This is the VOA Special English Technology Report
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.What do Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison have in common? They all made billions of dollars in technology. And they all left college. Now, a wealthy businessman is paying other technologically talented young people to follow that same path.Peter Thiel is paying them to drop out or at least to "stop out" of higher education temporarily to work on their interests. He and his Thiel Foundation just announced the first group of what they call 20 Under 20 Thiel Fellows.PETER THIEL: "We selected people on the basis of a combination of having demonstrated intense passion about science and technology and then having the drive to try to carry it forward in the years ahead."There are twenty-four people to be exact, because a couple of projects involve more than one person.One of the youngest is Laura Deming. At twelve she began researching ways to extend human life. Now, at seventeen, she has already graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Eighteen-year-old John Marbach just finished high school. He hopes to use Web tools to bring classrooms into the digital age. He plans to attend one semester of college before he begins his fellowship.Each of the fellows will receive one hundred thousand dollars over two years to continue their research. They will also receive help from experts.Peter Thiel has a lot of experience with technology start-up businesses. He helped create the electronic payment system PayPal. He was also one of the first investors in Facebook.He himself is a graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Law School in California. But Mr. Thiel says college has changed.PETER THIEL: "It's gotten a lot more expensive than when I attended school a quarter of a century ago. And so, if you look at how much college costs have gone up, you now have people graduating with a quarter million dollars worth of debt and they end up having to spend years or decades paying the debt off."The Obama administration is pushing college. It says over the next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs will require more than a high school education. But Peter Thiel says many young people choose college for the wrong reasons.PETER THIEL: "What I ended up doing, and what I think is still true of most of my peers and is true of most people today -- was simply to default into it. Talented, high school, what do you do? You go to college. Good in college, what do you do? You go to law school. Where education and higher education becomes almost this way for not thinking and avoiding thinking about what you're going to do with your life."Mr. Thiel says the young people he is investing in are clear about what they want to do. At the very least, he says, they will gain experience to take back to school if that is what they decide to do.More than four hundred people from twenty countries applied to the program. Later this year the Thiel Foundation plans to begin taking applications for the next group of fellows under the age of twenty.And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. Tell us what you think at or on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.This week, Serbia arrested one of Europe's most wanted men. Former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic spent sixteen years in hiding. He is accused of genocide and other crimes during the war fought after Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its independence.The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia announced charges against Mr. Mladic in nineteen ninety-five. He is charged with the killing of eight thousand Bosnian Muslim men and boys that year at Srebrenica, a town on the border of Serbia. Srebrenica was supposed to have been protected as a United Nations "safe area."Mr. Mladic is also accused of ordering or carrying out war crimes during the three years in which Sarajevo was surrounded and attacked.His son, Darko Mladic, says his father is not in good health. He also says his father believes he is not guilty of the charges. But on Friday, a court in Belgrade ruled that Ratko Mladic is healthy enough to be tried in the Netherlands. His lawyer said he would appeal the ruling.Russia, an ally of Serbia, has called for a fair trial.The capture of Mr. Mladic was a condition for Serbia to become a candidate to join the European Union. Another condition has been the capture of former Croatian Serb political leader Goran Hadzic, who has yet to be arrested.The wartime political leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic, was captured in two thousand eight. He also faced charges in The Hague, but his trial was suspended. Former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic also went before the tribunal, but he died during his trial.Serbia has been under intense international pressure to arrest Ratko Mladic. President Boris Tadic announced that he was arrested Thursday morning. The former general was at a farmhouse in a village about one hundred kilometers from Belgrade.The arrest happened during a visit by Catherine Ashton, the foreign policy chief for the European Union. But President Tadic dismissed the suggestion that the government could have acted sooner.BORIS TADIC: "We are not making calculations when and how to deliver. We are doing that because we truly believe this is in accordance with our law."The Serbian president said there will be an investigation into how Mr. Mladic avoided arrest for so long.Kada Hotic from the Mothers of Srebrenica Association accused Serbia of knowingly hiding a man she calls a "monster." Still, she and other family members of victims welcomed the arrest, while some Bosnian Serbs expressed anger.JAMES KER-LINDSAY: "Many Serbs, yes, do regard Ratko Mladic as some sort of hero."James Ker-Lindsay is an expert on southeast Europe at the London School of Economics.JAMES KER-LINDSAY: "They look to the events that took place in Bosnia and rather than seeing him as a military leader of an act of aggression rather view him as being the defender of the Bosnian Serb people. So in that sense, there is a certain degree of latent support for him."But Mr. Ker-Lindsay says Serbs are conflicted because they understand that their country's future has to be a part of Europe.JAMES KER-LINDSAY: "It's not about forgetting what took place in Bosnia or, indeed, the entire Western Balkans in the nineteen nineties. But it's about recognizing that Serbia's got to atone for this, pay its price and move on. And people understand that Mladic is absolutely central to that process."And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.The "Arab Spring" in the Middle East and North Africa has raised hopes and dreams. But can it raise money to invest in a better future?How to respond to the Arab uprisings was a major question for world leaders this week at the Group of Eight meeting in France. Earlier in the week, the head of the World Bank said international support can speed progress -- "but only if coupled with real reform."World Bank President Robert Zoellick offered loans to Egypt and Tunisia. Tunisians and Egyptians led democracy protests that overthrew their presidents early this year.President Obama discussed American development plans in his Middle East policy speech last week at the State Department.BARACK OBAMA: "The goal must be a model in which protectionism gives way to openness, the reins of commerce pass from the few to the many and the economy generates jobs for the young. America's support for democracy will therefore be based on ensuring financial stability, promoting reform and integrating competitive markets with each other and the global economy. And we are going to start with Tunisia and Egypt."The World Bank will offer Egypt four and a half billion dollars in loans over the next two years. The money would be part of a plan with the International Monetary Fund to help control Egypt's budget deficit.The goal is to improve the country's credit rating in order to ease the concerns of investors and reduce borrowing costs. About two billion dollars in loans would be linked to progress in government reforms.The World Bank also promised at least one billion dollars for Tunisia.Twenty years ago, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development was created to help former communist countries after the fall of the Soviet Union. Now, that bank could invest up to three and a half billion dollars in the Middle East and North Africa.About four hundred million people live in those two areas. A majority are under the age of thirty. The anger of the many educated but unemployed young people has been a driving force in the Arab Spring movement.Oil is the main export for many of the countries. Yet a recent World Bank study showed that oil has not done much to raise wages. Income growth continues to fall behind East Asia and South America.Over the years, private investment has been limited largely to the oil industry. But there are some efforts to change that. In March, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised two billion dollars through a government agency known as OPIC.OPIC is the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. It works with Americans businesses to invest in projects in developing countries.And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.。
英语新闻3
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.Few people had ever heard of the natural elements known as rare earth metals before a recent dispute between China and Japan. Yet these metals are used in devices like smartphones, flat screens, hybrid car batteries, MP3 players and military equipment.In September, Japan detained a Chinese ship captain near disputed islands in the East China Sea. China denied that it stopped exports of rare earth metals to Japan to force his release.But the incident raised concerns.Japan is the world's biggest importer of rare earths. And China produces ninety-seven percent of the world supply.China says it sold almost four billion dollars' worth in two thousand eight. But marketing professor George Haley at the University of New Haven in Connecticut says China has always kept prices low.GEORGE HALEY: "So unlike other minerals, the price of rare earth elements, after the nineteen eighties when they started production, has actually fallen."Some countries with rare earth metals no longer mine them -- including the United States. One reason is the low-cost imports from China. Another reason is concerns about environmental damage .So what are these rare earth metals? Well, most of them are not rare; that is just their name. Several are more common than copper, lead or silver.People who remember the periodic table of the elements from chemistry class might recognize them. Rare earths include the fifteen lanthanide metals along with yttrium and scandium.Samuel Bader, a physicist at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, says rare earths are often found together.SAMUEL BADER: "They all have similar chemical properties. Once you do find them, they are very difficult to separate from each other."But Mr. Bader explains that the same properties that make them hard to refine also make them valuable.SAMUEL BADER: "Rare earth metals provide the world's strongest commercial magnets. This is why they're important. It's that simple."Rare earth magnets are lightweight and unaffected by conditions like high temperatures. So they work well in places like electric motors in hybrid vehicles or generators for wind turbines. Physicists use super-powerful magnets to speed particles and control radiation like X-rays.And the list goes on, says George Haley, who has studied the subject.GEORGE HALEY: "Electronics, fiber optics, you could go down the list of products important not just for the economic success of the United States, but for our defense and for our job creation here at home."Next week, we'll talk more about rare earth metals, and an American company that plans to start mining them again. And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I'm Jim Tedder.Connecticut；康乃狄格optics；光学Elements；元素、成分、固有的环境lanthanide；镧族元素Minerals；矿物的、无机的、矿石yttrium；钇Copper；铜制的scandium；钪Lead；铅制品magnets；磁铁Silver；银X-rays；x射线1，which of the following is not true?A rare earths all have similar chemical properties. Once you do find them, they are very difficult to separate from each otherB In September, Japan detained a Chinese ship captain near disputed islands in the East China Sea.C many people had ever heard of the natural elements known as rare earth metals before a recent dispute between China and Japan.D Rare earths include the fifteen lanthanide metals along with yttrium and scandium.2 why are Rare earth metals important?A most of them are not rare; that is just their name. Several are more common than copper, lead or silver.B because Rare earth metals provide the world's strongest commercial magnets.C Some countries with rare earth metals no longer mine them -- including the United States.D One reason is the low-cost imports from China. Another reason is concerns about environmental damage .Answers: C B。
dictation (1)02011.1
