggest that the mind is at work. The most common examples include the verbs remember, think about, and think of. Consider this example: "Do you remember playing at that park when we were young?" In the example, the gerund "playing" follows the verb "remember" – a verb that suggests the mind is working. Let's consider another example. Imagine you see a car that has been severely damaged. The owner might say: "Well, maybe I should think about buying a new car." Here, the gerund "buying" follows the verb structure "think about." Think about means to consider something. It suggests that a person will examine different possibilities and make a decision. Perhaps we should think about exploring one more meaning group… #3 Hear, see Our final meaning group is this: senses. Gerunds often follow verbs that suggest sights and sounds. Common examples include the structures see + a noun phrase + a gerund and hear + a noun phrase + a gerund. A noun phrase is a group of words that acts like a noun in a sentence. William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury gives you one example of these grammatical structures. "Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting." Here, the verb "see" is followed by a pronoun: the word “them”. The gerund, "hitting", comes after the pronoun. Here is another example. Imagine you are reading a crime novel and you see the following words: "He could see a large man waiting in the alley." Here, the noun phrase "a large man" comes between the verb "see" and the gerund "waiting." What can you do? The next time you are reading fiction in English or speaking to an American, try to find examples of verb + a gerund. Ask yourself why the speaker may have used the gerund instead of the infinitive. Does the verb relate to one of the groups we talked about today? Gerunds can be hard to master. It takes time to become skilled in their use. But the most important thing is that you do not stop trying to use them. I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm John Russell.   John Russell wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   grammar – n. the set of rules that explain how words are used in a language karaoke bar – n. a place of business where a device plays the music of popular songs and people sing the words to the songs they choose specifically – adv. used to show the exact purpose or use of something curling – adj. twisted or formed into a round or curved shape novel – n. a written work, often long and complex, that deals human experiences fiction – n. stories about people and events that are not real

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Report: Asia Now Has More Billionaires than US

  A new report finds that for the first time, Asian billionaires outnumber those in the United States. The number of Asian billionaires rose by nearly one quarter in 2016 to 637, according to the report published by UBS Group AG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. UBS is a financial advisory company that serves wealthy people around the world. PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international company providing accounting and tax services. The report counted 563 billionaires in America and 342 in Europe. It found that while the U.S. no longer has the most billionaires, it still has the most overall billionaire wealth. This is because more of the world’s wealthiest individuals live in the United States. The increase in Asia was due to a sharp rise in self-made billionaires. About 75 percent of new billionaires came from Asia’s two biggest economies, China and India. China by far had the highest number of new billionaires, 67, while India added 16. The combined wealth of Asian billionaires grew by almost a third in 2016 to $2 trillion, from $1.5 trillion in 2015. The total wealth of U.S. billionaires rose to $2.8 trillion in 2016, compared to $2.4 trillion the previous year. Most of the increase in wealth came from technological innovation, followed by financial services and materials, according to the report. If the current trend continues, the total wealth of Asian billionaires is expected to be higher than all U.S. billionaires in about four years. Worldwide, the report said total billionaire wealth rose 17 percent in 2016 to $6 trillion. This was largely fueled by the increase in Asian billionaires. It also came from strong economic growth in materials, industrial production, financial services and technology. In Europe, billionaire wealth remained largely unchanged from 2015 to 2016. Overall wealth grew just 5 percent to $1.3 trillion. Europe added 24 new billionaires in 2016, while 21 dropped off the list, a third of them due to death. The report estimated that the 1,542 billionaires studied either owned or partly owned companies that employ at least 27.7 million people worldwide. ​ Billionaires in various countries are increasingly putting more of their money into philanthropy, art and sports. Many invested in major sports clubs, including soccer, baseball and basketball. “According to our analysis, more than 140 of the top sports clubs globally are owned by just 109 billionaires,” the report said. Overall, the average billionaire’s age is 63. In America it is 67 years old, while the average in Asia is 59. Chinese billionaires averaged 55 years old. Among all billionaires, the report found those involved in technology were the youngest. On average, they became billionaires at age 47.    I’m Bryan Lynn.   Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on a study from UBS Group AG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story accounting – n. system of keeping financial records for a business or person innovation – n. new idea or method philanthropy – n. the practice of giving money and time to help make life better for other people  

