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VOA新闻听力100篇
News Item 1
This week, the chairman of America’s nuclear agency said there is little chance that harmful radiation
from Japan could reach the United States. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko also
said America has a strong program in place to deal with earthquake threats. No new nuclear power centers
have been built in the United States since nineteen seventy-nine. That was when America’s worst nuclear
accident happened at the Three Mile Island center in Pennsylvania. The accident began to turn public
opinion against nuclear energy.
News Item 2
Most restaurants in the United States offer their customers a glass of tap water at no charge with
their meal, but this week many restaurants are asking diners to pay a dollar, or more, for a glass of water.
Placards on their tables explain that this small amount helps bring clean water to children around the world.
It’s called the UNICEF Tap Project.
News Item 3
Japan has confirmed radiation contamination of some agricultural products near a nuclear power
plant crippled by last week’s earthquake and tsunami that is still spewing radiation. Yukio Edano, the
chief Cabinet secretary, says high levels of radiation have been detected in milk in Fukushima prefecture
and spinach from Ibaraki prefecture have been found to be contaminated. He tells reporters there is no
immediate health risk and the government is considering regulating shipments of farm products from the
affected area. At the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant efforts continue to try to cool overheating reactor
cores and water in tanks containing spent fuel rods.
News Item 4
Some of America’s brightest students came to Washington for the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search,
the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science competition. The awards ceremony was the culmination
of an intense week during which the 40 finalists were queried by judges and the public. They met with
scientists, politicians and even President Barack Obama, who welcomed them to the White House. These
high achievers were whittled down from nearly 2,000 contestants’ nationwide, representing excellence
across many disciplines.
News Item 5
The billionaires’ club is growing. Forbes magazine’s annual list shows there are now 1,210 billionaires
around the world—that is 199 more than last year. Although the world’s top three earners are unchanged
from last year, the newcomers in the list of the world’s richest did not come from the U.S. or Western
Europe, but from Russia and the Asia Pacific region. Magazine chairman Steve Forbes says of the 200 new
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billionaires this year, the majority are from the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China.
News Item 6
Defense attorneys for former Liberian president Charles Taylor say testimony from prosecution
witnesses is tainted by cash payments from a special fund provided by the United States. Mr. Taylor’s war
crimes trial is drawing to a close after more than three years. Defense attorney Terry Munyard says money
“lavished” on prosecution witnesses has polluted “the pure waters of justice.” He told the court that those
payments went far beyond the simple reimbursement of expenses and were used in such a way “as to taint
the testimony of some of the prosecution witnesses.”
News Item 7
Many world leaders are expressing shock and sympathy following the devastating earthquake and
tsunami in Japan, and are offering to assist the country as it struggles to recover from the disaster. U.S.
President Barack Obama pledged assistance for what he called a potentially catastrophic disaster in Japan.
Mr. Obama called Japan one of America’s strongest allies and said the U.S. is offering whatever assistance
is needed. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said a preliminary assessment indicates that American
troops, ships and military facilities were not seriously damaged by the quake or tsunami.
News Item 8
Women are joining together all over the world to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s
Day on March 8. Women poured through London’s streets on Tuesday singing loudly for women’s rights.
The banners they carried trained a spotlight on the range of issues still at hand: health, education, and
politics to name a few.
News Item 9
Food prices continue to rise, threatening to push more and more people into poverty and hunger. A
new report from the UN food agency says one of the best ways to boost agricultural productivity worldwide
would be to remove the barriers women farmers face that their male counterparts do not. Studies show
when women have financial resources, they are more likely than men to spend them on food, health and
educating their children. Women farmers tend to be less productive than men, but there are good reasons for
that, says Agnes Quisumbing, an economist with the International Food Policy Research Institute.
News Item 10
Ronald Reagan’s Hometown Celebrates His 100th Birthday. Though he gained prominence as an actor
in Hollywood and later as President of the United States, the people of Dixon, Illinois, remember Ronald
Reagan as a hometown hero who saved the lives of 77 people while working as a lifeguard. The town is
honoring Reagan’s 100th birthday this year, with a year-long celebration. The 40th President’s hometown
was never very far from his heart.
