Lesson 8: Are You Busy?

Summary Anna wants to apologize to her co-workers. She learns what they do at the same time every day.   Speaking In this video, learn to say the new words. Learn to talk about three times of the day. You can also download the Activity Sheet and practice with a friend. Pronunciation ​In this video, you ​learn how Americans make hesitation noises, like um, to give themselves more time to think of an answer. You can also learn how to use emphasis when you apologize and accept an apology. Conversation Anna: Hello, everyone. Here I am at my new job! Yesterday at my first day of work … Well, let’s not talk about yesterday. Today is a new day! Today I want to apologize to my co-workers. Anna: Hi, Anne. Are you busy? Anne: Hi, Anna. Yes. At 10 a.m. I am writing. Every day I do my morning show. Sorry! Anna: Okay. See you later, maybe. Anne: Maybe I’ll see you later. Anna: Hi, Jonathan. Are you busy? Jonathan: Yes, I’m busy. When the studio light is on, I am recording my evening show. Anna: Right. Sorry about yesterday. Jonathan: No worries. Anna: May I see the studio? Jonathan: Um, maybe another time? Right now I am busy. Anna: Sure. Okay, ’bye. Jonathan: ‘Bye. Anna: Hi, Amelia! Are you busy? Amelia: I’m a little busy. Anna: I want to say I’m sorry for yesterday. Amelia: It’s okay, Anna. Anna: Well, I am sorry. Amelia: It’s okay, Anna. Come by this afternoon. Anna: Okay. Caty: Anna. Anna: Yes, Ms. Weaver. Caty: Are you busy? Anna: Yes, Ms. Weaver. I am busy.  Caty: My office. 5:00 p.m. Anna: 5:00 p.m. Caty: Come in. Co-Workers: Surprise! Anna: A party! Awesome! And I still have my job! Phew!* Until next time! * Phew! is a sound used to show that you are relieved, tired, or hot   Writing What do you do every morning? You can see some examples in the Activity Sheet. Click on the image to download it, and practice talking with a friend about when you are busy. Write to us in the Comments section. Learning Strategy Learning Strategies are the thoughts and actions that help make learning easier or more effective. The learning strategy for this lesson is Use What You Know. We have knowledge about the world we use when learning a new language or a new skill. Here is an example. In this lesson's video, Anna learns that her co-workers do things at the same time each day. She understands this idea because she also has to do work at the same time every day. She uses what she knows and remembers not to bother her co-workers at the times they are busy.  How do you use what you know in studying English? 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 this listening quiz. Play the video, then choose the best answer. ​ New Words afternoon - n. the middle part of the day : the part of the day between noon and evening apologize - v. to express regret for doing or saying something wrong : to give or make an apology evening - n. the last part of the day and early part of the night job - n. the work that a person does regularly in order to earn money later - adj. happening near the end of a process, activity, series, life, etc. light - n. a source of light (such as an electric lamp) maybe - adv. possibly but not certainly morning - n. the early part of the day : the time of day from sunrise until noon now - adv. at the present time studio - n. the building or room where an artist works surprise - n. an unexpected event, piece of information, etc. yesterday - n. the day before today ______________________________________________________________ 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 practice a conversation about activities. 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: BE - Short answers; simple present tense to describe routine activities Topics: Times of day: morning, evening, afternoon​ Speaking & Pronunciation Focus: Times of day; regular activities; hesitation noise "um;" apologizing with stress or intonation ______________________________________________________________ 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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Everyday Grammar: Because of & Due to

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America's Presidents - John F. Kennedy

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Changing Colleges in the US Is Complex, Costly

