The Science of Snow

BOB DOUGHTY: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. Im Bob Doughty.
FAITH LAPIDUS: And Im Faith Lapidus. Today, we will tell you everything you ever wanted to
know about snow.
(MUSIC)
BOB DOUGHTY: Winter weather is returning to northern parts of the world. In the northern
United States, winter can mean the return of snow. Some snow can begin falling in November. But
large amounts of snow fell this past October, surprising many people.
Almost three million people lost power and at least twelve people died when wet, heavy snow fell
in New England. In some areas, the snow was two-thirds of a meter deep. Many trains and flights
were delayed or cancelled.
Snow is a subject of great interest to weather experts. They sometimes have difficulty estimating
where, when or how much snow will fall. One reason is that heavy amounts of snow fall in
surprisingly small areas. Another reason is that a small change in temperature can mean the
difference between snow and rain.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Just what is snow, anyway? Snow is a form of frozen water. It contains groups
of ice particles called snow crystals. These crystals grow from water droplets in cold clouds. They
usually grow around dust particles.
All snow crystals have six sides, but they grow in different shapes. The shape depends mainly on
the temperature and water levels in the air.
Snow crystals grow in one of two designs plate-like and columnar. Plate-like crystals are flat.
They form when the air temperature is about fifteen degrees below zero Celsius. Columnar snow
crystals look like sticks of ice. They form when the temperature is about five degrees below zero.
BOB DOUGHTY: The shape of a snow crystal may change from one form to another as the crystal
passes through levels of air with different temperatures. When melting snow crystals or raindrops
fall through very cold air, they freeze to form small particles of ice, called sleet.
Groups of frozen water droplets are called snow pellets. Under some conditions, these particles
may grow larger and form solid pieces of ice, or hail. Hail can be dangerous to people, animals and
property.
(MUSIC)
FAITH LAPIDUS: When snow crystals stick together, they produce snowflakes. Snowflakes come
in different sizes. As many as one hundred crystals may join to form a snowflake larger than two
and one-half centimeters. Under some conditions, snowflakes can form that are five centimeters
across. Usually, this requires near-freezing temperatures, light winds and changing conditions in
Earths atmosphere.
Snow contains much less water than rain. About two and one-half centimeters of rain has as much
water as fifteen centimeters of wet snow. About seventy-six centimeters of dry snow equals the
water in two and one-half centimeters of rain.

BOB DOUGHTY: Much of the water the world uses comes from snow. Melting snow provides
water for rivers, electric power stations and agricultural crops. Mountain snow provides up to
seventy-five percent of all surface water supplies in the western United States.
Snowfall helps to protect plants and some wild animals from winter weather. Fresh snow is made
largely of air trapped among the snow crystals. Because the air has trouble moving, the movement
of heat is limited.
Snow also influences the movement of sound waves. When there is fresh snow on the ground, the
surface of the snow takes in, or absorbs, sound waves. However, snow can become hard and flat as
it grows older or if there have been strong winds. Then, the snows surface will help to send back
sound waves. Under these conditions, sounds may seem clearer and may travel farther.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Generally, snow and ice appear white. This is because the light we see from the
sun is white. Most natural materials take in some sunlight. This gives them their color. However,
when light travels from air to snow, some light is sent back, or reflected. Snow crystals have many
surfaces to reflect sunlight. Yet the snow does take in a little sunlight. It is this light that gives
snow its white appearance.
Sometimes, snow or ice may appear to be blue. The blue light is the product of a long path through
the snow or ice. Think of snow or ice as a filter. A filter is designed to reject some substances,
while permitting others to pass through. In the case of snow, light makes it through if the snow is
only a centimeter thick. If it is a meter or more thick, however, blue light often can be seen.
(MUSIC)
BOB DOUGHTY: Snow falls in the Earths extreme north and south throughout the year.
However, the heaviest snowfalls have been reported in the mountains of other areas during winter.
These areas include the Alps in Italy and Switzerland, the coastal mountains of western Canada,
and the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains in the United States. Snow is even known to fall near
the Equator, but only on the highest mountains.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Each year, the continental United States has an average of one hundred five
snowstorms. An average storm produces snow for two to five days.
Almost every part of the United States has received snowfall at one time or another. Even parts of
southern Florida, where many Americans go for warm-weather vacations, have reported a few
snowflakes.
The national record for snowfall in a single season was set in the winter of nineteen ninety-eight to
nineteen ninety-nine. Two thousand eight hundred ninety-five centimeters of snow fell at the
Mount Baker Ski area in the northwestern state of Washington.
BOB DOUGHTY: People in many areas have little or no snowfall. In nineteen thirty-six, a
physicist from Japan produced the first man-made snow in a laboratory. Then, during the nineteen
forties, several American scientists developed methods for making snow in other areas.
Clouds with extremely cool water are mixed with man-made ice crystals, such as silver iodide and
metaldehyde crystals. Sometimes, dry ice particles or liquid propane are used. Today, machines are
used to produce limited amounts of snow for winter ski areas when not enough natural snow has
fallen.
(MUSIC)

