Learning English Podcast - February 11, 2025
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Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Katie Weaver. And I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. This program is designed for English learners, so we speak a little slower and we use words and phrases especially written for people learning English.

On today's program, John Russell tells about the American inventor who made the television possible in All About America. Ana Mateo reports on efforts to improve the apple tree. Then, Jill Robbins shares ways to prevent brain wasting. Finally, Jill returns for the lesson of the day with Andrew Smith. But first...

television has made it possible for people around the world to share in many different experiences sports music shows films and more yet many people would find it difficult to name the inventor of the television

they might also be surprised to learn that the inventor came up with the idea when he was just fourteen years old today we explore the life of one of the great inventors of twentieth century america philo taylor farnsworth

philo farnsworth was born in august nineteen o six near indian creek in the western state of utah the house he lived in for the first few years of his life had no electricity but philo read about electricity and quickly began to experiment with it

one night philo read a magazine story about the idea of sending pictures and sound through the air the story said some of the world's best scientists were working on the idea it said these scientists were using special machines to try to make a kind of device to send pictures

Fourteen-year-old Philo decided these famous scientists were wrong. He decided that mechanical devices would never work. Philo believed such a device would have to be electronic. Philo knew electrons could be made to move very fast. All he would have to do was find a way to make electrons do the work.

soon philo had an idea for such a receiver it would trap light in a container and send the light on a line of electrons philo called it light in a bottle several days later philo told his teacher about a device that could capture pictures he drew a plan for it and gave it to his teacher

philo's drawing seemed very simple but it still clearly showed the information needed to build a television philo's teacher was justin tolman many years later philo would credit mr tolman with guiding his imagination and helping him open the doors of science

in september nineteen twenty seven philo turned on a device that was the first working television receiver in another room was the first television camera philo had invented the special camera tube earlier that year while the image produced on the receiver was not very clear the device worked

Within a few months, Philo had found several people who wanted to invest money in his invention. In August 1930, the United States government gave Philo patent documents. These documents aimed to protect his invention from being copied by others.

still he became involved in legal disputes with a powerful company at the time known as rca philo won the disputes but faced many business and financial difficulties in his life he developed more than one hundred devices that helped make modern television possible

He also developed early radar, invented the first electronic microscope, and worked on developing peaceful uses of atomic energy. Philo Farnsworth died in March of 1971. He is considered one of the most important inventors of the 20th century. I'm John Russell.

Researchers in the U.S. state of Michigan are looking for ways to help apple trees survive bad weather. To do this, one researcher plans to use a late bloomer. The late blooming tree is a native Michigan apple tree known by the scientific name Malus coronaria.

to fight freezing temperatures the tree blooms two or three weeks later than trees that produce cultivated varieties of apples like honey crisp or red delicious that doesn't sound like a lot but almost always that's enough for the flowers to escape the killing spring frost said steve van knocker

He is a professor and plant geneticist at Michigan State University. Van Auker wants to identify the genes responsible for the Malus coronarias delayed blooms. Then he will use those genes to develop more frost resistant apple varieties.

Van Acker's project is one of many ways researchers and growers are trying to make apples more resilient. They say this is important because of climate change. Other researchers are making similar efforts. Jared Bono is the director of Cornell University's Hudson Valley Research Laboratory in New York State.

Bono's lab is adding solar panels to its experimental orchard. He said growers are experimenting with solar panels in Europe and South Korea. The panels protect fruit from hail and sun damage, but also let in light and heat when necessary.

University of Maryland researchers recently announced the development of a more heat-tolerant apple variety. At Penn State University in Pennsylvania, a team built an unmanned vehicle that uses propane fuel to warm trees as it moves around an orchard. Bono said these efforts can ease the effects of bad weather.

On May 18, 2023, frost damaged trees across New York State and cut apple production by 20%. A recent Washington State University study examined weather in apple growing areas from 1979 to 2022.

It said the top apple-producing states of Washington, Michigan, and New York reported fewer cold days and more warm fall nights than they used to. Washington state also has reported more extreme heat. The study said warming temperatures could cause trees to come out of dormancy too early

and increase the risk of sunburn. This hurts the quality of apples. Malus coronaria is also called sweet crabapple. It was once so common in Michigan that its blossoms were named the state flower in 1897. But Van Acker said it appears to be disappearing. The trees that remain often produce little new growth or fruit.

Vinacher and graduate student Lily Christian recently took cuttings from some trees. They will test them to make sure they are fully Malus coronaria and not a hybrid variety. Then the cuttings will be grafted onto apple root stock. They hope to get healthy trees using this method.