1. This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.Steve Jobs made technology fun. The co-founder of Apple died last Wednesday at the age of fifty-six. He had fought for years against cancer. Mourners gathered outside his house in Palo Alto, California, and Apple stores around the world.2. Steve Jobs was a college dropout. He was adopted by a machinist and his wife, an accountant. They supported his early interest in electronics.3. Steve Wozniak, speaking on CNN, remembered his longtime friend as a "great visionary and leader" and a "marketing genius."President Obama said in a statement: "By building one of the planet's most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun."4. Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.5. On a cold October day in nineteen fifty-seven, the Soviet Union launched a small satellite into orbit around the Earth. Radio Moscow made the announcement.6. The world's first satellite was called Sputnik 1. Sputnik was an important propaganda victory for the Soviets in the Cold War with the United States.Many people believed the nation that controlled space could win any war. And the Soviet Union had reached outer space first.7. After the war, it became clear that the United States and the Soviet Union -- allies in wartime -- would become enemies in peacetime. So, both countries employed German scientists to help them win the race to space.。
cell phone
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.The World Health Organization has added to the debate over the risk of brain cancer from mobile phone use. Last week the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer listed the signals from wireless devices as "possibly carcinogenic." This finding puts cell phones in the same risk group as the pesticide DDT -- but also in the same group as coffee.A group of thirty-one scientists from fourteen countries made the finding. The announcement came at the end of a meeting at the agency's headquarters in Lyon, France.The concern is that extended contact with radiofrequency electromagnetic fields may increase a user's risk for glioma. Glioma is the most common form of brain cancer. The scientists spent a week examining existing research. Dr. Jonathan Samet from the University of Southern California led the group.JONATHAN SAMAT: "We also carefully consider the sources of exposure of populations to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, the nature of these fields as they come from various devices, including wireless phones, and we look carefully at the physical phenomenon by which exposure to such fields may perturb biological systems and lead to cancers."He says the finding that there could be some risk means scientists need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and cancer.The statement noted that the number of mobile phone users is large and growing, especially among young adults and children. Mobile phone subscriptions are estimated at five billion worldwide.The scientists called for more research into long-term, heavy use of mobile phones. They also suggested taking measures to reduce exposure to the signals, like hands-free devices or texting.Camilla Rees from an American group called Electromagnetic Health praised the report but says wider research is needed.CAMILLA REES: "We've only had this technology around for about fifteen years, and most carcinogens will take about several decades, thirty-forty years to develop a cancer. So based on some early indications, scientists are projecting that we're actually going to be seeing a tsunami of brain cancer unless we do something to educate people to lower their exposure to this kind of risk."CTIA, the International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications Industry, dismissed the report. The group pointed out that no new research had been done. And it noted that the cancer research agency has given the same finding to things like coffee and pickled vegetables.And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. You can find a link to the statement from the World Health Organization at . And while you're there, tell us your thoughts about this whole issue of mobile phone safety. I'm Steve Ember.。
voa句子听写
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.A study in Norway has found that 1. ( the students who stay in school longer than other areas scored higher on the intelligent test ) .In the middle of the nineteen fifties, 2. ( government began to require students to attend school until the are of 16 instead of 14 ) . Communities had almost twenty years to make the change. So some students went to school for seven years while others went for at least nine years.3. ( This difference gave researchers the chance to see if the additional schooling had any ef fact ) on intellectual development.4. ( Experts have debated for years about the ac-stand to people are born with intelligence or developed later ) .This is the nature versus nurture（后天培养）argument --5. (the influence of biology compared to the environment of which people are raised or educated ) .Another recent study, in the journal Nature, found that IQ scores can rise or fall during the teenage years.Both times, they also took structural brain scans using MRI, magnetic resonance imaging. The study found that as IQ scores increased, 6. ( so did the density of gray-matter in some areas of students' brains ) .Professor Cathy Price 7. ( says the differences in performance could be result of some teens being early or late developed ).But she says it is equally possible that education played a part. She sees a lesson for educators: "We have to be careful not to write off poorer performers at an early stage 8. ( When in fact the IQ may improve significantly in a few more years ) ."1.borrowed2.ownership3.spacious4.garage5. erect6.squeeze7.created 8.absurdly 9.nightmare 10.stricter 11.courtrooms 12.property下划线的几个词为出错率高的。
How to Make Your Own Solar Water Heater