FAITH LAPIDUS: Snow may be beautiful, but it can be deadly. It is responsible for the deaths of
hundreds of people in the United States every year. Many people die in traffic accidents on roads
that are covered with snow or ice. Others die from being out in the cold, or from heart attacks
caused by too much physical activity.
You may not be able to avoid living in areas where it snows often. However, you can avoid
becoming a victim of snowstorms. Most people are told to stay in their homes until the storm has
passed. When removing large amounts of snow, they should stop and rest often. Difficult physical
activity during snow removal can cause a heart attack, especially among older adults.
It is always a good idea to keep a lot of supplies in the home, even before winter begins. These
supplies include food, medicine, clean water and extra power supplies.
BOB DOUGHTY: Some drivers have become trapped in their vehicles during a snowstorm. If this
happens, people should remain in or near their car unless they see some kind of help. They should
get out and clear space around the vehicles exhaust pipe to prevent the possibility of carbon
monoxide poisoning.
Drivers should tie a bright-colored object to the top of their car to increase the chance of rescue.
Inside the car, they should open a window a little for fresh air and turn on the engine for ten or
fifteen minutes every hour for heat.
FAITH LAPIDUS: People living in areas where winter storms are likely should carry emergency
supplies in their vehicle. These include food, emergency medical supplies and extra clothing to
stay warm and dry. People in these areas should always be prepared for winter emergencies. Snow
can be beautiful, but it can also be dangerous.
(MUSIC)
BOB DOUGHTY: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by George Grow and Christopher
Cruise. June Simms was our producer. Im Bob Doughty.
FAITH LAPIDUS: And Im Faith Lapidus. Do you like snow? What is your favorite memory of
snow? Tell us about it at voaspecialenglish.com. While there, you can find transcripts, MP3s and
podcasts of our programs. We also have activities for people learning English. Join us again next
week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.
The Story of Aspirin
MARIO RITTER: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Mario Ritter.
BARBARA KLEIN: And Im Barbara Klein. Today, we will tell the story of aspirin.
(MUSIC)
MARIO RITTER: People have known since ancient times that aspirin lessens pain and lowers high
body temperature. But that is not all the drug can do. It has gained important new uses in recent
years. Small amounts may help prevent a stroke or heart attack. One recent study showed that
some people who took two aspirin pills a day had lower rates of colorectal cancer. And, some
researchers say aspirin may help patients with colon cancer live longer.
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But doctors also say the acid in aspirin can cause problems like bleeding in the stomach and
intestines.
BARBARA KLEIN: So, how did aspirin become so important? The story begins with a willow
tree. Two thousand years ago, the Greek doctor Hippocrates advised his patients to chew on the
bark and leaves of the willow.
The tree contains a chemical called salicin. In the eighteen hundreds, researchers discovered how
to make salicylic acid from the chemical. In eighteen ninety-seven, a chemist named Felix
Hoffmann at Friedrich Bayer and Company in Germany created acetyl salicylic acid.
Later, it became the active substance in a medicine that Bayer called aspirin. The "a" came from
acetyl. The "spir" came from the spirea plant, which also produces salicin. And the "in"? That is a
common way to end medicine names.
MARIO RITTER: In nineteen eighty-two, a British scientist shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in
part for discovering how aspirin works. Sir John Vane found that aspirin blocks the body from
making natural substances called prostaglandins.
Prostaglandins have several effects on the body. Some cause pain and the expansion, or swelling,
of damaged tissue. Others protect the lining of the stomach and small intestine.
Prostaglandins also make the heart, kidneys and blood vessels work well. But there is a problem.
Aspirin works against all prostaglandins, good and bad.
BARBARA KLEIN: Scientists have also learned how aspirin interferes with an enzyme. One form
of this enzyme makes the prostaglandin that causes pain and swelling. Another form of the enzyme
creates a protective effect. So aspirin can reduce pain and swelling in damaged tissues. But it can
also harm the inside of the stomach and small intestine. And sometimes it can cause bleeding.
But a British study released in two thousand nine suggested that taking another drug with a small
amount of aspirin may help reduce the risk of bleeding. If this proves true, it would help thousands
of people who are seeking to prevent life-threatening conditions.
(MUSIC)
MARIO RITTER: Many people take aspirin to reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke from
blood clots. Clots can block the flow of blood to the heart or brain and cause a heart attack or
stroke. Scientists say aspirin prevents blood cells called platelets from sticking together to form
clots.
A California doctor named Lawrence Craven first noted this effect sixty years ago. He observed
unusual bleeding in children who chewed on an aspirin product to ease the pain after a common
operation.
Doctor Craven believed the bleeding took place because aspirin prevented blood from thickening.
He thought this effect might help prevent heart attacks caused by blood clots.
He examined the medical records of eight thousand aspirin users and found no heart attacks in this
group. He invited other scientists to test his ideas. But it was years before large studies took place.
BARBARA KLEIN: Charles Hennekens of Harvard Medical School led one of the studies. In
nineteen eighty-three, he began to study more than twenty-two thousand healthy male doctors over

forty years of age. Half took an aspirin every other day. The others took what they thought was
aspirin. But it was only a placebo, a harmless substance.
Five years later, Doctor Hennekens reported that people who took aspirin reduced their risk of a
heart attack. But they had a higher risk of bleeding in the brain than the other doctors.
MARIO RITTER: In two thousand nine, a group of experts examined studies of aspirin at the
request of federal health officials in the United States. The experts said people with an increased
risk of a heart attack should take a low-strength aspirin every day.
Aspirin may help someone who is having a heart attack caused by a blockage in a blood vessel.
Aspirin thins the blood, so it may be able to flow past the blockage. But heart experts say people
should seek emergency help immediately. And they say an aspirin is no substitute treatment, only a
temporary help.
BARBARA KLEIN: But what about reducing pain? Aspirin competes with other medicines for
reducing pain and high body temperature. The competition includes acetaminophen, the active
substance in products like Tylenol. Like the medicine ibuprofen, aspirin is an NSAID -- a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
Several studies have found that men who take aspirin and other NSAIDS have a decreased risk of
prostate cancer. The prostate is part of the male reproductive system.
MARIO RITTER: Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota wanted to see how NSAIDs might
affect prostates that are enlarged but not cancerous. They followed the health of two thousand,
five hundred men for twelve years.
The researchers said these drugs may delay or stop development of an enlarged prostate. They said
the risk of an enlarged prostate was fifty percent lower in the NSAID users than the other men. The
risk of bladder problems was thirty-five percent lower.
(MUSIC)
BARBARA KLEIN: Other studies have suggested that aspirin can help with cancer prevention and
survival. They showed that aspirin may help prevent cancers of the stomach, intestines and colon.
Researchers reported two years ago about people who had colorectal cancer. They found that
aspirin users had an almost thirty percent lower risk of dying from their cancer. That was during an
average of eleven years after the cancer was discovered.
Earlier this month, The Lancet medical journal published findings from a study of aspirin and
cancer. Researchers followed almost one thousand patients who had Lynch syndrome a genetic
condition that makes them likely to develop some cancers. One group of patients took six hundred
milligrams of aspirin a day for at least two years. These patients had a sixty-three percent lower
risk of colorectal cancer than those who took a harmless substance or placebo. The longer they
took aspirin, the lower their risk of cancer.
MARIO RITTER: This study seems to confirm a study released in two thousand eight. European
researchers reported that aspirin may have what they called a long-term protective effect against
colorectal cancer. Peter Rothwell of the University of Oxford led the researchers. They examined
twenty years of results from four large studies. The studies involved fourteen thousand people.

