 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
 |
2006-5-3 星期三(Wednesday) 晴
|
||
| The deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Saeedi, told state television Saturday that Tehran would continue enriching uranium. But, he said, Iran would allow the resumption of short-notice inspections of its nuclear facilities, if the U.N. Security Council drops its case, and returns it to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran barred the inspections in February, after being referred to the Security Council over its nuclear activities. Tehran 德黑兰 resumptio ...... |
||
|
2006-5-3 星期三(Wednesday) 晴
|
||
| This is Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. A listener in China asks about the earnings of farmers in the United States. Kevin Wan from Sichuan would also like to know how pay for farmers compares with that of industrial workers. The farm economy of the United States has changed a lot in the last seventy years. In the 1930s, 25 percent of the nation's population lived on farms. Today less than one percent of Americans do. Farm ...... |
||
|
2006-5-3 星期三(Wednesday) 晴
|
||
| I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Health Report. Measles is an infection of the breathing system. The cause is a virus. It spreads through the air when infected people cough or sneeze. Measles spreads very easily. sneeze n.喷嚏vi.打喷嚏 Deaths from measles are often the result of related infections like pneumonia or severe diarrhea. Those who survive can suffer brain damage, blindness or other disabilities. pneumonia n.[医] 肺炎 The most recent estimate is that measles led to more than four hundred fifty thousand deaths in 2004. Most who die are children under the age of five. And the highest numbers are in southern Africa. Measles is now rare in wealthier countries where parents usually have their children vaccinated against the disease. But it is still common in many developing countries. The World Health Organization says more than thirty million people are affected each year. Experts say weak vaccination programs are the main reason. They say almost all children who have not been vaccinated will get measles if they come in contact with the virus. This is especially true if a person has not had enough vitamin A or has a weakened defense system. vaccinate v.进行预防接种n.被接种牛痘者 There has been a vaccine against measles for the past forty years. Still, measles remains the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths around the world. But there is good news. A new report says an international campaign reduced measles deaths by almost half between 1999 and 2004. vaccine adj.疫苗的, 牛痘的n.疫苗 During that time, it says, almost five hundred million children in forty-seven countries were vaccinated. The report is from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF. It says countries in southern Africa had the largest reduction: cases and deaths fell an estimated 60 percent. The Measles Initiative was launched in February of 2001. The international program is expanding technical and financial support to countries in South Asia. They have the highest numbers of measles deaths outside of southern Africa. The W.H.O. says children in developing countries who get measles should receive two doses of vitamin A. These are given twenty-four hours apart. They can help prevent eye damage and improve chances of survival. This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. Read and listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember. measles : 麻疹 diarrhea : 痢疾 ...... |
||
|
2006-5-3 星期三(Wednesday) 晴
|
||
| I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report. A recent report says more international graduate students are seeking to continue their education in the United States this year than last year. The Council of Graduate Schools announced the report. It is based on a study of more than 150 colleges and universities. They include schools that have the most foreign students. The study says graduate applications from international students increased eleven percent from last year. This growth follows a two-year decrease of thirty-two percent. Graduate students have already completed at least four years of college and have earned at least one degree. They are seeking to earn an advanced degree. The report said the number of requests or applications increased the most among students from India and China. Applications from students in India rose by twenty-three percent. Applications from students in China increased by twenty-one percent. Each year these two nations send the largest number of students to American colleges and universities. The Council of Graduate Schools said applications increased in all areas of study, including the sciences. Applications to study engineering, for example, rose by seventeen percent. Those from students wanting to study the life sciences increased by sixteen percent. However, international applications are still down twenty-three percent since 2003 for the universities in the study. Experts say this was the result of increased security in the United States after the terrorist attacks in 2001. This increased security made it more difficult for students to get permits, or visas, to enter the United States. Security measures also increased the time to process these visas. Debra Stewart is president of the Council of Graduate Schools. Ms. Stewart said the federal government has made progress in improving the visa process for foreign graduate students. She said the process has been helped by small policy changes made by the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. Ms. Stewart noted that international competition for foreign graduate students is increasing. She said the United States must make sure the best students attend graduate schools in this country. This VOA Special English Education report was written by Jerilyn Watson. Read and listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember. ...... |
