In July of 2014, Iranian intelligence agents raided the Tehran home of married reporters Jason Rezaian and Yeganeh Salehi. The agents, holding guns, threatened to kill Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter. Then, they spent an hour searching the couple’s belongings, including their clothing and valuables. They also forced the couple to provide passwords to their email and social media accounts. Neither Rezaian nor Salehi were killed. But, the raid demonstrated how threatened Iran is by the internet. The government has worked long and hard to control cyberspace and social media and, as a result, the flow of information to the public. In the past four years, Iranian officials have permitted wider use of the internet, hoping that will help create a modern economy. Today, almost half the population has smartphones. This means they also have cameras and internet links permitting broadcast by anyone to anywhere. Such smartphones helped spread protests across Iran earlier this year. The government contained the activities by shutting down important social media and messaging apps. But, the lesson was clear: the same technology that can aid business can also support anti-government activism. So, the government created a separate internet. The so-called “halal net,” is a locally controlled version of the internet aimed at restricting the flow of information. Sanam Vakil is an Iran researcher at Chatham House, a non-profit policy organization. He said the Iranian government “has taken the internet and effectively used it for its own purposes and also has realized the dangers of it as well.” Information is tightly controlled Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the spread of information in Iran has been tightly controlled. State-run media provides the only television and radio broadcasts. Satellite television equipment is banned but many people use it anyway. The government dictates what the press can cover and where reporters can travel. The internet helped remove barriers. In 2009, then new social media helped spread news about protests of the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran’s government, led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, violently stopped the demonstrations. And the world watched a phone camera video of the shooting death in Tehran of 26-year-old demonstrator Neda Agha-Soltan. The video spread quickly in Iran and around the world. Her face became a symbol of anti-government struggle. Even before the 2009 protests, Iran blocked sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Some Iranians began using virtual private networks, or VPNs, which allow users to avoid government censorship. Growth of smartphones and apps Current President Hasan Rouhani is partly responsible for the explosive growth in smartphones among Iranians. His administration has permitted more mobile phone service providers to offer 3G and 4G internet. Sharing photos and videos became much easier. Home internet connections became faster. The encrypted messaging platform Telegram became extremely popular among Iranians. An estimated 40 million people use it for everything from social interactions to business and political activity. During the recent protests, Iranians used Telegram’s mass-messaging system to share information and videos across 75 cities and towns where demonstrations took place. Some showed people openly in the streets shouting, “Death to Khamenei!” The actions were shocking as such language can lead to a death sentence. When the government temporarily blocked Telegram and Instagram, it helped end the protests within days. However, the action also caused problems for the many businesspeople who use the platforms to sell goods. After the demonstrations, Rouhani argued it was not possible to try to stop this tool of modern life. “If you want cyberspace to be useful to the community, come forward with a solution using it to promote the culture instead of blocking it,” he said, noting that past Iranian government tried to stop people from listening to the radio. “But this prevention was useless,” he said. Halal net Iran’s Halal net is officially known as the National Information Network. The network has some 500 government-approved national websites. They stream content much faster than those based outside of Iran, partly because Iran slows those, according to a recent report by the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Customers that use only the NIN websites also pay much less for the service. The telecommunications company that built NIN is owned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Firuzeh Mahmoudi, the executive director of the San Francisco-based group United for Iran, said authorities have had success in getting businesses to use the NIN. The more they do so, she warned, “the easier it will be for them to shut down… the real internet when they want to.” Some government officials have suggested removing Iran entirely from the open internet, including the powerful Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami. The leader of Friday prayers in Tehran recently told worshippers, “When cyberspace was closed down, the sedition was stopped,” he said. The U.S. Treasury said the Guard, Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace and other officials were censoring the internet. U.S. officials say top Trump administration officials have met with Google, Facebook, and Twitter to discuss the issue. But some internet companies fear U.S. sanctions if they operate in Iran. This prevents Iranians from using many encrypted communication apps or VPNs. Morad Ghorban is with the Washington-based Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans. He said the group believes the U.S. could do more to aid the free flow of information in Iran. Such a movement, he said, “has continued despite persecution by hard-line elements." I’m Ashley Thompson. And I’m Susan Shand This story was reported by the Associated Press. Susan Shand adapted this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story account – n. an agreement and information that lets a person use an online service such as email cyberspace – n. what exists on computer networks and the internet app – n. (application) a computer program designed to do one or a group of related tasks halal – adj. something approved by Muslim law VPN –n. (virtual private network) a method employing encryption to provide secure access to a remote computer over the Internet censorship – n. the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security encrypt – v. to conceal data in (something) by converting it into a code. sedition – n. conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state persecution – n. to treat someone or a group cruelly or unfairly for racial, ethnic, religious, political or other reasons hard-line – adj. a forceful or strict way of behaving when dealing with other people
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Friday, February 9, 2018
What It Takes - Carole King, Hal David