The researchers found that people who took one aspirin a day for about six years reduced their risk
of colon cancer by twenty-four percent. And deaths from the disease dropped by thirty-five
percent.
Last year, The Lancet published the combined results of a larger observational study, also led by
Professor Rothwell. This time, he and researchers examined eight studies that involved more than
twenty-five thousand individuals. They found that taking a small aspirin once a day reduced death
rates from a number of common cancers.
BARBARA KLEIN: Aspirin does not help everything, however. It can cause problems, like an
increased danger of internal stomach bleeding and ulcers. And it can interfere with other
medicines, although this is true of many drugs. Also, some people should not take aspirin. People
who take other blood thinners or have bleeding disorders are among this group. Pregnant women
are usually told to avoid aspirin.
And research has shown a link between aspirin use and the disease Reye's Syndrome. Childrens
doctors say patients up to age nineteen should not take anything containing salicylatic products
when sick with high temperatures.
Experts say most people should not take aspirin for disease prevention without first talking to a
doctor because there are risks to taking aspirin. Some researchers have even said that some people
get little or no protection from aspirin. So research continues on one of the oldest and most widely
used drugs in the world.
(MUSIC)
MARIO RITTER: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Christopher Cruise. Our
producer was June Simms. Im Mario Ritter.
BARBARA KLEIN: And Im Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for more news about science
in Special English on the Voice of America.
How Much Screen Time Is Too Much for Children?
Children can spend hours a day looking at computer screens and other digital devices. Some eye
care professionals say this leads to an increase in computer vision syndrome.
Nathan Bonilla-Warford is an optometrist in Tampa, Florida. He says he has seen an increase in
problems in children.
I see a lot more children who are coming into the office either because their parents have noticed
that they have headaches or red or watery eyes or discomfort, or because their prescription, their
near-sightedness, appears to be increasing at a fast rate and they're worried.
Dr. Bonilla-Warford says part of the problem is that children may be more likely than adults to
ignore early warning signs.
Even if their eyes start to feel uncomfortable or they start to get a headache, theyre less likely to
tell their parents, because they dont want to have the game or the computer or whatever taken
away.
He says another part of the problem is that people blink less often when they use digital devices.

The average person who uses a computer or an electronic device blinks about a third as much as
we normally do in everyday life. And so that can result in the front part of the eye drying and not
staying moist and protected like normal.
Eye doctors offer suggestions like following which is known as the 20/20/20 rule.
Every twenty minutes, look away twenty feet or more for at least twenty seconds from whatever
device youre using.
Other suggestions include putting more distance between you and the device and using good
lighting. Of course, another way to avoid eye strain is to spend less time looking at screens. Many
experts say children should spend no more than two hours a day using digital devices -- with no
screen time for children under two.
But not all eye doctors have noticed an increase in problems in children. Dr. David Hunter is a
pediatric ophthalmologist at Childrens Hospital Boston. He also is a spokesman for the American
Academy of Ophthalmology. He has not seen an increase in his practice.
While it is possible to develop fatigue looking at various screens for a long period of time, theres
certainly no evidence that it actually causes any damage to the eyes.
World's Population Reaches 7 Billion
The United Nations estimates that there are now seven billion people on Earth.
Populations are growing faster than economies in many poor countries in Africa and Asia. At the
same time, low birth rates in Japan and many European nations have raised concerns. There may
not be enough people to fill jobs in the future.
Population experts at the United Nations estimate that the worlds population reached six billion in
October 1999. They predict it will reach nine billion by 2050, and ten billion by the end of the
century.
China has a population of 1.3 billion, which is currently the world's largest. India is second at 1.2
billion. But India is expected to pass China and reach 1.5 billion people around 2025. India will
also have one of the world's youngest populations.
In India, young people will gain many skills in their countrys growing economy. At the same time,
other countries will have aging populations. But economists say that current growth rates, although
high, may not create enough jobs.
Also, the public education system is failing. There are too many students in many places.
Schooling is often of poor quality. Another concern is health care. Nearly half of Indias children
under the age of five are malnourished. Sarah Crowe at the United Nations Children's Fund in New
Delhi says these two problems "could keep India back."
SARAH CROWE: "That child is unable to really grow to its ability and will remain in a state of
stunting and not be able to learn when it goes to school -- when he or she goes to school, and
indeed later earn and really pay back and pay into the economy and help the country and the region
move forward. We have, you know, out of every two hundred million children who start school,
only ten percent complete grade twelve."

Michal Rutkowski is the director of human development in South Asia at the World Bank. He says
the seven billionth person was likely to be a girl, born in rural Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is one
of Indias poorest and most crowded states, with nearly 200 million people.
He says reaching seven billion people in the world is a good time for a call to action.
Steve Jobs Remembered
Steve Jobs made technology fun. The co-founder of Apple died October 5, 2011 at the age of 56.
He fought for years against cancer. People gathered outside his house in Palo Alto, California, and
at Apple stores around the world to say good-bye.
Tim Bajarin is president of Creative Strategies, a high-tech research and consulting company.
"If you actually look at a tech leader, theyre really happy if they have one hit in their life. Steve
Jobs has the Apple II, the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad and Pixar.
Although Steve Jobs parents supported his early interest in electronics, he was a college dropout.
He and his friend Steve Wozniak started Apple Computer -- now just called Apple -- in 1976. They
stayed at the company until 1985. That year, Steve Wozniak went back to college and Steve Jobs
left in a fight with the chief executive.
Mr. Jobs then formed his own company, called NeXT Computer. He rejoined Apple in 1997 after it
bought NeXT. Apple was in bad shape then. Jobs helped turn it into one of the most valuable
companies in the world today.
Steve Wozniak, speaking on CNN, talked about his longtime friend as a "great leader" and a
"marketing genius."
President Obama said that Steve Jobs made computers personal, and that he put the Internet in our
pockets. Obama said that he made the information revolution accessible and fun."
Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple's chief executive in August because of his health.
A Room Where Nurses Learn How Not to Get Hurt
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
Nurses spend their lives helping other people recover from injuries and illnesses. Yet nurses suffer
a surprising number of injuries and illnesses themselves because of their work. In fact, the United
States Department of Labor says nursing is the second leading profession for on-the-job injuries. It
ranks higher than construction work and law enforcement. Only freight and stock movers report
higher injury rates.
Nurses and other health care workers do a lot of heavy lifting on the job. Lifting and moving
patients improperly leads to sprains, strains and muscle tears -- leading causes of injuries to nurses.
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Gretchen Gregory is an instructor at the Sinclair School of Nursing on the Columbia campus of the
University of Missouri. She says back problems are the greatest threat that nurses face when they
lift or move patients.