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'Human Flow' Film Documents Refugees' Troubles

  Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has produced a film documentary about refugees around the world. He filmed a total of 40 refugee camps in 23 countries. The documentary tells about people who fled war and environmental crises. Others left their home country for religious reasons. The goal of the new film is to show how the refugee crisis affects everyone. This is just one of the many voices heard in the film: “Being a refugee is much more than a political status. It is the most pervasive kind of cruelty that can be exercised against a human being. You are forcibly robbing this human being of all aspects that would make human life not just tolerable but meaningful in many ways.” The documentary is called “Human Flow.” It says over 65 million people in the world today have been forced to leave their homes. Ai Weiwei used drone aircraft to film the movement of refugees. He and his crew equipped the drones with cameras to get pictures of those displaced from up high. ​Ai spoke with VOA about his project. “Human flow has always happens in human history. It’s in many cases, it's part of our humanity and our civilization.” But things are different now, he notes. Ai Weiwei says countries are working to stop the flow of people by preventing refugees from crossing borders. After a very difficult trip by sea and days of walking, many refugees from the Middle East made their way to northern Greece. But then they were stopped at the border with Macedonia. “Over 70 borders have built up their fences and walls and have forbidden any refugee to pass through. So, by doing that, they really not only stopped the life line of those refugees to try to find a safe place, even just temporarily across the border and go to another location, but also putting them in extreme dangerous conditions." In part of the film, a doctor examines a baby. He says it is a bad situation. “Two months old, and born here but he didn’t have any vaccination. No showering facilities. The hygienic situation is very bad.” The documentary looks at the refugee crisis in some areas, as well as the personal stories of those suffering. Like one man who holds up photographs of family members who died at sea. “They all died at sea. His wife is buried here. His son is buried here. And his daughter too. His son also drowned at sea. This is my brother Sakhi Ahmad.” “Human Flow” shows large numbers of people fleeing wars, religious persecution, and environmental disasters. Ai Weiwei says we need to save those people from displacement. If we do not, he warns, generations will be born without identity, or the possibility of a better life. He believes that will make them targets for extremists. "And those people, those child[ren}, when they grow up they only see how their parents being badly treated, unfairly treated, the world watching but doing nothing. They see people being killed, homes being burned, the drones throw the bombs and kill, blindly kill all the people. And what kind of image would remain in their mind?" The Chinese activist is critical of Europe and the United States for lacking empathy, leadership and ideas about the refugee issue. He warns that if this does not change, no one’s future will be safe. I’m Anne Ball.   Penelope Poulou wrote this story for VOANews.com. Anne Ball adapted her story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit us on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   persecution – n. the act of continually treating in a cruel and harmful way pervasive – adj. existing in every part of something : spreading to all parts of something aspect – n. a part of something tolerable – adj. good enough to be accepted but not very good hygienic – adj. relating to being clean and to the things that are done to maintain good health empathy – n. the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions

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Trump Calls on US Congress to Change Immigration Policy

