Learning English Podcast - February 02, 2025
29:56 Share

Hello, and welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Ana Mateo. And I'm Brian Lynn. This program is aimed at English learners, so we speak slowly, and we use words and phrases especially written for people learning English.

Today on the show, Ana Mateo brings us words and their stories. Jill Robbins has a story on the recapture of some escaped monkeys in South Carolina. And John Russell reports on how conflicts have affected efforts to deal with dropping levels of the Dead Sea.

Today's program also includes our weekly science report and Andrew Smith and Jill Robbins present the lesson of the day. This time they discuss how to use forms of the word "go" to express future plans and events. But first, here is Jill Robbins.

Officials in the southern U.S. state of South Carolina have recaptured the last of 43 monkeys who escaped from a farm that raises monkeys in early November. The chief executive of Alpha Genesis Research Center, Greg Westergaard, said the final four recaptured monkeys appeared to be in good health.

The remaining monkeys had spent weeks living in the woods and even experienced a rare snowstorm. Alpha Genesis is a company that offers services to biomedical researchers. Some locals call it the monkey farm. The animals, all female rhesus macaque monkeys, escaped from the grounds of the company on November 6th.

police who investigated the incident said the monkeys escaped when an employee did not fully secure their enclosure westergaard explained in november that workers were supposed to lock one gate before opening another but all three gates were left unsecured employees at alpha genesis tried to persuade the monkeys to return with offers of special foods

These included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and monkey biscuits, a high-protein food made especially for rhesus macaques. Alpha Genesis employees kept an eye on the monkeys and set out humane traps. Most of the animals came back to eat the food. Most of the monkeys did not go far. The animals are about the size of a cat, weighing around three kilograms.

The monkeys never represented a risk to public health, police and federal health officials said. During the time they were free, the area received its first snow in seven years, measuring up to eight centimeters. The Alpha Genesis Company raises the monkeys to sell to medical labs and other researchers. Humans have been using the monkeys for scientific research since the late 1800s.

Scientists believe rhesus macaques and humans split from a common ancestor about 25 million years ago and share about 93% of the same DNA. I'm Jill Robbins. And now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English. On this program, we explore words and expressions in the English language.

We give examples and notes on usage. Today we talk about different kinds of politics. We start with kitchen table politics. The kitchen is often considered the hub or center of the home. It is where we gather to not only share a meal, but to talk about the events of the day.

We often discuss issues of importance with our family and friends around the dining room table. So kitchen table issues are those that affect individuals and their families daily. A family might discuss these issues at the kitchen table during mealtimes. Rising gas and food prices are two good examples of kitchen table politics.

These issues affect decisions we make day to day. They are sometimes also called dinner table politics. Or we could describe them as bread and butter issues. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines bread and butter issues as being as basic as the earning of one's livelihood.

The online Cambridge Dictionary defines a bread and butter issue as a subject or problem that relates directly to most people's needs and interests. For example, affordable food prices and availability of good health care are the kinds of bread and butter political issues that people vote on.

The noun bread and butter means a way of making a living. For example, for a creative writer, her ideas are her bread and butter. So bread and butter political issues deal with our ability to provide for the needs of ourselves and our families. Next, let's talk about green politics. These political issues deal with caring for the natural environment.

Green politics can cover ideas such as environmental sustainability, recycling, and threats to wildlife. The natural world is central to green politics. Identity politics is more personal. This term means that a person's political views are formed by their experiences and understanding of themselves.

Things like gender, age, social and economic position, and religious belief can inform identity politics. Finally, we come to "gotcha" politics. This type of politics is centered on damaging opponents through public accusations of wrongdoing or misbehavior.

Gotcha politics often involves investigation into the private lives, past and present, of politicians in search of negative information. In gotcha politics, gotcha is short for I got you, meaning I caught you. And that's the end of this Words and Their Stories. Until next time, I'm Ana Mateo.

Scientists examining material collected from an asteroid say it appears to contain some of the chemical building blocks of life. The American spacecraft OSIRIS-REx collected the samples in 2020 from the asteroid Bennu.

in twenty twenty three the spacecraft sent the rock and dust material back to earth in a special container that landed by parachute scientists from the american space agency nasa recovered the samples in the western state of utah

osiris rex is already on its way to another asteroid called apophis it is expected to reach that asteroid in twenty twenty nine on benu the spacecraft collected a total of one hundred twenty two grams of material this is believed to be the largest sample collected from beyond the moon

nasa has shared some of the material with international researchers two research groups released studies last week describing results of their examinations of the asteroid material one study published in nature astronomy suggested the samples contained a mixture of organic compounds

organic compounds have one or more carbon atoms that attach to other elements usually hydrogen oxygen nitrogen and sulphur all life on earth is based on carbon and is built from organic compounds

the other study published in nature provides evidence that a much larger object which benu is believed to have broken off from once held salty liquid water

the researchers said this suggests that in the early solar system asteroids such as benu might have transported water and life supporting chemicals to other planets and moons