  Savannah College of Art and Design, or SCAD, is a private university in the American state of Georgia. In 2003, Sarah Luthans believed it would be the best place for her to study painting. But after two years there, Luthans found she wanted more creative freedom. She decided the Virginia Commonwealth University, or VCU, in Richmond, might be the right place for that. So Luthans decided to transfer to VCU before the start of her third year. That is when her difficulties started. Most students in the United States who transfer expect the class credits they have already earned to count at their new school as well. But this was not the case for Luthans. VCU and SCAD credit classes differently in some cases. When Luthans started at VCU in 2005, she learned that the school would not accept about 25 percent of her credits from SCAD. Less than a year later, Luthans decided to leave school completely. When she returned to her education, she went to SCAD. In 2009, she received her bachelor’s degree. She says she learned a hard lesson along the way. “I would not have transferred at all if I knew what it was going to be like personally. If I knew that I was going to lose what started off as one year, eventually three years, before going back and finishing my degree, I wouldn’t have done it.” Luthans is among many U.S. college students to have faced such difficulties. Increasingly, research shows that transferring schools is a complex process that costs many students time and money. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, or GAO, researches how different American institutions operate. In August, the GAO released a study of the student transfer process in higher education. The research found that of all the students attending a U.S. college or university between 2004 and 2009, about 35 percent transferred at least once. The study showed that, on average, schools receiving transfer students rejected about 43 percent of their academic credits. Melissa Emrey-Arras is the director of education, workforce and income security issues at the GAO. She says differences in academic requirements among schools is a main reason students lose credits. So students sometimes have to retake classes. “A college may say, ‘I see you’ve taken biology. We’re going to give you a general credit as having taken that class. But we’re not going to count it towards your biology major at our school because we don’t think that the class was very rigorous.’” Students transfer for many different reasons, Emrey-Arras notes. In some cases, they simply dislike the social or academic environment, like Sarah Luthans. Others might change for financial reasons. Emrey-Arras says it is especially difficult when students try to move between schools that do not have a transfer agreement. Such agreements let students move their credits from one school to another more easily. But, the GAO study found that many schools do not provide information about such agreements on their websites, or through other easily available resources. Emrey-Arras says this is of special concern for students facing financial difficulties. Students who depend on federal financial aid, for example, are limited in time. They are given only six years to complete their degree. At that point federal support ends. So, it is important they know exactly how many classes, if any, they will have to repeat. Leticia Bustillos is the director of policy research at the non-profit Campaign for College Opportunity. She argues that colleges and universities have a responsibility to support low-income students through the transfer process. But, she says many schools are stuck in the past. “Colleges, overall, still adhere to a very traditional model of higher education that no longer exists, because the population is different.” Bustillo notes that the new generation of U.S. college students include many who are the first in their families to seek higher education. Many of them depend on two-year programs at lower-cost community colleges as the first step towards a bachelor’s degree. For example, the state of California has one of the largest college student populations in the country. The Campaign for College Opportunity found that about 70 percent of all college students in California attended community colleges in 2015. Bustillos says that many of these students plan to transfer to four-year schools. That kind of student population has been growing for years. In fact, California passed a law in 2010 to help ease the transfer process because of its increasing popularity. The law lets students who earn 60 credits at California community colleges transfer to any school in the California State University, or CSU, system. They then need just 60 more credits to earn a bachelor’s degree. However, even with this program in place, transfer students still face problems says the Campaign for College Opportunity. Many of the community colleges lack the resources to offer all 60 credits-worth of classes students need to transfer. Also, not all schools within the University of California system accept all credits earned at community colleges. As a result, community college students generally spend more to get their four-year degrees  than students who begin at four-year colleges. The difference can be as much as $38,000. Faye Huie of the research group National Student Clearinghouse says such problems are not limited to California. In a recent study, her organization found that the complexity of the transfer process harms low-income students across the country. Huie says it is often because they are starting from a difficult financial position. “Low income students have limited resources. For example, they could be working in addition to trying to go to school. All students who want to transfer have to take time to look into the different schools that they want to transfer to. They need to do research on the transfer process. And low-income students may not have that additional time to put into their research.” That is why Emrey-Arras, Bustillos and Huie all urge for public and private universities to work harder to make the process simpler. And the GAO report supports their call. It suggests that the U.S. Department of Education officially require schools to clearly explain on their websites any transfer agreements they have. And the Campaign for College Opportunity wants California public universities to make their general education requirements more similar. I’m Pete Musto. And I’m Alice Bryant.   Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. We want to hear from you. How common is transferring between universities in country? How difficult is the transfer process? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   transfer – v. to stop going to one school and begin going to another credit(s) – n. a unit that measures a student's progress towards earning a degree in a school or college bachelor’s degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study eventually – adv. in the end institution(s) – n. an established organization academic – adj. of or relating to schools and education income – n. money that is earned from work, investments, or business major – n. the main subject studied by a college or university student rigorous – adj. very strict and demanding social – adj. relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other financial – adj. relating to money adhere to – p.v. to act in the way that is required by something, such as a rule, belief, or promise

