VOA新闻50篇

VOA News Item 1. 政治：战后多年韩国与美国检查指挥权移交The U.S. and South Korean militaries say they would fight a second Korean War, if it became necessary, side-by-side and seamlessly.For decades, their alliance has deterred a repeat of the North Korean attack of June 25th, 1950. Seoul has always agreed that U.S. forces would have command of South Korea's military if war re-ignites. But that is to change in April 2012, when Seoul assumes wartime operational control of its own forces, a step referred to as OPCON Transfer.VOA News Item 2. 社会：美国婴儿母乳喂养A new survey finds that three-quarters of U.S. newborns are breastfed beginning at birth. But the number of breastfeeding infants falls off rapidly during the first year of life.Seventy-five percent of babies started life breastfeeding, according to this latest Breastfeeding Report Card. That represents a slow but steady increase in recent years in the percentage of American infants who are breastfed.The new survey is for babies born in 2007, the most recent year available.The breastfeeding study comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A public health adviser at the agency, Carol MacGowan, says it's not enough for a new mom to want to breastfeed her baby."There's still a lot of practices that need to take place in the hospital to support the mother's decision to breastfeed." "So she may have decided to breastfeed, but if there's no support in place that helps her to continue that, then she may not even start."Hospital practices that encourage breastfeeding include putting the newborn skin-to-skin with the mother right after birth, and not offering infant formula or pacifiers.Although three out of four babies started life on their mother's milk, by the time they're six months old, just 43 percent were still breastfeeding. And by 12 months, only one baby in five was getting any breast milk.U.S. officials recommend babies be breastfed for the first year of life. The World Health Organization says breastfeeding should last two years.MacGowan says there are a number of reasons why American women don't continue breastfeeding. "Some of it is the community support; thus, we address the number of lactation professionals out there to help the women. A big barrier to women is working and breastfeeding. It's a perceived barrier in some cases. It's a real barrier in others."But despite the barriers, the underlying message is that breast milk is the right food for babies. Many studies have shown that infants who are fed breast milk are healthier." The benefits are multiple. Everything from prevention of certain infectious and chronic diseases ---respiratory, for example, being one, decreasing the severity of asthma, if they're prone to asthma---and chronic disease such as diabetes and obesity."Mothers benefit too. Breastfeeding lowers the risk of some cancers, naturally promotes spacing between pregnancies, and it costs less, too.VOA News Item 3. 政治：联合国大会致力于减少贫穷、饥饿和疾病The U.N. General Assembly's annual debate gets under way on September 23. Leaders andrepresentatives from all 192 member states are expected to address the gathering. In a long-established tradition, Brazil's president will open the debate, followed by the U.S. president as the leader of the host nation.This year's debate will be preceded by a three-day summit on the Millennium Development Goals. Some 140 presidents and prime ministers are expected to attend.The goals are meant to reduce extreme poverty, hunger and disease by 2015. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that with the target date just five years off, many countries are in danger of not meeting the goals, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. But he said recently that with the right strategies countries can close those gaps.VOA News Item 4. 经济：印度货币有了新标志The search for a symbol for the Indian rupee began more than a year ago, when the government decided that the currency needed an identifiable symbol.After going through 3000 entries submitted in a national competition, a panel of bankers, officials and artists chose the new symbol. It is a mix of the Roman letter "R" and its Hindi equivalent in the ancient Devanagari script.Information minister Ambika Soni said the decision to have a symbol for the rupee is significant.VOA News Item 5. 政治：巴以第二轮直接和谈结束Secretary of State Clinton met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in Ramallah. There was no statement and no details of what, if any, progress might have been made after two days of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. President Abbas sounded positive in his remarks as he began his meeting with Mrs. Clinton.He says everyone knows that there is no alternative other than negotiating for peace.The Palestinian leader thanked the Obama administration for its commitment to mediating a peace deal. Clinton said the United States will press ahead with its efforts to bring about an agreement. “The United States and all of us led by President Obama are very committed and determined to work toward a peace agreement through direct negotiations that leads to an independent, sovereign, viable, Palestinian state that realizes the aspirations of the Palestinian people.”The talks began Tuesday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh. It was the second round of direct negotiations after a 20-month hiatus.Secretary Clinton then traveled to Amman in neighboring Jordan for a meeting and lunch with King Abdullah, before heading back to Washington.There are questions of whether the negotiations could last beyond the end of the month. The Palestinians have threatened to quit talks if Israel does not extend a self-imposed partial moratorium on construction inside Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The temporary freeze expires on September 26, and Israel has given no hint that it will extend it.The Palestinians say the presence of more than 100 Israeli settlements impede the establishment of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state.Militants in the Gaza Strip, which is not under the control of President Abbas' Palestinian Authority, oppose the negotiations with the Jewish State. They stepped up their attacks this week, firing anumber of rockets into southern Israel. Israel responded by launching air attacks inside the Gaza Strip.VOA News Item 6. 