The Uzbek man who killed eight people in New York City came to the United States on a diversity immigrant visa.   After the attack, President Donald Trump announced he wants to work with U.S. lawmakers to end the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. Trump said, “I am going to ask Congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program – diversity, diversity lottery. Sounds nice; it’s not nice. It’s not good. It’s not good. It hasn’t been good. We’ve been against it.” The diversity visa program is known as the green card lottery. It is the only hope for some would-be Americans to live in the United States. The program is open to non-refugees, individuals with no family members in the U.S. and those lacking an employer willing to guarantee them a job. To be considered for the program, a person must have a high school education or a few years of work experience. Natives of most countries can qualify, but there are exceptions, such as Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. The list also includes El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Also included are Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, the United Kingdom and its territories except Northern Ireland, and Vietnam. People born in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan qualify for the diversity lottery program. Between September 2015 and September 2016, the U.S. government approved 45,664 diversity visas. More than 2,300 of them were given to Uzbeks.   Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer helped to create the legislation for the program in the 1990s. Schumer is a leading member of the Democratic Party. Trump has blamed Schumer and the Democrats for the terror attack in New York. In a statement, Schumer said “I have always believed and continue to believe that immigration is good for America.” He also asked the president to support the “real solution” of anti-terrorism financing, which would be cut under the most recent budget proposed by the Trump administration. Schumer was also one of eight lawmakers who wrote the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill in 2013. The bill would have ended the green card lottery. The measure passed the Senate, but the House of Representatives did not vote on it. Leon Fresco formerly served in the Office of Immigration Litigation at the U.S. Department of Justice. He worked there during the presidency of Barack Obama. Fresco developed the legislation in 2013. He noted that cutting the lottery program was part of a compromise between the two main political parties. Family-based system President Trump has called for a new immigration system, one that is based on merit, not family ties. The United States currently has a family-based immigration policy. The immigration system is based on sponsorship. A U.S. citizen or green card holder can offer to accept responsibility for family members who leave their home country to move to the U.S. Partners and young children qualify as immediate relatives and do not need to wait for a visa number. But for brothers, sisters and adult children, the process can be long and difficult. “It's extremely difficult…brothers and sisters are at the very end," said Naomi Tsu, deputy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center. Tsu said it is even harder if they live in countries that have a lot of immigrants coming to the United States. The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute reports that in 2015, more than 1 million permanent residents were admitted to the United States. Of that number, 44 percent were immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, and 20 percent entered through a family-sponsored preference. Only 14 percent entered on job-based visas. Merit-based immigration Merit-based immigration would give preference to non-citizens with high-paying job offers, past successes, English-language skills and education. All of those would be considered under the proposed green card system.   Tsu explained that the system would give points for “age, the salary you are able to command, and how much money you are going to invest in the U.S. economy.” The higher the rating, the more likely an immigrant would be admitted to the United States. This system would be similar to merit-based immigration systems used by Canada and Australia. Pros and cons Supporters of a merit-based system say it would help lower immigration rates. And they say it will ensure that the immigrants who do get accepted are highly skilled and less likely to need public assistance. In August, Trump said that the United States has “operated a very low-skill immigration system.” He was speaking in support for a bill known as the RAISE, Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy, Act. It aims to cut legal immigration from 1 million to 500,000 each year, in part by moving to a merit-based system. “This [family-based] policy has placed substantial pressure on American workers, taxpayers and community resources,” Trump said. But critics say the U.S. economy also needs low-skilled workers, and a merit-based system would hurt industries that depend on them. Critics also see the merit-based system as un-American. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said Wednesday that the proposed system “abandons the fundamental respect for family, at the heart of our faith, at the heart of who we are as Americans.”   VOA News reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   diversity - n. the quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc. initiate - v. to cause the beginning of (something) : to start or begin (something) lottery - n. a system used to decide who will get or be given something by choosing names or numbers by chance qualify - v. to have the necessary skill or knowledge to do a particular job or activity : to have the qualifications to do something merit - n. the quality of being good, important, or useful: value or worth preference - n.  an advantage that is given to some people or things and not to others salary - n. an amount of money that an employee is paid each year substantial - adj. large in amount, size, or number abandon - v. to stop supporting or helping (someone or something)

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Magazine Predicted Astros Would Win World Series

This is What’s Trending Today… The Houston Astros baseball team won the World Series Wednesday night. It beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in the final game of the series.  Houston had never won the baseball championship since entering the major leagues in 1962. That is a 55-year wait for a title! The Astros came close a few times. In 2005, the team made it to the World Series but lost four straight games. The championship went to the White Sox of Chicago. After that, things went from bad to worse. The team lost nearly twice as often as they won during the following seasons. In 2011, the team lost 106 games. In 2012, it lost 107 games. And in 2013, the team lost a record 111 games. Some sports observers called the Astros the “laughingstock” of baseball. In other words, people often made fun of the team’s poor results. This season, the city of Houston was badly damaged by flooding from Hurricane Harvey. The Astros returned home from a road trip to find their city underwater. Few picked the Astros to win the series over the Dodgers. But for writers and editors of Sports Illustrated magazine, the Astros’ victory did not come as a surprise. In 2014, the magazine published a cover that predicted the Astros would win the 2017 World Series. It shows a young player named George Springer with the headline “Baseball’s Great Experiment.” Ben Reiter is a writer for Sports Illustrated. He visited the team in 2014. Reiter wrote that the Astros were run by “know-it-all baseball outsiders,” – including a former management consultant and a former NASA engineer. Jeff Luhnow is the general manager for the Astros. He is the so-called “know-it-all” former management consultant. In 2014, he told Reiter about his plan to rebuild the team using scientific data. “When you’re in 2017, you don’t really care that much about whether you lost 98 or 107 in 2012,” Luhnow said. “You care about how close we are to winning a championship in 2017.” Three years later, the Astros did just that. And George Springer, named the series’ most valuable player, is back on the cover of Sports Illustrated. This time, the headline reads: “Baseball’s Great Prophecy.” And the magazine predicts that the Astros will repeat as the World Series champions next year. Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English with information from Sports Illustarted. Ashley Thompson was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   laughingstock - n. a person or thing that is regarded as very foolish or rediculous cover - n. the outer part of a magazine prophecy - n. a statement that something will happen in the future  