00:00:03 OPRAH WINFREY: "Hattie Mae, this child is gifted," and I heard that enough that I started to believe it. 00:00:09 ROGER BANNISTER: If you have the opportunity, not a perfect opportunity, and you don't take it, you may never have another chance. 00:00:15 LAURYN HILL: It all was so clear. It was just, like, the picture started to form itself. 00:00:19 DESMOND TUTU: There was no way in which a lie could prevail over the truth, darkness over light, death over life. 00:00:27 CAROL BURNETT (quoting CARRIE HAMILTON): “Every day I wake up and decide, today I'm going to love my life. Decide.” 00:00:34 JOHNNY CASH: My advice is, if they're going to break your leg once when you go in that place, stay out of there. 00:00:40 JAMES MICHENER: And then along come these differential experiences that you don't look for, you don't plan for, but boy, you’d better not miss them. 00:00:52 ALICE WINKLER: This is What It Takes, a podcast about passion, vision, and perseverance from the Academy of Achievement. I’m Alice Winkler. Just three days after the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, 60 of Broadway’s biggest stars came together at a recording studio — and I’m talking about Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nathan Lane, Idina Menzel, Sean Hayes. They came together to record a song in support of the devastated LGBT community of Orlando, and this is the song they chose... 00:01:30 MUSIC: WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW 00:01:37 What the world needs now is love, sweet love It's the only thing that there's just too little of 00:01:51 ALICE WINKLER: “What the World Needs Now” was a massive 1960s hit. The lyrics were written by Hal David, the music by Burt Bacharach. Five decades later, the song’s power to move people obviously still holds. 00:02:05 Lord, we don't need another mountain There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb There are oceans and rivers enough to cross Enough to last (enough to last) Till the end of time What the world needs now 00:02:30 ALICE WINKLER: Hal David died a few years ago, at the age of 91, so we can only imagine how moved he'd be to see his song, his very favorite, finding a new life with new meaning. And he’d appreciate your knowing that he wrote the words. 00:02:47 HAL DAVID: People remember the people who sing their songs. They don’t remember those who write them. 00:02:54 ALICE WINKLER: We aim to correct that today. Hal David is the focus of this episode of What It Takes — Hal David and another of the most amazing and prolific songwriters of the 1960s and '70s, Carole King. Now Carole King, of course, is more famous as a singer. She happened to be one of the voices on this Broadway for Orlando recording you’re still hearing. That’s not why we’re pairing her with Hal David in this episode, but I do take it as a sign. 00:03:26 So here is the reason we’re combining Carole King with Hal David in one episode. In their interviews with the Academy of Achievement, each talked about the art of the song. Each was part of a legendary songwriting duo. Each came from Brooklyn and made a career in New York’s legendary Brill Building, and here’s the heart of the matter. If you were born between about 1950 and 1975, a good number of the songs you know by heart were probably penned by one of them. 00:03:58 If you’re younger than that, you probably still know their songs because they are songs with staying power and because your parents likely belted them out in the car on road trips. 00:04:09 MUSIC: WALK ON BY 00:04:09 If you see me walking down the street And I start to cry each time we meet Walk on by 00:04:24 MUSIC: I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER 00:04:24 The moment I wake up Before I put on my makeup (makeup) I say a little prayer for you 00:04:34 MUSIC: I'LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN 00:04:34 I’m here to remind you What do you get when you fall in love? You only get lies and pain and sorrow So far at least until tomorrow I'll never fall in love again No, no, I'll never fall in love again 00:04:58 ALICE WINKLER: Those are just a very few of Hal David’s other songs, but let’s switch now for a moment to Carole King. Carole King’s rise to superstardom is well documented. For one, there’s a Broadway musical based on her life and career called Beautiful playing at the Stephen Sondheim Theater and touring the country. But if you only know her as the singer who made Tapestry in 1971, one of the bestselling albums of all time, then you’re missing a big part of the story. 00:05:30 MUSIC: WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW 00:05:30 Tonight the light of love is in your eyes But will you love me tomorrow 00:05:52 ALICE WINKLER: More than a decade before Tapestry, Carole King, still then a teenager, paired up musically and romantically with Gerry Goffin. She wrote the music initially, and he wrote the lyrics. Together they wrote hit after hit after hit, recorded by other singers — people like, oh, The Beatles and The Shirelles, who gave Carole King her first number one hit. 00:06:19 MUSIC: WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW 00:06:19 Tonight you're mine completely You give your love so sweetly Tonight the light of love is in your eyes But will you love me tomorrow 00:06:44 ALICE WINKLER: Carole King was 18, by the way, when that came out. Then there were The Drifters. 00:06:50 MUSIC: UP ON THE ROOF 00:06:50 And if this world starts getting you down There's room enough for two up on the roof (Up on the roof) Up on the roof 00:07:02 ALICE WINKLER: And Herman's Hermits. 00:07:03 MUSIC: I'M INTO SOMETHING GOOD 00:07:04 Last night I met a new girl in the neighborhood Whoa yeah Somethin’ tells me I'm into something good (Something tells me I'm...) 00:07:16 ALICE WINKLER: The Monkees. 00:07:17 MUSIC: PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY 00:07:18 Another pleasant valley Sunday (Sunday) 00:07:25 ALICE WINKLER: And let's not forget Little Eva. 00:07:24 MUSIC: THE LOCO-MOTION 00:07:31 Everybody's doing a brand-new dance, now (Come on baby, do the Loco-motion) I know you'll get to like it... 00:07:39 CAROLE KING: As of this interview, I’m 72 years old, officially turned 72 earlier this week. 00:07:45 ALICE WINKLER: This interview was recorded in 2014. 00:07:48 CAROLE KING: And the journey includes having grown up and not thinking of myself as beautiful in the sense that most young girls were expected to be beautiful. There was an ideal that we were held to. I didn’t feel beautiful when I was growing up, and I found my niche. I couldn’t compete with girls who were thought of as beautiful. 00:08:13 So I found my niche in music, and that was where I found my beauty, and I always knew I could do that. I always felt confident in doing that, and then as I grew up, I brought other, you know, insecurities, but I always knew that my music worked. I married a lyricist. My first husband was a lyricist, and I wasn’t even thinking about being beautiful then. 00:08:40 I was thinking about writing songs and in that there was beauty. One of the things I admired about him was he had really great intelligence, and he exposed me to ways of thinking about — I always liked to read. I always liked to go to plays, but he had a sensibility. My mother had the same sensibility. It was an understanding. I’m more instinctive about my understanding of things. They had the instinctive understanding but also the ability to verbalize it and make it an intellectual experience to talk about it. 00:09:17 And I learned so much from Gerry and from my mother, and all of that went to inform my learning process. And then when Gerry and I eventually divorced, I had to find my own voice and my own way of thinking, but I brought to my life what I had learned from him, and I became a lyricist along with being a musician. 