健康：感冒疫苗可降低心脏病风险Getting a flu shot can help prevent influenza. But now, a large study in Britain indicates that older adults who get an annual flu vaccination are less likely to suffer a heart attack.The study involved more than 78,000 people, age 40 and older.Researcher Niroshan Siriwardena of Britain’s University of Lincoln who led the study."Our research suggests that flu shots are associated with a reduction in relative risk of heart attack in adults by about 19 percent."The reduction was even higher - 21 percent - for people who got their vaccination early in the flu season.The results were mathematically adjusted to reflect the fact that people who are at higher risk for heart attack in the first place are more likely to get a flu shot.Although Siriwardena is careful to point out that his study is one of associations, not necessarily cause-and-effect, he does offer one possible link between the seemingly unrelated conditions of influenza and heart attack.VOA News Item 7. 政治：广播电台致力于赋权予巴勒斯坦女性Halla Bazzar, an attractive woman in her 20s, begins her afternoon show. For this young professional, the job is more than just running a show. It is about giving women living in conflict a key to success. "We talk about issues that would inspire women in the future."Giving women hope for the future is one of the goals of the station, Nisaa FM, which started broadcasting this month from the West Bank town of Ramallah.Founder and manager Maysoun Odeh tells VOA the station wants to entertain, but also empower women. "We broadcast success stories of women regionally, internationally, or locally in which they can take example from, and they know that they can do something and they can achieve something regardless of the situation."The day-to-day situation for many Palestinian women living under occupation involves supporting their children while their husbands are in prison, finding housing after their homes are demolished, and navigating their way through Israeli checkpoints.Wafa Abdel Rahman, a woman's activist with the West Bank group Filastiniyat, says Palestinian women also face cultural issues."We suffer, as the rest of the women in the Arab world suffer, political Islam - the interpretation of Islam, which actually, is putting more burden on the women." "It portrays women as if they are the key to the honor of the family. If you are a good Muslim or not depends on how is your woman. Is she covered? Is she following all the instructions, etcetera. This is really hard on women."Abdel Rahman welcomes the new station. "We need a radio that brings out all those issues." "But also to take it a step further and think how we can - not only women but also men - how we can together change the status of women and make it better."The station, whose name "Nisaa" means "woman" in Arabic began operations this month with the help of Smiling Children, a Switzerland-based humanitarian foundation.VOA News Item 8. 政治：波兰期望关闭决胜投票Sunday, Polish voters are choosing their new president from between two candidates. One is the Speaker of Parliament and Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski, from the governing center-right Civic Platform party. The other is Jaroslaw Kaczynski from the far-right Law and Justice party. Neither candidate was able to win an outright majority in the first round of voting June 20th.Kaczynski is running in the place of his twin brother, the late President Lech Kaczynski, who was killed in April along with his wife Maria and 94 others in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia. The crash moved the presidential election forward nearly four months.Before the first round of voting, opinion polls had placed Komorowksi firmly in the lead. But the results were closer than predicted, with only a five percent difference between the two men. Grzegorz Makowski of the Warsaw-based Institute of Public Affairs explains this surge of support for Kaczynski, saying he thinks the plane crash at Smolensk mobilized more conservative voters. If the crash had not happened, he says, Komorowski would almost certainly have won in the first round."I am almost 99 percent sure that if it didn't happen, probably Lech Kaczynski would lose these elections in the first round," "I think it had a really strong impact on those who were passive. Maybe not on those who were against Kaczynski and they dislike him, it didn't change their opinions. But it made those who were passive, and those who were potentially supporters of Kaczynski, active. Because of Smolensk, I thinkthey started thinking that maybe we should be more conservative."Kaczynski has run an effective advertising campaign, and may well have gained ground over the last two weeks.At the moment, Komorowski's Civic Platform party controls parliament. Makowski says Kaczynski has played on his status as opposition leader by arguing that it could be dangerous for the Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska) to control both the Parliament and the Presidency."This is a very populist argument, but it works. People in Poland have very emotional attitudes to politics, and when he is saying something like that people think, oh, we will have something like a totalitarian regime if the president is also from Platforma. "Makowski adds that the summer holiday season may also affect the vote, since wealthier Poles tend to support Komorowski and many will be leaving for vacation over the weekend.At this point, most analysts agree that the race is too close to call. Final results are expected to be announced on Monday.VOA News Item 9. 