Their goal is to identify the genes that cause late blooming and create a variety of apple that can be sold in markets. Van Acker is also sending seeds to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If the tree continues to disappear, he hopes to save its genes this way. Making a later-blooming commercial apple could take more than 10 years.

If a Malus coronaria is crossbred with a commercial apple tree to make a new hybrid, it would take four or five years for that tree to start producing apples. Crossbreeding would continue until researchers developed an apple with the desired qualities of both varieties. But Van Acker said it is important to try.

With climate change, it's quite possible that apples won't be able to be produced in Michigan in the future, he said. That's why cultivar improvement, especially in terms of frost resistance, is so important. I'm Ana Mateo. New research suggests the risk of Americans developing dementia over a lifetime may be much higher than once thought.

A new study predicts about 1 million Americans will likely develop the disease each year by 2060. That is about twice the number of people estimated in earlier studies. The new finding is based on a large study involving a team from major U.S. medical centers and other research organizations. It recently appeared in the publication Nature Medicine.

The study found that after age 55, people face up to a 42% chance of developing dementia if they live long enough. The research showed the risk of dementia is highest after age 75. But the good news is that there are steps people can take to reduce the risks.

One of them is controlling high blood pressure and other conditions, such as diabetes or being severely overweight, meaning obese. Health experts advise everyone, even those in middle age, to take steps to avoid such problems. Dr. Joseph Koresh of NYU Langone Health was a lead writer of the study. He told the Associated Press,

All of our research suggests what you do in midlife really matters. It can be quite common for older people to take longer to remember a name or where they placed certain objects. But research on dementia suggests it is not a normal part of aging. Rather, the disease is a progressive loss of memory, language, and other cognitive abilities over time.

Getting older is currently the biggest risk, and the U.S. population is aging at a fast rate. Dementia has many forms, the most common being Alzheimer's. Because the disease is linked to silent changes in the brain, signs or symptoms of dementia might not start showing until many years later.

Other kinds include vascular dementia, when heart disease or small strokes limit blood flow to the brain. Many people also have mixed causes, meaning vascular problems could worsen existing dementia. Dr. James Galvin is an Alzheimer's specialist at the University of Miami. He noted that aging by itself is not a guarantee that someone will develop dementia.

Galvin was not involved in the new study, but he said the latest findings on that support previous research. Earlier studies estimated about 14% of men and 23% of women would develop some form of dementia during their lifetime. Since women live longer than men, they are more likely to get it.

But the latest research examined more recent data from a U.S. study that followed the heart health and cognitive abilities of about 15,000 older adults from 1987 until 2020. In that group, the risk for dementia averaged 35% for men and 48% for women. One reason for the different rates is that the group of people studied lived longer.

The study shows how the risk changes with additional years of life. Only 4% of people develop dementia between the ages of 55 and 75. Koresh describes this difference as an important 20-year window for protecting brain health. For people surviving common health threats until 75, the dementia risk then jumped.

to 20% by age 85, and 42% between the ages of 85 and 95. Black Americans had a slightly higher risk, 44%, than white individuals at 41%. There are some health risks people cannot control. Besides age, people can inherit a gene version or variant called APOE4.

This can raise the risk of getting Alzheimer's later in life. But medical researchers have identified some things people can do to delay or possibly even prevent developing dementia. The University of Miami's Galvin advises people to exercise, avoid obesity, and control blood pressure. He noted that what's good for your heart is good for your brain.

Stay socially and cognitively active too, Galvin said. He urges people to try hearing aids if age brings hearing loss, which can create social isolation. He added, there are things that we have control over, and those things I think would be really, really important to build a better brain as we age. I'm Jill Robbins. My name is Anna Mateo.

My name is Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. You're listening to the Lesson of the Day on the Learning English Podcast. Welcome to the part of the show where we help you do more with our series, Let's Learn English. The series shows Ana Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. We've been watching Ana learn about history in our last podcast,

and she has been learning about the fun things to do in Washington, D.C. But in today's lesson, she finds that some days are not so fun. That's when she has to call into work because she needs a sick day. This time, in Lesson 27 of the Let's Learn English series, Anna is not feeling well. Her boss, Ms. Zweaver, gives her some advice.

We'll be talking more about how we give advice in this lesson. But now, let's listen. I'm sure that today in Washington, D.C., there are a lot of great things to do. But I am not doing any of them. I'm sick. Right now, I'm going to call my boss and tell her I cannot come into work. Hello? Ms. Weaver? Hi.

I can't come to work today. Why not? What is wrong? Well, yesterday I felt fine. In the morning, I painted for hours. In the afternoon, I cut wood. Then I built a fire. Anna, what do you mean? Why can't you come to work today? I do not feel well. I think I'm sick. I'm sorry to hear that. I was sick last week too.