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.Solar water heaters are used around the world and are not very difficult to build. The system we are going to describe is based on a design developed some years ago in Afghanistan. Since then, it has been built and used in many countries.It can heat seventy liters of water to sixty degrees Celsius. It can do this between sunrise and noon on a clear day with an average air temperature of thirty-two degrees Celsius.There are two parts to the solar water heater. One part is made of a sheet of metal painted black. Black surfaces become hotter in the sun than surfaces painted any other color.This black metal plate is called a collector. The collector is placed in contact with the water.There are several kinds of metal sheets that can be used for the collector. Corrugated metal will work very well. Corrugated sheets are often used as roofs on housing.Once the water is heated, it is kept hot with insulation material. This allows the water to stay warm for a long time.The second part of the solar water heater holds the water for the system. This storage tank can be a container that holds about one hundred liters. Two rubber pipes are attached to the water storage tank. One pipe lets water flow into the system. The other lets water flow out.When the water heater is working correctly, water will flow from the storage tank to the collector and back again. You can use the hot water at the top of the tank for washing and cleaning. You can change the flow of water so that the temperature is hot or warm as desired.This solar water heater is easy to build and operate. It will last about two years before the rubber pipes need to be replaced.There is also something else you will need to make the solar water heater work -- the sun. As you might imagine, the heater will heat water only on sunny days.You can get more information about solar water heaters and other projects from EnterpriseWorks/VITA. This group works internationally to fight poverty. The website is . Choose the link for News & Resources, then click on Publications.And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report. Tell us if you've ever built a solar water heater or have ideas for improvements. Post your comments at , where you can also find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs. We also offer English teaching activities in the Classroom section of our site. I'm Steve Ember.Solar water heaters are used around the world and are not very difficult to build. The system we are going to describe is based on a design developed some years ago in Afghanistan. Since then, it has been built and used in many countries.太阳能热水器应用于世界各地，也不难建造。
VOA慢速英语 英语阅读好帮手
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.Getting a job can be especially difficult for someone with a prison record. So a prison training program in the American Northwest prepares women to start their own businesses.(SOUND)The program is called Lifelong Information for Entrepreneurs, or LIFE. The training combines business and social skills. The women learn how to manage their time, set goals and settle conflicts peacefully.Saresa Whitley is serving five years for assault at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, a women's prison in Oregon. She has a job waiting for her when she is released in January. But she also plans to start a small business with the knowledge gained from the months of class.SARESA WHITLEY: "When I was talking about knowing if my business is viable or not, through a profit-and-loss model, I was like …Wow, I didn‟t even know the word viable before, and now I do.‟ I‟ve learned a lot, I‟ve learned a lot about how to write a business plan, about effective communications s kills, how to listen, something I didn‟t know how to do before.”Cynthia Thompson is serving time for stealing someone's identity. She says the lessons learned in the program are important not just for the inmates, but also the communities they will re-enter.CYNTHIA THOMPSON: “I think the goal of it is to produce people that are being part of the community, paying their taxes and being volunteers. Not just necessarily successful small businesses, but just successful, accountable people in the community.”MercyCorps Northwest started the training program four years ago. MercyCorps is an international development organization. Doug Cooper is assistant director of MercyCorps Northwest.DOUG COOPER: "We were looking for ways that we could apply our expertise around economic development and small business management to populations that could use it. It's identical to what we do internationally, except we apply it here in Oregon and Washington."MercyCorps Northwest has just started a LIFE program at a women‟s prison in Washington state. Doug Cooper says he hopes the idea will spread to prisons throughout the country.The group says just three of the one hundred graduates of its training program have returned to prison. Graduates of the LIFE program have started businesses like cutting hair and selling goods at farmers markets.One woman who served time for theft now runs an automobile repair business. Lori does not want her last name used. She says she worries what people might think if they knew she had been inprison. Lori stayed in contact with a MercyCorps mentor after she left prison. Together they found answers to questions about running a small business.LORI: “What works, what doesn‟t? And is it worth having a website of your own, and what avenues of advertising can you exploit for free? Those are the type of things that I found invaluable.”And that‟s the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Christopher Cruise.From:/englishlistening/voaenglish/voaspecialenglish/2011-06-30/147827.html。
Scientists Develop Smartphone App for Eye Exams
The cost is two dollars and the researchers say the results are as good as a traditional eye exam. The phone app is still being tested and is not yet available.
Second place went to Smart Diaphragm, a wireless system for women with high-risk pregnancies. It warns if there are signs that the baby could be born early unless doctors intervene.
但是麻省理工学院(Massachusetts Institute of Technology，缩写：MIT)的研究人员开发了一种使用智能手机来诊断眼科疾病的新方法。这种方法叫做Netra，在梵文中的意思是“眼睛”，但是代表的是屈光评估检测工具(Near Eye Tool for Refractive Assessment)。
The person's vision problem is identified by the number of clicks required to line up the images. The results can be sent to an eye doctor to make glasses.
这里是VOA特别英语科技报道。
全世界超过2.8亿人有视觉问题或者完全失明。世界卫生组织表示，其中九成的人居住在发展中国家。80%的问题可以预防或者治愈。
未及时矫正的近视，远视和散光是视觉问题的主要诱因。这些被称为屈光偏差(Refractive Error)。在医疗保健资源有限的国家，这种问题通常都不会进行治疗。