政治：据报道俄罗斯科学家在与美间谍交换中被释放A lawyer for an imprisoned Russian nuclear expert, Igor Sutyagin, says her client was released Thursday from a jail in Moscow and flown to Vienna. Other reports say he will be transferred later into British custody.His family says his release is part of an exchange for suspected Russian agents detained last month in the United States in a high-profile case. Neither U.S. nor Russian officials have confirmed the reports.Sergei Markov, a deputy in the Russian State Duma from the ruling United Russia party, said he has heard the rumors of an exchange. He tells VOA that if such a thing occurs, it represents a kind of confession from both the United States and Russia."I think most important is that by exchange, both sides recognize that those arrested people - they are spies."Sutyagin was serving a 15-year prison sentence, after being convicted of sending classified information to a British firm that Russian authorities said was a front for U.S. intelligence.He and his family have repeatedly denied his guilt. His case has been championed by human rights groups who say he was unfairly persecuted by the government. But Markov says the United States has already confirmed he was a spy."It was a very big shock for some of the Russian human rights activists who protected Sutyagin for many years, repeating many times that he is, you know, a scientist who is being arrested by the KGB, by Putin, Putin is oppressing science and so forth."Meantime, the ten members of the alleged Russian spy ring operating in the United States are charged with conspiring to act as unregistered foreign agents. They are accused of seeking to infiltrate U.S. policy-making circles and to gather information on U.S. political affairs. Nine of them are also charged with money laundering.An eleventh suspected was detained briefly in Cyprus, but went missing after being released on bail.VOA News Item 10. 政治：报道称2010年海盗袭击数量下降The coast of Somalia remains a major piracy hotspot, the location of more than half this year's pirate attacks. But International Maritime Bureau Director Pottengal Mukundan says the target area is widening."The fact is that the Somali pirates are ranging further out than they have ever done before. We are talking of going 1,000 nautical miles away from the coast in order to attack ships, board them, hijack them and then bring them back into Somalia until a ransom is paid for their release."The International Maritime Bureau recorded 196 piracy incidents in the first six months of the year - about 20 percent less than the same period last year.In the Gulf of Aden there were 86 pirate attacks in the first half of 2009 and 33 so far this year. Mukundan says foreign navies, which have operated in the Gulf of Aden since 2009, have been instrumental in reigning in piracy in the area. But he says piracy is more difficult to manage in the Indian Ocean."It is a huge, huge expanse of sea, very difficult for the navies to effectively monitor it and deal with it in the way it has been successfully dealt in the Gulf of Aden."He says he thinks by the end of 2010 the number of piracy attacks may match or even exceed the 2009 total."At the moment we are seeing a lull because of the southwest monsoons in the Indian Ocean, where these small pirate skiffs cannot operate, but the southwest monsoons will subside by the end of August and then we expect the pirates to be back there trying to seize the ships."According to the International Maritime Bureau report, the first half of the year has seen one crewmember killed, 597 crewmembers taken hostage, and 16 injured.。

VOA新闻10篇VOA News Item1社会：水灾后的美国小镇约翰斯敦One of the most famous small towns in America is Johnstown,Pennsylvania,population 24,000.Unfortunately,it owes that fame to a tragedy.In the late19th Century,Johnstown was the nation’s mightiest steel center—more prosperous than Pittsburgh—turning out steel rails and barbed wire.The air was yellow and black from the smoke,but the pay was good.The town lay on a flat plain at the base of an Allegheny Mountain valley so steep that the hillsides rose straight upward along the Little Conemaugh River.It was a natural funnel,pointed directly downhill at Johnstown.High in those mountains,behind a crude earthen dam,wealthy Pittsburgh industrialists and their friends sailed yachts on a pretty private lake.Naysayers warned of a catastrophic flood should the dam break,but amid the prosperity,the warnings were ignored.Town leaders said any floodwaters coursing down the mountain would flatten out once they reached the valley.But one spring night in1889and on into the next day,drenching thunderstorms pounded the mountainsides.The lake rose,intensifying pressure against the dam.With the force of a giant waterfall,the dam burst,launching a wall of water18meters high down the funnel toward Johnstown faster than warnings could be sounded.Grinding up trees,houses,boulders,locomotives,humans,and animals in its path,it slammed into Johnstown,pulverizing the center of town.Afterward,most observers blamed the rich yachtsmen and their leaky earthen dam for the deaths of2,200men,women and children.These days,tourists make a point of visiting a museum that tells the dramatic story.Ironically, it’s located in a building donated by industrialist Andrew Carnegie.He was one of the owners of the pleasure club whose members cavorted high above ill-fated Johnstown,Pennsylvania.VOA News Item2社会：南非艾滋病测试运动受好评Leaders of South African’s opposition political parties,labor unions and health-care professions praised President Zuma for launching an ambitious program to test15million South Africans for the HIV/AIDS virus by June of next year.In announcing the program,Mr.Zuma said many people are afraid to be tested because of the stigma associated with HIV.In South Africa the virus,which weakens the immune system,is transmitted primarily through unsafe sex.