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News Item 11
The National Football League wrapped up the 2010 season with the biggest football game of the
year: Super Bowl XLV—played in a huge stadium in Arlington, Texas. But without the small, midwestern
town of Ada, Ohio—population 5,400—the game would not have been the same. Ada is where the Wilson
Sporting Goods company makes footballs. Wilson has been the official football maker of the National
Football League since 1941, and many of the 130 employees at its factory in Ada have spent most of their
lives there—many working for 25 to 45 years.
News Item 12
Scientists say a common headache medicine dramatically reduces the risk of developing Parkinson’s
disease, a physically-disabling brain disorder that mostly strikes elderly adults. In a six-year study of just
over 136,000 nurses and health professionals, researchers at Harvard University School of Public Health
in Massachusetts found that people who take ibuprofen（布洛芬镇痛药）regularly for headache or other
pain reduced their risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by nearly 40 percent. Taking one or two pills of
ibuprofen two or more times per week was considered regular use. Other non-prescription pain relievers,
including aspirin and acetaminophen, did not show a similar protective benefit.
News Item 13
Insurgents opposed to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi continue to hold two strategic towns along the
road to eastern Libya, after unsuccessful attempts by pro-Gadhafi forces to retake them. Libyan warplanes
launched new air strikes Thursday against the key eastern oil port of Brega, but the son of embattled leader
Moammar Gadhafi says the bombs were only intended to “frighten” rebels there.Libyan warplanes struck at
the rebel-held oil port of Brega on Thursday, a day after anti-government fighters turned back an assault by
forces loyal to the country’s longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.
News Item 14
A new study of more than 1.1 million people in six Asian countries finds that, like Westerners, Asians
are more likely to die if they are overweight or obese. However, some of the highest death rates were
seen in people who were severely underweight. Many previous studies have found that the risk of death
increases as body-mass index increases. Body-mass index, or BMI, is a measure of body fat based on height
and weight. The trouble is, those studies mostly analyzed Europeans and other Westerners. So scientists
couldn’t be sure if the results applied to other groups.
News Item 15
Agriculture is one of the most important economic activities in Africa. In addition to providing
employment, agriculture has the potential to transform African societies through the increased export
of produce to Western markets. Many agree that transformation will not take place without increased
investment in agriculture, including public or private loans to small farmers. Statistics show that Africa has
about 12% of the world’s arable land but 80% of it is not in use.
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News Item 16
In July 2012, the world’s largest AIDS conference comes to Washington, D.C. It’s the first time the
gathering will be held in the United States since 1990 and preparations are already underway. Despite the
massive U.S. financial, medical and scientific contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS, a major issue
blocked the conference from being held here. That was a law that prohibited HIV infected people from
traveling to the United States. It was passed in 1987 in the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Efforts
to lift the ban began during President George W. Bush’s second administration. It was finally repealed in
January 2010 under President Obama.
News Item 17
As Discovery begins its 39th and final mission into Earth’s orbit Thursday, America’s 30-year space
shuttle program comes one step closer to its scheduled end this April. Discovery has been a regular visitor
to Earth’s orbit since its maiden flight in 1984. It is the oldest and longest-serving vehicle in the U.S. space
agency’s shuttle fleet. Discovery’s final flight follows several delays due to technical problems and repairs
to its external fuel tank, but NASA’s mission launch director Mike Leinbach says the shuttle is still space-
ready.
News Item 18
Not long ago, most professional musicians lived in a world far removed from the nitty-gritty of
business management, distribution and promotion. But today, social media, laptop production techniques
and fragmented musical tastes have largely replaced the old relationship between musicians, their audiences
and the marketplace, making entrepreneurial savvy more important than ever. A leading U.S. conservatory
now teaches students how to create successful careers in this brave new world.