GRETCHEN GREGORY: "Youre talking about people that have handicaps or limited mobility,
that need much assistance. And we have untrained people to do that assisting and that puts them at
risk for hurting their backs."
Ms. Gregory leads a new training room where nurses can learn to keep themselves and their
patients safe. She says most nurses lack training in how to lift patients.
GRETCHEN GREGORY: "That's not something that we teach in school, but that's when falls
happen and that's when nurses get hurt."
She says the safe practices room has special equipment, including a life-size mannequin doll. This
"patient" can be made to weigh as much as one hundred fifty-nine kilograms.
GRETCHEN GREGORY: "We have a mannequin that we can fill up with water and he becomes a
three-hundred-and-fifty-pound mannequin that they have to learn to use this transfer equipment to
get patients in and out of bed or from another bed to a stretcher."
Ms. Gregory says most American hospitals have lifting equipment to help nurses move patients.
But she says the equipment is often pushed back in a corner somewhere -- unused and forgotten.
She says the safe practices room teaches the importance of using the tools and skills available.
GRETCHEN GREGORY: "Teaching students to take the extra time to use those and learning how
to use them well and efficiently is going to be a key to helping prevent back injuries."
The training room also seeks to improve communication skills and other practices in a setting
designed to copy a busy hospital or clinic.
GRETCHEN GREGORY: "If we provide an environment where everythings nice and quiet and
they can give their medications or they can communicate to a physician when theres nothing
going on, thats not really a real-life setting. They have to be able to do it with some distraction."
An unidentified donor gave three hundred thousand dollars to build the new room. The University
of Missouri describes it as one of the first of its kind at a nursing school in the United States.
Pictures are at voaspecialenglish.com.
And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.

Words and Their Stories: A Chip on Your Shoulder

Now,

the

VOA

Special

English

program

WORDS

AND

THEIR

STORIES.

Every week at this time we tell the story of words and expressions used in American English.
Some of them are old. Some are new. Together, they form the living speech of the American
people.
Some popular expressions are a mystery. No one is sure how they developed. One of these is the
expression, carry a chip on your shoulder. A person with a chip on his shoulder is a problem for
anybody who must deal with him. He seems to be expecting trouble. Sometimes he seems to be
saying, Im not happy about anything, but what are you going to do about it?
Download this story as a PDF

A chip is a small piece of something, like a chip of wood. How did this chip get on a persons
shoulder? Well, experts say the expression appears to have been first used in the United States
more
than
one
hundred
years
ago.
One writer believes that the expression might have come from an old saying. The saying warns
against striking too high, or a chip might fall into your eye. That could be good advice. If you
strike high up on a tree with an axe, the chip of wood that is cut off will fall into your eye. The
saying becomes a warning about the dangers of attacking people who are in more important
positions
than
you
are.
Later, in the United States, some people would put a real chip on their shoulder as a test. They
wanted to start a fight. They would wait for someone to be brave enough to try to hit it off.
The word chip appears in a number of special American expressions. Another is chip off the old
block.
This
means
that
a
child
is
exactly
like
a
parent.
This expression goes back at least to the early sixteen hundreds. The British writer of plays,
George Colman, wrote these lines in seventeen sixty-two. Youll find him his fathers own son, I
believe.
A
chip
off
the
old
block,
I
promise
you!
The word chip can also be used in a threatening way to someone who is suspected of wrongdoing.
An investigator may say, Were going to let the chips fall where they may. This means the
investigation is going to be complete and honest. It is also a warning that no one will be protected
from
being
found
guilty.
Chips are often used in card games. They represent money. A poker player may, at any time, decide
to leave the game. He will turn in his chips in exchange for money or cash.
This lead to another meaning. A person who finished or died was said to have cashed in his chips.
Which is a way of saying it is time for me to finish this program.
(MUSIC)
You have been listening to the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories. Im
Warren Scheer.
Spray Shows Promise in Malaria Study in Benin
Malaria is caused by a parasite spread through the bite of infected mosquitoes. The World Health
Organization, in its latest estimate, says the disease caused seven hundred eighty-one thousand
deaths in two thousand nine. Most of those deaths were in children in Africa. Worldwide there
were two hundred twenty-five million cases of malaria.
Both of these numbers represent improvements. In two thousand there were an estimated two
hundred thirty-three million cases of malaria and almost a million deaths.
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Malaria remains a major problem in Africa, but there have been some successes. Deaths in
Rwanda, for example, have been reduced by sixty percent.
There are still no vaccines to prevent malaria. The main way for communities to control the
disease is by controlling mosquitoes.

In a recent study, researchers in West Africa have shown that spraying insecticide indoors can
greatly reduce malaria transmission.
The fight against malaria has two main targets: the parasite itself and the mosquito that carries the
parasite. Insecticides target the mosquito. But over time the insects develop resistance to the
chemicals. This has been happening with current mosquito killers, including chemicals known as
pyrethroids.
Gil Germain Padonou and other researchers at the Center de Recherche Entomologique de
Cotonou in Benin tested another insecticide. This one is called bendiocarb. They tested it with
indoor spraying at sites throughout Benin.
There were fewer mosquito bites in homes sprayed with bendiocarb. More importantly, none of the
three hundred fifty-thousand people who lived there got malaria-infected mosquito bites during the
test.
Peter Hotez heads the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, which published the
research.
PETER HOTEZ: "And this is what this bendiocarb is all about, showing that its efficacious -- at
least in this setting in Benin, in a real, live field setting. So it provides a potentially good
alternative where there's been high development of resistance to pyrethroids."
Dr. Hotez says the effectiveness in the test does not mean all malaria programs should use
bendiocarb, or that indoor spraying should be the only method used.
PETER HOTEZ: "When we think about a large-scale goal to take on malaria, its not an either/or
situation. Were going to have to throw multiple things out there in order to see what the optimal
combination is to achieve control."
Bendiocarb is widely used against a number of different insects. The insecticide is considered
relatively safe when used as directed. It has not been shown to cause cancer, and it passes quickly
out of the bodies of humans and other mammals.
The study from Benin appears in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Christopher
Cruise

Study Links Smoking to Millions of TB Deaths

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
The World Health Organization recently reported that the number of cases of tuberculosis has been
falling since two thousand six. Also, fewer people are dying from TB. But a study by researchers at
the University of California, San Francisco, says smoking could threaten this progress.
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Nearly twenty percent of all people use tobacco, and millions of non-smokers get sick from
breathing the smoke. The new study predicts that smoking will produce an additional thirty-four
million TB deaths by twenty-fifty.