“We have to work harder together to fight the perceptions and the stigma.We have to make all South Africans understand that people living with HIV have not committed any crime.”He said the country’s4,300clinics and hospitals are ready to provide HIV testing and counseling to all.And he said the number of facilities supplying anti-retroviral drugs used to combat AIDS would be doubled from500to1,000.He appealed to retired health-care professionals to help in the campaign.Under the plan,the government would also triple the number of condoms distributed each year to1.5billion.In South Africa an estimated5.7million people,or11percent of the total population,are infected with HIV.In a move to encourage more South Africans to be tested,the South African president publicly announced the results of his latest HIV test.“My April results,like the three previous ones,registered a negative outcome for the HIV virus.”But he went on to underscore the decision to be tested for HIV remained a voluntary and confidential,individual choice.HIV activists have praised Mr.Zuma for breaking publicly in his first year of office with the policies of his predecessor,former President Thabo Mbeki who was accused of failing to respond adequately to the HIV pandemic.But the68-year-old Mr.Zuma,who has three wives,has come under criticism for his personal lifestyle.He was acquitted in a2006rape trial,during which he admitted having unsafe sex with an HIV-positive woman,and he came under political pressure recently when it emerged that he fathered a child out of wedlock last year.VOA News Item3社会：国际忧虑不丹能否有能力主持国际会议This sleepy capital in a Himalayan valley of more than2,300meters high,is home to100,000 Bhutanese who do not have much experience playing host to visiting dignitaries.A president or prime minister from a neighboring foreign country might drop in every few years,but never have seven heads of government come calling simultaneously.The Secretary of the Information and Communications Ministry,Kinley Dorji,tells VOA News that makes the SAARC summit an unprecedented event in Bhutan’s history.“It’s the biggest meeting we’ve held,we’ve ever held.And it will be the biggest for a long time because I don’t see Bhutan being able to host any of the larger international gatherings.”During the quarter century of SAARC’s existence,Bhutan repeatedly backed away from taking its turn as summit host,citing lack of infrastructure and inability to provide adequate security.Visiting leaders will stay in a complex recently built to house Bhutan’s Cabinet members.Every hotel and guest house in Thimphu has been booked by delegation members and the more than100visiting foreign correspondents.That has shopkeepers in central Thimphu delighted.Tenpa runs a small store selling traditional and modern garments,as well as a bit of jewelry. The merchant says many visitors will surely drop in to his shop and he is expecting a bonanza of additional sales.Not everyone is caught up in the whirlwind.For Buddhist nun Mindu Zangmo,walking back to her monastery from a hospital visit,it is all a bit confusing.She says she has no idea what is SAARC but if all these important foreigners are coming,she figures,it must be good for Bhutan.Many others seem to agree with that optimistic assessment.Hundreds of civil servants,students and recent graduates have volunteered and undergone training to become cooks,butlers and janitors to provide manpower at summit venues.In addition to host Bhutan and the seven other SAARC countries—Afghanistan, Bangladesh,India,Maldives,Nepal,Pakistan and Sri Lanka—there will be a number of official observer delegations:Australia,China,the European Union,Iran,Japan,South Korea and the United States.VOA News Item4政治：澳洲泰米尔人与移民局官员洽谈Representatives from several Tamil community groups were invited to Canberra for talks with officials from Australia’s immigration and foreign affairs departments.A range of issues was discussed,including Australian aid to Sri Lanka.They also considered how the Tamil diaspora can support reconciliation and lasting peace in their troubled homelands, where decades of civil war have only recently come to an end.But the main point of discussion was Canberra’s decision to freeze for three months the processing of asylum applications from Sri Lanka.Australia says the move is the result of improved security in Sri Lanka.But Tamil activist Sara Nathan,who attended the meeting in Canberra,says community representatives made it clear they opposed Australia’s decision.Australia has also suspended the processing of asylum claims from Afghanistan for six months,again insisting that the situation there was becoming less hazardous.Australia reopened mainland immigration detention facilities following a surge in boats ferrying asylum seekers,including many Sri Lankans and Afghans.A purpose-built camp on Christmas Island,a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, is over-capacity.Conservative opponents of Australia’s left-of-center government say what it calls“soft”immigration policies have failed to deter boat ernment ministers have strongly rejected that point of view.The vast majority of people seeking asylum in Australia arrive by air,but community groups worry that the debate about illegal immigration will become more uncompromising as an election due later this year draws closer.About13,000refugees are allowed to resettle in Australia each year as part of official international humanitarian schemes.News Item5政治：印度和阿富汗领导在新德里讨论安全与恐怖主义After holding talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in New Delhi,Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Afghan president had promised all possible measures for the security of Indians working in Afghanistan.New Delhi has been concerned about several terror attacks that have targeted Indians in Afghanistan.In February,a militant attack on a Kabul guest house killed six Indians.But the Indian leader indicated New Delhi will not waver in its commitment to the reconstruction of Afghanistan.