00:09:45 MUSIC: YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND 00:09:45 When you're down and troubled And you need some love and care And nothing, nothing is going right 00:10:05 CAROLE KING: The music was always there for me, always, always. It still is. It’s like I cannot do it for six months, and when I need it, it just comes rushing out because that’s what I do. But the lyric-writing, there are just layers upon layers that I didn’t really understand but came to learn. And then as I went through life and had other experiences, the experience of having success as a songwriter, it’s like, "Wow, this is great," you know. And then becoming a singer — I was nudged into that by James Taylor, who taught me how to perform; and Lou Adler, who gave me the confidence to make a recording as a recording artist on my own. 00:10:49 I never wanted to be an artist. So now I’m a recording artist, and then I’m a performing artist, and all of this kind of unrolled. I never really had ambitions to do more than be a really good songwriter. This is a journey. 00:11:04 MUSIC: YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND 00:11:05 And I'll be there You've got a friend 00:11:15 ALICE WINKLER: This child of Brooklyn came by music naturally. 00:11:19 CAROLE KING: It was important. It was important to my grandmother to have music in the house. My grandmother grew up in Russia, and in her little small village she was — my grandmother was the daughter of a baker, and they didn’t have a lot of money. In her village, the girls with a lot of money her age had pianos in their living rooms, and so she dreamed that her daughter would play piano. And she exposed my mother to music, and my mother’s real affinity was theater, but she learned enough music to pass on to me. 00:11:53 ALICE WINKLER: Carole King, of course, had a lot of talent, and she almost had perfect pitch, but she had something else, too, at a very young age. 00:12:03 CAROLE KING: I have a level of chutzpah in that, if there’s something that I would like to achieve, I don’t do it with arrogance, but I think, “Someone’s going to make it. Why don’t I?” You know, “Why not me?” And if you don’t try, you’ll never know. Maybe you could have achieved it. So there is that level of “Go for it.” 00:12:25 MUSIC: NATURAL WOMAN 00:12:25 Looking out on the morning rain I used to feel so uninspired 00:12:36 ALICE WINKLER: In 1957, she told her dad she wanted to meet the famous rock and roll DJ Alan Freed, and so she did. Alan Freed suggested that she just start looking up record companies in the Manhattan phone book, and she did that, too. 00:12:52 CAROLE KING: I was a teenager when I first started going to record companies in New York. I was 15, and I loved the people that were making records then, and I thought, "Well, I want to do that, too." 00:13:07 MUSIC: NATURAL WOMAN 00:13:09 You make me feel like a natural woman 00:13:14 CAROLE KING: Not as an artist but as a songwriter, and maybe at that time I thought, "Well, maybe I can sing them," but I didn’t want to be a star or anything. I just wanted people to hear my music. And so I called up record companies and got appointments because in those days you could. It was in the mid-'50s and you could get appointments. The music industry wasn’t a mammoth industry the way it is now, and there were things called A&R men, which were “artists and repertoire.” People that actually knew music made the decisions, and they had pianos in their offices. 00:13:51 So I went for it, and Don Costa recognized some talent. Don Costa was an A&R man. He was an arranger, a producer, and he recognized my ability and let me make records and put them out. 00:14:09 ALICE WINKLER: After Carole King and Gerry Goffin had their first really huge hit with “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” they were able to get a working space in the office building at Broadway and 49th, better known simply as the Brill Building. The Brill Building had become the vortex of the pop music industry in the 1940s, and by the '50s and '60s, as rock and roll took off, it was the place to be if you were a music publisher, record label, radio promoter, or songwriter. 00:14:40 Hal David and Burt Bacharach met at the Brill Building and began their legendary partnership just a few years before Carole King and Gerry Goffin arrived. Music historians and musicians themselves often talk about it as a song factory, but Hal David had a different take, as he told the Academy of Achievement in 2010. 00:15:01 HAL DAVID: Well, I guess you could call it that, but I never thought of it — but I thought it was more of a home. By this time I got to know so many of the people, so many of the other writers, and very often we’d sing our own — sing our songs to other songwriters, and they’d sing their songs to us. And of course, if they had a hit when we didn’t have a hit, we’d be jealous, even though we were kind of happy for them. But jealous — “Why not me?” 00:15:36 ALICE WINKLER: That competitive atmosphere fueled a lot of music. Hal David first got a job inside the Brill Building after he got out of the Army, where he had auditioned his way into the Special Services, providing entertainment to troops on the Pacific front. He worked on skits and musicals and realized he wanted to follow in his successful brother’s footsteps as a songwriter. 00:16:00 HAL DAVID: I went to my brother, and I said, "Well, what do I do?" He said, "Well, there’s a building called the Brill Building." It was the Tin Pan Alley of our time, in New York, and he said, "It has 11 floors. You can start on the first floor and go from publisher to publisher until you reach the 11th, or start on the 11th and go from publisher to publisher until you reach the first." 00:16:32 My first collaborator is still my oldest and dearest friend, Norman Monath. We'd play the song for the publisher live at the piano. And one day I got a song recorded, my first song. It was called “Horizontal,” and a woman named Bunty Pendleton, who was on RCA Victor, recorded the song. It was the thrill of my life. 00:17:04 MUSIC: HORIZONTAL 00:17:05 I just want to be horizontal For a year or three or maybe more I just want to stay horizontal From the day I walk through the door Disconnect the phone in the parlor Throw away the key and go to bed I just want to be horizontal Need a pillow under my head I've done a lot of hiking Never to my liking I've left that all behind Now all at once I'm lazy Though it may seem crazy There's only one thing on my mind 00:18:21 ALICE WINKLER: It wasn’t a hit, but it made Hal David enough money to pay his rent, and by 1949 he did have a big enough hit to get a contract offer. Hal David says he didn’t read the contract, and he didn’t send it to a lawyer. He was so excited, he just signed for a couple hundred dollars and a space to work with a piano. Several years and several big hits later, he and Burt Bacharach started talking. 