Lesson 23: What Do You Want?

Summary Anna and her boss go on a trip around the world. That is, they eat foods from around the world. What will they find? Speaking In this video, you can practice saying the new words and learn about counting when you give someone change. Pronunciation In this video, you can learn about three informal English expressions: outta, yep, and whaddaya. Conversation   Anna: Washington, D.C. has great food from all over the world. Anna: Today I’m having lunch with my boss. Ms. Weaver says we’re going on a trip around the world. But she knows I only have an hour for lunch! Silly woman. Jonathan:  Hi, Anna! Anna: Hi Jonathan! Hey, we are meeting Ms. Weaver for lunch at noon, aren’t we? Jonathan:  Yes. Anna: What time is it now? Jonathan:  11:50. Anna: 11:50! We have to go!   Anna: So, where is this world food restaurant? Caty: We’re not eating at a restaurant. Anna: Where are we eating? Caty: We are eating at ... food trucks! Anna: Food trucks … awesome! What’s a food truck? Caty: These are food trucks! Anna: Wow!   Jonathan:  Whoa! Caty: Okay, Jonathan, you will buy the first dish. Here is $10. Surprise us! Jonathan:  Okay, I’ll be back in 15 minutes. Anna: What country do I want to visit? Caty: Anna, you pick the second country. Here is $10. Anna: I want chicken. Caty: The food truck, over there, has great chicken. Anna: Awesome! Caty: After you buy your food, meet me here. Jonathan:  Excuse me, I’ll have the shrimp. Jonathan:  Oh, you’re out of shrimp. Okay, I’ll have the beef then. Anna: Hello. I want the chicken dish. Truck worker: We're out of chicken. Anna: You're out of chicken. Worker: Yep. Anna: I’ll try another food truck. Thanks! Worker: You're welcome. Jonathan:  Okay, here is your change. The dish is $7. So, here is  1, 2, 3 dollars back from your 10. Caty: Great. Jonathan:  Where’s Anna? Is she dancing by that food truck? Caty: Yes. Yes, she is. Anna: Ms. Weaver, here is your change. The dish costs $5. So - $5   back. Caty: Thanks, Anna. But where is the food? Anna: I’m eating it. The Peruvian chicken is delicious! Try some! (Caty and Jonathan shake their heads “no”) Caty: Well, we still have $8! What do you want now? Anna: We can buy dessert!    Caty: I’ll buy dessert. Anna: In Washington, D.C., you can travel around the world … with food trucks! And it does not cost a lot. Anna: Until next time!   Writing Anna and her co-workers are going out for lunch together. What do you usually have for lunch on a weekday? Describe it and send us a photo if you can! Send us an email or write in the Comments section. Use the Activity Sheet to practice writing and talking about money and change. Learning Strategy Learning Strategies are the thoughts and actions that help make learning easier or more effective. The learning strategy for this lesson is Respond. In many everyday situations, we have to respond to what we hear. Speaking English as a second language might make it hard for you to respond quickly. The strategy respond is part of listening actively. After listening to what the other person says, you respond on the same topic.  In the video, Jonathan listens to the food truck worker. She says they are out of shrimp. Jonathan responds. First, he repeats the sentence, "Oh, you're out of shrimp." That shows he understands. Second, he asks for a different dish. "I'll have the beef, then." When you talk with someone in English, how do you usually respond? Write to us in the Comments section or send us an email. Teachers, see the Lesson Plan for more details on teaching this strategy.   Listening Quiz ​Test your understanding by taking the listening quiz. Listen to the short video, then choose the best answer.​ ​______________________________________________________________ New Words   after - adv. following in time or at a later time beef- n. meat from a cow or the meat of the cow used as food chicken  n. a bird that is raised by people for its eggs and meat or the meat of the chicken used as food cost - v. to have (an amount of money) as a price delicious - adj. very pleasant to taste dessert - n.sweet food eaten after the main part of a meal dish - n. food that is prepared in a particular way hour - n. one of the 24 equal parts of a day; 60 minutes minute - n. a unit of time equal to 60 seconds; one 60th of an hour noon - n. the middle of the day;12 o'clock in the daytime only - adv. no more than pick - v. to choose or select (someone or something) from a group shrimp - n. small shellfish that has a long body and legs and that is eaten as food trip -n. a journey to a place truck n. a very large, heavy vehicle that is used to move large or numerous objects ​_____________________________________________________________ Free Materials   Download the VOA Learning English Word Book for a dictionary of the words we use on this website. Each Let's Learn English lesson has an Activity Sheet for extra practice on your own or in the classroom. In this lesson, you can use it to learn how to talk about prices, American coins and money. For Teachers See the Lesson Plan for this lesson for ideas and more teaching resources. Send us an email if you have comments on this course or questions. Grammar focus: Using want to express desires Topics: Asking the time; Counting back change; Time and Punctuality Learning Strategy: Respond Speaking & Pronunciation Focus: Counting change, Reduced form of "out of;" Reduced form, "whaddaya;" Informal agreement using "yep." ______________________________________________________________ Now it's your turn. Send us an email or write to us in the Comments section below or on our Facebook page to let us know what you think of this lesson.

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Let's Talk Oscars!

Caty Weaver: Welcome, Penelope Poulou, our VOA movie correspondent! How are you doing? Penelope Poulou: I’m great, it’s great to be here. CW: Well, thank you very much for doing it. Our listeners really love American movies. Watching them is one of the ways they learn how to speak English. PP: And it’s a reflection of our way of live. CW: Absolutely. So, I guess what I would like to know this year are your predictions, because you have been on target the past few years, is that true? PP: That is very true. But this year, all these nominees are really worth it. CW: So let’s go ahead and just start with the biggies - best actor. PP: Best actor? CW: Just tell me who it’s gonna’ be. PP: Well, Gary Oldman, come on now. CW: Yes, for his performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. PP: I truly am very confident that he will get the Oscar. ​ CW: And who is he up against? PP: He is up against Daniel Day Lewis, who is always superb; and, then of course, Timothée Chalamet, who is (in) Call Me By Your Name. He gives an exceptional performance. Daniel Kaluuya, of course, who plays in Get Out. And he’s wonderful but I would not put him in the same level as Oldman’s performance. I think everybody’s looking at Oldman in this situation. CW: Yes, Yes. PP: As for actresses in a leading role, hands down, Frances McDormand. I really believe that. She plays Mildred in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and she carries it. And she’s the epitome of female empowerment. CW: And she’s up against… PP: Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water; a very romantic interpretation of her character. Margot Robbie who plays Tonya Harding in I, Tonya. Saoirse Ronan who plays in Lady Bird, of course, and Meryl Streep, who plays in The Post. And Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep. She has gotten these..I don’t know...I’ve miscounted how many nominations she has by now… CW: At least 20. Maybe 21. I know that she has won at least three Oscars, already. Three. And she is very good in The Post. But that role didn't seem like a challenge for her. CW: OK, and the last I’m going to: Best Picture. PP: Best Picture…Two films. One is Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri because it carries so many themes in there. But Get Out has captured people’s imagination. My only question mark about Get Out is: if I am to look at the film from a traditional point of view, does it fit the bill to get an Oscar for Best Picture? Usually these kind of pictures were grand on cinematography and this and that and the other. Does it fit the bill? And with that, I would say not so much. But things are changing. And what is important here is that it is a very original story. And it’s so hard to get original stories nowadays. CW: Absolutely. That’s its edge. But on the other hand, Three Billboards, also very original. PP: Very original. And so human. And such arcs, such character arcs, such topics. CW: Exactly. It’s almost too bad that they were put out in the same year. PP: And of course we need to mention The Shape of Water, because it has gotten, I think,13 nominations. And it is up there. It checks all the boxes. It checks the box of cinematography, it got a nomination there, best director, best editing, and all that. So, it does stand a great chance also. CW: It doesn’t seem like, though, it has the groundswell. PP: That is very true. That is absolutely true. CW: So, I get the feeling you really think the competition is between Get Out and Three Billboards. So what’s it gonna’ be? You’re on the spot! PP: Uh…I can’t! I can’t go beyond that at this point! I can’t commit! CW: It’s gonna be fun to watch… and judge you! PP: Oh my! CW: Just kidding, Penelope. Thank you so much for coming in and talking. PP: Well, its always fun taking with you. CW: Especially at Oscar time. Enjoy them! And, Learning English fans, you can enjoy the Oscars with us beginning at 00:30 UTC Monday. We'll be providing live Oscar updates on Facebook and on our website, Learningenglish.voanews.com. See you then!

