Learning English Podcast - December 15, 2024
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Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Brian Lynn. I'm Ana Mateo. This program is made for English learners, so we speak a bit slower and we use words and sentences especially written for people learning English.

Here are the stories on today's show. First, Jill Robbins talks about technology with a story about Google scientists. Next, Mario Ritter Jr. brings us a special Words and Their Stories. Then, Katie Weaver tells us about a pet cemetery, a place where people bury their beloved animals.

Finally, we end our show with the lesson of the day. Andrew Smith and Jill Robbins talk about future continuous. But first, here is Jill Robbins. Google recently said that it had solved a major problem in supercomputing with a new generation of processor called Willow.

Along with other technology companies, such as Microsoft and International Business Machines , Google, whose parent company is Alphabet, is working on quantum computing. The new development promises to increase computing speeds while limiting mistakes or errors, which are a problem with quantum computing systems.

Scientists at the company's Santa Barbara, California, quantum laboratory announced they had at least partly solved the error problem on December 9th. On the same day, the scientific publication Nature published their paper on error correction. Google said that the Willow processor carried out a computation in under five minutes,

that would have taken a fast supercomputer longer than the current age of the universe to complete. The work of the Google researchers, however, does not have any commercial uses yet. But Google hopes quantum computers will one day solve problems in medicine, battery chemistry, and artificial intelligence that today's computers cannot solve. The Willow processor

runs on units of data called quantum bits, or qubits for short. Qubits permit fast computing but can easily create errors. Google researchers have a theory that qubits might be affected by subatomic particles from events in space. As more qubits are placed onto a chip, however, the errors can increase to make the chip no better than today's usual computer chips.

As a result, scientists have been working on quantum error correction since the 1990s. Hartmut Nevin, who leads Google's Quantum AI group, said that Willow has 105 qubits. In the paper recently published in Nature, Google researchers said they have found a way to connect the Willow chip's qubits so that error rates go down as the number of qubits goes up.

Nevin also said Willow can correct errors in real time. That is an important step toward making quantum computers useful. In 2019, IBM challenged the claim that Google's quantum chip solved a problem that would take a normal computer 10,000 years to complete. IBM said the problem could be solved in two and a half days using different assumptions about computer system design.

Google said in its blog post that it considered some of those concerns in its newest estimates. Even under the best conditions, Google said, a computer of today would still take a billion years to get the same results as its latest chip. Some of Google's competitors are producing chips with more qubits than Willow.

But Anthony McGrath, who is also with Google Quantum AI, told Reuters that Google is trying to make the most dependable qubits possible. Google produced its earlier chips in a shared building at the University of California, Santa Barbara. But for the Willow chips, Google built its own special laboratory. McGrath said that the new lab will speed up the process of making future chips.

I'm Jill Robbins. Next, let's hear from Mario Ritter, Jr. From brat to brain rot and polarization, word experts agree that social media and politics have driven conversations that use these terms. Here are their selections for Word of the Year.

the american dictionary publisher merriam-webster selected polarization as its word of the year for twenty twenty four

the dictionary publisher defines polarization as division into two sharply distinct opposites especially a state in which the opinions beliefs or interests of a group or society become concentrated at opposing extremes as divided as americans appear

merriam-webster says polarization happens to be one idea that both sides of the political spectrum agree on the word was widely used in news stories and broadcasts to describe the presidential election in the united states

supporters of both candidates president-elect donald trump and vice-president kamala harris voiced the opinion that the opposing candidate was a threat to the nation the u s election also brought attention to two other words pander and weird trump's supporters accused harris of pandering

in other words changing her policy positions to get votes and democratic vice-presidential candidate tim woles called his opponents weird meaning strange or unusual

the editors at britain's oxford university press say usage of its word of the year selection brain rot increased by two hundred thirty per cent from twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four oxford defines brain rot as the supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state

especially viewed as the result of over-consumption of material now particularly on-line content considered to be trivial or unchallenging the phrase likely first appeared in written form in henry david thoreau's eighteen fifty four book walden

about his experiences living a simple lifestyle in twenty twenty four the phrase has been used to describe concerns about the harm of over-consuming or watching and reading too much on-line material

caspar grathwall president of oxford languages noted i find it fascinating that the term brain rot has been adopted by gen z and gen alpha those communities largely responsible for the use and creation of the digital content the term refers to

Politics and social media come together in the Collins Dictionary's selection of brat as its word of the year. The most recent usage of brat started as the title of an album by pop singer Charlie XCX. Then it went viral as a campaign slogan, Kamala is brat.

for the democratic presidential candidate the word means different things to different people traditionally bratt describes an immature person or an unruly child but collins says it is now used to describe a person with confident independent and hedonistic attitude

the online dictionary dot com selected demure as its word of the year for twenty twenty four between january and the end of august dictionary dot com said the word saw a nearly one thousand two hundred per cent increase in usage in digital web media alone

demure is another example of how popular word usage changes over time in the fourteenth century demure was used to describe people who avoid bringing attention to themselves

Today, the word is used to describe someone who brings attention to themselves with refined and sophisticated appearance or behavior. And those are the words of the year for 2024. I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.