News Item 19
Egypt’s most famous tourism sites, including the great pyramids and the antiquities museum in Cairo,
have reopened after being closed during the popular uprising and political tumult. Egypt’s key industry—
tourism—returns after weeks of protests and celebrations, while other countries in the region deal with
unrest. The sound of hooves as horses pull jostling carts of people within the Giza pyramids’ complex is the
sound of money to the men who make their livings from tourism—a dominant industry in Egypt.
News Item 20
Demonstrations against long-serving governments continue to roil the Middle East and North Africa
Friday from Libya eastward to Bahrain. In Libya, more protests as well as funerals for those killed in recent
unrest were held after midday prayers, and witnesses said demonstrators gathered in the port city Benghazi,
a bastion of resentment against the government. Human Rights Watch said Friday that 24 people have been
killed in recent violence in Libya, many of them in Benghazi. Graphic videos posted on the Internet have
shown shootings described as being inflicted by armed forces against protesters.
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News Item 21
The National Park Service says the largest slave village in the Washington region is buried on the
grounds. Archeologist Joy Beasley walks across the land now known as Best Farm. But approximately 200
years ago, it was a 300-hectare plantation called L’Hermitage, owned by the Vincendieres, French farmers
from Haiti. Their stone home and outbuildings still stand. The National Park Service archeologist says her
team discovered evidence of six other homes on the property where slaves were kept. The Vincendieres
owned 90 slaves.
News Item 22
Cameroon’s new mineral research center will begin operations this year. South Korean mining
researchers are making trips to Cameroon to determine the overall cost of the facility, to be located in the
capital, Yaounde. They say the center will cost several millions of dollars and will ultimately be offered
to the Cameroon government as a gift. The Korean investors say the facility will also have geological
engineers to help in the design and construction of mines—and economic geologists to determine the
commercial feasibility of projects. They will decide whether there are enough minerals to justify the cost of
a mining venture.
News Item 23
A major study by the World Health Organization shows that most people with high cholesterol levels
around the world are not getting the treatment they need, to avoid such serious diseases as heart attacks and
strokes. And the authors of the study—the largest ever undertaken—say the problem is especially serious in
the developing world. The study was done on 147 million people, and found an increasing incidence of high
levels of cholesterol the world over. Even more worrying, the researchers say, is that many of those patients
are going untreated.
News Item 24
A huge crowd has gathered in central Cairo calling for President Hosni Mubarak to step down. The
opposition has called for one million people to protest. Crowds headed on foot for Cairo’s Tahrir Square
throughout the day Tuesday. They included women with babies in strollers. Their confidence is boosted
after the army, in an official statement, described the demonstrations as legitimate and promised it would
not fire on demonstrators. Army helicopters dropped leaflets calling on demonstrators to keep the protests
peaceful.
News Item 25
The popular revolts roiling Egypt and other Arab countries are being driven by young people
clamoring to oust autocratic governments they have known all their lives. The hardscrabble Tunis
neighborhood of Ettadhamen provides a representative look at the hardships, and aspirations, of some of the
young people behind Tunisia’s so-called Jasmine Revolution.
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News Item 26
A new study has tracked how low self-control can predict poor health, money troubles and even a
criminal record in their adult years. The study began with 1,000 children in New Zealand. Researchers
followed them for decades. They observed the level of self-control the youngsters displayed. Parents,
teachers, even the kids themselves, scored the youngsters on measures like “acting before thinking” and
“persistence in reaching goals.” The children of the study are now adults in their thirties. Terrie Moffitt
of Duke University found that kids with self-control issues tended to grow up to become adults with a far
more troubling set of issues to deal with.
News Item 27
President Barack Obama delivers his second State of the Union Address to the nation on Tuesday,
before a joint session of the U.S. Congress. President Barack Obama will face a dramatically altered
balance of power in the House of Representatives when he addresses Congress and the nation Tuesday
in his State of the Union address. Republicans are now in the majority in the House, and they have
already approved a repeal of Mr. Obama’s landmark reform of the U.S. health care system. The move
was symbolic, since the bill will die in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats and Independents still hold a
majority.