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Thanksgiving Day is America's version of a 1 . The holiday is 2 on the fourth Thursday in November.This Thursday, 3 of Americans will join 4 to give thanks and eat a meal with a 5 that is centuries old.Early European settlers in North America held other 6 where they gave thanks. But what Americans often consider the first Thanksgiving 7 in Plymouth Colony. Today we call it Massachusetts.Those settlers are known as the Pilgrims. They held a 8 in the fall of sixteen twenty-one. They celebrated the harvest with members of a local Indian tribe.The best known food that Americans 9 eat on Thanksgiving is turkey. The nation's turkey producers are expected to 10 two hundred forty-two million birds this year. The 11 says that is two percent fewer than last year. Last year's turkey 12 had a value of about three and a half billion dollars.Thanksgiving turkeys are traditionally 13 with a bread mixture that some Americans call stuffing. Others call it dressing. Side dishes include cranberries, sweet potatoes and green beans or other 14 . The meal traditionally ends with a dessert of pumpkin pie or pecan pie.Some Thanksgiving foods 15 . For example, most turkeys these days are bred with larger breasts to 16 more white meat. Corn -- known in much of the world as maize -- has also 17 . It tastes 18 then the starchier corn of the past.The way Americans prepare for Thanksgiving has also changed. 19 John Anderson of the American Farm Bureau Federation says people look for ways to 20 , though not everyone does.JOHN ANDERSON: "There are a lot of us who have grandmothers who would not even think of using a 21 pie crust. And that is kind of the least of the shortcuts that we use." He says 22 like buying prepared foods for the holiday are part of a 23 in America.JOHN ANDERSON: "If you think about our food 24 , not just Thanksgiving dinner, but our food products in general, there has been a 25 move over the last twenty or thirty years toward more 26 products."Some people might not have the time or the desire to 27 , or the space for a lot of guests. 28 , John Anderson notes that more people go to a 29 for Thanksgiving dinner than in the past.Charity groups and 30 organizations will also be busy this Thursday, serving Thanksgiving meals to the needy. The weak economy has increased the number of Americans receiving government assistance to buy food.And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.Translating the following into English古代奥运会第27届夏季奥运会奥林匹克精神现代奥运会主办奥运会金牌获得者填空题。
voa慢速英语科技报道原文及翻译
A Victory For Computers as Watson Wins ‘Jeopardy’By June Simms2011-2-27Photo: AP'Jeopardy!' champions Ken Jennings, left, and Brad Rutter, right, look on as an IBM computer called 'Watson' beats them to the buzzer to answer a question during a practice round.This is the VOA Special English Technology Report. An IBM super computer named Watson has won the latest battle of man versus machine.Watson won the first ever "Jeopardy!" quiz show competition starring a computer as a player. The show was broadcast on American television February sixteenth. The super computer defeated former "Jeopardy!" champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter during the three-day competition. The two men had been the show's most successful players until then.The IBM computer proved to be more knowledgeable in every category, including the arts, popular culture and science. The human contestants spoke about their loss after the show.KEN JENNINGS/BRAD RUTTER: "I think that we both got a taste of what it might have been like to play against us."Roger Norton is dean of the School of Computer Science and Mathematics at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. The school held a Watson watch party on the final day of the "Jeopardy!" competition. They compared it to a Super Bowl for the information technology industry. Roger Norton says everyone was amazed by Watson's performance.ROGER NORTON: "It was very impressive in a number of ways. One is its ability to understand natural language."In "Jeopardy!" players are given information in the form of an answer. They must give an answer in the form of a question. Roger Norton says the very nature of the game makes Watson's performance even more extraordinary.ROGER NORTON: "The ambiguity that's in those answers is very, very difficult for humans to understand, never mind a computer to understand. And then to be able to take that, try to understand it, then go off and search its vast amount of data that it has and do the appropriate analytics and come up with not only an answer but also a confidence level associated with that answer – very, very impressive."Watson was given the answer clues by electronic texts. It then searched through some fifteen trillion bytes of information stored in its database. That is equal to about two hundred million pages of text. The machine is able to perform up to eighty trillion operations per second.And its ability to understand language is more advanced than any other computer ever developed. This opens the door to a whole new world of computer applications. From business and investment, to medicine and healthcare, the possibilities are endless.Watson is now going to medical school. It is part of an agreement among IBM, Columbia University Medical Center in New York City and the University of Maryland's School of Medicine. The researchers will help IBM identify the best way that Watson can be used to help the healthcare industry.And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports at . I'm Steve Ember.超级计算机沃森在“危险边缘”节目人机对战中获胜This is the VOA Special English Technology Report. An IBM super computer named Watson has won the latest battle of man versus machine.这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
A hologram is a three-dimensional image -- an image that appears to have height, width and depth.全息图是一种能够显示物体高度、宽度和深度的三维图像。
More than thirty years ago, Princess Leia gave her famous holographic plea for help in the original "Star Wars" movie. Since then, holograms have become bigger, better and more widely used.30多年前，在第一部《星球大战》中，莱娅公主发出了著名的求救全息图。
从那时起，全息图得到更广泛全面的应用。
Now, researchers have developed a holographic telepresence system. Traditional telepresence systems are used in video conferencing. They present two-dimensional images. 目前，研究人员已经开发出一种全息远程呈现系统(holographic telepresence system)。
传统的远程呈现系统应用于视频会议，显示的是二维图像。
But the new system might be able to send a moving 3-D image of a person over great distances -- and show it in close to real time.但这种新系统可以远距离传输三维人物动态影像--而且是几乎是同步显示。
Technology Report
[00:00.00]如果您也喜欢恒星英语学习网 请与您的朋友分享This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.[00:05.01]Microsoft has announced its first tablet computer.[00:09.71]It is called the Surface, and it is designed[00:13.03]to compete directly with the popular Apple iPad.[00:18.03]The computer software maker announced its new tablet[00:22.35]last Monday at a media event in Los Angeles.[00:26.86]Microsoft will offer two versions of the Surface.[00:31.00]Each has a different processor.[00:34.16]The Surface for Windows RT runs on an ARM processor.[00:40.11]It is less powerful than the Surface[00:43.30]for Windows 8 Pro, which uses an Intel processor.[00:48.69]The RT is also thinner and weighs less than the Pro.[00:54.11]Either tablet weighs no more than nine hundred three grams.[00:59.00]Both have screens that are about twenty-seven centimeters in size.[01:04.62]That is a little bigger than the iPad's screen.[01:09.23]Microsoft has not said exactly[01:12.50]when the new Surface will appear in stores.[01:16.15]But, it is expected to be sometime in September or October.