“I conveyed to President Karzai that the perpetrators of such attacks will not succeed inundermining India’s commitment to assist the Afghan people.”Hundreds of Indians are working in development projects in Afghanistan,including construction of highways,hospitals,dams and schools.The Afghan president discussed efforts to reach out to the Taliban for a negotiated settlement of the nine-year conflict in the country.Mr.Karzai referred to a peace conference or“peace jirga”,in which tribal and ethnic leaders will meet with the government next month in Afghanistan.“We discussed the upcoming Afghanistan‘peace conservative jirga,’which will comprise all the people of Afghanistan from all walks of life to advise the Afghan government on how to move forward toward reintegration and reconciling of those elements of the Taliban and others who have accepted the Afghan constitution,who are not part of al-Qaida,who will not be part of any terrorist network.”Mr.Karzai met Indian leaders while on his way to Bhutan,where a two-day summit of leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation starts Wednesday.News Item6医学：吃糖过多会增加患心脏病的风险Studies show that global sugar consumption has risen dramatically from11million tons in 1900to about145million tons today.Analysts attribute the growth to population increases and greater wealth.What used to be a rare food additive is now a staple.High fructose corn syrup and other forms of sugar are routinely added to processed food and many beverages.The study included all added sugar,even the sugar people add to their coffee.While this may be good for the sugar industry,it is not good for the heart.Dr.Miriam Vos and public health nurse Jean Welsh at Emory University collaborated in a study that shows eating a lot of sugar can increase your cholesterol and triglycerides which make up body fat also known as lipids.And that increases the risk for heart disease.The researchers studied US government nutritional data and fat levels in the blood in more than6,000adults for at least six years.They found that high sugar consumption negatively affected HDL.HDL improves heart health and doctors want to see high HDL numbers.“One of the things that this study was really helpful to show is that the amount of added sugar, as it increases,the triglycerides go up and the HDL goes down.”The researchers found that HDL levels in those who consumed the most sugar were20 percent lower than those who consumed the least amount.The researchers say if people want to avoid heart disease,they should be more aware of how much sugar is in their food,and reduce it,if need be.The American Heart Association says most American women should not consume more than 100calories of added sugars per day;and most men,no more than150calories.It also warns that soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the number one source of added sugars in the American diet.The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.News Item7政治：美国与墨西哥边境的安全隐患The recent killing of three people with ties to the U.S.consulate in Juarez,Mexico,and the shooting death of a popular rancher on his property in Arizona,are increasing the anger over drug-related violence on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border.The Mexican government says more than22,000people have been killed in Mexico since a U.S.-backed crackdown on cartels began three years ago.Larry Dever is the sheriff of Cochise County,Arizona,and is leading the investigation into the killing of rancher Rob Krentz.He says authorities suspect people working for drug cartels.“The bad guys keep coming.And no matter whether the apprehension rates rise or fall,the numbers of criminal aliens rise.That sir,gentlemen,is the threat to homeland security in this country.”The increased violence is spilling over into many U.S.border towns,including Nogales, Arizona.“Gentlemen,Nogales needs your help.”Mayor Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel told U.S. lawmakers that three ports of entry in his city must process more than15million people a year, and inspect some three million incoming cars.But he says federal inspections of all southbound vehicles are impeding the rightful free movement of tens of thousands.“The unanticipated consequence is that people are now crossing less frequently and have to wait one to two hours coming in and out from our ports of entry.”A source of anger for many lawmakers at the hearing was a ernment contract for a so-called“virtual fence”monitoring system along the nearly3,200-kilometer U.S.-Mexico border.The program has cost more than$700million so far,but has only been tested over a 37-kilometer section.The U.S.Department of Homeland Security has halted worked on the project.Senator Joe Lieberman is chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee:“By any measure,SBInet has been a failure.A classic example of a program that was grossly oversold and has been badly under-delivered.”Senator Roland Burris also blasted the program,and the ernment’s contract with Boeing for the work,during this exchange with Customs and Border Protection Agency commissioner Alan Bersin.