News Item 28
New research suggests a relatively simple blood test might make it possible to predict who is at a
higher risk for developing dementia. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s Disease, and
currently, it can only be definitively diagnosed in an autopsy, by examining the brain. Beta-amyloid is a
protein that shows up the brains of Alzheimer’s victims. It’s also present in spinal fluid and, in very small
quantities, in the blood.
News Item 29
Health Services in eastern and central Kenya are getting a big boost through a new $100 million
dollar program. The U.S. development agency, USAID, has awarded the funds to an international non-profit
organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. For the past four years, Jhpiego has led a nearly
$34 million program in eastern Kenya called APHIA II. APHIA stands for AIDS, Population and Health
Integrated Assistance. The goal is to “empower front-line health workers” with effective, low cost solutions
to delivering quality health care.
News Item 30
Over the past 20 years, the United Nations says the Asia-Pacific population has been growing, but at a
slower rate compared to the rest of the world. Asian fertility fell by 39 percent in a 20-year period from the
late 1960s while remaining above the population-replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. By 1990,
nearly two-thirds of Asian countries had experienced declines of at least 25 percent.
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News Item 31
President Barack Obama will go to Tucson, Arizona, Wednesday to speak at a memorial service for
those killed in Saturday’s shootings. The president will try to help the nation deal with the rampage, which
left six people dead and a U.S. congresswoman critically wounded. President Obama and his wife Michelle
will cross the country to attend Wednesday night’s memorial service at the University of Arizona.The
president will speak there, in an effort to help Americans cope with the tragedy.
News Item 32
New medical research into a possible cure for Parkinson’s disease is focusing on finding biomarkers
in patients so that doctors can start treatment early before tremors and other symptoms start. Actor Michael
J. Fox’s recent commitment of $40 million toward finding a cure for Parkinson’s is helping to fund the new
research. The current clinical diagnosis of Parkinson’s is based on visible tremors and stiffness of limbs.
But researchers say a more comprehensive diagnosis is needed.
News Item 33
U.S. President Barack Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to outline the
benefits of a tax cut package he signed into law in December. He says the tax cut compromise reached with
Republicans will help grow the U.S. economy. Mr. Obama encouraged business owners to take advantage
of a new incentive included in the legislation that allows any business to write off the full cost of most of
their capital investments for one year.
News Item 34
A U.S. congress woman is in critical condition and six people are dead after a gunman opened fire in
an Arizona parking lot where Representative Gabrielle Giffords was meeting with constituents. The dead
include a federal judge. More than a dozen people were wounded, including Giffords. A federal probe has
been launched amid a national outpouring of sorrow and outrage.
News Item 35
Three-dimensional cell phones and batteries that last much longer are just two of the technologies that
could become commonplace in the next few years. For the fifth year, IBM has looked at the horizons of
research, picked five technologies and announced them as tomorrow’s innovations. “Individual technologies
take different times to matriculate,” says John Cohn, IBM’s Chief Scientist. “But the thing that’s common
about them is that we think in 2015, all these predictions will actually be something that we take for
granted.”
News Item 36
The killing of the governor of Pakistan’s most populous province has highlighted the ongoing clash
in Pakistani society between secularism and religious radicalism. Some of that radicalism is fueled by
resentment against privileged and often secular-minded elite who govern the country.
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News Item 37
In India’s main tea-growing region, scientists say tea production is being impacted by climate change.
India produces nearly one third of the world’s tea. The rolling Himalayan hills in India’s northeastern state,
Assam, are carpeted with lush tea bushes whose leaves produce some of the world’s finest teas. But there
are concerns that rising temperatures may be affecting the tea plantations, resulting in declining productivity
of the brew to which millions of people across the world wake up.
News Item 38
African leaders are in Abidjan for more talks with Ivory Coast’s rival presidents. The country’s
political crisis has sent thousands of refugees into Liberia. Leaders met with defiant Ivory Coast President
Laurent Gbagbo Monday, offering him an amnesty deal on condition he cedes power to rival Alassane
Ouattara.