00:18:45 HAL DAVID: Burt was under contract to Famous Music, which was a publishing arm of Paramount. I had an arrangement with Famous Music. We knew each other. He was writing with one person. I was writing with somebody else in offices at Famous Music, on the sixth floor of the Brill Building, and one day we decided we’d try to write a few songs together. 00:19:20 ALICE WINKLER: One of them was this very jaunty tune, “The Story of My Life.” 00:19:23 MUSIC: THE STORY OF MY LIFE 00:19:24 Someday I'm going to write The story of my life I'll tell about the night we met And how my heart can't forget The way you smiled at me 00:19:44 ALICE WINKLER: It was recorded by country singer Marty Robbins and became the number one hit on the country charts, and number 15 overall. 00:19:52 HAL DAVID: Firstly, I didn’t know about country songs. I didn’t know there was such a thing as country songs, or rhythm and blues songs, or whatever. I thought there were just songs. Then we had “Magic Moments” with Perry Como, which was a very big hit internationally. But we still continued working with other people, and I think we started to write together permanently — or “exclusively” is perhaps the better word — when Dionne Warwick came into our lives. 00:20:31 She came into our lives, and she came up to see if she could make some demonstration records for us, demos. This probably was around 1961. She had done backup singing, and we knew her from that, and she had asked if she could so some demos for us, and we invited her to our place at Paramount. And she came and she sang for us, and she blew us away, just blew us away. 00:21:03 Such great musicality. I mean she’s a real musician, and you know, she's just so musical. And we learned quickly that she could do our songs so well. We did our first date, and we had a song called “Don’t Make Me Over.” The first time she really recorded by herself, and it was an enormous hit. And then we had hit after hit after hit after hit for about 17 years. 00:21:36 MUSIC: DON’T MAKE ME OVER 00:21:37 Don't pick on the things I say The things I do Just love me with all my faults The way that I love you I'm begging you Don't make me over Now that I can't make it without you Don't make me over 00:22:05 ALICE WINKLER: There was definitely some symbiosis at work there. Hal David found inspiration in Dionne Warwick’s voice, and she found truth in his lyrics. Here she is in a 2010 interview with the Academy of Achievement. 00:22:20 DIONNE WARWICK: I have to believe what I’m singing about and not feel that I’m singing something that I don’t feel comfortable singing. I never had that problem with Hal David, ever, but Hal David is — I don’t call him a songwriter. I refer to him as a poet. He is — he’s very special and has a way of writing to the heart. Not at it, to it. And I have actually found myself hoarse on occasion and have literally stood while the music played and spoke the lyrics. 00:23:07 And I mean it had the same effect as if I were singing it. Since 1962, I've been singing these songs, and each one is delicious. What can I tell you? 00:23:22 MUSIC: DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE 00:23:23 Do you know the way to San Jose? I've been away so long I may go wrong and lose my way Do you know the way to San Jose? 00:23:35 ALICE WINKLER: Their hits together included “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “Walk on By,” “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” and lots more. But that first hit, her very first solo recording, was in 1961, and it happened to be the same year Carole King and Gerry Goffin had their first hit. Here’s how Hal David described the process of writing a song, followed by Carole King describing her creative process. 00:24:02 HAL DAVID: We sometimes started with some lyrics, sometimes started with some melody, sometimes started with a whole lyric, sometimes started with a whole melody. Sometimes we’d sit in a room and just work on a song and build it. It was almost like architecture. The one thing that Burt and I did particularly well was he could write to a lyric. Not every composer — technically any composer can write to any lyric, and technically any lyric writer can write to any melody, but you’ve got to be able to do it well. 00:24:47 He is far and away the best composer I’ve worked with who could write to a lyric, and I think I do write lyrics to his music in a pretty good way, too. 00:24:59 MUSIC: SEA OF HEARTBREAK 00:24:59 The lights in the harbor Don't shine for me I'm like a lost ship Adrift on the sea The sea of heartbreak Lost love and loneliness Memories of your caress So divine, how I wish You were mine again, my dear I'm on this sea of tears The sea of heartbreak 00:25:39 HAL DAVID: We used to meet every day, and we were usually writing three songs at one time, but not fast. You know, we were really very good craftsmen in terms of not letting things go until we were happy with them. 00:25:58 ALICE WINKLER: They were happy with their songs, yes, but interviewer Gail Eichenthal asked Hal David if he had a good sense of which ones would make it big with listeners. 00:26:08 HAL DAVID: I always think the song is going to be successful, if I take it around. I don't show a song that I don't think will be successful. 00:26:20 GAIL EICHENTHAL: So that means you're not terribly surprised when it is successful? 00:26:23 HAL DAVID: I'm always surprised. I'm always surprised. 00:26:29 MUSIC: ALFIE 00:26:30 What's it all about, Alfie? 00:26:35 HAL DAVID: There are two lyrics I’m most proud of. One was a big hit called “Alfie.” I think “Alfie” may be a lyric I got the closest to getting exactly everything I felt about the subject. We wrote that for a film, a British movie that Paramount was going to release. 00:27:01 Burt was in California now. He was with Angie Dickinson. I was still — my main home was on Long Island. He said, "Why don’t you get a start?" It was my job to get a start. I had a lot of trouble with “Alfie” because “Alfie” was a funny title. It doesn’t sound funny anymore, but “Alfie,” before you heard the song, sounded like an old-fashioned English musical song, something you would dance to and be silly about, and I had to get that out of my mind. 00:27:45 And I struggled with it and struggled with it and couldn’t get it and couldn’t get it, and one day I thought of, "What’s it all about, Alfie?" And from there on I knew how to do it. “What’s it all about, Alfie? Is it just for the moment we live? What’s it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?” 