[01:22.16]This is about the same time that the company plans[01:26.20]to release its new Windows 8 computer operating system.[01:31.73]Brenda Estrella owns a laptop computer.[01:35.93]She has been considering switching to a tablet.[01:39.13]BRENDA ESTRELLA: "iPad for me is more of an entertainment device,[01:42.08]like I see a lot of people carrying it around[01:45.18]or taking pictures on it.[01:46.62]For me, it's not that practical,[01:48.48]so if Microsoft is coming out with a tablet[01:51.58]that actually you can like type,[01:52.97]and actually do different things other than just swipe,[01:56.48]then that would be better for me."[01:58.08]Fox Van Allen is a technology expert.[02:01.87]He agrees the Surface seems to have more to offer than the iPad.[02:06.89]FOX V AN ALLEN: "It's a very interesting new device.[02:08.55]I think the key point here is that it's not just another iPad.[02:12.46]It's a device that almost serves as a replacement for a PC."[02:17.25]Many technology lovers, including Catherine Clinch,[02:21.11]are excited about the new tablet.[02:23.71]CATHERINE CLINCH: "The applause moments were on things[02:25.65]that I think were predictable -- wow it stands by itself,[02:28.16]you don't have buy a stand.[02:29.30]It's all together, the keyboard folds over,[02:30.85]it's a cover -- all those wonderful things.[02:33.11]But when I look at this what I think of is the potential[02:36.60]to get rid of the netbook, to get rid of the laptop,[02:39.60]to maybe even down the line get rid of the full computer."[02:42.83]The Surface is meant to compete with the iPad.[02:46.76]But not everyone is sure it is a better product.[02:50.50]This includes iPad user John Ayala.[02:54.35]JOHN AYALA: "Would I buy one over an iPad?[02:56.20]No. I like Apple products right now.[03:00.75]I am glad there is a competitor[03:02.29]and I am glad there is an alternative,[03:03.68]but I am sticking with Apple."[03:05.62]For years, Microsoft made software, not computers.[03:10.33]A few earlier attempts by the company to make[03:14.28]and sell hardware products failed.[03:17.09]That included the Zune music player.[03:20.55]It could not compete against Apple's iPod.[03:24.44]Estimates place the value of the tablet computer market[03:29.53]at about seventy-nine billion dollars this year.[03:33.24]Microsoft hopes to capture a share of that market[03:37.84]with its latest device.[03:39.94]And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report,[03:45.59]written by June Simms.[03:47.36]Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports[03:52.65]are at .[03:56.86]I'm Steve Ember.如果您也喜欢恒星英语学习网 请与您的朋友分享。
英文
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
A "talking kitchen" teaches students how to cook French and speak French. Researchers at New Castle University in the United Kingdom have developed the French Digital Kitchen. Professors Paul Seedhouse and Patrick Olivier led the project. Professor Seedhouse told us on Skype that it works like a satellite navigation system in a car.
The researchers are also developing portable versions. And the European Union has given them money to begin programs in six other languages, including English, Italian and Spanish.
Professor Seedhouse became interested in the idea after he visited a talking kitchen designed for a different purpose.
PAUL SEEDHOUSE: "It was actually for communicating with people who suffer from dementia. And so, for example, it can speak to those people and it can tell them, for example, that they've left the oven on and they should switch the oven off."
VOA慢速讲解：教育设备-不仅仅是电脑-在线广播.doc
VOA慢速讲解：教育设备:不仅仅是电脑-在线广播Educational Technology: Not Just ComputersThis is the VOA Special English Education Report.A question from the West Bank: Zuheir Khlaif wants to know how American schools use educational technology.There is not a simple answer. It depends on the subject and level of students, of course. But it also depends on the interest and training of the teachers, and the goals and budgets of the schools.Schools are almost all connected to the Internet. But some have more technology, and use it more, than others. For example, some schools use computers for activities like video conferencing, to bring the world into the classroom.And some classrooms are equipped with things like a Smart Board, a kind of interactive whiteboard. Interactive whiteboards are large displays for presentations. They connect to a computer and can operate by touch. They can be used for documents or writing or to project video.Some teachers are trying creative new ways to teach withdevices like iPods and mobile phones. But educators say the most important thing, as always, is the content.Yet technology can have special importance in some cases. Cosmobot is a therapy robot. It stands about half a meter tall and has a blue body and a friendly face with big eyes.One child who works with it is six-year-old Kevin Fitzgerald. Kevin has developmental dyspraxia; he has difficulty moving his mouth and tongue.He works with Carole Semango-Sprouse as he interacts with the Cosmobot during therapy for his condition. Here, he uses a set of buttons attached to a computer to make the silent robot move forward, backward or around in circles.CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Say come!"KEVIN: "Om here ..."CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Good boy. Call him again! Come here!"KEVIN: "Om ere ... "CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Perfect! Say it again, Kev! Come here."KEVIN: "Om ere."CAROLE SEMANGO-SPROUSE: "Good boy. That's beautiful."Kevin's mother thinks the robot has had a calming influence, helping her son get along better with his friends.Cosmobot was developed by AnthroTronix. Corinna Lathan started the company ten years ago to work with children with cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome, autism and other developmental disabilities.Children become friends with the robot, she says. That can have a big effect on their behavior, helping them work harder and longer in therapy sessions.Corinna Lathan is currently working with a British company to develop other socially assistive robots. She says they are still considered research tools in the United States, and not used as much as in places like Britain and Japan. But she hopes to change that.And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach with Julie Taboh. Transcripts and podcasts are at . I'm Steve Ember.推荐：VOA慢速讲解—Words and Their Stories:Bigwig VOA慢速讲解：5人因艺术贡献获肯尼迪中心表彰VOA英语慢速讲解：冷藏食物的几点建议。
se-econ-jobs-internet-pt1-06may11
He says social media sites are valuable when they show the abilities of job candidates and not just their job title and experience.