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'The Diamond Lens' by Fitz-James O'Brien, Part One

Our story today is called "The Diamond Lens. " It was written by Fitz-James O'Brien. We will tell the story in two parts.  Now, here is Maurice Joyce with part one of "The Diamond Lens." When I was ten years old, one of my older cousins gave me a microscope. The first time I looked through its magic lens, the clouds that surrounded my daily life rolled away. I saw a universe of tiny living creatures in a drop of water. Day after day, night after night, I studied life under my microscope. The fungus that spoiled my mother’s jam was, for me, a land of magic gardens. I would put one of those spots of green mold under my microscope and see beautiful forests, where strange silver and golden fruit hung from the branches of tiny trees. I felt as if I had discovered another Garden of Eden. Although I didn’t tell anyone about my secret world, I decided to spend my life studying the microscope. My parents had other plans for me. When I was nearly twenty years old, they insisted that I learn a profession even though we were a rich family, and I really didn’t have to work at all. I decided to study medicine in New York. This city was far away from my family, so I could spend my time as I pleased. As long as I paid my medical school fees every year, my family would never know I wasn’t attending any classes. In New York, I would be able to buy excellent microscopes and meet scientists from all over the world. I would have plenty of money and plenty of time to spend on my dream. I left home with high hopes. Two days after I arrived in New York, I found a place to live.  It was large enough for me to use one of the rooms as my laboratory. I filled this room with expensive scientific equipment that I did not know how to use. But by the end of my first year in the city, I had become an expert with the microscope. I also had become more and more unhappy. The lens in my expensive microscope was still not strong enough to answer my questions about life. I imagined there were still secrets in Nature that the limited power of my equipment prevented me from knowing. I lay awake nights, wishing to find the perfect lens – an instrument of great magnifying power. Such a lens would permit me to see life in the smallest parts of its development. I was sure that a powerful lens like that could be built. And I spent my second year in New York trying to create it. I experimented with every kind of material. I tried simple glass, crystal and even precious stones. But I always found myself back where I started. My parents were angry at the lack of progress in my medical studies. I had not gone to one class since arriving in New York. Also, I had spent a lot of money on my experiments. One day, while I was working in my laboratory, Jules Simon knocked at my door. He lived in the apartment just above mine. I knew he loved jewelry, expensive clothing and good living. There was something mysterious about him, too. He always had something to sell: a painting, a rare stature, an expensive pair of lamps. I never understood why Simon did this. He didn’t seem to need the money.  He had many friends among the best families of New York. Simon was very excited as he came into my laboratory. “O my dear fellow!” he gasped.  “I have just seen the most amazing thing in the world!” He told me he had gone to visit a woman who had strange, magical powers. She could speak to the dead and read the minds of the living. To test her, Simon had written some questions about himself on a piece of paper. The woman, Madame Vulpes, had answered all of the questions correctly. Hearing about the woman gave me an idea. Perhaps she would be able to help me discover the secret of the perfect lens. Two days later, I went to her house. Madame Vulpes was an ugly woman with sharp, cruel eyes. She didn’t say a word to me when she opened the door, but took me right into her living room. We sat down at a large round table, and she spoke. “What do you want from me?” “I want to speak to a person who died many years before I was born.” “Put your hands on the table.” We sat there for several minutes. The room grew darker and darker. But Madame Vulpes did not turn on any lights. I began to feel a little silly. Then I felt a series of violent knocks. They shook the table, the back of my chair, the floor under my feet and even the windows. Madam Vulpes smiled. “They are very strong tonight. You are lucky. They want you to write down the name of the spirit you wish to talk to.” I tore a piece of paper out of my notebook and wrote down a name. I didn’t show it to Madame Vulpes. After a moment, Madame Vulpes’ hand began to shake so hard the table moved. She said the spirit was now holding her hand and would write me a message. I gave her paper and a pencil. She wrote something and gave the paper to me. The message read: “I am here. Question me.” It was signed “Leeuwenhoek.” I couldn’t believe my eyes. The name was the same one I had written on my piece of paper. I was sure that an ignorant woman like Madame Vulpes would not know who Leeuwenhoek was. Why would she know the name of the man who invented the microscope? Quickly, I wrote a question on another piece of paper. “How can I create the perfect lens?” Leeuwenhoek wrote back: “Find a diamond of one hundred and forty carats. Give it a strong electrical charge. The electricity will change the diamond’s atoms. From that stone you can form the perfect lens.” I left Madame Vulpes’ house in a state of painful excitement. Where would I find a diamond that large? All my family’s money could not buy a diamond like that. And even if I had enough money, I knew that such diamonds are very difficult to find. When I came home, I saw a light in Simon’s window. I climbed the stairs to his apartment and went in without knocking. Simon’s back was toward me as he bent over a lamp.  He looked as if he were carefully studying a small object in his hands. As soon as he heard me enter, he put the object in his pocket. His face became red, and he seemed very nervous. “What are you looking at?” I asked. Simon didn’t answer me. Instead, he laughed nervously and told me to sit down. I couldn’t wait to tell him my news. “Simon, I have just come from Madame Vulpes. She gave me some important information that will help me find the perfect lens. If only I could find a diamond that weighs one hundred forty carats!” My words seemed to change Simon into a wild animal. He rushed to a small table and grabbed a long, thin knife. “No!” he shouted. “You won’t get my treasure! I’ll die before I give it to you!” “My dear Simon,” I said, “I don’t know what you are talking about. I went to Madame Vulpes to ask her for help with a scientific problem. She told me I needed an enormous diamond. You could not possibly own a diamond that large. If you did, you would be very rich. And you wouldn’t be living here.” He stared at me for a second.  Then he laughed and apologized. “Simon,” I suggested, “let us drink some wine and forget all this. I have two bottles downstairs in my apartment. What do you think?” “I like your idea,” he said. I brought the wine to his apartment, and we began to drink. By the time we had finished the first bottle, Simon was very sleepy and very drunk. I felt as calm as ever…for I believed that I knew Simon’s secret. Download activities to help you understand this story here. Now it's your turn to use the words in this story. Have you ever discovered something you thought was more unusual than anything else in the world? What are some interesting scientific discoveries you like to read about? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ QUIZ   ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   microscope – n. a device used to make very small things look larger so they can be studied lens - n. a clear curved piece of glass or plastic that is used to make things look clearer, smaller, or bigger magnify - v. to make (something) appear larger ignorant -  adj. lacking knowledge or information carat – n. a unit for measuring the weight of jewels (such as diamonds) that is equal to 200 milligrams​ enormous - adj. very great in size or amount