Efforts to control the spread of tuberculosis have mainly focused on finding and treating infections.
Much less effort has been made to understand the causes. Dr. Anthony Fauci is the director of the
United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
ANTHONY FAUCI: "Despite our control efforts, that you still have more than a million people
each year, you know, dying from TB and millions and millions getting infected, we realize it's still
a very important problem. So we have to do the practical thing and we have to do the fundamental
research things at the same time."
Smoking does not cause tuberculosis; bacteria cause the infection. But the study says smoking
affects the nervous system in a way that makes an inactive case of TB more likely to develop into
an active one.
Stanton Glantz is director of the University of California's Center for Tobacco Control Research
and Education and an author of the new study. He says it shows that tuberculosis cannot be
controlled unless tobacco use is controlled.
STANTON GLANTZ: "It increases the number of people who will get tuberculosis by about seven
percent. It increases the number of people projected to die from tuberculosis between now and
twenty-fifty by about twenty-six percent."
The study is described as the first to identify a direct link between tobacco use and rates of TB
infection and death. Professor Glantz says the results should guide those creating health policies
and TB control efforts.
STANTON GLANTZ: "If you want to control the infectious disease of tuberculosis, you have to
control the tobacco industry and the tobacco industry's efforts to increase tobacco use, particularly
in developing countries where tuberculosis is a big problem."
The study predicts that the situation will only get worse if tobacco companies continue to sell more
of their products in those countries. It says strong efforts to control tobacco would not only reduce
deaths from smoking-related diseases like emphysema, heart disease and lung cancer. They could
also prevent millions of deaths from tuberculosis.
The study appeared in BMJ, the British Medical Journal.
And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. For more news about efforts to control
tobacco, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty

Should Anthrax Vaccine Be Tested in Children?

BARBARA KLEIN: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. Im Barbara
Klein.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: And Im Christopher Cruise. Today we tell about the deadly disease
anthrax.
(MUSIC)
BARBARA KLEIN: Ten years have passed since letters containing anthrax bacteria passed
through the mail in the United States. The anthrax particles looked like harmless white powder.
But the bacteria killed five people.

No one knew who mailed the letters. News organizations and congressional offices were the main
targets. And, the anthrax particles also found their way to the home of a ninety-four-year-old
woman.
AP

The letter containing anthrax that was sent to the office of the Senate majority leader
Years later, federal investigators named a scientist, Bruce Edwards Ivins, as the only suspect in the
murders. He was an anthrax expert who worked at the biological defense center in Maryland,
where the bacteria was kept. The government was preparing to charge him when he killed himself
in two thousand eight.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Recently, an investigation requested by Congress suggested that Bruce
Ivins may have been falsely suspected. Other investigators and news organizations also have
studied the case and questioned the evidence against Mr. Ivins.
Government lawyers say there is no reason for debate. The lawyers say they know they found the
right person. But questions about the case have caused concern among some people. They believe
that if Bruce Ivins was innocent, the person who sent the letters containing anthrax might still be
free.
BARBARA KLEIN: Anthrax also is the subject of another current debate. An expert advisory
committee has proposed testing a vaccine against anthrax on children. Currently, medical workers
are giving the vaccine to some adults. But it has not been tested on children. The goal of the
possible testing would be to learn if children could be protected from the disease in the event of a
terrorist attack.
The National Biodefense Science Board proposed the testing to the United States Department of
Health and Human Services. The board noted the ethical questions involved. But it said it would
suggest approval of the tests if those questions could be settled.
Some health-activist groups and others immediately protested the possible tests. The Obama
Administration has said the issue will remain under study.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: The anthrax vaccine has been available for years on a limited basis. It
is given mainly to members of the armed forces. More than two million armed forces members
have had the vaccine. It is generally considered safe. But there have been protests about
unexpected side effects. People who work with animals also can be vaccinated against anthrax.
Anthrax cannot be passed from one person to another. However, anthrax affects cattle and other
creatures that eat plants. It also can affect people who deal with infected animals or animal
products.
A microscopic view of stained anthrax bacteria
Anthrax is found naturally in the environment. It is caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis.
The bacteria have spores or protective coverings. Spores are like seeds. They can live for hundreds
of years in the soil. They can survive through severe heat, dry weather, and other extreme
conditions.
(MUSIC)
BARBARA KLEIN: Anthrax can be found anywhere in the world. It is most common in
developing countries. Animals can get the bacteria while eating plants. That can loosen anthrax

spores in the soil. The animal eats or breathes in the spores and may become infected. But a
vaccine can protect animals.
In people, the disease can appear in three forms: cutaneous anthrax, intestinal anthrax and
inhalation anthrax.
Cutaneous anthrax is the most common kind of infection. People can become infected this way if
the bacteria enter through a cut in the skin. The disease is most often found among people who
work with infected animals or animal products. Cutaneous anthrax causes a painful, black area on
the skin. However, it rarely causes death.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Intestinal anthrax results from eating infected meat. It can cause high
body temperature, stomach pain and expulsion of food from the stomach. It often can be cured.
The most severe form of the disease is inhalation anthrax. This happens when a person breathes the
spores into the lungs. Inhalation anthrax is most often found among people who work with animal
hair and wool in areas where the disease affects animals.
Inhalation anthrax is deadly if a person breathes in thousands of extremely small spores. Large
spores may get caught in the nose or throat, where they are less dangerous. But the small spores
can travel to the lungs.
BARBARA KLEIN: The bodys natural defenses against disease attack some spores. But they
carry others to the lymph nodes in the chest. Once there, the spores change into a deadly form. The
bacteria grow and spread to the rest of the body.
This may take a day, a week or up to two months. As infection spreads to the rest of the body, the
bacteria produce poisons that enter the blood. These poisons can cause a build-up of fluids in the
lung, tissue destruction and death.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Doctors treat infected people with antibiotic medicines. Antibiotics
have proven effective in fighting the disease in most cases. They can treat the disease if it is
discovered early. The antibiotics ciprofloxacin penicillin and doxycycline are all effective
treatments.
An anthrax infection is especially dangerous because people do not know they have been infected
until symptoms appear. Signs of the disease usually appear within a few days. Chest X-rays can
help doctors tell if a person has inhaled anthrax.
Early symptoms are similar to the disease influenza. They may include high body temperature,
muscle pain and a cough. These are usually followed by severe breathing problems and death if the
disease is not treated.
BARBARA KLEIN: Anthrax spores are hard to kill. Antibiotics halt the development of the
disease by fighting the bacteria as they grow from the spores. However, antibiotics do not fight the
poisons that the bacteria produce.
To work best, the antibiotics need to be active in the blood for as long as spores might be present in
the lungs or in other places in the body. Health officials say people should take antibiotics for an
extended period to treat or protect against anthrax infection.
(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Anthrax is considered a major threat because of its ability to be used as
a biological weapon. Biological weapons are living microorganisms. Biological and chemical
agents are most effective when they are spread into the air. These agents are often placed in bombs
or artillery shells that are designed to explode into the air and spread poisons over an enemy.
Many biological and chemical agents have no color, smell or taste. So an attack could take place
without the victims knowing it.
Experts say anthrax is one of the easiest biological agents to manufacture. It can be grown in a
laboratory. It spreads easily through the air over a large area. It can be made into a form that is
easily inhaled. It is easily stored and is dangerous for a long period of time. It also costs very little
to make.
BARBARA KLEIN: Anthrax has been used in laboratory experiments for more than one-hundred
years. Many scientists have used anthrax for traditional research purposes. The bacteria also have
been genetically changed for biological weapons research. The United States and countries of the
former Soviet Union have experimented with anthrax in their biological weapons programs.
Anthrax spores in nature stick together in particles too large to be breathed in. Experts say that the
individual anthrax spore is extremely small, about one micron wide. For example, two-thousand
spores lined up would measure only two millimeters. Particles that are five microns or bigger are
usually trapped in the upper part of the respiratory system.
To be an effective weapon, anthrax spores are reproduced to be smaller than five microns. Experts
say making such anthrax spores requires special laboratory equipment and a great deal of skill.
And to many people, that is a very good thing.
(MUSIC)
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Cynthia Kirk
and Jerilyn Watson. Im Christopher Cruise.
BARBARA KLEIN: And Im Barbara Klein. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our
programs at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can find us on Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning
English. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of
America.