STEVE LANGERUD: "This really is a talent economy, and we're stuck with most job seekers presenting themselves in a job title mode. And I don't think it matches very well."
Steve Langerud says employers, too, should change their search methods. They should think harder about the skills they really need to help their organization reach its goals.
STEVE LANGERUD: "Because at the end of the day, its still about getting the right people in the right place at the right time and then keeping them."
这是印第安那州德堡大学职业机会小组负责人Steve Langerud的建议。他为学生的职业规划提供建议，并且经常在媒体上讨论工作场合的问题。
他表示，社交媒体网站是很有价值的，但是必须展现求职者的技能，而不只是工作职位和工作经验。
直击美国的高辍学率
BARACK OBAMA: "My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in."
A new book about Americexplores the complex causes of the high dropout rate. The book is called "Crossing the Finish Line."
But many conservatives criticized plans for the speech. Some called it "socialized education" or federal interference in local schools. Others feared it would be too political. Some schools decided not to show the speech. But the White House released the text on Monday, and that calmed a lot of critics.
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.High-quality systems used in video conferencing are called telepresence systems. The images are life-size yet not truly lifelike. They lack the depth that people would normally see if they were in the same room together. But this could change in the future with new kinds of three-dimensional telepresence systems.Last week, we told you about a 3-D system at the University of Arizona. Researchers can send a moving image over the Internet and show it on a special screen in close to real time. People would not have to wear special glasses like they often need to watch 3-D movies.The system uses a lot of cameras to take pictures of a person from different positions. Lasers reproduce the pictures combined into three-dimensional images, or holograms. The image appears more realistic with the more cameras that are used and the more pictures that are taken.Howard Lichtman is president of the Human Productivity Lab. His company advises other companies on buying and using telepresence systems. Mr. Lichtman also publishes Telepresence Options, which reports on the industry.He says this latest development would have done wonders for the "Star Wars" movie with the famous "Princess Leia" hologram scene.HOWARD LICHTMAN: "For Princess Leia to talk, Princess Leia needs to move and her mouth needs to move, etc. And you haven't been able to do that with a regular hologram because the hologram would only be fixed in one spot. What they're able to do is, they're able to refresh that image so that the image changes the same way a person changes when they talk."The researchers in Arizona say their 3-D system is still years away from completion. Even then, Howard Lichtman says it may have trouble competing with systems already on the market.Most telepresence systems are two-dimensional. But Mr. Lichtman says the images are very realistic.HOWARD LICHTMAN: "It's a 2-D image, but it's crystal clear, photo realistic, fluid movement, accurate flesh tones, and you would swear you were in the same physical space with people who might be thousands of miles away."He says prices for telepresence systems are going down as more people use the technology.HOWARD LICHTMAN: "It's pushing down to everybody as these environments are becoming publicly available or you can rent them by the hour, and at the same time that you're getting very high quality, high definition video conferencing showing up on mobile devices and in the home delivered through the set-top box or through the PC."A new eighteen-million-dollar project aims to create eleven telepresence centers for federal employees around the United States. The government is working with the A T&T company to save money and reduce pollution by reducing the need for travel.And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.。
VOA
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.Using a computer mouse or trackball can be a little tricky. You choose the object you want and move it to where you want it, only to have it end up in a different position. This happens to all of us sometimes, and we think little of it. But for people who have a difficult time controlling their movements, this little navigational issue can be a really big problem.Now, researchers at the University of Washington have developed new cursors that make activating objects easier for people with motor disabilities. Jacob Wobbrock is an assistant professor at the University of Washington. He leads the AIM Research Group that developed the cursors.Professor Wobbrock says mouse cursor operations are complex processes that assume things about computer users.JACOB WOBBROCK: "For many people who have poor dexterity, the inability to control their fingers well, maybe pain in their wrists or hand, maybe arthritis - those assumptions of the average user, they don't hold."The AIM Research Group has developed two cursors. One is called the Pointing Magnifier. Professor Wobbrock says it uses a large circular cursor instead of the traditional arrow pointer. JACOB WOBBROCK: "And they can make that circle as big as they like. So, if their motor impairments are fairly severe, they can make that circle large.When the circle is positioned over the target, everything in the circle appears larger, almost filling the whole screen. This makes it easier for the user to click on the object.JACOB WOBBROCK: "At this point the user sees the regular point cursor now, the little arrow, inside that exploded magnified view. And with that they can move and click on the target they want or they can begin to drag the target they want.The AIM Research Group's Pointing Magnifier software can be downloaded free from the University of Washington website. AIM is short for Accessible, Interactive and Mobile. Professor Wobbrock says the group's main goal is to make information and computer systems more available and easier to use. And he says AIM's work is not just for people with disabilities. JACOB WOBBROCK: "Some of our projects have looked at what we call situational impairments, which are challenges to accessibility that are caused more by the situation or context that the computer user is in instead of maybe as we usually think of accessibility as having to do with someone's own physical or cognitive state."Professor Wobbrock says an example of this might be using a small mobile device while walking. And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. MP3s, podcasts and transcripts of our reports are at . We're also on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I'm Christopher Cruise.。