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March 2, 2018

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

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The Academy May Not Like It, But Politics Might Star at the Oscars

If any of this year’s Oscar winners use their acceptance speech to push a political cause, you can thank — or blame — Marlon Brando. The actor’s performance as Vito Corleone in the 1972 film The Godfather is widely celebrated. But his action connected to the 1973 Academy Awards ceremony marked a change in Oscar behavior. Traditionally, Oscar winners had accepted their awards with speeches of thanks to the Academy and the industry. But Brando was different. He did not even attend the ceremony. He sent actor Sacheen Littlefeather in his place. She spoke in protest of Hollywood’s treatment of the country’s Native peoples. In the years since, Oscar winners have brought up everything from climate change to war to equal pay for women. “Speeches for a long time were relatively quiet in part because of the control of the studio system,” says James Piazza. He wrote the 2002 book, The Academy Awards: The Complete History of Oscar, along with Gail Kinn. He said, “There had been some controversy, like when George C. Scott refused his Oscar for Patton (which came out in 1970). But Brando’s speech really broke the mold.” Producers for this year’s Oscars show have said they want the ceremony to center on the movies themselves. However, political speeches seem likely. The #MeToo movement, protesting sexual abuse, played a big part at the Golden Globe awards in January. Globe winner Reese Witherspoon thanked “everyone who broke their silence this year.” Honorary Globe winner Oprah Winfrey also spoke about the issue in a speech that led some to suggest she run for president. Before Brando, award winners avoided issue-centered speeches, even if the issues were linked to the movie. For example, Gregory Peck won the Oscar for best actor in 1963 for his performance in To Kill a Mockingbird. But in Peck’s acceptance speech, he said nothing about the film’s racial theme, even though he spoke often about it to the press. And in 1964, when Sidney Poitier became the first black to win best actor, he did not comment on the historic nature of his win. Even actor Jane Fonda, one of Hollywood’s most famous anti-war activists, simply gave thanks for her Oscar in 1972. “There’s a great deal to say, but I’m not going to say it tonight,” she stated. “I would just like to say thank you very much.” Political movements from anti-communism to civil rights were mostly ignored during Oscar ceremonies in their time. Although Hollywood is thought of as politically liberal, the Academy generally disapproves of political speeches. Actor Vanessa Redgrave was booed for a political comment she made in her Oscar speech in 1978. At the 2003 Academy Awards, filmmaker Michael Moore was also not received entirely kindly by the audience. He had won the Oscar for his documentary film on guns, Bowling for Columbine.The crowd first cheered and stood for the filmmaker. But they booed when Moore began to speak against then-President George W. Bush and his Iraq policy. The Academy has a sense of humor, however. In 1994, Oscars performer Whoopi Goldberg used her opening jokes to persuade stars against talking about issues. “Save the whales,” she said. “Save the spotted owl. Gay rights. Men’s rights. Women’s rights. Human rights. Feed the homeless. More gun control. Free the Chinese dissidents. Peace in Bosnia. Health care reform. Choose choice. ACT UP. More AIDS research.” She got it all out of the way at the start of the show. The audience laughed and cheered. I’m Caty Weaver.   The Associated Press reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ________________________________________________________________  Words in This Story   studio – n. a company that makes movies controversy – n. argument that involves many people who strongly disagree about something: strong disagreement about something among a large group of people mold – n. a usual or typical example of something: a pattern or type of something that is an example to be followed theme – n. the main subject that is being discussed or described in a piece of writing, a movie, etc. boo – v. a sound that people make to show they do not like or approve of someone or something audience – n. a group of people who gather together to listen to something (such as a concert) or watch something (such as a movie or play): the people who attend a performance

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Making Local Food More Nutritious

  About one in three people worldwide eats food that fills them up but lacks protein, vitamins and minerals. Health experts have a name for this situation: “hidden hunger.” It can lead to weakness in the body’s natural defenses against disease. It can also limit a person’s growth and affect intelligence. Now, the founders of an American food manufacturer are putting technology and financial resources to work to address the problem. They are looking for ways to make low-cost, traditional meals more nutritious. And, at the same time, make sure that people will like the taste. The company, called Just, is based in San Francisco, only a short drive from California’s Silicon Valley. Just is best known for making products such as plant-based mayonnaise, cookie dough and salad dressings. These foods can be found at supermarkets in the United States. The company is now working in Liberia, where 30 percent of the population suffers from poor nutrition. Just is partnering with local manufacturers and suppliers to make a product called Power Gari. It is based on the cassava plant, a common ingredient in Liberian cooking. The mixture for Power Gari turns the starchy cassava into a nutritious, soft food filled with vitamins and minerals. It has 12 grams of protein and, thanks to locally-produced red palm oil and salt, a taste many people find appealing. In January, Power Gari began appearing at stores in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. The product has six ingredients. Just says more than 80 percent of them are from local suppliers. The company gave a Liberian manufacturer permission to make Power Gari. The manufacturer works with local suppliers to meet food safety rules. [[https://justforall.com/en-us/stories/power-gari]] “Our goal here is to build a better food system in Liberia and that means we are hands-on,” says Taylor Quinn, director of emerging markets for Just. He lives in Monrovia. Over the past two years, Quinn has carried ingredients from Liberia to San Francisco for the company’s scientists and others to study. It is sometimes difficult to get the local taste right, Quinn noted. He added, “The cassava – or the sugar, or whatever it may be that we're using in northern Liberia – is different than what we can get access to here in the office.” The company is continually changing the manufacturing directions for the product, Quinn added. A 50-gram serving of Power Gari costs about five cents for the wholesale product served in schools. In stores, it sells for about 15 cents per serving. One of the most difficult problems for Quinn is to find out what works best in Liberia. When it came to the machinery used at the factory of Just’s manufacturing partner, he wanted a mixing machine made in Liberia that can work without electricity. He found a local manufacturer who made the machines for about $800 and can do repairs, if needed.  When the power first went out during production, the workers started producing the mixture with a hand crank. “After a few minutes of hand cranking, it was perfect,” Quinn said. The true proof of Power Gari’s success will be if Liberians buy it. The company says it looked to Liberia as a test case before thinking about expanding to bigger markets, such as Nigeria or Kenya. The goal, says company founder Josh Tetrick, is nothing less than solving the world’s unjust food system. “Why are we not approaching this with the kind of ferocity that high growth companies bring to their own operations?" he asked. Just has raised more than $200 million from investors and is valued at over $1 billion. The company has made changes in its leadership recently to add directors with international business, agriculture and sustainability experience. I’m Dorothy Gundy and I'm Susan Shand   Michelle Quinn reported this story for VOANews.com. George Grow adapted her report for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   resource – n. a supply of something that can be used when it is needed ingredient – n. one of the substances used to make a mixture emerging – adj. newly created; developing access – n. permission or ability to enter something starchy – adj. containing starch; serious in behavior crank – n. a machine part that can be turned in a circle to move something approach – v. to move or become nearer to something ferocity – n. the quality of being very fierce We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

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Trump: Trade Wars Are Good, Easy to Win