On most days, Mark Lindenberg either drives or walks over to visit with Boots, his beloved cat, who died in 2020 at 17 years old.

The New York man had the animal buried at the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, a burial place on small grassy hills near the main road. The words on Boots' tombstone read, You taught me how to love and be loved.

Other tombstones include phrases such as, A truer friend we never had. And, Our beloved queen. Human cemeteries are sad, Lindenberg said. This is one of the most cheerful places. He added, I can't think of a better place.

Hartsdale is America's oldest pet cemetery in operation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. Lindenberg says he paid about $7,000 to bury boots at Hartsdale. Those costs cover the individual site,

burial, burial container, tombstone, and grounds care. Pet burials started in Hartsdale in 1896 when animal doctor Samuel Johnson let a woman bury her dog on his property of apple trees. The place is about 30 kilometers north of New York City.

Since that time, about 70,000 animals have been laid to rest in the two-hectare cemetery. Most of the pets buried at Hartsdale are cats and dogs, but several other kinds of animals are also there. There's reptiles that are buried here, mice, said Edward Martin III, vice president of the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery.

There's a lion cub that was buried here in 1912 by a Russian princess. There's the ashes of Ming, who's a Bengal tiger that was buried here a few years ago. There are some monkeys. There is also Hudson the horse, some birds, and singer Mariah Carey's cat, Clarence.

The oldest headstone, dating to 1898, remembers the life of a dog named Blagg. Martin operates the place with his father, Edward Martin Jr., who purchased the cemetery in 1974. The younger Martin is a lawyer and accountant, who decided later in his career to help run the cemetery.

Between 250 and 300 burials take place at Hartsdale each year. The cemetery never runs out of space because not all of the burial sites are permanent. People can make a one-time forever maintenance payment of $3,500 or a yearly payment of $105.

If the yearly payments stop, that grave site is offered for sale. The pet in the grave will be removed from that plot, so someone else who wants it can pay the maintenance. And the pets are taken out and they're cremated, and they don't leave the cemetery, said Martin Jr., Hartsdale's president. Their remains are scattered over the cemetery grass.

A centerpiece at the cemetery is the War Dog Memorial at the top of a hill. Established in 1923, the memorial honored World War I service dogs, but these days the memorial honors service dogs of all kinds.

Although Hartsdale is mostly a resting place for animals, the cremated remains of about 800 humans are buried here with their pets. There is a Martin family plot where the elder Martin plans to be laid to rest when he dies. I have to be buried somewhere, and why would I go to any place other than this, he said.

Lindenberg also likes the idea. He has already prepared to be cremated and buried alongside boots when the time comes. In the meantime, Lindenberg, who lives a 10-minute walk away, will continue to visit his old friend almost daily. I'm Katie Weaver. And now it's time for the lesson of the day on the Learning English Podcast.

My name is Andrew Smith and I'm joined by Jill Robbins. Hi, Jill. Hi, Andrew. Our lesson is based on our video series, Let's Learn English. The series shows Ana Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. Here's Ana introducing herself. My name is Ana Mateo. In today's lesson, we'll be teaching seven expressions in English.

You will also hear a bit of music from Anna and her special guest. And we're going to use an audio scrapbook to travel back in time to a previous podcast. An audio scrapbook? That's right. And we'll explain that expression in just a few minutes. But first, let's begin with Lesson 23 of Level 2 of the Let's Learn English series.

Anna learns that she'll be interviewing one of her favorite musicians, a woman named Emma G. An interview is a conversation where a reporter or journalist asks questions to a well-known person. Or it can be when one person asks another person a list of questions to find out if they are suitable or a good fit for a job.

Ms. Weaver tells Anna she'll be interviewing Emma G. And Anna gets very excited. Hello. Anna, this is Ms. Weaver. Ms. Weaver. Tomorrow, you'll be interviewing musician Emma G. Emma G? I will be talking to Emma G? Now, let's hear how the interview begins. Hello, and welcome to the music today. Musician Emma G.

Emma G will be joining us here. She is a wonderful songwriter and an amazing singer. Great to be here. Well, we can't wait to hear you sing.