Occupy Protests Bring Attention to Income Gap in US

STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. Im Steve Ember.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And Im Shirley Griffith. This week on our program, we look at the income
gap in the United States and hear from some of the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
(MUSIC)
Download this story as a PDF
STEVE EMBER: The Occupy Wall Street protests began in the middle of September in New York.
Since then they have spread around the country, to other cities, to college campuses, and to other
countries.

Different groups have made different demands, but the protesters have a common message. They
say they represent "the ninety-nine percent," meaning all but the wealthiest one percent of the
population.
Some cities have ordered protesters to stop camping in public places, leading to clashes and arrests
in some cases. Two overnight raids last Wednesday were generally peaceful.
OCCUPY LA PROTESTERS: "You represent the one percent!"
Police removed Occupy camps near the city administration buildings in Los Angeles and
Philadelphia. Officers made about three hundred arrests on the West Coast and fifty on the East
Coast.
In Los Angeles, officials said they supported the aims of the two-month Occupy LA protest and
wanted to respect freedom of speech. But they expressed concerns about health and public safety.
Watch video of raid, comments by police Chief Charlie Beck
Last month police in New York cleared Zuccotti Park, the birthplace of the movement.
Fifty-six percent of Americans in a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll in November said they neither
supported nor opposed the movement or had no opinion. That was unchanged from the middle of
October.
Still, the protests have increased attention and debate on the issue of income inequality.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: In October the Congressional Budget Office released a report on trends in
the way income is spread throughout the population. Members of Congress requested the study as
part of their debate over how to improve the economy and reduce the nation's debt.
The report shows how the income gap, the division between the rich and the poor, has widened. It
covers the period from nineteen seventy-nine to two thousand seven. This is what it says about the
top one percent of earners: During that period their average income -- after taxes and adjusted for
inflation -- grew by two hundred seventy-five percent.
Compared to other Americans, their share of the nation's income more than doubled. In nineteen
seventy-nine the top one percent received eight percent of all after-tax household income. By two
thousand seven that share had grown to seventeen percent.
At the same time, there was a drop in the share received by the lowest twenty percent of earners.
The lowest fifth of the population received about five percent of all after-tax household income in
two thousand seven. That was down from seven percent in nineteen seventy-nine.
STEVE EMBER: Law professor Peter Edelman is director of the Center on Poverty, Inequality and
Public Policy at Georgetown University in Washington. He also served in the administration of
president Bill Clinton. Professor Edelman says the widening income gap is a result of several
causes, both at the top and bottom of earnings.
PETER EDELMAN: "At the bottom, the basic problem is that we lost industrial jobs, high paying
jobs, starting forty years ago and even before, and they were replaced by much lower paying jobs
so that we have a flood of jobs in our country that dont pay enough to live on.
"At the top, which is where all of the growth in our countrys income has gone, really almost
everything has gone to the top one percent over the last forty years, there are a number of causes of
that. One is corporate policy about how it pays top executives. Maybe more fundamentally is tax

policy in our country, which especially since President Bush took office, has resulted in lower
taxes for people at the top. Some of it is changes in the economy which have made it possible for a
few people to make a huge amount of money and amass a huge amount of wealth."
But isn't part of the American Dream the idea, at least in theory, that anyone can get rich with
enough hard work? Why does this income issue matter? Professor Edelman says one problem is
that economic inequality breeds political inequality.
PETER EDELMAN: "The political power that comes for the people at the very top, when they
have that much wealth along with corporations with which they are associated, that they can put
into political campaigns, and then that results in their being overrepresented in Congress and the
halls of government."
Professor Edelman says voters who are unhappy with this situation have the power to change it.
PETER EDELMAN: "The main thing that we need to do in our country is to have people who are
the voters who elect our officials express themselves in their voting, so that we have elected
officials who are responsive to the majority of the people and not to a small group at the top."
Scott Sumner is an economics professor at Bentley University in Massachusetts. He thinks income
inequality is not the best way to look at economic inequality.
SCOTT SUMNER: "In my view the real problem is, to the extent that we should focus on
economic inequality, it should be consumption, not income. So I've argued for a progressive
consumption tax which would tax people at a higher level who have a very high level of
consumption."
In other words, rich people who spend a lot of their money would pay higher taxes than those who
invest it or give that money to charity.
Another Scott, Scott Winship, is a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. He believes
income inequality is only important to the extent that there is low economic mobility.
SCOTT WINSHIP: "I think that our levels of economic mobility leave a little bit to be desired and
that that's probably a more important issue to focus on than inequality is. Unfortunately, when you
look at economic mobility, we do look very immobile compared to other countries. In the sense
that if you start at the bottom, if your parents were poor, you're much more likely in the U.S. than
in other countries to also end up at the bottom yourself, and I think that really is a big problem."
Finding solutions, he says, requires experimenting in several different areas.
SCOTT WINSHIP: "I think we need to be very concerned about things like getting more people
into college, and qualifying for college and then graduating once they get there. And we need to
worry about other things that promote poverty, such as family instability and unstable job markets
as well."
The unemployment rate has remained about nine percent for months, although it fell to 8.6 percent
in November.
President Obama hopes to get re-elected next November. His public approval ratings have
suffered, while those for Congress have fallen to historic lows. Mr. Obama has been asking
Americans to be patient with his efforts to speed economic recovery.