  President Donald Trump is defending his plan to raise taxes on steel and aluminum imports entering the United States. Trump declared on Friday that “trade wars are good, and easy to win” -- a claim that some Americans were quick to criticize. The critics include members of his own Republican Party. Trump has said that the U.S. government would set punishing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Such a move would increase tensions with China and other countries. They also would raise the possibility of higher prices for American businesses and consumers. Early Friday, Trump took to the Twitter social networking service to defend himself. He wrote: “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with…every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!” He later tweeted: “Our steel industry is in bad shape. IF YOU DON’T HAVE STEEL, YOU DON’T HAVE A COUNTRY!” His announcement came only after an intense debate among his top aides. It brought strong criticism from some Republicans and financial markets concerned about tariffs and their effect on the economy. The president asked heads of aluminum and steel companies to the White House Thursday. He announced plans to set tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports next week. He added that the tariffs would remain for “a long period of time.” The Associated Press says it was not immediately clear if the taxes would affect all trading partners. Around the world, Trump’s words led to criticism from the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. He rejected the plan as a clear intervention to protect U.S. domestic industry. Juncker said the EU would take steps to punish the U.S. if Trump followed through. China’s Commerce Ministry said it was seriously concerned about Trump’s plan. The ministry said China has satisfied its trade agreements and appealed to the U.S. government to settle disputes through negotiation. China has received many complaints from the United States, Europe and other trading partners. They accuse the Chinese government of unfairly supporting Chinese exports and restricting the Chinese market in violation of its free-trade promises. Canada is the largest provider of steel and aluminum imports in the U.S. The Canadian government said it would “take responsive measures” to defend the country’s trade interests and workers if the tariffs affected Canadian steel and aluminum products. Critics warned Trump’s tariffs may lead to a trade war. They suggested other countries will take action to punish the United States or use national security as a reason to set their own trade rules. Trump’s move will possibly raise steel and aluminum prices in the U.S. That is good news for American companies, but bad for companies that use the metals, such as manufacturers of beer and air conditioning equipment. The American International Automobile Dealers Association said the tariffs could cause the cost of a car to rise a lot. Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade official, noted “What benefits one industry can hurt another. What saves one job can jeopardize another.” Cutler is now vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. American companies said steel tariffs announced in 2002 by then President George W. Bush destroyed 200,000 U.S. jobs. The new tariffs were requested by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the decision “shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone,” saying that the president had been talking about it for many years. Trump has long accused China and others of what he calls unfair trade. But some Republicans in Congress were angry. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said the tariffs were a “tax increase on American families.” Sasse noted that he would expect Democratic Party lawmakers to set trade tariffs, not Republicans. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, said through a spokesman he hoped Trump would consider the effects of a trade war. I'm Bryan Lynn. Ken Thomas and Paul Wiseman reported this story for the Associated Press. Susan Shand adapted the story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   tariff – n. a tax on goods coming into or leaving a country consumer – n. a person who buys goods and services cute – adj. clearly causing an harmful effect        domestic – adj. relating to or coming from within a country complaint – n. criticism responsive – adj. quick to react, often with a sympathetic reaction

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English @ the Movies: 'Master Of Disguise'

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What It Takes - George Bush and Bill Clinton