“Taxpayers do not have unlimited pockets for Boeing,or for any other company.”Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl of Arizona announced a plan to step up border security,including a request for3,000National Guard troops along the Arizona-Mexico border.News Item8军事：北约远程探查阿富汗山谷These soldiers with the503rd Infantry Regiment face a risky mission.They intend to drive deep into the Chowkay Valley in eastern Kunar province,along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.NATO and Afghan government forces have avoided the region for years.The Chowkay lies beyond the so-called“red line,”that marks the allies’area of control.Here, the Taliban and other armed groups are the real powers.Farmers grow poppies,for the heroin that funds the Taliban insurgency.When NATO troops cross the red line,the fighting is often fierce.Captain Joe Snowden leads today’s patrol.While his soldiers focus on defending againstattack,he channels his energies towards a more complex challenge:bridging the cultural gap between NATO and the valley’s Pashtun residents.The soldiers infiltrate the valley under the cover of gunship helicopters.They keep watch while Snowden’s team of agricultural experts meets with village elders,trying to convince them to stop growing poppies.Enemy fighters soon surround the Americans,forcing them to withdraw.The helicopters fire white-phosphorous rockets as the soldiers retreat.News Item9艺术：新奥尔良爵士乐Although classical music has yet to make its debut at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival,better known as“Jazz Fest,”you never know.There’s always a chance a string quartet may someday pop up on the schedule.For the hundreds of thousands about to pass through the gates of the New Orleans Fairgrounds,as long as the music has a great beat,it doesn’t really matter what you call it.This year’s lineup boasts a number of rock and soul veterans,including Van Morrison,Aretha Franklin,Simon and Garfunkel,The Allman Brothers Band,B.B.King,Jeff Beck,Irma Thomas, Richie Havens,Dr.John,and The Neville Brothers.Rounding out the long list of headliners are Pearl Jam,My Morning Jacket,Anita Baker,Lionel Richie,The Gipsy Kings and Jose Feliciano.Among the festival’s most popular attractions are its local acts,arriving from one end of Louisiana to the other.Beyond the main stage,11other stages will feature zydeco,Cajun,brass bands,gospel,country,blues and folk,with a continuous offering of traditional and contemporary jazz and world music.Jazz Fest officials suggest arriving early to beat the long lines at the internationally-famous Food Fair,as well as the Crafts Fair and Louisiana Marketplace.The2010Jazz Festival poster is a portrait of the late New Orleans singer,songwriter and bandleader Louis Prima,painted by jazzman Tony Bennett.Tributes to Prima,whose100th birthday is being celebrated this year,will include performances by his children,Louis Prima,Jr., and Lena Prima,as well as his former wife and collaborator Keely Smith.News Item10教育：美国的大学纷纷走向环保The nickname of sports teams at Tulane University in New Orleans is the Green Wave.North Texas University’s squads are the Mean Green.Once called the Indians,Dartmouth College’s teams are now the Big Green.Green is in college sports.But there’s an even bigger green wave in the classroom.Last year alone,colleges and universities across the country created more than100major or minor programs in energy,sustainability,environmental studies and other so-called green subjects.Two reasons for this:Even in a tight economy,green industries are offering good jobs to graduates.And students and their parents are pressuring colleges to train them for these jobs.So college architecture,agriculture,and engineering departments are launching green-studies programs to do just that.According to the USA Today newspaper,the Obama Administration estimates that opportunities in energy and environmental occupations will grow by52percent by2016—compared to just a14-percent increase in other fields.Ten years ago at the University of California-Berkeley,just40students enrolled in an introductory class on the subject of energy.This year,270students are taking the class.There are energy CLUBS on campus.The one at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has 1,700members.And at Arizona State University,600students have declared sustainability as their major.Not long ago,even top college students would likely have had trouble defining sustainability. Now,a lot of them are specializing in it.。

第七章英语广播报道考试文章2. Foods and HealthThis is the VOA Special English Health Report.Experts say the food people eat greatly affects their health. They say that some foods are especially good for preventing disease.Many foods contain substances that protect against tissue damage. One of these is tomatoes. The substance lycopene is released when tomatoes are cooked. Lycopene helps reduce the risk of developing cancer in the digestive system, which processes food.The dark green vegetable spinach contains folic acid that prevents problems in developing fetuses. It also lowers blood levels of homocysteine. High homocysteine levels have been linked to heart attacks and strokes. Another vegetable, broccoli, can help protect against cancers of the breast, colon and stomach.Oats help lower blood pressure and protect against heart disease. They also may improve the levels of sugar in the blood. This reduces the chance of developing the disease, diabetes.Fish that contain omega three fatty acids help prevent blockages in the arteries. Omega three also lowers bad cholesterol and may protect brain cells from diseases