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Magazine Predicts Astros Would Win World Series

This is What’s Trending Today… The Houston Astros baseball team won the World Series Wednesday night. It beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in the final game of the series.  Houston had never won the baseball championship since entering the major leagues in 1962. That is a 55-year wait for a title! The Astros came close a few times. In 2005, the team made it to the World Series but lost four straight games. The championship went to the White Sox of Chicago. After that, things went from bad to worse. The team lost nearly twice as often as they won during the following seasons. In 2011, the team lost 106 games. In 2012, it lost 107 games. And in 2013, the team lost a record 111 games. Some sports observers called the Astros the “laughingstock” of baseball. In other words, people often made fun of the team’s poor results. This season, the city of Houston was badly damaged by flooding from Hurricane Harvey. The Astros returned home from a road trip to find their city underwater. Few picked the Astros to win the series over the Dodgers. But for writers and editors of Sports Illustrated magazine, the Astros’ victory did not come as a surprise. In 2014, the magazine published a cover that predicted the Astros would win the 2017 World Series. It shows a young player named George Springer with the headline “Baseball’s Great Experiment.” Ben Reiter is a writer for Sports Illustrated. He visited the team in 2014. Reiter wrote that the Astros were run by “know-it-all baseball outsiders,” – including a former management consultant and a former NASA engineer. Jeff Luhnow is the general manager for the Astros. He is the so-called “know-it-all” former management consultant. In 2014, he told the Reiter about his plan to rebuild the team using scientific data. “When you’re in 2017, you don’t really care that much about whether you lost 98 or 107 in 2012,” Luhnow said. “You care about how close we are to winning a championship in 2017.” Three years later, the Astros did just that. And George Springer, named the series’ most valuable player, is back on the cover of Sports Illustrated. This time, the headline reads: “Baseball’s Great Prophecy.” Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English with information from Sports Illustarted. Ashley Thompson was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story        

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November 1, 2017

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

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A Face Can Unlock iPhone X, But Can It Be Fooled?