00:28:07 “Are we meant to take more than we give? Or are we meant to be kind? And if only fools are kind, Alfie, then I guess it is wise to be cruel. And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie, what would you lend on an old golden rule? As sure as I believe there’s a heaven above, Alfie, I know there’s something much more. Something even non-believers can believe in.” 00:28:44 “I believe in love, Alfie. Until you find the love you’ve missed, you’re nothing, Alfie. Without true love we just exist, Alfie. When you walk, let your heart lead the way, and you’ll find love any day, Alfie.” I love that line, “When you walk let your heart lead the way.” 00:29:15 MUSIC: ALFIE 00:29:15 I believe in love, Alfie Without true love we just exist, Alfie Until you find the love you've missed You're nothing, Alfie When you walk, let your heart lead the way And you'll find love any day, Alfie 00:30:01 HAL DAVID: We were surprised that the director didn't like the song. He was adamant. He finally said, "Well, my son is very hip, and he knows about songs, and we'll play it for him." Apparently, his son didn't like it either. And if it weren't for Howie Koch, who was the head of the studio, who became a great friend of ours but whom we — at least I didn’t know at the time — Howie said, "What's this song I hear about?" 00:30:37 And we played it for him, and he loved the song. He finally had to say, "I won’t release the movie without the song." That’s one of my very favorites, but one of — and Burt’s as well. 00:30:50 CAROLE KING: Creativity comes in different ways. I've written with co-writers, and there's a wonderful spark that happens when you write with a co-writer. Somebody, one of the two of you, it doesn’t matter which, says — puts out an idea, and the other one, you know — it’s like any collaboration, you know. Business people collaborate. It's — there is that. Ideas. There’s an idea. I don’t know where that comes from. That’s out of thin air. 00:31:16 MUSIC: THE REASON 00:31:17 I figured it out I was high and low and everything in between 00:31:26 ALICE WINKLER: Wayne Reynolds, Chairman of the Academy of Achievement, asked Carole King to describe what it's like when she hears a song she's written on the radio. 00:31:36 CAROLE KING: There are different stages. Hearing your song on the radio is a big piece of it. You suddenly know, "Oh, my God, a whole lot of people are going to hear this." But the stage for me is like, first of all, when an idea comes and I work on it and I shape it and, you know, it’s just a flowing thing that at the end of which, you know, I keep — I’ll reject something, and then something will come in, and I’ll fix it. 00:32:02 So there’s inspiration, but there’s also the perspiration part where you actually craft a song. And then when I’m finished, I actually know when I’m finished. Some people say, "I work on it until they take it away from me." But I actually know when it’s ready, and once it’s ready, that’s a first “Oh, a song where there was a nothing.” And then the playing of it for the first person you play it for, and you see in the person’s face and their reaction to it what you hoped you would see. 00:32:34 And then you record it, and that’s the joy of imagining how an instrument would sound because it’s just me and my piano. And then it’s all the things I hear that — a drumbeat, a guitar figure, violins, background vocals, and when you kind of hear them in your head, but then you actually hear them come to life, and they’re better than you even imagined. That level of realizing, and then if I’m not the singer — and back in the early days I was never the singer — you give it to a recording artist who sings it, and you go, "I can’t sing that well." 00:33:16 And by the way, I know I’m a good singer now but — and what I bring to a performance is authenticity, but I can’t make those notes that Celine Dion or Aretha Franklin make. 00:33:29 MUSIC: THE REASON 00:33:30 The reason In the middle of the night (In the middle of the night) I'm going down 'cause I want you (I want to touch you) Oh 00:33:49 CAROLE KING: So hearing them sing those notes that I know I wanted to sing, sing them so the way I wanted to. Or to hear James sing “You’ve Got a Friend” in the way that I imagined it might sound, that’s another level. And then the last stage is, like, hearing it on the radio or realizing that hundreds, thousands, millions of people are hearing it and that it’s meaningful to them. 00:34:15 Those are the stages, and it all starts with that little spark of idea that comes from whomever, whatever, wherever, through me. 00:34:26 MUSIC: (THEY LONG TO BE) CLOSE TO YOU 00:34:26 HAL DAVID: When I heard music that I liked, I heard words right away. Not necessarily the words I’d wind up using, but I heard words, I heard titles, I heard — as somebody pictures something, I heard something. I’ve always been like that. They have to sound like they weren’t even created, they just happened, just natural perfection when they turned out right. 00:34:58 ALICE WINKLER: Kind of the way ballerinas make their audience believe they are floating, while really they are standing on tormented toes, meticulously controlling every muscle. At least that’s the metaphor that came to my mind, listening to Carole King and Hal David describe the work that goes into crafting a song that sounds like it was just meant to be. 00:35:20 MUSIC: (THEY LONG TO BE) CLOSE TO YOU 00:35:20 On the day that you were born the angels got together And decided to create a dream come true So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold And starlight in your eyes of blue 00:35:38 ALICE WINKLER: Thanks for listening to What It Takes from the Academy of Achievement. I’m Alice Winkler. Thanks, as always, to the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation for funding What It Takes. 00:35:47 MUSIC: (THEY LONG TO BE) CLOSE TO YOU 00:35:47 Follow you all around Just like me, they long to be Close to you END OF FILE
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Koreas Share Handshake at Olympic Games Opening
A sister of North Korea’s leader shook hands with the South Korean president as representatives of the two countries sat together at the opening of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. Sitting nearby was Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the head of the United States delegation, Vice President Mike Pence. On Thursday, the two men met at the prime minister’s home in Japan. They spoke of strengthening the military alliance between their countries to answer threats by North Korea. As is Olympic tradition, Greece, which held the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, led the parade of athletes into the sports stadium in Pyeongchang. Other countries followed in alphabetical order, based the Korean alphabet. Athletes from the two Koreas marched in together under a white flag, which has a blue image in the shape of the Korean peninsula. The ceremonies took place as the world looks for clues about the peninsula’s future while North Korea continues its nuclear and missile activities. Before the ceremony, South Korean officials released a statement from President Moon Jae-in. He said, “Athletes from the two Koreas will work together for victory, and that will resonate with and be remembered in the hearts of people around the world as a sign of peace.” The North has sent nearly 500 people to the PyeongChang Games. Its delegation includes government officials, athletes, artists and cheerleaders. More than 2,900 athletes from 92 countries will compete in the games, making it the biggest Winter Olympics to date. Kim’s sister to meet with Moon One member of the North Korean delegation is Kim Yo Jong. She is the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and believed to be his closest confidant. She is also the first member of North Korea’s ruling family to visit the South since the Korean War. Kim Jong Un himself has not left North Korea or met any head of state since 2011 - the year he became the country’s leader after the death of his father. Officially, Kim Yo Jong, at the age of 30, is just a member of a delegation led by 90-year-old Kim Yong Nam. She and the rest of the North delegation are to join Moon for a meal on Saturday. The United States has repeatedly warned its ally South Korea to continue pressure on the North Korean government. But Vice President Pence has not ruled out a meeting with North Korean officials during his visit to South Korea. The vice president was asked about the possibility of U.S.-North Korea talks before leaving Monday on his six-day Asia trip. “Let me say President Trump has said he always believes in talking, but I haven’t requested any meeting,” Pence told reporters. He added, “But we’ll see what happens.”