00:00:00    ALICE WINKLER: This is What It Takes, a podcast about passion, vision, and perseverance from the Academy of Achievement. I’m Alice Winkler.   00:00:16    We’re doing something kind of different for this episode. You won't hear the usual profile of one extraordinary person, and here's why. Well, first off, it’s August, so why not? But here's the far better reason. We are, as I record these words, still fresh on the heels of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. As we near the end of this political season, as contentious as any our country has ever experienced, speeches are flying left and right, and in other unpredictable directions too.   00:00:53    Well, it seemed like a great time to pull a couple of speeches by former presidents out of the Academy of Achievement's vault. They're somewhat off-the-cuff talks that give you a more intimate look at the people who have led this nation, talking about their service. For today's episode, we picked one by Bill Clinton, recorded in 2004, and one by George Bush; that's George H. W. Bush, the 41st U.S. president, recorded in 1995.   00:01:27    But we can't get to all that without playing the What It Takes signature opening, especially not on the first anniversary of launching this podcast.   00:01:40    OPRAH WINFREY: "Hattie Mae, this child is gifted," and I heard that enough that I started to believe it.   00:01:46    ROGER BANNISTER: If you have the opportunity, not a perfect opportunity, and you don't take it, you may never have another chance.   00:01:52    LAURYN HILL: It all was so clear. It was just, like, the picture started to form itself.   00:01:57    DESMOND TUTU: There was no way in which a lie could prevail over the truth, darkness over light, death over life.   00:02:05    CAROL BURNETT (quoting CARRIE HAMILTON): “Every day I wake up and decide, today I'm going to love my life. Decide.”   00:02:12    JOHNNY CASH: My advice is, if they're going to break your leg once when you go in that place, stay out of there.   00:02:17    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.   00:02:30    ALICE WINKLER: What It Takes, as I tell you every episode, is a production of the Academy of Achievement, a nonprofit foundation based in Washington, D.C. For 55 years, the Academy has brought accomplished student scholars together with the preeminent leaders from the worlds of public service, science, arts, sports, and business for an open exchange of ideas and to inspire the next generation of leaders.   00:03:00    Academy events aren't open to the public, but the speeches and interviews are recorded and are available on achievement.org, on iTunes University, and for the past year, on this podcast, which we hope you are loving. So, onto the former presidents of the United States.   00:03:24    When Bill Clinton spoke to the Academy in 2004, he followed many other very notable speakers, including Israel's former prime minister, Ehud Barak, and its former president, Shimon Peres, as well as retired General Wesley Clark and Joe Ralston, former vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I mention those four in particular because you will hear Bill Clinton refer to them by first name in his talk.   00:03:53    BILL CLINTON:    Thank you very much. Thank you. Please sit down. Thank you.   00:03:58    I would prefer today, because it's a leadership forum and a lot of young people here, to spend most of my time answering questions, but I would like to begin with a couple of thoughts. It was previously mentioned that I was with all my living counterparts at President Reagan's funeral service today. And when I got back to the house — Hillary and I got back home — we saw Prime Minister and Mrs. Blair briefly before we left, but before I went over there to the British Embassy, which is right behind our house, I turned the TV on, and the commentator for one of the networks was saying, "This is an amazing thing, to see all these American presidents here, and they actually seem to be friends, and they fought each other for decades."   00:04:46    And then they were commenting on the fact that we had just dedicated the World War II Memorial in Washington, after which there was a scene, apparently televised all over America, where I made former President Bush laugh, and he shoved me, and I shoved him back, and we were joking. And so I've had a hundred people come to me and say, "What were you and George Bush laughing about?" And we were laughing about the fact that his son had just asked me if my autobiography was really 900 pages long.   00:05:17    And I said that it was, and he said, "Did you write it all?" I said I did, and he said, "Well, you know, I'm busy. We don't do 900-page books now. I'm busy. So Dad and I are going to divide it up. He'll read the first part. I'll read the second." I said, "He'll like his part a lot better than you'll like yours."   00:05:33    So former President Bush said, "Are you mean to me?" I said, "No, I practically built a shrine to you in the book and — except I used more graphic terms than that." And I say that to make the following point. Because I heard Shimon up here talking about peace in the Middle East, and Wes and Joe and I have been involved in the Balkans, and I was thinking about the time when we bombed Osama bin Laden's training camp and tried to take him out.   00:06:14    I don't know if Joe Ralston talked about this, but he had to go to Pakistan and meet with the leading military authorities to say, "Oh, by the way, in about five minutes the missiles are going over here, and it's not the Indians. Please don't bomb them." So we've all been through a lot together. I wanted to make just a couple of points. First of all, most of us grew up in fairly ordinary circumstances, and free societies gave us a chance to develop our abilities.   00:06:44    We have the president of one of the Baltic countries here today, who was also on this program. I'll never forget when I went to Latvia in 1994, and there were 40,000 people holding candles at night to thank the United States for having stood for freedom over 50 years.   00:07:10    A free society gave Ronald Reagan, a guy from a modest background in Dixon, Illinois, and Bill Clinton, the guy from a modest background, to put it mildly, in a little town in Arkansas, the chance to serve their country and the world. The whole premise of freedom is that talent and ability are evenly distributed throughout the world, but opportunity is not.   00:07:38    And I mentioned Professor Lewis because I saw him on C-SPAN the other night. You know, if you're unemployed, you’ve got time to watch C-SPAN, and I do.   00:07:47    And you were giving a speech to one of those groups in Washington where you were giving basically the history of the Muslim world. And then I hear Shimon talking about the terror again, which we tried so hard to end. There is no shortage of ability, of intelligence, of heart, among the Palestinian people, among the Arab people generally, among the Muslims in the world.   00:08:16    As a matter of fact, I never met a poor Palestinian outside of the Holy Land. Every Palestinian I know in America's a millionaire. Ecuador had a Palestinian president when I was there. The Palestinians in Chile control the flour trade. What's the point of all this? If you put people in a free society and you give them a chance to live by certain rules — and including certain restraints — everybody will have a chance.   00:08:45    Look at all these young people here. We have different colored skins, men and women, different backgrounds, different religious faiths, different cultural traditions. I always thought the best thing about President Reagan, aside from his innate optimism — and we didn’t agree on — we agreed on almost nothing politically, domestically. We did do the 1988 Welfare Reform Bill together, and I was honored to represent the governors, and we worked hard on that. We reached agreement.   00:09:14    But we reached agreement because we did it in good faith, and we reached across the divide in a free society. But I always thought the best thing about Reagan was that you can argue what caused the fall of the Soviet Union and the communist empire, and you can argue it, fly it around — we'll be arguing that for 50 years — but the one thing that Reagan thought was that freedom was a universal value and that there were no people who would willingly choose to be denied the chance to chart their own course in life.   00:09:44    And that, I think, no matter how else history views what he did, whether 30 or 40 years from now people still feel the same way we Americans feel on this day, no one can deny that. Time will not change those words or that truth. There were two astonishing things that happened while I was president that I had nothing to do with so I can just disclaim this — you write the story of your life, and you want to rewrite history, and you realize there are just some things you simply can't find a way to take credit for.   00:10:20    One was that, in the long march of human liberty, in the 1990s, for the first time in history, more than half the people of the world lived under governments they voted in. And a lot of us who have been in politics, including my two friends from Israel and myself, we've been elected and beat. We know what that's like. That had never happened before in all human history, and that doesn't count the huge percentage of the world's population living in China, and in all the small villages in China, 900,000-plus of them, they actually have elections now, too.   00:10:56    The mayors are only appointed in the big cities. So you had more than half the people of the world living under democratic governments for the first time. The second thing that happened, interestingly enough, was the explosion of non-governmental organizations: citizens groups, from very wealthy ones like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the wealthiest non-governmental organization in the world; to poor ones like the Self Employed Women's Association, SEWA, an Indian group that I have raised money and contributed money to that gives women a chance in poor Indian villages to set up their own businesses, to support their families better, to build all kinds of better lives for themselves.   00:11:43    When I was president, we gave about two million loans a year, micro-enterprise loans, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, mostly to poor village women who used the money to prove that enterprise is not the province of any particular culture if people are given the chance. One day, I was thinking about all these things my foundation's doing: trying to cut the price of AIDS drugs and deal with religious and racial reconciliation and start the economic projects in India and Ghana and first one place and another. I was shaving one morning, I remember. I looked at my mirror and I said, "My God, I'm a non-governmental organization."   00:12:27    I say that to make this point. You do not have to be in government to make a difference. And in a global information society, you can have an enormous impact by organizing to achieve some objective. Shimon will remember this — the day after we signed the peace agreement in September of '93, I had 600 Arab and Jewish American business people in the White House to ask them to help Israel become a better partner to the Palestinians by investing money in the Palestinian territories to give people the immediate benefits of peace.   00:13:05    A few did, and we would have had many more, but the enemies of peace would always have periodic terrorist incidents, which would provoke the predictable response in Israel, which would make investors reluctant to invest, so that by the time we finished, the Palestinians were younger and poorer than they were when we began. But nobody ever said this was supposed to be easy.   00:13:31    My basic premise is this. For the first time in history, in 1945, the existence of the human community and what we have in common was recognized by an international law with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the creation of the United Nations. It was impossible for us to realize that vision because of the Cold War.   00:14:06    The Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Since then, we have been preoccupied with all manner of religious, racial, tribal, and ethnic conflicts, with the rise of terror, with the terrifying prospect that terrorists could get ahold of chemical and biological and nuclear weapons. And particularly, since September 11, 2001, we in America have tended to see our modern world in dark tones through that prism.   00:14:33    I would like to ask you to view it instead through the whole sweep of human history. All of human history, since the first person came out of a cave, since people organized from families to clans, is a story of humanity's movement — from somewhere over 100,000 years ago when the first of our ancestors stood up on the African savannah — from isolation to interdependence to community.   00:15:02    At each step along the way, there was always a conflict between people who thought our differences were more important and people who thought our common humanity was more important. In the early 20th century, we nearly got it wrong in two hideous world wars and the Holocaust and the Cultural Revolution in China and the purges in the Soviet Union. But in the end, the people who favored recognizing the primacy of our common humanity prevailed.   