  Apple’s well publicized iPhone X finally went on sale in pre-orders last week. The device will be available in Apple stores this Friday, November 3. With a starting price of $999, the iPhone X has the highest-price of any iPhone ever offered. Yet Apple said demand for its latest smartphone has so far been “off the charts.”   One of the most-talked about features of the iPhone X is the new front and back-facing cameras. Apple says its TrueDepth technology greatly improves performance for photographs and video. The camera is also trained to recognize faces and expressions. The company says this gives users power to open up the phone just by looking at it. The new Face ID recognition system replaces the Touch ID on other Apple devices that used a fingerprint to unlock the phone. Other smartphones – including the latest Samsung Galaxy models – also use facial and eye recognition technology to start up the devices. But Apple says its Face ID system operates differently. It works by projecting more than 30,000 dots on the face of users to create a kind of map. An infrared camera then reads these marks to create an image that can be confirmed as having the same appearance. Apple says the system is also designed to continually learn. Each time the face is used to unlock the phone, it is supposed to note any changes, such as facial hair or the person getting older. The system can then remember the changes to keep recognizing the person over time. The company claims its facial recognition is even secure enough to process payments through its Apple Pay service. Many reviews of the iPhone X have been published recently. Some of them included tests of the Face ID system. Reviewers reported successful tests in which the phone recognized the face in different situations and unlocked the device. But most reviewers also said the feature did not work perfectly all the time. ​ One fairly common failure was that the Face ID sometimes did not unlock the iPhone X if the user wore a certain kind of sunglasses. Not surprisingly, wearing any kind of disguise – even one covering just part of the face – caused Face ID to fail. It was found to work correctly when the user was wearing headphones or a hat. The Associated Press’s Anick Jesdanun reported that Face ID also worked in most bright sunlight, although not every time. “It also worked in the dark, thanks to the use of infrared sensors rather than just the standard camera,” Jesdanun wrote. “That’s important when you wake up in the middle of the night.” Several attempts were made to trick Face ID into unlocking the phone with a photo of a person instead of a real face. The iPhone X was able to pass these tests by knowing the difference between a photo and a face. Wall Street Journal reporter Joanna Stern tried something a little different. She went to a mask maker and asked for a recreation of her face to see if the iPhone X would be fooled. It was not. “Face ID knew it was somebody’s face, but it wasn’t duped into thinking it was me,” she wrote. However, Stern carried out another test involving 8-year-old identical triplets. In this case the phone was tricked. After just one of the boys registered his face, his two brothers were happily able to unlock the phone. Apple has admitted that Face ID could fail when used with young people who look very much alike. The company says the phone can also be fooled by faces of children under 13 years old. Wired magazine’s David Pierce noted that Face ID does not seem to recognize a face from all positions. “My phone's about an arm's length away on my desk, and I have to lean in and stare every time I want it to turn on,” he wrote. This can make it impossible for a user to quickly and quietly unlock a phone without being seen by others. This is one reason some reviewers suggested Apple could have kept the fingerprint unlocking system on the latest iPhones. But Pierce found a favorite part of the Face ID was one of its privacy tools. When someone held the phone, it hid any messages until the device could confirm the user’s face. Apple says its research shows there is only a one in a million chance of another person being able to unlock someone else’s iPhone X with Face ID. The company has promised the system will become “the new gold standard” for all facial recognition. I’m Bryan Lynn.   Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. His story was based on reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, and wired.com. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   off the charts – idiom. extremely popular or successful feature – n. an interesting or important part of something unlock – v. to free from restrictions; to make available for use project – v. to cause something to appear on a surface review – n. media report in which the writer gives an opinion about something disguise – n. clothes or other things people wear to not be recognized mask – n. covering that hides or protects the face dupe – v. to trick or fool someone into doing something lean – v. move the body in a particular direction stare – v. look at something continuously  

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South Korean President Says No to Nuclear Weapons

South Korean President Moon Jae-in says his country will not develop nuclear arms or own nuclear weapons. The president made the statement in a speech Wednesday to South Korea’s National Assembly. Moon added that both South Korea and North Korea should observe a joint declaration from 1992. In that statement, both countries said the Korean Peninsula should be free of nuclear weapons. Observers noted that Moon’s position on such weapons remains unchanged. The president’s statement comes as opposition lawmakers have called for a redeployment of American tactical nuclear weapons in the South. They want to defend against the threat of North Korean efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Some South Korean lawmakers say their country should have its own nuclear weapons. On September 3, North Korea tested its sixth and most powerful nuclear device yet. North Korea’s nuclear and long-distance missile tests have led to strong language from United States President Donald Trump. He has threatened to launch military action against the North if it continues testing barred by the United Nations Security Council. However, in his speech on Wednesday, Moon stated that no military action will be taken on the Korean Peninsula without the permission of South Korea. He also said that his country would control its own future. Trump to visit South Korea for talks South Korea will be the second country that Trump visits on his trip to Asia later this month. North Korea’s nuclear and long-range missile development is expected to be one of many issues to be discussed. After his visit to South Korea, Trump will then travel to Beijing for talks with Chinese officials. As preparations for the visit continue, members of his cabinet have visited Asia and discussed the situation in Korea. Last month, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said, “Our goal is not war, but rather the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” The Reuters news agency reports that the United States is carrying out direct, secret negotiations with North Korea. The report was published on Wednesday. The story said that an unidentified State Department official told Reuters that the U.S. special diplomat for North Korea has been speaking with North Korea’s U.N. mission. The U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea. But, special diplomat Joseph Yun, the report says, has been in contact with the North through what is known as the “New York channel.” That term suggests North Korea’s diplomatic contacts with the U.N. The unidentified official said the discussion “has not been limited at all, both (in) frequency and substance.” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last month that the United States is extending diplomatic efforts toward North Korea. President Trump, however, has voiced anger over nuclear and long-range missile tests carried out by the North. I’m Mario Ritter.   Richard Green and Steve Herman reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter wrote a story based on their reports for VOA Learning English. His story includes information from Reuters. George Grow was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   tactical – adj. something specific that works toward a large plan or goal verifiable – adj. something that can be shown to be true mission – n. a group of people who are sent to a foreign country for specific reason or purpose frequency – n. how often something happens We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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Artist Gives New Life to Unpopular Plants