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Thursday, February 8, 2018
Could Have, Would Have, and Should Have
From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. Today we will take a look at the modal verbs could have, would have and should have. These past tense modals are useful for expressing your present feelings about a past decision (or other action). Could have, would have, and should have are sometimes called “modals of lost opportunities.” They work like a grammatical time machine. The simple past just tells what happened. Past modals tell what could have, would have, and should have happened. To form these past modals, use could, would, or should followed by have, followed by a past participle verb. Use have for all pronouns; never use has or had to form a past modal. Here are some examples: She could have gone to any college she wanted to. I would have gone to the party, but I was tired. He should have told the truth about what he saw. Each of these modals has a slightly different meaning. We’ll look at each of them using examples from movies and popular songs. Could have We’ll start with could have. Could have means that something was possible in the past, but it did not happen. I could have gone directly to college, but I decided to travel for a year. Listen to this song by 1980s teen pop star Tiffany. The singer is thinking about past possibilities with her lost love. Could have been so beautiful Could have been so right Could have been my lover Every day of my life Native speakers often do not pronounce their past tense modals as clearly as Tiffany. Could have been usually gets contracted to could’ve been or even coulda’ been. Listen to Marlon Brando in the classic film “On the Waterfront.” Brando’s character, Terry Malloy, was once a promising young boxer. “You don’t understand. I coulda’ had class. I coulda’ been a contender. I could have been somebody—instead of a bum.” To form the negative with these modals, use not between could and have. Could not have means that something was impossible in the past. For example: She could not have been on that flight because I just saw her at work. Defense lawyers often use could not have to argue for a client’s innocence. A popular compliment in English is, “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” You can say this when you like the way somebody said something. It is a way to show strong agreement. Would have Let’s move on to would have. Would have is a bit more difficult because it has two common structures. The first is with but. I would have A, but I had to B. Use this structure to show that you wanted to do something in the past, but you could not. I would have called, but there was no phone service. I would have loaned you the money, but I didn’t have any. Would have also forms the result clause of a past unreal conditional. For example: If I had known they were vegetarians, I would have made a salad. You can always reverse conditional sentences. If would have comes first, there is no comma. I would have made a salad if I had known they were vegetarians. Past unreal conditionals are very complex; you can learn more about them on a previous episode of Everyday Grammar. Usually, would have suggests a bad feeling about the past. But not always. In this song by the band Chicago, the singer is surprisingly happy that his ex-girlfriend cheated on him. Her infidelity gave him the opportunity to meet someone else. And that someone else turned out to be his true love. If she would have been faithful If she could have been true Then I wouldn’ta been cheated I would never know real love I would've missed out on you Should have Finally, let’s look at should have. Should have means that something did not happen, but we wish it had happened. We use should have to talk about past mistakes. A worried mother might say: “I was so worried about you. You should have called!” Should have is common in apologies. For example: I’m sorry that I’m late for work. I should have woken up earlier. You might remember Lieutenant Dan in the movie Forrest Gump. In the movie, Dan loses both of his legs in the Vietnam War. He would have died, but Forrest saved him. Listen for should have as Dan confronts Forrest. “You listen to me. We all have a destiny. Nothing just happens. It’s all part of a plan. I should have died out there with my men. But now I’m nothing but a cripple!” Should have can be used in a light-hearted way. In this song, country singer Toby Keith imagines how exciting his life would be if he had chosen to be a cowboy. I should’ve been a cowboy I should’ve learned to rope and ride Wearing my six-shooter Riding my pony on a cattle drive I couldn’t have said it better myself. As you can see, these modals of lost opportunities offer a colorful way to talk about past choices. That’s all for this week. Join us next week for more Everyday Grammar. I’m John Russell. And I’m Dr. Jill Robbins. Now it's your turn. Leave us example sentence. What is something you could have / should have / would have done in the past? Adam Brock wrote this article for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story modal verb – n. a verb (such as can, could, shall, should, ought to, will, or would) that is usually used with another verb to express ideas such as possibility, necessity, and permission contender – n. a person who tries to win something in a game or competition bum – n. a person who is lazy or who does something badly compliment – n. a comment that says something good about someone or something vegetarian – n. a person who does not eat meat infidelity – n. the act or fact of having a romantic or sexual relationship with someone other than your husband, wife, or partner confront – v. to oppose someone, especially in a direct and forceful way cripple – n. a person who cannot move or walk normally because of a permanent injury or other physical problem six-shooter – n. a kind of gun (called a revolver) that can hold six bullets (often used to describe guns used in the old American West) cattle drive – n. the process of moving cows from one place to another
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News Words: Romantic
American actress Meghan Markle explains how roasting a chicken for dinner became romantic.