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America's Uncivil War

  In the last few weeks, Americans heard their political leaders speak in a way that is not generally considered polite, kind, or professional – in other words, uncivil. One exchange has followed the death of an American soldier in Niger. President Trump called the soldier’s widow to offer his condolences. But a U.S. lawmaker, who heard the phone call, called the president’s remarks disrespectful. The president responded with a tweet saying the lawmaker was “wacky” and “gave a total lie.” The president’s chief of staff, John Kelly, defended Trump and his positive intentions. He said the lawmaker should not have listened to the call, and added that she was an “empty barrel” who just made noise. This example of the negative tone in the current public conversation is a comparatively mild one. A reporter for the Washington Times newspaper wrote that a number of polls show media coverage about President Trump is overwhelmingly critical. The article quotes the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as saying, “This is a president who fights fire with fire.” In other words, he answers criticism with criticism. A Stanford professor who studies relationships at work notes that one negative exchange leads to others. Bob Sutton said in an interview with New York magazine, “Nasty behavior spreads much faster than nice behavior.” A single unkind remark can spread like a sickness, he said. One lawmaker recently tried to make a joke about the ugly tone of today’s political language. After a meeting of Republican senators with the president, Senator John Kennedy from the state of Louisiana reportedly said, “Nobody called anyone an ignorant slut.” The term “ignorant slut” refers to a skit from a popular, humorous television show. But the words are still considered strong language, and some political leaders are not laughing. Presidents, senators speak out In fact, former presidents have taken the unusual step of speaking out about the current political climate. George W. Bush, a Republican, cautioned Americans against “casual cruelty.” Barack Obama, a Democrat, warned against the “politics of division.” And then, in a dramatic speech on Tuesday, a Republican senator from Arizona announced that he would not seek re-election. One reason, he said, was because he could not support the president’s leadership. Jeff Flake said, “Mr. President, I rise today to say: Enough.” Flake accused the president of attacking people and institutions, often for no good reason. The president has criticized Flake in the past, calling him “toxic” and “weak.” Earlier, another Republican senator, Bob Corker, also said he was retiring and strongly spoke out against Trump. On Twitter, Corker called Trump “untruthful” and described the White House as “an adult daycare center.” In other words, Corker said the president and his staff could not take care of themselves and needed supervision. In answer to Flake and Corker, Trump pointed out that many voters supported him, but were highly unlikely to re-elect them. “Now act so hurt and wounded,” Trump added in a tweet. Commenters on the right and left have also pointed out that the retirement of these lawmakers strengthens Trump and those in his party who support him. A country divided The divisions within the country – and even within the Republican Party, which Bush, Flake and Corker share with Trump – are real. A report published this week found that even members of the same party see major issues differently. Pew researchers point out that they have found these divisions over the last 30 years of studying American beliefs. But two things may be different now, researchers found.   First, the Trump administration is calling attention to many of the issues that traditionally divide the Republican Party: immigration, America’s role in the world, and whether the U.S. economic system is fair to most people. Trump’s government is speaking about these topics and pressing hard on policies related to them. Second, Pew researchers found that the divide between Republicans and Democrats has grown larger. Republicans and Democrats are finding less and less common ground on issues such as race and how much the federal government should support people who need help. The researchers said that these divisions were wide under the government of Barack Obama. Now they are even wider. Personal attacks in American politics But what is not new to U.S. politics is strong, angry language and personal attacks on lawmakers. The campaign of 1800 between former friends John Adams and Thomas Jefferson is often held to be the most negative in U.S. history. The magazine Mental Floss writes, “Adams was labeled a fool, a hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant, while Jefferson was branded a weakling, an atheist, a libertine, and a coward.” The political conversation in the U.S. also suffered in the years before and after the Civil War. In one event, one lawmaker who supported slavery even used a cane to strike one who opposed it. The men were in the Senate chamber. They both became heroes to their supporters. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.   Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do edited it. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   condolences - n. a feeling or expression of sympathy and sadness especially when someone is suffering because of the death of a family member, a friend, etc. wacky - adj. amusing and very strange intentions - n. an aim or purpose ignorant - adj. lacking knowledge or information slut - n.  a woman who has many sexual partners skit - n. a short, funny story or performance toxic - adj. poisonous hypocrite - n. a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs libertine - n.  a person (especially a man) who leads an immoral life and is mainly interested in sexual pleasure

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Mogadishu Bombing Changes Somalis’ Ideas about Blood Donations