||
|
2006-5-3 星期三(Wednesday) 晴
|
||
| I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report. About one in twenty adults in the United States cannot read English. A new federal study shows that adults made little progress in their reading skills between 1992 and 2003. The National Assessment of Adult Literacy is the most important test of how well adult Americans can read. Researchers tested 19,000 people over the age of sixteen. The study represents an adult population of 222 million. Those who took part were tested on how well they could read and understand information used in everyday life. The study found that 11 million adults, or 5 percent, cannot read English. They could not answer even the easiest written questions. Four million of them most likely cannot speak English either. The study shows that more than 40 percent of adults can perform only simple reading activities. For many, even that can be difficult. Fifty-six percent of adults can perform moderate or complex activities. Moderate can mean finding information in a book. Of that number, 13 percent can perform complex tasks like comparing two different newspaper commentaries. commentary n.注释, 解说词 Researchers say part of the problem is that many young Americans do not read as much for pleasure anymore. Also, there are greater numbers of non-English speaking immigrants. Reading skills can directly affect the ability to earn a living. The best readers were found to earn up to 28,000 dollars a year more than those who lacked simple reading skills. Yet, compared to the last study in nineteen ninety-two, adult reading skills were about the same or lower across every level of education. This was true even among people who have completed college. By race and ethnic group, blacks and Asians had the biggest increases in English reading skills. But levels decreased among Hispanics. Experts say, however, that while many Hispanics are unable to read in English, they may read well in Spanish. Hispanic adj.西班牙的 Overall, American adults improved the most in answering questions that involved numbers. Even so, the test found that the average adult cannot do much more than perform simple, everyday math. The Department of Education says the literacy findings show the need for reforms especially at the high school level. ...... |
||
|
2006-5-3 星期三(Wednesday) 晴
|
||
| April Earth Day（世界地球日） April Fool's Day（愚人节） Arbor Day（植树节） Shakespeare's Birthday（莎士比亚诞辰纪念日） Queen's Day in Holland（荷兰女王节） May Shavuot（五旬节） Mother's Day（母亲节） Constitution Day in Norway（挪威宪法日） Memorial Day（美国阵亡将士纪念日） Shavuot（息汪月） June World Environment Day（世界环境日） Flag Day（美国国旗日） Father's Day（父亲节） Deaf-Blind Awareness ...... |
||
|
2006-5-3 星期三(Wednesday) 晴
|
||
| I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report. Stock options are a way to profit from changes in the price of a stock without the need to buy the shares immediately. Stock options are agreements to trade shares of a stock at a set price by a set date. An option comes with a strike price . This is the agreed price at which the stock will be traded. Options also have an expiration date. After that date the agreement is cancelled. An option holder buys a contract. It can be a contract to purchase or a contract to sell shares of a stock in the future. Option holders commonly buy contracts to protect the value of a stock investment. Say an investor has recently bought stock at ten dollars a share. The investor worries that the price will drop in the next three months. To protect that investment, the investor can buy an option to sell the shares at ten dollars each. That way, if the stock price drops to five dollars, the investor can exercise the option and sell the shares at ten dollars. The investor loses only the cost of the option contract. But the option has served as the insurance against a loss. What would have happened had the price of the stock gone up? Say it jumps to fifteen dollars. The option gives the holder the right to sell at ten, but now that is below the market price. In this case the investor would not exercise the option. The contract expires and becomes worthless. But who cares? The stock is now worth fifty percent more than what it was. Some investors buy options because they think a stock price will rise. An option to buy a stock at today’s price could be valuable if the price goes up before the option expires. So far we have heard about option holders. Option writers are the ones who sell the contracts on exchanges. The price paid is called a premium. It usually represents the difference between the strike price and the market price of the stock. Options trading is organized by a clearinghouse . A clearinghouse settles trades between holders and writers and credits profits or losses. The biggest clearinghouse is the Options Clearing Corporation in the United States. Next week, we will discuss why stock options are in the news and how they will affect American business earnings this year. This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. Read and listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. And to send us e-mail, write to special@voanews.com. I'm Steve Ember. stock option : 在指定时期内定价定额购股权 strike price : 履约价格 clearinghouse : 票据交易所 ...... |
||
|
|
|