News Item 39
More signs that the U.S. economy is moving in the right direction: The U.S. Labor Department says
new claims for unemployment benefits declined last week, dropping below 400,000 for the first time since
July 2008. Other data also shows that businesses expanded in the month of December while home sales
grew modestly in November. Despite the encouraging numbers, investors remain cautious as 2010 comes to
a close. New estimates show the snowstorm that lashed parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic last week
cost retailers about a billion dollars in lost sales.
News Item 40
The Holy Land enjoyed a flood of visitors last year, which benefited Israelis and Palestinians alike. It
was a record year for tourism in Israel thanks to a lull in violence. There were 3.45 million visitors in 2010,
14 percent more than the previous record two years ago. Mark Feldman, who heads the Israeli travel agency
Zion Tours, says tourism is booming. Most of the visitors were Jews and Evangelical Christians. Some
625,000 Americans came, more than any other country.
News Item 41
Voters in Ivory Coast have official results from only a small number of polling stations outside the
country. About 10,000 ballots in an election of more than four million registered voters shows former Prime
Minister Alassane Ouattara leading President Laurent Gbagbo by about 60 percent to 40 percent. As the
wait for domestic results continues, President Gbagbo’s party is already calling on the electoral commission
to annul returns from three northern districts. Both the Gbagbo and Ouattara campaigns say some of their
supporters were prevented from entering polling stations Sunday.
News Item 42
Diplomatic cables released by the website Wikileaks indicate the U.S. is concerned about the security
of Pakistani nuclear material. They also indicate questions about Pakistan’s commitment to fighting
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insurgents along the country’s border with Afghanistan. The New York Times and the Guardian newspapers
reported details of the cables today. A French news agency quoted a Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman
as saying the fears are misplaced. Meanwhile, Interpol has placed Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange on its
most wanted list after Sweden issued an arrest warrant for him as part of a rape investigation.
News Item 43
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
needs to boost its role in Afghanistan and foster greater economic development throughout the region.
Clinton spoke today at the OSCE Summit in Kazakhstan. “Our goal here in Astana should be to move
forward on democracy, human rights, economic growth and strengthening our security community. In
other words, let’s embrace the vision of Helsinki and apply it faithfully in this new century.” The OSCE is
celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords, which gave birth to the OSCE structure. Clinton
said insecurity anywhere in Central Asia is a challenge for all members and that protracted conflicts remain
dangerously unresolved.
News Item 44
Russia’s prime minister says his country will have to build up its own nuclear weapons capability if the
United States fails to ratify the new strategic arms reduction treaty signed earlier this year. Vladimir Putin
told CNN’s Larry King program in an interview to be aired later today that the new treaty is in the United
States’ best interest and it would be, in his words, dumb for U.S. legislators to ignore that. President Barack
Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the new START in April. The agreement would cut
nuclear stockpiles in the U.S. and Russia by about 30 percent.
News Item 45
Thai police say they arrested two Pakistani men and one Thai woman this week on forgery charges, as
they attempted to flee to neighboring Laos. The three were arrested in cooperation with Spanish authorities,
who on Thursday arrested six Pakistanis and one Nigerian in raids in Barcelona. Spanish authorities believe
the group supplied fake passports used by Muslim militants who bombed Madrid commuter trains in 2004.
They also suspect the group supplied fake passports to al-Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based
group accused of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.
News Item 46
The U.S. unemployment rate rose in November while the economy added far fewer jobs than expected.
Today’s closely-watched report from the Labor Department says the unemployment rate rose 0.2% to 9.8%.
The economy had a net gain of 39,000 jobs far fewer than the 150,000 most experts had predicted.
News Item 47
Iranian media reports say officials are calling for the removal of a Star of David painted on the roof of
the headquarters of the country’s national airline after the Jewish symbol was revealed in a satellite image.