  Something unusual happened in Somalia after the bomb attack that killed 358 people on October 14: Many Somalis went quickly to hospitals to donate blood for the victims. There was a great need for blood to help people after the bombing in Mogadishu, the capital. Hundreds of people were wounded in the attack. But in Somalia, blood donations are not very common. Many Somalians do not want to give blood because they are afraid of sharp needles or concerned they might catch a disease. Others believe there might be religious restrictions on donating blood. For these reasons, Somalia has lacked blood banks for more than 20 years. This made it difficult for hospitals to treat victims who had lost large amounts of blood.  When the bomb exploded, doctors in Somalia immediately contacted hundreds of people who had pre-registered as blood donors. They also launched a social media campaign, including a Facebook page, to seek out new donors. Omar Habeeb completed medical school at Benadir University in Mogadishu. He says the Facebook page got over 500,000 views on the day of the bombing. “Then hundreds of people voluntarily poured into the hospitals to donate blood," he said. Many of the blood donors were sent home because hospitals were not prepared to store the blood they did not need right away, Habeeb said. But these would-be donors were registered to be contacted in the future when blood is needed. Najma Ali Moalim is another young doctor in the group. She was among the first medical workers to arrive at the site of the bombing. “The fact that the country has no blood bank, and that we have seen patients dying because of loss of blood - including children, pregnant women, and gunshot patients - we have decided to stand up and ask our people to donate,” she told VOA. Mohamed Aden Jama is a young medical student who was among the blood donors. She says blood is the most valuable thing a person can donate. “And for me it means saving a life, saving the life of a brother or sister,” Jama said. Religious leaders and health officials are also using information campaigns to tell Somalis there are no religious restrictions on giving blood. In addition to their work on blood donations, the doctors' group is supporting another social media campaign that is raising money for families of bombing victims. I’m Bryan Lynn.   Mohamed Olad Hassan and Sahra Abdi Ahmed reported this story for VOA News. Bryan Lynn adapted their report for Learning English. Additional information came from Reuters. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   blood bank – n. a place where blood is stored for later use needle – n. a small, sharp object that is pushed through the skin to put something in or take something out of the body site – n. place; point of an event We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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Wildlife Officials Find Evidence of Rare Australian Bird

  Indigenous wildlife officials in Australia have found new evidence of one of the country’s rarest and most mysterious birds. It is called the night parrot. The bird was thought to be extinct until a sighting in 2013. There have been very few sightings since. But wildlife workers say they have photographed one of the birds in the Kimberley area of Western Australia. The photograph is unclear: an object colored light green and yellow. But officials believe it suggests evidence of a new population of night parrots. They captured the image using a motion sensor camera in Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. Before 2013, scientists did not know what the birds sounded like. But then a night parrot was found in the state of Queensland. Until recently, the colorful bird had not been seen in Western Australia for more than 100 years. The night parrot lives near the ground and is only active at night. The bird was thought to have died as a result of loss of habitat, fires and attacks by wild cats. The cats threaten the survival of more than 100 species native to Australia. They are thought to have killed off many other birds and smaller mammals. Alexander Watson is a biologist at the animal conservation group WWF Australia. He has worked with Aboriginal wildlife workers in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia. He says it is an extraordinary discovery. “We’ve bought equipment like sensor cameras and bioacoustic devices that listen for the night parrots and extraordinarily, we’ve got a photo of a night parrot flying across one of the sensor cameras. It’s a small, green parrot with a yellow belly and large head. It could only be a night parrot. We’ve surveyed in areas that the traditional owners knew there were night parrots there.” The night parrot is sacred to Australia’s native population. Experts say Australia now has a second chance to save a bird that was once thought extinct. Officials are not telling the public exactly where the recent sightings happened to help protect the birds. Researchers hope that more night parrots will soon be found in other parts of Australia. I’m Jonathan Evans.   Phil Mercer reported this story for VOA News from Sydney. Jonathan Evans adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver edited it. _____________________________________________________________ Words in this Story   extinct – n. no longer existing habitat - n. the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives or grows indigenous – adj. produced, living, or existing naturally in a particular region or environment sacred – adj. highly valued and important; deserving great respect survey - v. to look at and examine all parts of something

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This House Is Haunted!