We do not usually think of plants as destructive. But some plants are exactly that. By definition, invasive plants are not native to an area. They can grow and spread quickly, often harming or killing other plant life. Invasive plants can damage and even destroy ecosystems. This sometimes happens because the plant and animal species that keep them under control are no longer present in an area. Patterson Clark has worked as a volunteer for the United States National Park Service for almost 15 years. He goes through forests, and removes non-native plants. He knows how harmful these weeds can be. They can kill trees, increase soil loss, and cause major damage to waterways and wetland areas. Clark had developed an unfriendly relationship with invasive plants. But then he decided something needed to change. “One day, when I was pulling a plant, I thought, how can I change my relationship with this plant so that it’s not just eradication, taking something's life? Since then, I’ve been harvesting invasive plants, rather than just killing them." Some people who volunteer to pull weeds are called warriors. Yet Clark says he doesn't consider himself a warrior. "I’m more of a gatherer.” And now Clark, who is an artist, gives these plants a new life – as art work. “When I first work with a plant, I call that prospecting. I’ll sit with the plant, study its nature, cut it, bring it back into the studio and then start running tests." He begins to test the plant to see it can produce color or paper or other materials.   White mulberry produces paper Over the years, Clark has developed a liking for some invasive plants, like the white mulberry tree. “I like white mulberry. It offers paper, the strongest, whitest paper." The paper-making process takes long hours of work, and a lot of patience. Clark estimates it takes 20 minutes to cut down the plant, 30 minutes to steam it and five minutes to remove the outer covering. Then, it takes three hours to scrape it, an hour more to cook it, 20 minutes to wash it and another hour to beat it. After all of that work is done, he flattens the mulberry sheets and lets them dry overnight. The result is pieces of paper that will become art. Bushes offer colors Clark also gets the ink coloring for his paintings and prints from invasive plants. For example, he takes leaves from ivy plants and puts them in alcohol to make green ink. For red ink, he uses multiflora rose. The inner bark of bush honeysuckle gives him aqua blue. And the bark of leatherleaf mahonia offers bright yellow. Each print that Clark creates includes images of all of the plants he has collected. Sometimes, the images show a volunteer pulling plants or a tool used to process the plants. Creating art First, Clark creates digital designs of his art on the computer. Then, he cuts his design into a block of wood by laser. Next, he places the ink onto the block and presses it onto the paper. He repeats the process for each color. Clark shows the prints and paintings in art exhibits. “I do appreciate the compliments but one thing I have heard some concern about is the archival quality of these prints." He says some of the plant-based coloring will last for a long time, but the brighter colors do not last as long if they come in contact with bright light. So, he suggests that people keep his prints in low light or in a protective covering. "So, that’s how I’d like these things to be treated.” With his artistic treatment of invasive plants, Patterson Clark is turning these unpopular plants into something valuable. I'm Alice Bryant.   Faiza Elmasry reported this story for VOANews.com. Alice Bryant adapted her report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   ecosystem – n. everything that exists in a particular natural environment, including plants, animals and non-living things such as stream – n. a natural flow of water that is smaller than a river eradication – n. to eliminate or destroy something steam – v. to cook, heat, or treat something with steam scrape – v. to remove something from a surface by rubbing an object or tool against it ink – n. colored liquid that is used for writing or printing digital – adj. using or characterizing computer technology archival – adj. the quality of being able to be stored for a long period

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Conservative Movement in Brazil Challenges Art Shows