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Reports say Internet media company Google took the image of the building which was reportedly built by
Israeli engineers who worked in Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
News Item 48
President Obama is calling a new free-trade deal between the U.S. and South Korea a landmark
agreement. Mr. Obama accepted the deal Friday after a three-year stalemate and said it will deepen the two
nations’ alliance, and he urged the U.S. Congress to ratify it. President said the agreement will increase
U.S. exports by up to $11 billion a year and support at least 70,000 jobs. As part of the deal, South Korea
has agreed to let the U.S. keep a 2.5% tariff on Korean-built cars for five more years rather than end it
immediately.
News Item 49
The World Food Program is teaming up with the World Meteorological Organization and other
agencies to help subsistence farmers increase their crop yields. The WFP says 2010 has been a year with
many climate related emergencies which have created a havoc with the agricultural produce of many
developing countries.
News Item 50
Some of the most dramatic, climate-related emergencies include flooding in Pakistan, Haiti, Burma
and Burkina Faso. World Food Program spokeswoman Emilia Casella says the number of people affected
is expected to reach about 375 million a year by 2015. “We are estimating that by 2020, some countries
having their agricultural yields halved by weather&climate emergencies-drought or flood.” Casella says a
detailed food insecurity analysis could pinpoint areas that are most at risk. She says WFP is working with
the Food and Agriculture Organization to help small subsistence farmers increase their food yields.
News Item 51
International firefighting teams are battling day three of what officials are calling the worst fire in Israel’s
history. Police said Saturday the huge wildfires continued to burn out of control near the northern port of
Haifa. The firefighting aircraft are coming in from Russia and have been dropping water on the blaze with
additional help from the U.S., France and Britain. Middle East neighbors Jordan and Egypt sent equipment. So
far, 41 people, at least, have been killed and thousands have been forced to evacuate from the area.
News Item 52
A Russian rocket carrying three navigation satellites has crashed into the Pacific Ocean after failing
to reach orbit. Russian news agencies said the rocket and the satellites went down about 1,500 kilometers
northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii after veering off course.
News Item 53
British lawmakers plan to vote on a bill today that would increase university tuition charges. If
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approved, the college tuition in Britain would jump from just under 5,000 dollars to about 14,000 dollars
per year. That proposal has sparked student protests. British authorities say the increase in tuition is
necessary to bring a large deficit under control.
News Item 54
Delegates at the end of a two-week UN climate conference held in Cancun, Mexico have approved a
modest plan to combat global warming. More than 190 nations approved the agreement Saturday, which
includes a multi-billion-dollar fund to administer assistance to poor nations. Bolivia was the only country to
object the deal, saying the agreement does not go far enough to curb climate change.
News Item 55
Police in Sweden say a car explosion in what appeared to be a suicide attack killed one person and
wounded two others in central Stockholm on Saturday. Police say the first blast occurred in a car near a
busy shopping street and left two people dead. Moments later, there was a second explosion 200 meters
away. Police found an injured man at that scene. The man later died. Swedish authorities say it’s possible
the dead man had blown himself up. The Swedish news agency TT said ten minutes before the blast they
received e-mails warning of unspecified action. The news agency said the warning, also sent to the security
police, referred to Sweden’s involvement in Afghanistan and caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed by a
Swedish artist.
News Item 56
More than 80 politicians, academics and entertainers have called on Iranian leaders to release a woman
sentenced to death by stoning. In an open letter published today in the Times of London, the signatories said
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has suffered enough. Her stoning sentence was for a conviction of having an
illicit relationship with two men after the murder of her husband.
News Item 57
Officials in Pakistan say a suspected U.S. drone aircraft attack has killed four militants in the country’s
northwest tribal area. The attack today took place in the North Waziristan region near the Afghan border.
Also, officials are saying militants attacked a security checkpoint in the northwest part of Pakistan, killing
two soldiers. Authorities said the attack happened in Mohmand in Pakistan’s tribal area near the Afghan
border.