  Now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English. In most parts of the United States, the month of October brings tasty foods such as pumpkin pie and apple cider. But it also brings scary creatures, such as witches and monsters! Some say those creatures appear on October 31, known as Halloween. For those who celebrate it, Halloween is the day to scare or be scared.   One popular activity is to go to a haunted house. A “haunt” means the spirit of a dead person – a ghost. Some people claim that their houses are haunted by people who used to live there. They say they hear mysterious footsteps on the stairs, or find objects in places where they did not leave them. On Halloween, some American towns also create haunted houses to frighten children and adults, alike. They are invited to enter a dark doorway, only to be terrified by people dressed as ghosts and vampires. This is considered entertaining.     The word "haunt" also has a non-scary meaning. As a noun, “haunt” is a place where you often go. In other words, it’s your hang out. This usage comes from an Old French word of the early 14th century (hanter) meaning “place frequently visited.” Now, if something comes back to haunt you, it causes trouble for you as time passes. For example, skipping school often comes back to haunt students. Skipping school will cause problems for the student later on. You can also say a bad thing you did or a bad decision you made comes back to bite you. Both phrases mean basically the same thing. Feel free to use “come back to haunt you” in any situation – either official or casual. However, save “come back to bite you” for a more informal situation.  Now, let’s get back to being haunted. When we think about something all the time in a way that makes us sad or upset, we can say we are haunted by that thought or image. Here is an example: For the rest of his days, he was haunted by the look on his lover’s face before she fell from the waterfall to her death in the raging river below. To use "haunt" in this way, the memory must be sad or upsetting. No one has ever been “haunted by" a happy memory. Let’s hear these words in an everyday conversation.   So, Magdalena, this restaurant is my favorite. I come here all the time. It's one of my haunts. If you like burgers, I would order the ... Are you okay? Yes, I'm fine. I’m fine. It's just that my ex-boyfriend loved burgers. Oh, I’m sorry. Then how about the Caesar Salad? Let me guess. He loved Caesar Salad too? No. No, his name is Caesar. Ricardo, please forgive me. You see, that's why I moved to Seattle from Brooklyn. I needed the distance. I’m running away from his ghost. A ghost? Oh, no. How did he die? Well, he didn’t actually die. I mean, our love died. He was the love of my life. But one night I made a bad decision. I kissed someone else – his best friend. Well, yeah, that was a really bad decision. Bad decisions like that one usually come back to haunt you. Did he find out? Every time I looked at him I thought about it! My guilt haunted me day and night. So I told him everything. I knew that he would forgive me. The thing I love most about him is that he is so forgiving. He broke up with you, didn’t he? Immediately. I mean, he left and never looked back. But not me. I could not even live in the same city. Every place I went, I was haunted by the memory of us -- the movie theater where we went on our first date; the store where we bought cat food for his cat; the bank where we cashed in our loose change every Saturday morning. Wow. That’s tough. Moving sure sounds like a good idea. You know what, forget about all the burgers and Caesar Salad. Let's order a big pizza! He worked in a pizza shop. Oh, for heaven's sake.   And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories. Have you ever been haunted by a memory? Tell us about it using these "haunt" expressions. Or practice writing a scary scene using “haunt.” You can do both in the Comments Section! I’m Anna Matteo.   Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly edited it. At the end of the program, Sade sings "Haunt Me" at the end. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   scary – adj. causing fear mysterious – adj. strange, unknown, or difficult to understand terrified – adj. extremely afraid vampire – n. a dead person who leaves the grave at night to bite and suck the blood of living people

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English in a Minute: All Ears

We all have two ears. So, what might the express "all ears" mean? Watch this week's EIM to find out!

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Secret Kennedy Assassination Files Released, But Some Withheld