18(填空)
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.A labor group has begun __________________ working conditions at the Chinese factories where many Apple ______________ are made. Apple officials ordered the investigation after The New York Times newspaper ______________ poor working conditions at the factories.The Foxconn Technology Group owns the manufacturing _________ in Shenzhen, Chengdu and Zhengzhou.Angela Cornell is a __________ at the Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York. She says many issues were ___________ last year after a number of suicides at the Foxconn factories.One issue is the number of hours that ______________ are required to work. Other concerns are pay, living _______________ and even reports of ____________ against workers.The New York Times reported that employees sometimes worked __________ days a week. The newspaper said some stood so long that they had trouble ____________. Widespread criticism of Apple followed _____________ of the report. Mark Shields ______________ a campaign calling for better working conditions.MARK SHIELDS: “Workers lives are really hard and really _____________, and there’s terrible stories about people losing the use of their hands because of horrible repetitive motion ____________, and suicide ____________ that are so high that they have got to hang ___________ off the sides of the buildings to prevent workers from killing themselves.”Professor Cornell says the conditions at the Foxconn factories had to have been really bad.ANGELA CORNELL: “Just imagine how dire the working conditions would have had to be for those workers to ____________ their lives.”Professor Cornell says even Apple’s own reports noted issues at some of its factories. These included ____________ labor and _____________ labor.ANGELA CORNELL: “These are important issues. The involuntary laborer(s) are indentured migrant workers. And that is a crucially important issue. I mean that’s basically ____________ labor.” More than two hundred thousand people have joined Mark Shiel ds’ campaign for better working conditions. The American _____________ he loves his Apple products. But, he says, he wants them to be made without human ____________.The company announced last week it had asked the Fair Labor Association to investigate the conditions at its Foxconn factories. The FLA was established in nineteen ninety-nine to investigate working conditions around the world. Apple joined the ___________________ group earlier this year.Last Friday, the Times reported that the _______________ of the FLA has begun praising the factories. But the group’s second-in-command suggested delaying ______________ until a report on the investigation is finished.Also on Friday, Foxconn said it was raising the pay of its workers in China. It was the c ompany’s third pay raise since twenty-ten.And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.。
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This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
launched its Kindle library-lending service in the United States last week. Millions of users of the Kindle reader and app can now borrow Kindle books from their local public library.
The company is working with OverDrive, a leading supplier of e-books and other digital content to libraries. The service will be available through the websites of more than eleven thousand local libraries across the country.
Users of other devices including the Barnes and Noble Nook and Sony Reader have already been able to borrow library books. Experts say Amazon's entry is likely to reopen a debate between publishers and libraries over e-book lending.
Bill Rosenblatt is president of Giant Steps Media Technology Strategies, a consulting company.
BILL ROSENBLATT: “Publishers and libraries are enemies that occur in nature like snakes and mongese. Libraries would like to be able to make books available to everyone, all the time, with no limitations. And publishers, of course, would like to sell more books to the public.”
Mr. Rosenblatt says the debate in the United States centers on what is known as the law of first sale.
BILL ROSENBLATT: “Once you buy any kind of media product such as a book or a CD or a DVD or anything like that, you can do whatever you want with it. You can read it, you can give it away, you can lend it, you can resell it, you can burn it, you can use it as a Frisbee -- whatever you want. This law is referred to as 'first sale.'"
This law is what permits libraries to lend books over and over again without having to pay publishers each time. But Bill Rosenblatt points out that it does not include digital products. Technology known as digital rights management
can make e-books unreadable once they have reached a certain time or user limit.
BILL ROSENBLATT: “Several months ago, one of the major publishers, Harper Collins, which is a division of News Corp, announced that they were only going to allow e-books to be lent out twenty-six times, and then they would have to be purchased by the libraries again. Apart from HarperCollins, publishers are allowing libraries to purchase e-books for lending in perpetuity, meaning as many times as anyone w ants to borrow them.”
HarperCollins says it took the action to protect the growing e-book industry and its own book sales. But Bill Rosenblatt says critics did not see it that way.
BILL ROSENBLATT: “Because a digital book lasts forever, as long as it’s sto red somewhere in digital form, that it should be lendable forever, and that this business of restricting e-book lending to twenty-six times is sort of an unfair, artificial limitation that shouldn’t apply because it’s a digital product.”
He says the debate over e-book lending will likely end up in court.
And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.。