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Myanmar Denies Report of ‘Massacre’ in Rakhine
The government of Myanmar has answered a report by the Associated Press that said there are mass burials in a village in Rakhine state. The AP’s report on February 2 said that members of Myanmar’s security forces had carried out a massacre in the village of Gu Dar Pyin. The incident reportedly took place on August 27. The AP noted that witnesses, satellite pictures and video from mobile phones provided the evidence for its story. It also said that security forces burned some of the dead bodies with acid to hide the victims’ identities. Seventy-five bodies have been found in graves in the village, the AP reported. But it added people living in the village say that 400 people were killed. The incident happened days after attacks by fighters from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a group fighting Myanmar’s government. Myanmar’s government answers AP report One day after the AP published its report, the government said local officials had visited the village to investigate the claims. The government stated that villagers told them “they had not heard of any massacres near their village.” The government said ARSA fighters and about 500 villagers attacked security forces. The security forces acted, they said, in self-defense. The full government response appeared in the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper. It said that 19 “bodies of terrorists” were found along with weapons -- including knives and spears. The government has since said it may seek legal action against the AP. Lauren Easton, the AP’s director of media relations, defended the story. In an email to VOA, she said, “The Associated Press stands by its reporting.” Human rights groups have called for Myanmar to permit an independent team to investigate incidents in Rakhine State. The area in the western part of the country has largely been closed to reporters and activists since last August. Rights groups call for an investigation Last year, the United Nations Human Rights Council created a mission to investigate the situation in western Myanmar. But Myanmar denied visas to members of the mission as well as to U.N. Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee. She submitted a final report on her findings on February 1 after meeting with refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh and Thailand. In the report, Lee said, “the civilian government has failed to usher in a new era of openness and transparency and is instead persisting with repressive practices of the past.” Dutch diplomat Laetitia van den Assum was a member of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. The group released its final report to the government of Myanmar in August. She called the AP report “deeply troubling.” Van den Assum told VOA that the government reacted to the report too quickly. “This is simply not credible for serious crimes that require in-depth investigations,” she said. She also said the U.N. mission will present its first report in March. It will be based on research done outside the country. She added, “No one should underestimate the importance of this report.” David Mathieson of the activist group Human Rights Watch is a researcher. He told VOA that Myanmar’s attack on the AP report is another action against press freedom. He noted that in December two Reuters reporters were arrested and are still being held. The two men were covering the military campaign in Rakhine state. An estimated 680,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled military operations in western Myanmar and gone to neighboring Bangladesh. The U.N. has compared the situation there to “ethnic cleaning.” I’m Mario Ritter. Oliver Slow reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story massacre –n. the killing of many unharmed and mainly innocent people response –n. an comments or actions meant to reply to something mission –n. a task or job that is meant to be done usher –v. to bring in transparency –n. a state of or policy of being open and hiding nothing We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
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North Korea Holds Military Parade Before Start of Winter Olympics
North Korea held a military parade in Pyongyang Thursday, one day before the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in South Korea. South Korean sources say tens of thousands of people were part of or attended the parade and gathering in the city’s Kim Il Sung Square. The event marked the 70th anniversary of the creation of North Korea’s military. The nation normally marks April 25 as the day when Kim, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, established the first revolutionary army. But the government announced last month that it was moving the celebration to February 8. Some observers say the North Korean move appeared to be an attempt to get international attention before the start of the Olympics in South Korea. Military parades in North Korea usually involve goose-stepping soldiers and military vehicles carrying new weapons. The Associated Press reported that the parade on Thursday was shorter than earlier ones. It also had fewer missiles than the last parade, held in April 2017. At that time, North Korea showed off five new kinds of missiles. In a speech Thursday, Kim Jong Un said the parade marks North Korea’s rise as a “global military power” at a time of what he called the “worst sanctions.” He called on the military to continue a high level of battle readiness against the United States and its followers. Kim’s comments were in line with his latest foreign policy moves. He has been making a diplomatic push toward South Korea since he offered to send a delegation to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. The North Korean leader made the offer in a New Year’s Day speech. South Korean President Moon Jae-in was quick to accept the offer. The delegation includes Kim’s sister and 22 athletes who will march with South Korean athletes under a unified flag. Military parade to come in the U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans this week for a military parade in Washington, D.C. Trump said he wants a parade to top the one he watched during Bastille Day celebrations in France last year. The Defense Department is now working on plans for such an event. On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis confirmed that a military parade could be in the works. “We’ve been putting together some options, and we’ll send them up to the White House for a decision.” Mattis told reporters that the idea for a parade came from Trump’s love for U.S. troops. Not all Americans approve of the proposal. Paul Eaton served as a Major General in the U.S. Army. He is now retired. “This is not about the troops. This is about assuaging the commander-in-chief’s ego, and it’s a fragile one at that. He added that the troops have more important things to do. Large military parades are rare in the United States. The most recent one was held in the early 1990s to celebrate U.S. troops after Iraq was defeated in the Gulf War. Critics say military parades are more often tied to dictatorships, like in North Korea and the former Soviet Union, which long ago held large military celebrations. Last year, Chinese officials invited President Trump to a military parade during his visit to China. Military parades can be costly. In the United States, finding the money for such an event could prove difficult. The Washington, D.C., mayor’s office has already said Trump will have to find the money for such an event. VOANews.com and the Associated Press (AP) reported on this story. George Grow combined and adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story source – n. someone or something that provided what is needed goose-stepping – adj. involving a way of marching by kicking one’s legs very high and not bending one’s knees global – adj. of or relating to the whole world sanction – n. an action taken by one or more countries to make another country honor a rule athlete – n. a person who is skilled in exercises or a sport assuaging – v. to reduce the intensity of something ego – n. the opinion that you have about yourself fragile – adj. weak We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section