The National Archives in Washington has released more than 2,800 secret files related to the killing of President John F. Kennedy. The release late Thursday of the Kennedy files was required by a 1992 law. However, President Donald Trump ordered that more than 200 of the files should temporarily remain secret until a review is completed. Some people had questioned whether Trump would permit the release of the documents. On Wednesday, he tweeted: “The Long anticipated release of the #JFKFiles will take place tomorrow. So interesting!” But on Thursday, Trump said he had no choice but to accept recommendations to withhold some of the files. A Trump administration official said most of the recommendations had come from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA.   Officials said Trump had given the agencies 180 days to explain why the remaining files should not be released. Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia is a historian and expert on Kennedy. Sabato said he was told that there was pressure on Trump to withhold some documents. He said documents generated in the 1990s could contain names of people who are still alive and these were of concern to some people. Widespread interest and conspiracy theories President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in an open car through Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. He died hours later. The killing of JFK, as Kennedy is often called, has probably led to more questions and doubts than any other political killing in American history. The details of the event have led to countless theories that there was a conspiracy. Books, documentaries and at least one movie by director Oliver Stone “JFK,” have put forward theories about who killed Kennedy and why. Secret Service Agent Clint Hill was near the president on that day in November. He spoke about what he heard. “I thought it must have been a fatal wound, but I did not know for sure. But the only thing Mrs. Kennedy said was, ‘Oh Jack, Oh Jack what have they done?’ And then she said, ‘Jack I love you.’”   Soon after the shooting, Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the killing. But he denied involvement. “Did you shoot the president?” “I did not shoot anybody. No, sir.” Oswald, however, was shot and killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby before a trial could take place. Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president immediately after Kennedy’s death. Johnson soon established a commission to investigate the killing. The commission was chaired by then-Chief Justice Earl Warren. It became known as the Warren Commission. In 1964, the commission completed its report which said that Oswald had acted alone. The commission also tried to discredit what it called “myths” that were already spreading related to the assassination. But details about Oswald’s travels before 1963 led many to believe others were involved. And they lead to a new term describing popular beliefs and ideas about events that are hard to understand: conspiracy theories. Among the details that have fueled conspiracy theories is the killing of Oswald, the main suspect. Another links Oswald with Cuban officials in Mexico City before the shooting. During Kennedy’s time in office, the failed effort to overthrow the Cuban government had caused bad relations with the U.S. to worsen. Then, the Cuban Missile Crisis pushed the U.S., Cuba and the Soviet Union close to war in 1962. Some people believed that Cuba’s leader at the time, Fidel Castro, was involved in Kennedy’s death. Oswald also was said to have spent years in the Soviet Union and then returned to the U.S. in 1962. For more than 50 years, these details and many others have kept people’s attention and fueled more theories. Not likely to be shocking Gerald Posner is the author of a 1993 book on the killing “Case Closed.” He says the release of the documents could be embarrassing to people who are still alive. But, he has said he does not think there will be anything shocking in them. But Sabato says the release could help history students understand the events of that time better. He said finally, “researchers will have all the information that the government has had and be able to reevaluate the Kennedy assassination.” The shooting is still in the living memory of millions of people. Census Bureau numbers show that about 49 million Americans were old enough to remember the event in Dallas. Some still have strong feelings about that time. “The proportion of Americans believing in a conspiracy has ranged from 60 percent to 75 percent,” said Sabato. Although many questions have been raised, no clear evidence has been found to show that Oswald did not act alone. Now, there are millions of additional pages for students to study. I’m Mario Ritter.   Pete Heinlein, Jim Malone and Imam Sultan reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English with additional materials from AP and Reuters. Hai Do was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   files –n. one or more related documents kept together conspiracy –n. a plot by at least two people to carry out something assassination –n. the killing of a public official or someone famous conspiracy theories –n. theories about how well-known people are involved in bad or worrying events embarrassing –adj. related to something that causes shame or discomfort redact –v. to delete parts of some written document proportion –n. the amount of something in relation to something else We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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'The Furnished Room,' by O. Henry