00:15:37    We've had a couple of rough years in the world, all right, and there are a lot of troubling signs on the horizon. And as you will see, if you take a look at my book, I think that the fact that the Palestinians walked away from the peace agreement that Ehud Barak embraced — that many, many times in the 1990s Shimon and Yitzhak Rabin, and later Ehud Barak, and even B.B. Netanyahu and his previous phase at Wye River, you know, we made offers, and they were walked away from in various ways.   00:16:19    I think this was a tragedy, but on balance, I'm pretty optimistic. I mean look at what's happened since 1989. Yeah, we've had all this terrorist problem. It's terrible, but the primary adversaries of the Cold War, Russia and China, have largely been reconciled to the free world. We ended all the ethnic slaughter in the Balkans and gave Europe a chance to be united, democratic and secure for the first time in history.   00:16:49    We expanded NATO and its partnership for peace and now are taking in many other nations. The EU grew and expanded and deepened in its meaning. Turkey is on track to become part of the European Union, and if it does, at the worst, it will become a bulwark for the West against Islamic extremism; and at best, it could become a gateway to a new Middle East and a whole more positive future for people reaching across cultural and religious lines.   00:17:21    There has been a remarkable amount of international cooperation against terror to try to contain the danger of weapons of mass destruction, against poverty and AIDS and for putting children in school. Have we done anything like what I think we should do? No, we haven't even scratched the surface, but all this is unprecedented. We have, in short, been living in a completely interdependent environment in which, for good or ill, we cannot escape each other, for about 15 years, all over the world.   00:17:52    And I would argue to you that in spite of all of our troubles, more good than bad has come out of that global environment. That the kind of people you come here to celebrate and honor and listen to have done, on balance, a good job, and that it is more likely than not that, once more, human history will be marked by a movement from interdependence, which is where we are now, inherently unstable — we get all the benefits and all the burdens.   00:18:23    You get rich off global trade, and you get your buildings blown up by terrorists for the same reason — open borders, easy travel, easy immigration, easy access to information and technology. You become very vulnerable when people can reach you and they don't share your values. They don't think they get any benefits out of your system in a world where half the world is still on less than two dollars a day, and they don't recognize the responsibilities of civilized society, which you do.   00:18:51    That's where we are now, in a moment of inherent instability. I believe that, on balance, we're better off than we were in 1989. I believe, on balance, the world will continue to move toward an integrated global community of shared benefits, responsibilities, and values. That's what I think will happen. There are particular problems in some places of the world, none more than in the Middle East, where, among other things, our friends in the Arab world have to somehow — the people that sympathize with all these things that have been said before I got up here have to find a way to break the psychology of resentment.   00:19:35    A few years ago, when we were in Dublin, I think, as I remember, in addition to my buddy Bono, I think the great Irish writer Frank McCourt was there, who wrote Angela's Ashes, you know. It was a great book about the old Limerick. I like the new one better, if you've been there. But Frank McCourt has a brother, not so well known, but a delightful man, who is also an author, named Malachy McCourt.   00:19:59    And Malachy wrote a great line. He said, "Harboring resentments is like taking poison and waiting for the other guy to die."   00:20:13    You know, I had occasion to think about this a lot in my life, because if you live long enough, you're going to resent somebody or something. But it's really a very important thing to think about. The Middle East is particularly affected because of the mass psychology of shame-based politics. When the Intifada started in September 2000, Ehud remembers this, and Ariel Sharon said he was going to walk up on the Temple Mount, and no Israeli politician had done it since 1967.   00:20:46    And, you know, he tried to stop the violence and sent a bunch of police up there with him. And I did my best to persuade Mr. Arafat and the Palestinians not to launch the Intifada, and they thought I was crazy. They said, "Well, we have to do this. They are humiliating us. We have never — no Israeli figure has, you know, tainted the Temple Mount like this! How dare Sharon do this?"   00:21:11    I said, "Well, that's one possible response." I said — well, he said, "Well, what do you think?" I said, "I would have a little Palestinian girl with a bouquet of flowers meet him and offer to show him the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and say, ‘You know, when this is ours, you can come back every day.’"   00:21:29    He thought I was, as we say at home, three bricks shy of a full load.   00:21:34    He's like, "That was an unimaginable response," and that's the last thing I want to say to the young people here. The future of the world depends upon the unimaginable response. Any time anybody does anything to you that you believe compels a response on your part, you have given up the freedom that we have spent the last 50 years trying to secure for the whole world — that in America Republicans and Democrats — and that all over the world freedom-loving people have tried to secure.   00:22:08    The Gdańsk Shipyard workers — I saw Lech Wałęsa at President Reagan's funeral today. In every, every corner of the globe, people who have labored for freedom — Martin Lee, the Hong Kong human rights activist. I could go on and on and on. Aung San Suu Kyi, suffering away under arrest in Burma. All over the world. All those people gave you a chance to be free, and then when somebody does something to you and you say, "I had no choice but to respond in this way," you just gave them your freedom.   00:22:41    You gave your life into the hands of someone else. I have seen in the Intifada for the last three years, we've had 3,000 dead Palestinians, 920-something, I think, dead Israelis. The average age of the dead Israelis is 24. The average age of the dead Palestinians is 18, all because Mr. Arafat turned down the peace agreement in 2000 because he was afraid of what someone else would say about it, in part.   00:23:12    So he wasn't free. So you think about that. Those of you who are much younger than me are going to be asked to shape a world unlike the world all of us who are particularly 50 or older grew up in. You have to create not an interdependent world because there's too much instability. You have to create an integrated world, and the definition of that is: what you have in common is more important than your interesting differences.   00:23:42    So you have to find a way to share benefits, share responsibilities, and share the simple value that your common humanity matters most. If you do that, this is going to be the most interesting time we've ever lived in. Will we have more people die from terrorism? Doubtlessly. We will. Might there even be some horrible biological or chemical incident? There might be. Has any society ever been destroyed by terrorism alone? No.   00:24:09    Will we be the first? Highly unlikely. All great contests begin in the mind and the heart, with the imagination, and with the ultimate human freedom: “I choose to see this in a different way. I choose to react in a different way. I choose to imagine a different future.”   00:24:37    That's really what we need today, almost more than anything else. Thank you very much.   00:24:44    ACADEMY DELEGATE: Could you make a case, sir, for why folks with the level of talent and the level of options in this room should consider public service and should consider themselves standing for election someday?   00:24:58    BILL CLINTON:    Yeah, I'll even do better than that. Walk out of the room, and on your way out, Shimon's — I went to his 80th birthday party a few months ago. He wouldn't look nearly this good at 80 if he'd spent his time doing something else.   00:25:16    I'm just telling you. It kept him young. You ask any of these people. Ask Wes Clark or Joe Ralston, if they could live their lives again and know that they'd be worth 150 million dollars now if they would have chosen to do that. Ask Ehud Barak, after all the heartbreak we went through trying to make peace with the Palestinians, if he wishes that he'd left the Israeli military and gone and made a ton of money and ignored the opportunity for public service.   00:25:47    I got this thing in my book where I told the young people working for me over and over again, I said, "It's okay to fail. I'd rather get caught trying to do something good and noble and have them put on my tombstone, “He failed.” As long as they fill in the blanks at what I failed at doing. There is nothing more rewarding than what we do in common, which is why, you know, you've got — I see some people out here in this room who are enormously successful, wealthy people who wanted all of you to have a chance to come here, and who are now giving away large amounts of their money to do noble things because they understand, fundamentally, that when it's all said and done, none of us goes forward unless we all do.   00:26:42    You don't have to run for office. There are other options. You know, you have to be about half crazy to spend a lifetime running for office. And under these circumstances, you have to have an extraordinarily high pain threshold.   00:26:56    But any kind of public service, I think — most people who do it look back at the end of their lives and think it was the most rewarding part of their lives. I include teaching in that, by the way. You know, anything that, where you share yourself with others in order to lift everybody up. When it's all said and done, it doesn't matter if you didn't get done — well, I mean, it's nice if you got done what you were trying to do.   00:27:23    But human nature and the nature of the human condition and problems are not such that in this lifetime — or anybody's lifetime — everything that we seek to do, all the dark shadows we seek to run away, will yield to us. The most important thing is whether you tried to do the right thing.   00:27:45    So all I can tell you is, the older I get, the gladder I am that I lived the life I did before I strolled up here today. And I think all of them would feel the same way.   00:27:57    ALICE WINKLER: I'll leave it with just that one Q&A between former President Bill Clinton and a scholar in the audience that day in 2004 because we do want to leave time for the next president. Next, I should say, in this podcast episode, but actually, the prior president, historically speaking. Here's George Herbert Walker Bush giving a talk to students at the Academy of Achievement in 1995, two years after finishing his term as president. 00:28:29    GEORGE BUSH: I've always kind of regretted graduation speeches. You kind of go, “Your future lies in front of you,” one of the classic clichés of all time. But I would start by just making a few observations on what my humorous friend, the golf writer Dan Jenkins, calls “life its own self,” and then you can argue with me or make a rebuttal, and the joy of being unemployed and retired and out of politics is, I don't much give a damn about what the press thinks.   00:29:03    But I care what you all think, and I will be glad to try to respond as directly as possible to the question. Let me just make a few platitudes, and you're speaking as one who was blessed all his life by a strong family. It was written over and over again — speaking of clichés — that I came from a privileged background, and to that, I plead guilty.   00:29:31    But not because, if I got sick, my parents could take care of me, or not because they could afford to help me get through a good school right after World War II, but more because they were there to give me sound advice, and it lasted all through my mother and father's lives. They were never hesitant about giving advice. I was vice president. Ronald Reagan was giving a State of the Union message.   00:30:01    The minute it ended, I was back in the vice president's house, and the phone rang. It was my mother.   00:30:07    And she said, "George, I noticed you were talking to Tip O'Neill while the president was speaking."   00:30:13    I said, "That's Tip's fault, Mother." She said, "Don't — "   00:30:18    "Don't blame the other person."   00:30:21    And she said, "Besides that, you should have been smiling. Well, looking into the camera and smiling while the president was speaking." I said, "Mother, he was talking about nuclear destruction."   