I listen to your music a lot, so I feel like I know you. Is that strange? Anna, listening to music can be a very personal experience, so no, that's not strange. Good, because I made something for you. A video scrapbook of our friendship. I took photos of you and added myself. I worked on it all weekend. That's strange. Is that even...

Emma G thinks it's strange that Anna took photos of her and made a scrapbook. The scrapbook has photos of Emma G and Anna together, as if they are close friends. There's that word again. Scrapbook.

Let's explain. A scrapbook is a book with empty pages, but on the pages you can put photos or newspaper articles or other things to help you remember special experiences. A few minutes ago, I said we were going to use an audio scrapbook.

That means we'll revisit a previous podcast and listen to an explanation of the future continuous tense. You've already heard the future continuous several times today. Here are some examples. In today's lesson, we'll be teaching seven expressions in English. Ms. Weaver tells Anna she'll be interviewing Emma G. Hello, and welcome to the music today. Musician Emma.

Emma G. will be joining us here. And here is our explanation from a previous podcast based on Lesson 45 of Level 1 of the series. She will have to wait, but our listeners can notice right now a special way we can talk about the future in English. It's called the Future Continuous Tense. Listen again.

Marsha, we just left D.C. We'll be eating lunch in about two hours. Instead of saying, we're going to eat in two hours, Anna says, We'll be eating lunch in about two hours. That's because it takes some time to eat. For actions in the future that take some time to do, we can use the modal will plus the verb be plus the main verb with ing.

For example, listen to this exchange. What will you be doing tomorrow afternoon? I'll be working from noon until 6 p.m. We often use the future continuous when we specify or say the amount of time we expect the activity to take.

If we don't know or care about the length of time, then we can just use the expression going to, like in this exchange. Do you have any plans for the weekend? I'm going to try to clean my room and maybe go to a movie. Okay, we're back. It's handy to have a scrapbook, isn't it? It is. Handy describes something that is useful or helpful that makes a job easier.

Now, let's get back to Anna's interview with Emma Gee. You can listen for the future continuous tense. Now, Emma, let's talk about your schedule.

Tell me, I mean tell us, exactly where you will be and when. Exactly. Sure. Well, in early June, I'll be performing at several venues across Austin, Texas. That's my vacation week. I can meet you there. We can tour the city. We can have lunch.

Yeah, maybe. Then in mid-July, I'm going to be teaching at a music camp in Chicago. I will be visiting my sister then. She only lives six hours from Chicago. I could drive over. We could hang out. Yeah, maybe. You know, maybe now is a good time for some music. That's a great idea. Now, let's hear a song from Emma G. Yeah!

I wrote this song a couple of years ago. It's called Where Are You? It seems like Anna might be obsessed with Emma G because Anna wants to visit her in two cities. If you are obsessed with something or someone, it means you think about them all the time or almost too much. The noun form of this word is obsession.

And I think Emma G. is becoming wary of Anna. Maybe that's why she chose to sing her song called Wary. Maybe so. Wary is an adjective that means you are being very careful because of something that could cause problems or be dangerous. Wary is spelled W-A-R-Y.

For example, you should be wary of a hairy bear. And you should be very wary of an angry bear. I think you should be wary of bears in general. I do too. Notice that we use the preposition of after the adjective wary. Now let's look at two more expressions we heard. The word venue and the phrasal verb hang out.

Listen again. Well, in early June, I'll be performing at several venues across Austin, Texas. A venue is a place for an organized gathering of people, such as a concert, sporting event, or special meetings such as a convention.

Most venues are indoors, but some are outdoors, such as a farmer's market or a stadium. And the phrasal verb hang out is just an informal way of saying spend time together. It's very common in American English. But remember, it's informal. So we usually use that expression with friends and family. Yeah, like Andrew, maybe we can hang out next weekend.

That's right. Maybe we can. So to review, today we looked at the expressions interview, handy, scrapbook, wary of, venue, obsessed by, obsession, and hang out. Before we go, here's the end of Lesson 23 of Level 2. Anna gets to sing with Emma G.

They sing a bit of a song that came out in the year 1983 by the group named The Police. The song is named Every Breath You Take, and you can hear the future continuous tense in that song. The songwriter, named Sting, says it may sound romantic at the beginning, but it's really about an obsession. He wrote it after the breakup of his first marriage.

Here's Anna and Emma singing the song. Every breath you take, every... Every breath you take, I'll be watching you. I'll be watching you. And we hope you'll be watching Lesson 23 of Level 2 and all of the Let's Learn English series.

And we'll be doing another lesson of the day soon. Remember that you can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Thanks for listening. I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. And that's all the time we have for today's show. But join us again tomorrow for another VOA Learning English program. Thanks for listening. Brian Lynn

And I'm Ana Mateo.