like Alzheimer's. Fish that provide a lot of omega three acids are salmon, herring, mackerel and bluefish（鲑鱼、鲱鱼、鲐鱼、竹荚）.Garlic may help protect the heart by reducing cholesterol and making the blood less sticky. Health experts also suggest cooking with olive oil because it also has been shown to help prevent cancer and heart disease.Studies show that drinking green tea may help prevent cancer of the liver and stomach. Green tea also slows the growth of bacteria in the mouth. Blueberries have been shown to help protect against heart disease and cancer. They can also help prevent some infections by preventing the bacteria from attacking the bladder.Experts say the skins of red grapes contain substances that increase the good kind of cholesterol in the blood. To get this protection, you can drink red wine... but not more than a few glasses a week. Drinking too much alcohol can be dangerous!Eating too much chocolate can increase weight. But recent studies have shown that substances in chocolate can help prevent heart attacks and cancer. They have also shown that chocolate is not as bad for the teeth as had been thought. The experts say the best chocolate to eat is the dark kind because it contains the most healthful substances.This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.3. Study of Cousins Who MarryThis is the VOA Special English Health Report.Sometimes people who are first cousins get married. Two people are first cousins if their mothers are sisters, or their fathers are brothers, or one's mother and the other's father are brother and sister. American researchers now say it is not as dangerous as had been thought for first cousins to have children.A new study says that first cousins are only a little more likely than others to have a child with aserious physical or mental problem, or a genetic disease. It says the chance that a child of unrelated parents will be born with a serious problem is between three and four percent.The risk for first cousins is increased by between two and three percent, to as much as seven percent. One researcher says this means about ninety-three percent of the children of first cousins are normal.The small increase in risk exists because people in the same family may carry the same genes that cause disease. Scientists say at least five-thousand diseases are caused by these genes. If both parents have a harmful gene, it is more likely that the gene will be passed on to their child. People who are not related share fewer genes, so their chance of passing such a sickness on to their children is lower.A committee from the National Society of Genetic Counselors reported the results of their investigation in "The Journal of Genetic Counseling." The group examined six major studies done between Nineteen-Sixty-Five and Two-Thousand involving thousands of births. The group began the investigation after learning that some genetic counselors gave wrong information to people who wanted to know if first cousins could safely have children.The group said in its report that no genetic tests are needed before first cousins have a child. Their report also noted that Americans fear such marriages more than people in other parts of the world. Marriages between first cousins are illegal in at least twenty-four American states. However, no countries in Europe have such laws. And marriages between cousins are desirable in many parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The researchers say their study shows that such laws in the United States should be changed.This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.4. WalkingThis is the VOA Special English Health Report.Researchers agree that intense physical exercise is not the only way to gain better health. Studies show that walking several times a week can lower the risk of many diseases. They include heart disease, stroke, diabetes, bone loss, arthritis and depression. Walking also can help you lose weight.Fast walking is good for the heart. It lowers the blood pressure. It raises the amount of good cholesterol in the blood. Researchers say walking can reduce the risk of suffering a heart attack by as much as fifty percent.Studies have shown that walking for thirty minutes a day can delay and possibly prevent the development of Type Two Diabetes. It can prevent diabetes among people who are overweight and at risk for the disease.Walking strengthens the muscles and builds up the bones to which they are attached. Studies show that women who walked and took calcium decreased their risk of developing osteoporosis or thinning of the bones. Walking also helps ease the pain of arthritis in areas where bones are joined by strengthening the muscles around the bones.Walking several times a week is a good way to control your weight and even lose body fat. Studies show it also helps ease depression, feelings of extreme sadness.Experts say walking is one of the safest ways to exercise. There is a low risk of injuries. So it is good for people who are starting an exercise program for the first time and for older people.A walking program is easy to start. You should wear loose clothes and good shoes. Shoes designed for walking are best.You should stretch the muscles in your arms, legs, and back before and after you walk. Stretching is an important part of any exercise program. It helps prevent injury and muscle pain.How fast should you walk? You should be breathing hard while you are walking. Yet, you should be able to talk. Let your arms move back and forward at your sides while you walk.There are no rules to starting a walking program. You may walk short distances. Or you may walk up hills to strengthen your leg muscles. Health experts say you can gain the most from a walking program if you walk about