00:30:32     "This would not have been a particularly good time to be smiling when he said that." Significant point is that I was privileged, and I was blessed by loving parents, and I was blessed by sound advice. But as I give you that advice today, it's going to sound so elementary: “Do your best. Try your hardest. Be a good sport. Turn the other cheek. Be kind.”   00:31:00    These might sound platitudinous, but I've been there. With the help of many in this room, I climbed to the highest political mountain in the world. And I can tell you, having had a wonderful diversity of experience — so diverse that Barbara, in her speeches, says, "George can't hold a job," which I do not appreciate very much, but nevertheless —   00:31:22    These truisms, platitudinous though they may be, make extraordinarily good sense, have nothing to do with whether you're a liberal or a conservative, a Republican or a Democrat. Don't feel that your brilliance — and you are brilliant or you wouldn't be sitting here — entitles you to anything. Look at it as an obligation to help others.   00:31:49    I meant what I talked about in the White House when I talked about being one of a thousand points of light and that no life can be deemed successful if it doesn't include helping others. This is not a platitude. This is the truth, and I find that people say, "Well, what was it like going from being president of the United States one day to — back to a tiny house in Houston, two dogs, one wife, and nobody else, after living in the grandeur of the vice president's house for eight years and the president's for four?"   00:32:25    It wasn't hard. It wasn't that difficult because we never felt entitled to any imperial courtesies because I was privileged to be president, and I remembered something that I'd tried to practice when I was a young kid. Barbara and I were just out of college and living in Odessa, Texas in 1948. Try to give something to somebody else. Try to be a part of something — YMCA, helping a kid, hugging someone that's hurt, going to the hospital, whatever it may be.   00:32:59    And so my advice — fatherly advice: Brilliance doesn't entitle you to anything. It brings with it, in my sense of service, a certain obligation to help others. Second truism/advice: Don't be afraid to take a chance. Don't be afraid to risk. Don't end up in your life comfortable and bright and erudite but knowing that you never took a chance, that you never took a risk, that you never tried to go the extra mile.   00:33:41    Not for yourself, not to get one more medal or one more star or one more Nobel Prize because you were doing something that might help this great country or help the world we live in. I learned from every chapter of my life. I learned a lot about humility from being married to Barbara Bush.   00:34:04    You know, I've been there for 50 years, married to her, and she hasn't changed any. Sometimes I wish she had changed some, but she hasn't changed.   00:34:15    And she can be a little zinging. I played in a Bob Hope golf tournament, and an errant tee shot bounced off of a tree and hit a 71-year-old lady named Mrs. Early. By the time I got up to Mrs. Early, she was flat and bleeding over her right eye, her doctor having told her that her glasses saved her eyesight. It was a traumatic moment. I didn’t know whether to wait for medevac, call 911, or go on and play golf with President Clinton and President Ford and Bob Hope, so I took the latter course, leaving Mrs. Early...   00:34:47    ...Mrs. Early stretched out on the ground there at the Bob Hope Tournament. I get home, and Barbara gives a speech, and she says, "As if there's not enough violence on TV already, George has to play golf."   00:35:01    So you’ve got to — this is a side piece of advice. I hadn't planned to render it. But marry a woman like Barbara Bush if you can find one. Learn from every chapter in your life. Spencer, I think, mentioned my service in the world war. Fifty years ago to this very day, Barbara and I were living over in Virginia Beach. We had orders to go — I did — to go back out to the Pacific as a carrier pilot, having survived, happily, one tour of duty in the Pacific.   00:35:35    And I, of course, was very glad that the war ended. I am not a revisionist. I am not a critic of Harry Truman, whether it's regarding the atomic bomb or anything else. He saved lives with that decision that some are now looking at as an immoral decision. He saved lives, and it wasn't just mine. There were many, many others that weren't at risk because of a courageous decision. I learned and watched that, not realizing what he'd be — history — scrutiny would put him under, but he did the right thing.   00:36:10    I learned something in the Navy, and that is that a wingman doesn't pull away from the leader when the flak gets heavy. And that stood me in very good stead when John Tower, an appointee of mine, came under brutal partisan fire when I nominated him to be secretary of defense, or when I nominated a fine justice of the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas, to go on that bench.   00:36:33    It would have been easy to cut and run and cut my political losses and say I made a mistake or get him to withdraw. And it doesn't matter what you think of Clarence Thomas, my point — and I'm very high on him, and I think history will show that he's a good justice — but my point is, I learned from that experience in my life that you don't pull away when the flak gets heavy or the going gets tough.   00:36:59    I learned something from my business career out in West Texas. Today, you need 25 lawyers, thousands of escrow agreements and deposit agreements and down payments if you're going to make a deal. In those days, your handshake was your bond back in the late '40s or the early '50s. That's, regrettably, changed, but I guess what I'm saying is integrity is terribly important.   00:37:30    Robert Burns, the poet, wrote, "Princes and lords are but the breath of kings. An honest man is the noblest work of God." You’ve got to keep your word, and I saw the wonder of what trust meant, and I've seen it dissolve, and I've seen it caught up now and everybody challenging each other's integrity and honor.   00:37:58    I was considered too loyal a vice president to Ronald Reagan because I supported his views and sublimated some of my own passions — and “passion” is a good word for all of you to recall — but I sublimated some of my own views to support him. I was telling some friends of mine, the Wynns and the Halls, at breakfast, I guess, about one time my mother called up. I was a little younger than you guys — and how did it go?   00:38:28    I said, "We won, and I scored three goals." And then Mother said, "Well, what'd the team do? How'd they do?" Good lesson.   00:38:40    Barbara — I learn from the Silver Fox still. She'll be 70 this week, but she's still got all of her facilities, very bright, very energetic, and very frank and straightforward. She accepted a challenge to go to Wellesley University, prestigious home of many of the nation's elite, and there was big controversy about whether she should go because some of the girls did what you do.   00:39:05     You grab a sign and protest, and some were saying, "Well, Barbara Bush is just there because she's the wife of the president of the United States." And then I said, "Barb, you’d better check about this thing, going up there. Why go up and get humiliated? Heck, you can walk right out of the White House and see some guy with a sign telling you what to do."   00:39:23    "So you don't need to go all the way to Wellesley for that." She invited Raisa Gorbachev, and up they went to Wellesley. And Barbara said this: she said, "What happens in your house is more important than what happens in the White House," and I thought about that when I was president. I think about that now, and she's right. She is absolutely right.   00:39:53    What you do with your family and towards your brothers and sisters and your parents and in your homes, and for those less fortunate that might not have this kind of family, what you do to help some other kid understand that what happens in his house is more important than what happens in the White House — there's going to be a test of all of you because I'm one who stands here thinking that Tom Clancy was right last night when he talked about, "Look at the big picture."   00:40:22     There's no threat of nuclear war. There's no superpower confrontation. You’ve got a unified Germany inside NATO. You have ancient enemies talking peace across the table from each other as a result of Desert Storm and as a result of the Madrid Conference. And you're not going to see tanks roll through the streets of Prague or Budapest anymore. You're not going to — nobody's going to wake up and have to teach you how to hide under your desk in whatever state you're from so you can learn how to avoid nuclear fallout.   00:40:59    You're living in a good time, and yeah, there's a lot of trouble. In Rwanda, there are people starving. In Bosnia, there's ethnic genocide, and all across the world, there are problems. But you’ve got to look at the big picture, and you’ve got to keep in mind that there's a chance to make things even better and that you're blessed at this juncture in history.   00:41:22    And so let me end up — and take your questions — by saying that there are some things I miss about being president, and there are some things I don't. I know we have some military officers, and I'm kind of an emotional guy. I believe in duty, honor, and country. I believe in service, not just in the military, but service to country. I believe, as one speaker last night did, in patriotism, not to put yourself over somebody else, but to recognize that you have an obligation to serve.   00:41:56    And so I miss the military. I miss the people in the White House who treated us like family. Of course, they treat it like a museum. Of course, they honor the history of our country by keeping the people's house as a symbol of our democracy and as a place where people can come. I loved taking people upstairs to the second floor in the mansion there in the residence of the White House, and showing them the handwritten copy of the Gettysburg Address, or showing them, “At this table Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.”   00:42:36    I loved doing that, and they do it beautifully there in the White House, preserving all of this and paying homage to our history through the art and all that. But I also loved the family feeling. The minute my predecessor walked out of there, that staff, their butlers or housemen or whatever, who keep the place pristine and majestic, turned and made us feel as a family in that home. It was a very important thing, and the day we walked out of there, tears in our eyes and some of theirs, they turned and did the same thing for the Clinton family.   00:43:16    I miss that. They're wonderful. I said I don't miss the press, and I'll repeat it because I take great joy saying that. The press —   00:43:24    The press became unaccountable. They wanted change, and they sure got it, and I —   00:43:32    I know that sounds bitter, but what troubles me today is this adversarial relationship. It doesn't go just for Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals. You're guilty until you're proved innocent. There's this pack adversarial journalism that is deeply offensive to me, and how do I cope with it? I just don't talk to them, and it's — maybe that's a chicken way out of it, but that's the way I feel. I don't need that kind of grief anymore.   00:44:00    I was there. I felt it. You know, I don't want it. So I don't miss that part of it. I don't miss the give-and-takes of politics, though some of it I loved. I tried to reach out my hand across the aisle to work with those Democrats that would be willing to compromise or come our way, but I don't miss that part of life. What I do miss, though, is the fact that I was privileged to be the president, and I miss the dealing with foreign leaders because through their eyes you can see the sole standing of the United States of America.   00:44:38    You can feel our greatness, and if it's ever in doubt, if it's ever in doubt or in question, you ought to talk to the foreign leaders and feel this sense of admiration for our country, whether I agree with the policies of the president of the moment or not. I was privileged to be there. I am delighted — and I'll tell you this...   00:44:58    There is such a thing as an exciting private life after the presidency, and what I want to do now — what I want to do now is teach that 11-year-old that comes to spend his summer with me from Florida next week how to be a good fly fisherman. I want to watch the tide go out and understand the majesty of the nature that has surrounded me up there in Maine for 70 years and count my blessings for it.   00:45:28    I want to try to be a point of light. I'm on the MD Anderson cancer hospital — and Barbara’s on Mayo's and doing stuff with literacy — and then I want to thank God for the blessings we have. Thank you very much.   00:45:52    ALICE WINKLER: That's former President of the United States George H. W. Bush speaking at the Academy of Achievement in 1995. I'm Alice Winkler, and that concludes our special presidential speech episode of What It Takes.   00:46:12     We'll be back in two weeks with an episode about a scientist leading the next frontier in cancer research, immunotherapy. Make sure to listen. What It Takes is made possible with funding from the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation.   END OF FILE