We present the short story "The Furnished Room," by O. Henry. The story was originally adapted and recorded by the U.S. Department of State.   Restless, always moving, forever passing like time itself, are most of the people who live in these old red houses. This is on New York’s West Side. The people are homeless, yet they have a hundred homes. They go from furnished room to furnished room. They are transients, transients forever—transients in living place, transients in heart and mind. They sing the song, “Home, Sweet Home,” but they sing it without feeling what it means. They can carry everything they own in one small box. They know nothing of gardens. To them, flowers and leaves are something to put on a woman’s hat. The houses of this part of the city have had a thousand people living in them. Therefore each house should have a thousand stories to tell. Perhaps most of these stories would not be interesting. But it would be strange if you did not feel, in some of these houses, that you were among people you could not see. The spirits of some who had lived and suffered there must surely remain, though their bodies had gone. One evening a young man appeared, going from one to another of these big old houses, ringing the doorbell. At the twelfth house, he put down the bag he carried. He cleaned the dust from his face. Then he touched the bell. It sounded far, far away, as if it were ringing deep underground. The woman who owned the house came to the door. The young man looked at her. He thought that she was like some fat, colorless, legless thing that had come up from a hole in the ground, hungrily hoping for something, or someone, to eat. He asked if there was a room that he could have for the night. “Come in,” said the woman. Her voice was soft, but for some reason he did not like it. “I have the back room on the third floor. Do you wish to look at it?” The young man followed her up. There was little light in the halls. He could not see where that light came from. The covering on the floor was old and ragged. There were places in the walls made, perhaps, to hold flowering plants. If this were true, the plants had died long before this evening. The air was bad; no flowers could have lived in it for long. “This is the room,” said the woman in her soft, thick voice. “It’s a nice room. Someone is usually living in it. I had some very nice people in it last summer. I had no trouble with them. They paid on time. The water is at the end of the hall. Sprowls and Mooney had the room for three months. You know them? Theater people. The gas is here. You see there is plenty of space to hang your clothes. It’s a room everyone likes. If you don’t take it, someone else will take it soon.” “Do you have many theater people living here?” asked the young man. “They come and go. Many of my people work in the theater. Yes, sir, this is the part of the city where theater people live. They never stay long any place. They live in all the houses near here. They come and they go.” The young man paid for the room for a week. He was going to stay there, he said, and rest. He counted out the money. The room was all ready, she said. He would find everything that he needed. As she moved away he asked his question. He had asked it already a thousand times. It was always there, waiting to be asked again. “A young girl—Eloise Vashner—do you remember her? Has she ever been in this house? She would be singing in the theater, probably. A girl of middle height, thin, with red-gold hair and a small dark spot on her face near her left eye.” “No, I don’t remember the name. Theater people change names as often as they change their rooms. They come and they go. No, I don’t remember that one.” No. Always no. He had asked his question for five months, and the answer was always no. Every day he questioned men who knew theater people. Had she gone to them to ask for work? Every evening he went to the theaters. He went to good theaters and to bad ones. Some were so bad that he was afraid to find her there. Yet he went to them, hoping. He who had loved her best had tried to find her. She had suddenly gone from her home. He was sure that this great city, this island, held her. But everything in the city was moving, restless. What was on top today, was lost at the bottom tomorrow. The furnished room received the young man with a certain warmth. Or it seemed to receive him warmly. It seemed to promise that here he could rest. There was a bed and there were two chairs with ragged covers. Between the two windows there was a looking-glass about twelve inches wide. There were pictures on the walls. The young man sat down in a chair, while the room tried to tell him its history. The words it used were strange, not easy to understand, as if they were words of many distant foreign countries. There was a floor covering of many colors, like an island of flowers in the middle of the room. Dust lay all around it. There was bright wall-paper on the wall. There was a fireplace. On the wall above it, some bright pieces of cloth were hanging. Perhaps they had been put there to add beauty to the room. This they did not do. And the pictures on the walls were pictures the young man had seen a hundred times before in other furnished rooms. Here and there around the room were small objects forgotten by others who had used the room. There were pictures of theater people, something to hold flowers, but nothing valuable. One by one the little signs grew clear. They showed the young man the others who had lived there before him. In front of the looking-glass there was a thin spot in the floor covering. That told him that women had been in the room. Small finger marks on the wall told of children, trying to feel their way to sun and air. A larger spot on the wall made him think of someone, in anger, throwing something there. Across the looking-glass, some person had written the name, “Marie.” It seemed to him that those who had lived in the furnished room had been angry with it, and had done all they could to hurt it. Perhaps their anger had been caused by the room’s brightness and its coldness. For there was no true warmth in the room. There were cuts and holes in the chairs and in the walls. The bed was half broken. The floor cried out as if in pain when it was walked on. People for a time had called this room “home,” and yet they had hurt it. This was a fact not easy to believe. But perhaps it was, strangely, a deep love of home that was the cause. The people who had lived in the room perhaps never knew what a real home was. But they knew that this room was not a home. Therefore their deep anger rose up and made them strike out. The young man in the chair allowed these thoughts to move one by one, softly, through his mind. At the same time, sounds and smells from other furnished rooms came into his room. He heard