five kilometers an hour for thirty minutes a day. You should do this about five times a week.This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Lawan Davis.5. Tobacco and CancerThis is the VOA Special English Health Report.A recent report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer says the dangers of tobacco smoke are greater than had been thought.The International Agency for Research on Cancer is part of the World Health Organization. It is based in Lyon, France. The agency researches the causes of cancer. It identifies the number of people who develop cancer around the world. And it develops programs aimed at finding ways to prevent the disease. The new report is part of a series written by independent international experts on the dangers of different chemicals.A committee of twenty-nine experts from twelve countries developed the report. These scientists examined more than fifty medical studies concerning tobacco smoking. The group says that tobacco use is the largest cause of preventable cancers around the world. Experts say that more than one-thousand-million people around the world smoke tobacco.The report says that one-half of all people who smoke cigarettes will die from diseases caused by smoking tobacco. These include cancers of the lung, stomach, liver, kidney and blood. The report also says tobacco use causes an even greater number of deaths from lung diseases, heart disease and stroke.The report says other kinds of tobacco use also increase the chances of developing cancers of the lung, head and neck. These include smoking cigars, pipes and bidis （产自印度，具有甘草、酸橙、芒果和巧克力味道，体积比普通香烟小。

voa慢速英语短篇新闻VOA慢速英语短篇新闻通常包含一些简短的故事和新闻，旨在帮助英语学习者提高语言水平。

这些新闻通常涉及日常生活、文化、历史和社会事件等方面，通过慢速的语速和简单的语言，使学习者更容易理解和学习。

以下是一个典型的VOA慢速英语短篇新闻示例：Title: The Power of FriendshipOnce upon a time, there was a young girl named Alice who had a best friend named Bob. They met at school and quickly became inseparable. Alice and Bob shared a love of music and spent many hours playing their guitars together.One day, Alice learned that she would be leaving the city for a few months to visit family. She was very sad and didn't want to leave her friend behind. Before she left, she gave Bob a special gift - an acoustic guitar with their initials on it.When Alice returned, she found that Bob had learned to play theguitar and they could now play together even more than before. The power of their friendship had brought them closer together and made their bond even stronger.这个短篇新闻讲述了一个关于友谊的故事，通过慢速的语速和简单的语言，使学习者能够更容易地理解和学习。

VOA慢速英语短篇Voice of America (VOA) Slow English 是一个为英语学习者提供的节目，它通过简短的故事和新闻，帮助学习者提高英语水平。

下面是一个典型的VOA Slow English 短篇，供您参考：Title: The Gift of Giving.Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Tim who lived in a small village. Tim's family was very poor, and he often went hungry. One day, Tim heard about a charity organization that provided food and clothes to people in need.Tim decided to visit the organization and ask for help. When he arrived, he met a kind woman named Mrs. Smith. She welcomed Tim warmly and asked him about his situation. Tim told her about his family's poverty and how difficult it was to find food and clothes.Mrs. Smith felt sorry for Tim and decided to help him. She gave him a bag of food and some clothes. Tim was so grateful and thanked Mrs. Smith. As he left the organization, he felt a sense of joy and happiness.Days went by, and Tim felt better. He had enough food to eat, and he could wear warm clothes. But he also felt guilty because he knew that there were other people in his village who were also in need of help.One day, Tim decided to do something to help others. He gathered some food and clothes from his family and friends and brought them to the charity organization. Mrs. Smith was so touched by Tim's kindness and generosity. She thanked him and accepted the gifts.Tim felt happy knowing that he had made a difference in someone else's life. He realized that the gift of giving was more important than receiving. From that day on, Tim continued to help others in his village, and his kindness and generosity became famous throughout the community.这个故事告诉我们，给予比接收更重要的道理。

The Health Report in Special EnglishHundreds of thousands of Russians die every year from diseases linked to smoking. The countryhas one of the highest smoking rates in the world. The World Health Organization estimates thatforty percent of adults in Russia smoke. That is about forty-four million pe ople. The WHO saysChina leads the world in tobacco smoking rates. It says Russia is sec ond.Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev wants to reduce the number of smokers in his c ountry.He has proposed a ban on smoking in public places by twenty-fifteen, and a ban o n all tobaccoadvertising. And he wants to increase the country’s very low cigarette taxes -- in Russia, a pack ofcigarettes can cost between one and two dollars.Mr.Medvedev appeared in an Internet video about the issue.He said Russians mus t stop smoking.He said about ninety percent of Russian smokers begin smoking bef ore they reach the age oftwenty.He said smoking kills about four hundred thousand people in Russia each y ear.He likened the loss of life to a large city disappearing from the country’s map. In the video,Mr.Medvedev also warned about the way smoking kills.He describe d long and painfuldeaths from cancer or emphysema,as well as sudden deaths from heart attack a nd stroke.The number of Russian women who smoke has increasedsharply in the past twenty years. Innineteen ninety-two about seven percent of Russian women smoked. Twenty-two percen t do now.Vladimir lives in Moscow. He supports the prime minister’sproposals to ban smoking in public. 过去20年间，吸烟的俄罗斯妇女人数急剧增加，20世纪90年代有大约7%的俄罗斯妇女吸烟，现在的比例是22%。