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March 1, 2018

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

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School Shooting Leads Companies to Change Gun Positions

  The recent shooting attack at a Florida high school has renewed heated debate about gun control in the United States. America remains divided on the issue. Both sides have mainly held their positions in recent years while the country continued to experience deadly mass shootings. But the latest school shooting – in which 17 people were killed – has led to some new developments in the gun debate. Some U.S. companies are changing their policies related to guns, for example. Also, students themselves are rising up in huge numbers to demand stronger gun control measures. Since the Parkland shooting, at least 15 companies have announced they were ending partnerships with the National Rifle Association (NRA).  Among those ending cooperation with the NRA are Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, car rental companies Hertz, Enterprise and Alamo and insurance company MetLife. Delta Air Lines had been giving the NRA reduced rates for air travel. After its decision, Delta faced criticism from officials in the state of Georgia, where the company is based. After Delta’s NRA decision, Georgia Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle wrote on Twitter he would attempt to “kill any tax legislation” that helped Delta. Cagle, a Republican, said he would only support such a measure if Delta reestablished its relationship with the NRA. “Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back,” the tweet said. On Thursday, Georgia's legislature approved a bill that punished Delta for its decision regarding the NRA. Lawmakers passed a tax bill that removed fuel tax benefits that could have saved the company about $40 million a year.  Officials from several other states have offered to support Delta Air Lines if it moved operations out of Georgia. In answer to Delta, the NRA said that its members are “passionate supporters” of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment about weapons rights of citizens. “Having those on the left pushing for a boycott to pressure companies to drop discounts just shows how out of touch some are,” the NRA tweeted. At least three American-based stores announced in recent days they were raising the age to 21 to buy guns in their stores. The NRA is opposed to raising the age to 21. The three companies are Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart and Kroger. In its announcement Wednesday, Dick’s also said  it would halt sales of assault-style weapons. The 19-year-old shooter used an assault-style weapon in the February 14 attack at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Ed Stack is Dick’s Chief Executive Officer. He spoke to ABC’s “Good Morning America” about the decision. “When we saw what the kids were going through and the grief of the parents and the kids who were killed in Parkland, we felt we needed to do something,” he said.   Large social media campaigns are also pressuring government officials to consider stronger gun control measures. One of the most vocal student activists for reform of gun laws is Emma Gonzalez. The 18-year-old student survived the attack at Stoneman Douglas. She began to trend on Twitter after she spoke at a protest. The videotaped speech recorded her sharp criticism of politicians – including President Donald Trump – who accept money from the NRA. Emma Gonzalez had not been a Twitter user, but decided to join. When she did, her number of followers quickly rose to more than one million. That is nearly twice the number of Twitter followers of the NRA. I’m Bryan Lynn. And I’m Caty Weaver. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Associated Press, Reuters and other sources. Caty Weaver 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 National Rifle Association – n. a national organization founded in 1871 that promotes the legal use of guns and gun safety in the US and defends a US citizen's constitutional right to own and bear arms. rental – n. the act of renting something insurance – n. an agreement in which a person makes payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies passionate – adj. showing a strong belief in something or a strong feeling about a subject the left – n. a group or party favoring liberal views retailer – n. a business that sells things directly to customers assault – n. a violent attack grief – n. great sadness, especially caused by someone's death vocal – adj. expressing opinions in a public and forceful way  

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