someone laughing, laughing in a manner that was neither happy nor pleasant. From other rooms he heard a woman talking too loudly; and he heard people playing games for money; and he heard a woman singing to a baby, and he heard someone weeping. Above him there was music. Doors opened and closed. The trains outside rushed noisily past. Some animal cried out in the night outside. And the young man felt the breath of the house. It had a smell that was more than bad; it seemed cold and sick and old and dying. Then suddenly, as he rested there, the room was filled with the strong, sweet smell of a flower, small and white, named mignonette. The smell came so surely and so strongly that it almost seemed like a living person entering the room. And the man cried aloud: “What, dear?” as if he had been called. He jumped up and turned around. The rich smell was near, and all around him. He opened his arms for it. For a moment he did not know where he was or what he was doing. How could anyone be called by a smell? Surely it must have been a sound. But could a sound have touched him? “She has been in this room,” he cried, and he began to seek some sign of her. He knew that if he found any small thing that had belonged to her, he would know that it was hers. If she had only touched it, he would know it. This smell of flowers that was all around him—she had loved it and had made it her own. Where did it come from? The room had been carelessly cleaned. He found many small things that women had left. Something to hold their hair in place. Something to wear in the hair to make it more beautiful. A piece of cloth that smelled of another flower. A book. Nothing that had been hers. And he began to walk around the room like a dog hunting a wild animal. He looked in corners. He got down on his hands and knees to look at the floor. He wanted something that he could see. He could not realize that she was there beside, around, against, within, above him, near to him, calling him. Then once again he felt the call. Once again he answered loudly: “Yes, dear!” and turned, wild-eyed, to look at nothing. For he could not yet see the form and color and love and reaching arms that were there in the smell of white flowers. Oh, God! Where did the smell of flowers come from? Since when has a smell had a voice to call? So he wondered, and went on seeking. He found many small things, left by many who had used the room. But of her, who may have been there, whose spirit seemed to be there, he found no sign. And then he thought of the owner. He ran from the room, with its smell of flowers, going down and to a door where he could see a light. She came out. He tried to speak quietly. “Will you tell me,” he asked her, “who was in my room before I came here?” “Yes, sir. I can tell you again. It was Sprowls and Mooney, as I said. It was really Mr. and Mrs. Mooney, but she used her own name. Theater people do that.” “Tell me about Mrs. Mooney. What did she look like?” “Black-haired, short and fat. They left here a week ago.” “And before they were here?” “There was a gentleman. Not in the theater business. He didn’t pay. Before him was Mrs. Crowder and her two children. They stayed four months. And before them was old Mr. Doyle. His sons paid for him. He had the room six months. That is a year, and further I do not remember.” He thanked her and went slowly back to his room. The room was dead. The smell of flowers had made it alive, but the smell of flowers was gone. In its place was the smell of the house. His hope was gone. He sat looking at the yellow gaslight. Soon he walked to the bed and took the covers. He began to tear them into pieces. He pushed the pieces into every open space around windows and door. No air, now, would be able to enter the room. When all was as he wished it, he put out the burning gaslight. Then, in the dark, he started the gas again, and he lay down thankfully on the bed. It was Mrs. McCool’s night to go and get them something cold to drink. So she went and came back, and sat with Mrs. Purdy in one of those rooms underground where the women who own these old houses meet and talk. “I have a young man in my third floor back room this evening,” said Mrs. Purdy, taking a drink. “He went up to bed two hours ago.” “Is that true, Mrs. Purdy?” said Mrs. McCool. It was easy to see that she thought this was a fine and surprising thing. “You always find someone to take a room like that. I don’t know how you do it. Did you tell him about it?” “Rooms,” said Mrs. Purdy, in her soft thick voice, “are furnished to be used by those that need them. I did not tell him, Mrs. McCool.” “You are right, Mrs. Purdy. It’s the money we get for the rooms that keeps us alive. You have the real feeling for business. There are many people who wouldn’t take a room like that if they knew. If you told them that someone had died in the bed, and died by their own hand, they wouldn’t enter the room.” “As you say, we have our living to think of,” said Mrs. Purdy. “Yes, it is true. Only one week ago I helped you there in the third floor back room. She was a pretty little girl. And to kill herself with the gas! She had a sweet little face, Mrs. Purdy.” “She would have been called beautiful, as you say,” said Mrs. Purdy, “except for that dark spot she had growing by her left eye. Do fill up your glass again, Mrs. McCool.”   Download activities to help you understand this story here. Now it's your turn to use the words in this story. If a person you loved left you without saying goodbye or telling you where they were going, would you go looking for them? How hard would you try to find them? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ QUIZ   ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story transient(s) – n. a person who does not have a permanent home and who stays in a place for only a short time before going somewhere else garden(s) – n. an area of ground where plants such as flowers or vegetables are grown doorbell – n. a hollow usually cup-shaped metal object that makes a ringing sound when it is hit inside a house or building that is rung usually by pushing a button beside an outside door ragged – adj.  in bad condition especially because of being torn chair(s) – n.  a seat for one person that has a back and usually four legs looking-glass – n. a piece of glass that reflects images wall-paper – n. thick decorative paper used to cover the walls of a room fireplace – n. a specially built place in a room where a fire can be built finger – n. one of the five long parts of the hand that are used for holding things weep(ing) – v. to cry because you are very sad or are feeling some other strong emotion corner(s) – n. the point or area where two lines, edges, or sides of something meet gaslight – n. a device that uses gas as fuel to produce light

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