I had the flu. What did you do? I slept a lot and I drank a lot of water. Do you have a doctor? Yes, I do. You should call your doctor and get lots of rest. Thanks, Ms. Weaver. I'll call right now. Calling my doctor. I think Ana just overdid it the day before, don't you, Andrew? Yes, I do. To overdo means to have a little too much activity.

For some of us, as we get older, we have to be careful. Using too many of our muscles at one time is one way to overdo it. And the next day, we may not feel well. What advice did Ms. Weaver give to Ana, Jill? She said Ana should call her doctor and get lots of rest. That's good advice when someone doesn't feel well. Let's find out what her doctor says.

Hello, this is Dr. Bennett. How can I help you? Hello, Dr. Bennett. This is Anna. Oh, hi Anna. How can I help you? I think I'm sick. Let me ask you a couple of questions. Do you have a sore throat? Yes, I have a sore throat. Do you have a cough? Yes, I have a cough. When did you start feeling sick? This morning.

In this part, we hear the doctor asking the usual questions. She is not giving advice yet because first she has to diagnose or identify the problem Anna has. But I remember some advice I used to hear in my home growing up in the state of North Carolina when I had a sore throat.

Let me guess, was it honey and lemon? That's what my grandma used to make for me. No, it was warm tea. My aunt made me some tea with a little lemon juice. I had to drink a lot. That's often helpful when you are feeling sick. Yes, remember that Ms. Weaver said that when she was sick.

I slept a lot and I drank a lot of water. You know, when I was little, I liked eating popsicles, which is some sweet water or juice that is frozen on a stick when I had a sore throat. It felt great. And I think my mom knew it was a good way to get me to drink more water. Yes, some of those home remedies often had a lot of wisdom behind them.

One thing our listeners should note here is the different intonation we use for the two different kinds of questions we heard from Dr. Bennett. When she asked a question that began with "when" or "how," her intonation was falling, like this: How can I help you? When did you start feeling sick? And when we ask questions that can be answered with "yes" or "no,"

our intonation often goes up at the end. Listen to Ms. Weaver and Dr. Bennett ask this type of question. Do you have a doctor? Do you have a sore throat? That could be useful for learners. The general rule is that what we call WH questions, questions that start with the words who, what, when, why, and how,

Those questions usually end with a falling intonation. You may sometimes hear a different intonation for this kind of question depending on the situation. And then yes-no questions. Those questions often begin with do or did, are or were. Those questions usually end with a rising intonation. Let's go back and find out what Dr. Bennett tells Anna.

Do you have a fever? My thermometer says 125 degrees. What? Yeah, that's not right. Oh, wait. The thermometer was in my hot cup of coffee. Please take it again, Anna. Okay, the thermometer says 100.5 degrees. 100.5 degrees is not too high. I want you to drink lots of water. Rest in bed and get lots of sleep.

Just think, all those years of medical school, and she gives Anna the same advice that you or I might give her. And there's a funny bit in there about Anna putting her thermometer into a hot cup of coffee. Our listeners might be surprised to hear that a high temperature is over 100 degrees, but that's using the Fahrenheit scale. That would be over 38 degrees Celsius.

I remember hearing about international students who heard they had a 100 degree temperature here in the U.S. and they worried that they were really sick. But going back to our lesson, one more thing we heard here is irregular verbs. That starts with Anna's busy day when she said... Yesterday I felt fine. In the afternoon I cut wood. Then I built a fire.

There, the present tense verb "feel" became "felt" in the past tense. "Cut" stayed the same, "cut." The verb "build" changed to "built" in the past tense. And Ms. Weaver used an irregular verb when she said: I slept a lot. And I drank a lot of water. "Sleep" became "slept." And "drink" became "drank."

Lots of irregular verbs. I know, and how are learners supposed to remember them all? There are so many of them and so many different ways they change. That's true. But some of them are used all the time in English, so that can make it easier to remember them. And you know what else could make it easier? We could make a little song about them. Music always helps us remember things. Oh, boy.

That's a great idea, Andrew. How about if we just take the 10 most common irregular verbs and put them into a song? Okay, here we go. Say, said. Went. Come, came. Know, knew. Give, gave. Become, became. Find, found. Think, thought.

Seesaw, I think that's all. And that's all for today's lesson of the day. And one more thing. Write to us with your questions about this lesson on our YouTube channel. Or email us at [email protected]. You can learn more on our website, learningenglish.voanews.com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

And thanks for listening to the Learning English Podcast. And I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. And that's our show for today. But join us again tomorrow to keep learning English on the Voice of America. I'm Katie Weaver. And I'm Mario Ramos.