  Brazil is famous for its beaches, bikinis, and parties. But an increasing conservative movement is challenging the idea of Brazil as a country that has relaxed ideas about everything. Recently, conservatives have strongly criticized several modern art shows and a play in which Jesus is presented as a man dressed as a woman.  The latest cultural clashes could help shape next year’s election. Conservative groups have protested against two art exhibits. One, at the Sao Paulo’s Museum of Modern Art, is called “La Bete.” Visitors to the show, including a child, were invited to touch a nude man. Critics accused “La Bete” of encouraging sexual interest toward children, or pedophilia. Some protestors waved a Brazilian flag and shouted “No! No! Not our children.” And the conservative Brazil Free Movement argued on its Facebook page that “left-wing artists” had gone too far. The other disputed art exhibit is in the southern city of Porto Alegre. It was from the Queermuseu but shown by Santander Bank’s cultural center. The show explores different types of sexuality. Some parts of the show are explicit. The Santander cultural center shut the show early. But there was talk that it would be re-opened in Rio de Janeiro. However, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro said in a Facebook video that his city did not want the show. He said it assisted pedophilia. Sao Paolo’s mayor also made a video saying both disputed art exhibits are bad. In the end, the Santander Cultural Center closed the exhibit. But it said in a statement that refusing to have uncomfortable discussions is the same as hiding from society. Then the state prosecutor’s office asked that the exhibit be reopened. He compared the cancellation to Nazi Germany’s ban on “degenerate art.” There is also a fight over the play in which Jesus is portrayed as a transgender woman who tells Biblical stories of accepting others. “The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven” has been performed more than 60 times during a tour of Brazil. Conservatives have called it offensive to Christians and asked the courts to ban its performances. One petition compared the play to the events in ancient Rome in which Christians were eaten by wild animals for entertainment. One judge ordered the performance to stop, calling it “disrespectful,” ″aggressive” and “in bad taste.” But another court ruled the play could continue. Omar Encarnacion is a professor of political studies at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. He studies gay and transgender rights movements. Encarnacion says that since becoming independent, Brazil has never had an official anti-gay law. Many people, including the gay community, believe it to be a very tolerant nation, he said. Still, he adds, as with so many social issues in Brazil, there is some confusion. Sao Paulo hosts the largest gay pride parade in the world, but Brazil also has some of Latin America’s highest rates of violence against gay and transgender people. Renata Carvalho is the actress in the play “The Gospel According to Jesus.” She says Brazilians like to hide ugly things. ″This just sheds light on what people think,” she said. “I think it’s excellent that the masks are falling.” Liberal activists have struggled to make Brazil a more open place for gays and women. They had some success during the left-leaning Workers’ Party governments that led the country between 2003 and 2016. But some residents think that most people in the country are more conservative than many believe. And the conservative movement in Brazil has been becoming more important. One of the reasons is the increasing number of religious evangelicals. People who are evangelical usually follow the Bible closely and support social reform efforts based on its teachings. About 20 percent of the nation is now evangelical, up from 5 percent a few decades ago. They have been inspired by the large number of corruption cases in the government. Many Brazilians believe the country needs stronger moral leadership. Although Brazil is still the most heavily Catholic nation in the world, evangelicals turn out to vote in large numbers. A recent poll found that a far-right congressman named Jair Bolsonaro is running second among possible presidential candidates. Bolsonaro once said that if your son is gay, that means you didn’t hit him enough when he was a child. In recent weeks, Bolsonaro has given his opinion on the disputes about the art shows and the play. Speaking of the “La Bete” exhibit, Bolsonaro said those who put on the show were just awful people. I'm Susan Shand.   Susan Shand adapted this story for Learning English based on an Associated Press story by Sarah DiLorenzo. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   controversial – adj. relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argumen Gospel – n. Any one of the first four books of the Christian Bible. Evangelical – adj. of or relating to a Christian sect or group that stresses the authority of the Bible, scandal – n. an occurrence in which people are shocked and upset because of behavior that is morally or legally wrong pedophilia - n. sexual feelings or activities that involve children explicit - adj. showing or referring very openly to nudity, violence, or sexual activity degenerate - adj. having low moral standards : not honest, proper, or good  

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