BARACK OBAMA: "It is going to take time to rebuild an economy that restores security for the
middle class, renews opportunity for folks trying to reach the middle class. It is going to take time
to rebuild an economy that is not based on outsourcing or tax loopholes or risky financial deals,
but one that is built to last."
(MUSIC)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Protesters in the Occupy Wall Street movement say big business has too
much political influence. They argue that greed and self-interest have gotten in the way of
democracy. Twenty-nine-year-old Damien Nichols joined an Occupy Baltimore camp at a state
park in Maryland. He studied politics and government in college, and says the Occupy movement
wants to "reboot democracy."
DAMIEN NICHOLS: "If City Halls and Washington, DC, are the gatekeepers for our political
representation and we dont believe that they are currently representing us, then what weve done
here is weve all come out in our major cities, including Washington, DC, and started a
conversation amongst ourselves to see what needs to done about it."
His friend, Samantha Cuff, says she believes some people are trying to "get back in touch with
their humanity."
SAMANTHA CUFF: "And I think that is kind of what this is about for some people, is that, you
know, yeah, 'the one percent, theyre subjugating us,' and all that. But how many of us would
gladly accept a million dollars to do a dirty deed, you know? And its about fighting that 'one
percentism' within ourselves and not just outside of ourselves."
STEVE EMBER: Jerry Manpearl and his wife Jan Goodman are both lawyers who joined the
protesters in Los Angeles.
JERRY MANPEARL: "[If] you destroy the middle class, you destroy the working class, you
destroy this country."
Jan Goodman said the rich are not spending enough to help the economy.
JAN GOODMAN: "There's not enough boats and yachts and houses to buy. They save it."
Some religious leaders in Los Angeles complained that banks are not lending enough. Shakeel
Syed of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California said the widening gap between rich and
poor is easy to see.
SHAKEEL SYED: "When we visit certain neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles, you will see
every second house being foreclosed, and the homes that are not foreclosed, the families are unable
to meet the very basic needs. And then you cross town and you see Ferraris and Corvettes and
Lamborghinis parked in the driveways.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The Occupy protests began near Wall Street in New Yorks Financial
District. Many workers in the financial industry say the activists make some good points. But they
say the movement is wrong to blame capitalism for the country's political and economic problems.
Bob Costello is an information technology consultant with the Federal Reserve Bank. He says the
activists should be calling on Congress to limit the influence of companies in Washington.
BOB COSTELLO: "They want to express the anger, but there's no way to satisfy that anger.
Personally, I think they ought to be in Washington in front of Congress going 'Maybe we should

get our congressman to get the companies of their pockets.' Because that's what this is about,
right?"
Another question involves the future of the Occupy movement itself, especially now that winter is
coming.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: Our program was written and produced by Brianna Blake. We also had reporting
by David Byrd, Peter Fedynsky, Kent Klein and Mike OSullivan. Im Steve Ember.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And Im Shirley Griffith. You can find more stories about the Occupy
movement, along with transcripts and MP3s of our programs, at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us
again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.
American History: The Space Race
STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION American history in VOA Special
English. Im Steve Ember.
(SOUND: Radio signals from Sputnik)
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.
RADIO MOSCOW: "The first artificial Earth satellite in the world has now been created. This first
satellite was today successfully launched in the USSR."
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.
(MUSIC)
The technology that launched Sputnik probably began in the late nineteenth century. A Russian
teacher of that time, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, decided that a rocket engine could provide power for
a space vehicle.
In the early nineteen hundreds, another teacher -- American Robert Goddard -- tested the idea. He
experimented with small rockets to see how high and how far they could travel. In nineteen
twenty-three, a Romanian student in Germany, Hermann Oberth, showed how a spaceship might
be built and launched to other planets.
Rocket technology improved during World War Two. It was used to produce flying bombs.
(SOUND: V-1 bomb)
Thousands of people in Britain and Belgium died as a result of V-1 and V-2 rocket attacks. The
rockets were launched from Germany. The larger V-2 rocket had the ability to hit the United States.

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.
(SOUND: Radio signals from Sputnik)
The Soviets took the first step by creating Sputnik. This satellite was about the size of a basketball.
It got its power from a rocket. It orbited Earth for three months. \

AP

The Soviets launched a dog named Laika on Sputnik 2 in November 1957. She survived just
several hours in space.
Within weeks, the Soviets launched another satellite into Earth orbit, Sputnik 2. It was much
bigger and heavier than Sputnik 1. It also carried a passenger: a dog named Laika.
(MUSIC)
The United States joined the space race about three months later. It launched a satellite from Cape
Canaveral, in the southeastern state of Florida. This satellite was called Explorer 1. It weighed
about fourteen kilograms. Explorer One went into a higher orbit than either Sputnik. And its
instruments made an important discovery. They found an area of radiation about nine hundredsixty kilometers above Earth.

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin before launch in April 1961

The next major space victory belonged to the Soviets. They sent the first man into space. In April
nineteen sixty-one, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was launched in the vehicle known as Vostok. He
remained in space for less than two hours. He landed safely by parachute near a village in Russia.
Less than a month later, the United States sent its first astronaut into space. He was Alan Shepard.
Shepard remained in space only about fifteen minutes. He did not go into Earth orbit. That flight
came in February, nineteen sixty-two, with John Glenn.
By nineteen sixty-five, the United States and the Soviet Union were experimenting to see if
humans could survive outside a spacecraft. In March, Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became
the first person to do so. A strong tether connected Leonov to the spacecraft. The tether gave him
oxygen to breathe. And it permitted him to float freely at the other end.
After about ten minutes, Leonov had to return to the spacecraft. He said he regretted the decision.
He was having such a good time!
A little more than two months later, an American would walk outside his spacecraft. Astronaut
Edward White had a kind of rocket gun. This gave him some control of his movements in space.
Like Leonov, White was sorry when he had to return to his spacecraft.
Later that year, nineteen sixty-five, the United States tried to have one spacecraft get very close to
another spacecraft while in orbit. This was the first step in getting spacecraft to link, or dock,
together. Docking would be necessary to land men on the moon. The plan called for a Gemini
spacecraft carrying two astronauts to get close to an unmanned satellite.