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New Zealand to Ban Foreign Home Buyers
New Zealand plans to bar foreigners from purchasing existing homes. The ban is expected to become law this year. It aims to slow the rising housing prices and protect New Zealanders interested in buying a home. The Labour Party government believes that foreign investors have pushed many possible first-time home buyers and families out of the housing market. Last year, median housing prices across the country rose by 5.8 percent, to over $405,000. Housing prices rose even more in New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington. Price there rose by more than 18 percent over a 12-month period that ended in June 2017. The rising prices have pushed home ownership outside the reach of many possible buyers. One home owner told VOA he feels sorry for the younger generation. “I look at my children and my family and friends’ children, and I really, really feel for them because I just believe the market has made it impossible for them to get into the housing.” Just 25 years ago, three out of every four New Zealanders lived in their own homes. Now the rate is 64 percent -- and falling. The plan to ban foreigners from buying existing homes has yet to be approved. But the measure, called the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill, passed its first reading in parliament in December. Restricting foreign ownership of housing has been tried in other countries, including Switzerland, says Norman Gemmell. He is chair of public finance at Victoria University of Wellington. "So, there is a sensible economic argument that says, if lots of foreign investors -- because there is money slewing around in the world looking for a good home -- if lots of these foreign investors are looking to put their cash into New Zealand, if it then forces up the price of property so that people cannot afford to live anymore, you should think about what is the right way to allocate your domestic housing stock.” Critics say foreign investors have had only a small effect on the cost of housing. Low interest rates, limited supply and immigration have also driven up house prices. New Zealand’s trade minister David Parker says the restrictions are not just about price, but fairness. “I am not targeting any one individual. I'm trying to protect New Zealanders against some of the excesses of global capitalism.” Chinese investors have been among the biggest foreign buyers of property in New Zealand. Political commentator Bryce Edwards says the ban is a sign of both intolerance in the community and concerns about capitalism. “There is much more focus on inequality, and so there has been a lot more focus on wealthy individuals as the problem. And there is an ethnic element to it as well that is perhaps xenophobic or even racist. You know, there has been a great increase in Asian wealth coming to New Zealand and, regardless of whether it is investing here or moving here to live, New Zealanders are a bit more suspicious of that.” Housing prices continue to make solid gains across the country. And for many New Zealanders, the dream of owning a home is as distant as ever. I'm Ashley Thompson. Phil Mercer reported this story for VOANews.com. George Grow adapted his report for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story median – n. the middle value in a series of numbers slewing – v. to turn or slide in another direction very quickly cash – n. money afford – v. to be able to pay for allocate – v. to divide and give out intolerance – n. a refusal to accept the rights of other people xenophobic – adj. someone who is fearful or what is foreign or foreigners
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Possible Blood Test for Alzheimer’s Shows Early Promise
Researchers in Japan and Australia say they have made progress in developing a blood test that could one day help doctors identify who might get Alzheimer’s disease. The scientists said the test can recognize a protein known as amyloid beta, which other studies have linked to Alzheimer’s. They said it was correct more than 90 percent of the time in a study involving over 370 people. The findings were published in the journal Nature. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. Experts believe dementia affects close to 50-million people worldwide. By the year 2050, it is expected to affect more than 131 million people. Those numbers come from Alzheimer’s Disease International, a non-profit group. Currently, doctors have two ways to identify a buildup of amyloid beta in the brain. One is a brain scan or brain imaging; the other is invasive cerebrospinal fluid testing, also known as a spinal tap. But both tests are invasive, costly and may only show results when the disease has already started to progress. There is no treatment that can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. Current drugs can only ease some of the effects of the disease. Having a simple, low-cost blood test could make it easier for drug companies to find enough people who are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s to test new medicines, said Katsuhiko Yanagisawa. He was one of the leaders of the study. He works at the Japanese National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology. Alzheimer’s disease is thought to start developing years before patients have any signs of memory loss. Experts say an important factor in finding an effective treatment will be the ability to recognize signs of the disease early. “You have got to walk before you run,” said Colin Masters, a co-leader of the study and a professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia. “You have to learn to diagnose the disease directly before you can hope to see the effect of therapeutic intervention. And that’s where the real value in this test will come,” Masters added. The study involved 252 Australian and 121 Japanese patients. They were all between 60 and 90 years old. Scientists not directly involved in the study said it made an important step, but now the findings need to be confirmed. Mark Dallas is a teacher at Britain’s University of Reading. He said, “if (it) can be repeated in a larger number of people, this test will give us an insight into changes occurring in the brain that relate to Alzheimer’s disease." Abdul Hye works at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. He said the blood test was still a long way from being able to be used in medical centers. John Hardy is a professor of neuroscience at University College London. He said it was a “hopeful study,” one that could improve diagnostic accuracy. I’m Bryan Lynn. The Reuters news agency reported this story. George Grow adapted the report for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story factor – n. something that helps produce or influence a result diagnose – v. to recognize signs of something occur – v. to take place; to come into existence positive – adj. good or useful diagnostic – adj. of or relating to the identification of a disease or problem accuracy – n. freedom from mistake cerebrospinal – adj. involving the brain and spinal cord We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
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