Researchers from both groups noted it was important that the samples they worked with came directly from the asteroid itself. Asteroid pieces that fall to Earth turn into meteorites and chemicals inside the samples can be changed or lost.

in a statement nasa said the findings do not provide direct evidence of life itself however the space agency said they do suggest the conditions necessary for the emergence of life were widespread across the early solar system

this increases the chances that life could have formed on other planets and moons the statement added the parent of benu is believed to be an icy body measuring about one hundred kilometers across

scientists believe the body formed in the outer solar system and was later destroyed possibly one to two billion years ago the pieces that broke off likely formed benu and other asteroids observed to be masses of loose material rather than solid objects

nicky fox is the associate administrator for nasa's science mission directorate in washington d c she praised the osiris-rex mission saying it was already rewriting the textbook on what we understand about the beginnings of our solar system

Fox added that she hopes the samples can help scientists understand what ingredients in our solar system existed before life started on Earth. Tim McCoy is a researcher at the U.S. Smithsonian Institution and was a lead writer of the Nature Study.

he told the associated press ap that the samples may provide details about the kind of environment that could have been essential to the steps that lead from elements to life mccoy noted that combining the ingredients of life with an environment of sodium rich water is really the pathway to life

he added the samples suggest the processes involving the chemical compounds probably occurred much earlier and were much more widespread than we had thought before yasuhito sekine is with the institute of science in tokyo he did not take part in the new research

Sikine confirmed the findings were only made possible by examining samples collected directly from the asteroid, then carefully preserved back on Earth. Jason Dworkin is a project scientist for the OSIRIS-REx mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

he told reuters news agency that all biology is made up of organic compounds and some of those may have survived four point five billion years dworkin said the materials from osiris-rex provide new details about a solar system that might have had the right elements to support life

but he added that one of the most interesting questions still remains why we so far only see life on earth and not elsewhere i'm brian lin international visitors to israel used to visit ein geddy a popular beach on the dead sea

the dead sea is the place on earth's surface that is farthest below sea-level now the beautiful desert area is in ruins beside the shrinking salty lake the beach has been closed to the public for five years mainly because of the appearance of dangerous holes in the ground

these holes known as sinkholes are caused by the collapse of the surface layer the beach has been closed because the drop in the sea's level has made it difficult to reach its waters these environmental changes are not new the dead sea where israeli jordanian and palestinian territory meet has been dying for years

With the current conflict in the Middle East, efforts to deal with the environmental problem have disappeared too. Nadav Tal of the Israel Office of Eco-Peace, a non-profit group, told the French news agency AFP, regional cooperation is the key to saving the Dead Sea.

Tal added, "Because we are living in a conflict area, there is an obstacle." Tal described how the sea has been declining more than one meter per year since the 1960s. The evaporation of the salty waters takes place partly because temperatures reach up to 50 degrees Celsius in the summer.

The sea has also been affected by years of increasing water usage from the sea's main source, the Jordan River, and other smaller waterways which begin in Lebanon and Syria. Local factories also use the water to get minerals: potash, bromine, sodium chloride, and magnesium chloride, among others.

Tal told AFP, "The consequences of this water diversion is what we see around us." He described it as an ecological disaster, adding that the declining of the Dead Sea is a disaster for Israeli tourism. Efforts to deal with the Dead Sea disaster include past agreements signed by Israel and Jordan.

But the wars taking place in Gaza and beyond have brought tensions to an all-time high. As a result, cross-border environmental issues are no longer getting attention. At Israel's Environment Ministry, Ohad Carney has been working on the Dead Sea issue for years. He said the government was looking into several solutions.

They include building a desalination factory and making a canal from either the north or the south to deal with water shortages in the area, including the Dead Sea.

But, he said, it doesn't make economic or environmental sense to desalinate water and bring it directly to the Dead Sea, because then it's a waste of drinking water and the region needs more drinking water and more water for agriculture. Carney said that his attention was on the Israeli side.

but he added we can't do it alone it must be a joint effort so only time will tell and we won't do anything without an agreement together with the jordanian side back at the dead sea forty-year-old bus driver benny is at a place where people can still visit

Benny was getting some winter sun at one of the warm sinkhole pools. He said the sea's changes were difficult, but everything has a plus and minus. Because of what is happening here, we have water spots like this one. I'm John Russell.

My name is Ana Mateo. And my name is 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. This series shows Ana Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. We talked about Lessons 21 and 22 in our recent podcasts.