The attempt failed. The target satellite exploded as it separated from its main rocket. America's
space agency decided to move forward. It would launch the next in its Gemini series. Then
someone had an idea: why not launch both Geminis. The second one could chase the first one,
instead of a satellite. Again, things did not go as planned.
It took two tries to launch the second Gemini. By that time, the first one had been in orbit about
eleven days. Time was running out. The astronauts on the second Gemini moved their spacecraft
into higher orbits. They got closer and closer to the Gemini ahead of them. They needed to get
within six hundred meters to be considered successful.
After all the problems on the ground, the events in space went smoothly. The two spacecraft got
within one-third of a meter of each other. The astronauts had made the operation seem easy.
In January nineteen fifty-nine, the Soviets launched a series of unmanned Luna rockets. The third
of these flights took pictures of the far side of the moon. This was the side no one on Earth had
ever seen. The United States planned to explore the moon with its unmanned Ranger spacecraft.
There were a number of failures before Ranger 7 took pictures of the moon. These pictures were
made from a distance. The world did not get pictures from the surface of the moon until the Soviet
Luna 9 landed there in February, nineteen sixty-six.
For the next few years, both the United States and Soviet Union continued their exploration of the
moon. Yet the question remained: which one would be the first to put a man there. In December,
nineteen sixty-eight, the United States launched Apollo 8 with three astronauts. The flight proved
that a spacecraft could orbit the moon and return to Earth safely.
The Apollo 9 spacecraft had two vehicles. One was the command module. It could orbit the moon,
but could not land on it. The other was the Lunar module. On a flight to the moon, it would
separate from the command module and land on the moon's surface. Apollo 10 astronauts unlinked
the Lunar module and flew it close to the moon's surface.
(SOUND)
After those flights, everything was ready.
AP

Liftoff of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969

NASA ANNOUNCER: "Twelve ... eleven ... ten ... nine ... ignition sequence start ... six ... five ...
four ... three ... two ... one zero. All engines running. Liftoff. We have a liftoff. Thirty-two
minutes past the hour, liftoff of Apollo 11.
On July sixteenth, nineteen sixty-nine, three American astronauts lifted off in Apollo 11. On the
twentieth, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin entered the Lunar module, called the Eagle. Michael
Collins remained in the command module, the Columbia.
The two vehicles separated.
(SOUND)
It was a dangerous time. The Eagle could crash. Or it could fall over after it landed. That meant the
astronauts would die on the moon.

Millions of people watched on television or listened on the radio. They waited for Armstrong's
message.
NEIL ARMSTRONG: Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
The Eagle has landed. Then they waited again. It took the astronauts more than three hours to
complete the preparations needed to leave the Lunar module.
Finally, the door opened. Neil Armstrong climbed down first. He put one foot on the moon. Then,
the other foot. And then came his words, from so far away:
NEIL ARMSTRONG: That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind."
STEVE EMBER: That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.
WALTER CRONKITE: Man on the Moon. Oh, boy! Whew, boy!
RADIO COMMUNICATIONS: OK, were gonna be busy for a minute.
CBS Television newsman Walter Cronkite shared the excitement that he and so many people felt as
man first walked on the surface of the moon.
Years later, Cronkite would remember the historical significance (importance) of that moment in
nineteen sixty-nine.
WALTER CRONKITE: Its hard, I think, to imagine our emotions at the moment. It really was
something that had to grip you. It was as if you could have stood at the dock and waved goodbye
to Columbus. You knew darn good and well that this was the real history in the making.
Armstrong walked around. Soon, Aldrin joined him.
NASA RADIO COMMUNICATION: Theyre setting up the flag now.
AP

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin plant the US flag on the moon on July 20, 1969
The two men placed an American flag on the surface of the moon. They also collected moon rocks
and soil.
When it was time to leave, they returned to the Eagle and guided it safely away. They reunited with
the Columbia and headed for home. The United States had won the race to the moon.
WALTER CRONKITE: The thing that made this one particularly gripping was that sense of
history -- that, if this was successful, this was a date that was going to be in all the history books,
for time evermore. I think we sensed that at the time, sitting there at the Cape [Canaveral],
watching that great beast get on its way, that this was it.
(MUSIC)
You can find our series online with transcripts, MP3s, podcasts and pictures at
voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English.
Im Steve Ember, inviting you to join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -American history in VOA Special English.

Test Your Word Knowledge With a Quiz About Farm Terms

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Today we have a vocabulary quiz. We start with two questions about terms for plants.
OK, first question: What is the name for a plant that lives only one year or one growing season?
This kind of plant is called an annual. Think of an "annual report," a report published just once a
year.
You can probably guess the next question. What do we call a plant that produces new growth year
after year? Plants that keep growing back are called perennials. So a perennial is the opposite of an
annual. Perennials come back year after year.
Now some questions about terms for livestock.
What is another name for a male cow? A bull, right? Well, not always. A male cow is usually called
a bull only if it still has its reproductive organs. If not, we call it a -- what? The answer: a steer.
Next question: What is another name for a young cow? A very young cow is called a calf. But a
young female cow, especially one that has not had a calf yet, has a special name. Do you know
what it is? The answer: a heifer. Maybe you knew that. But here is question just for our radio
listeners -- can you spell it? Heifer is spelled H-E-I-F-E-R.
Cows, like all mammals, lactate. Our next question is: do you know what that means? To lactate
means to produce milk. Cows lactate for up to ten months.
In milk, fat rises to the top. But some people do not like to drink milk that way. So there is a
process that reduces the size of the fat particles and mixes them all through the milk. This process
has a name -- a long name. What is it? It's called homogenization.
Still with us? OK, another question. Milk can be made into cheese. Some people like cheese made
with milk from a sheep. What do you call a female sheep? The answer: a ewe, spelled E-W-E.
Male sheep have their own name. A male sheep is a -- what? A ram.
Rams and ewes produce lambs. A lamb is a sheep less than a year old. But what do you call the
meat from a sheep over a year old? Then we call it mutton.
Age also plays a part in terms for horses. For example, a mare is generally a female three years or
older. But what do you call a female horse under three? The answer: a filly. And for extra credit: do
you know the name for a male horse under four? A colt.
If you want to take this quiz again, you can find it at voaspecialenglish.com. And thats the VOA
Special English Agriculture Report