Today, we'll take a closer look at Lesson 22. Anna is planning her new children's show with her producer, Amelia.

Washington, D.C. has four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and autumn, or fall. My favorite season is summer because of summer vacation. Hey, that will be a great subject for my new work assignment, the children's show. I can teach what families in the U.S. do during summer vacation.

Today, I am planning the show with Amelia. This is the first time we are working together.

I hope we can work well together. Hi, Amelia. Hi, Anna. So what are we going to talk about on the first show? I want to talk about summer vacation. That will be fun. Are you going on vacation this summer? No, this summer I am too busy. That's too bad. It's okay. I can go on vacation next summer. This show will be a lot of fun, too.

We hear Amelia and Anna using going to in this lesson to talk about something they will do in the future. I think our listeners already know this verb form. But there are other phrases with going that may not be as familiar to everyone. Did you notice the way they used going on to talk about travel?

Amelia asked, Are you going on vacation this summer? That is another way of asking, Will you take a vacation this summer? Yes, that looks like a phrasal verb.

Anna uses it too when she says: It's okay. I can go on vacation next summer. And next, she uses another expression with vacation: take you on. Hi there and welcome to the show. Today, we are going to take you on a summer vacation. As I understand that,

She is saying we will go with her as she takes an imaginary summer vacation. In other situations, we use the phrase "take you on" to invite someone to go with us on a journey. That sounds like a very nice invitation to go on a vacation with Anna.

Just be careful. You don't want to say, "I'd like to take you for a ride," because that is an idiom that means to mislead someone or lie to them. Ana uses "going" in another way in the lesson. She talks about going to an amusement park. That is a place with many fun activities like roller coasters and games.

There, we talk about going on a ride. At an amusement park, you go on rides and eat lots of fun food. So, to summarize, we can go on vacation and go on a ride. And we can take someone on a vacation or take them on a ride. This reminds me of the old Steppenwolf song, Magic Carpet Ride. Do you remember that one, Andrew?

Of course. Why don't you come with me, little girl, on a magic carpet ride? Our listeners may remember the story about Aladdin and the magic lamp. A genie takes him on a ride on a flying carpet. In the song, the magic carpet is the girl's imagination. Jill, all this talk about summer vacation makes me a little sad.

Because summer has ended here and we are moving into fall. But Andrew, there are so many fun things you can do in the fall or autumn. There are harvest festivals, leaf peeping. Hold on a second there. Jill, I'm not sure our listeners know what leaf peeping means.

Then I'll refer them to a story our friend Ana Mateo did a few years ago. She said: Leaf peeping is when people travel to see the beautiful colors of fall foliage. Foliage is another name for leaves, and fall is another word for autumn. Peep is to take a quick look at something. Like you might peep inside a box to see what's inside.

in the eastern united states people like to travel to the mountains and places like the states of new hampshire and vermont to enjoy the beautiful colors of the leaves on the trees in the fall or autumn jill have you ever noticed we only have one word for each of the other seasons

but we have two words for the season between summer and winter i really like the fall because it means the stores all have pumpkin spice flavored foods again aha so it's all about the food then

For our listeners, pumpkin spice is a flavoring that includes cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. These days in the U.S., stores begin to fill their shelves with pumpkin spice flavored food in August. It's kind of crazy.

Anyway, if we're bringing food into the conversation, we've got to talk about pumpkin pie. What's your favorite pie, Jill? That's easy, pecan pie. At our Thanksgiving dinner, we must have both pumpkin pie and pecan pie to make everybody happy. Now, let's see if we can summarize with a little chant or series of sentences. Oh boy, can I start?

Sure, go right ahead. Oh, that's another expression with go we can talk about. Listeners, try repeating after us to practice these expressions from the lesson. Here we go. I want to go on vacation. I want to go on a magic carpet ride. You can go on vacation. You can go on a magic carpet ride. Will you take me on a vacation? Will you take me on a magic carpet ride? I'll take you on a vacation.

I'll take you on a magic carpet ride. I want to see the fall colors. I want to peep at the autumn leaves and drink pumpkin spice tea. You can see the fall colors. You can peep at the autumn leaves. You can have your pumpkin spice tea, but it's plain old coffee for me. Now we have an assignment for you. We'd like to know your answer to our questions. What is your favorite season?

And what do you like to do during that season? You can send your answer in an email to us at learningenglish at voanews.com. Or if you're watching this podcast on YouTube, put your answer in the comments. We'll read some of your answers on an upcoming podcast.

That's all for the lesson of the day today. 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 lesson of the day on the Learning English Podcast. I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins.

And that's all the time we have for today's show. But join us again tomorrow for another VOA Learning English program. I'm Brian Lynn.