News Item 58
Members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church must find a new place to worship after protesters
forced them to evacuate seven of their homes where they had been holding church services. The protesters
say the Christians were engaged in illegal religious activity. According to Indonesian law, homes may not
be used for religious services. However, the Batak Christians say they are forced to use their homes to
worship because the government has not allowed them to build a church. Rights groups criticized President
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Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for failing to take action against violent extremists.
News Item 59
The leaders of China and India have agreed to boost trade and work on resolving longstanding
disputes. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh said after their meeting
in New Delhi today they will try to increase trade to $100 billion annually by 2015. That would be a $40
billion increase from the current level of trade.
News Item 60
An $858 billion tax bill was approved late Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives and now
goes to President Obama for his signature. The measure maintains tax cuts first enacted under President
George Bush. It also extends benefits for unemployed Americans by 13 months.
News Item 61
A state-owned oil pipeline has exploded in Mexico’s Puebla state, killing 22 people and destroying
more than 30 homes. The Pemex oil company said Sunday’s explosion occurred at a duct where thieves
were trying to steal fuel. Emergency crews have brought the fire under control, but photos from the area
show a thick cloud of black smoke hanging over the accident site.
News Item 62
British police say they have arrested 12 men in a large-scale counter-terrorism operation. The head of
Britain’s counter-terrorism efforts said the suspects were arrested in a large-scale operation. He said they
are between ages of 17 and 28, and will be questioned on suspicion of preparing for acts of terrorism.
News Item 63
President Obama has signed into law legislation that will allow openly homosexual people to serve
in the military. At the signing ceremony in Washington today, Mr. Obama said the repeal of the so called
“don’t ask, don’t tell” measure will strengthen national security and uphold the ideals that men and
women in uniform risk their lives to defend. The repeal has faced opposition from some lawmakers,
including Vietnam War veteran, Republican Senator John McCain, who says it would do great damage to
the military.
News Item 64
Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem are taking place in a rare spirit of cooperation between Israel
and the Palestinian authority. Tourism is booming, thanks to a lull in violence. About 90,000 tourists are
expected during the holiday season, 30 percent more than last year. Israel has eased travel restrictions for
the holiday, facilitating passage from Jerusalem to Bethlehem which is under Palestinian rule in the West
Bank.
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News Item 65
Officials in Italy say a package has exploded at the Swiss Embassy in Rome, wounding one person. A
spokesman for the police, Italy’s federal force, said the explosion happened Thursday when the man opened
the package. The injured man was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Another explosion was reported
at the Chilean Embassy in Rome. A third package at the Ukrainian Embassy turned out to be a false alarm.
News Item 66
Heavy snow and strong winds slammed the northeastern United States on Sunday. The storms
disrupted air, rail and road traffic just as Christmas holiday travelers attempted to return home. The U.S.
National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings through this evening along the northern portion of the
U.S. east coast.
News Item 67
Qantas Airways said Thursday it will suspend all Airbus A380 flights until they determine the cause
of an engine failure that occurred earlier in the day. A Qantas spokeswoman says Flight QF32 was an route
from Singapore to Sydney when one of the A380 four engines shut down. Witnesses on the Indonesian
island of Batam near Singapore reported hearing an explosion as the plane passed over and found debris
that appeared to be from an aircraft.
News Item 68
The head of the World Food Program says she saw many malnourished children during a visit to North
Korea. Speaking to reporters after a three-day visit to Pyongyang, the WFP Executive Director Josette
Sheeran said Thursday that her trip had shown the need for special fortified food for the children is very
strong. She said she had seen many children that are losing the battle.
News Item 69
Rainstorms have prompted the U.S. space agency NASA to cancel Thursday’s launch of the space
shuttle Discovery. It’s the latest in a string of delays plaguing the shuttle’s final mission. NASA says
Discovery is now scheduled to take off on Friday afternoon. And mission managers will meet early Friday
to re-evaluate the weather conditions at the site of the launch, which is Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
News Item 70
A passenger plane crash in a mountainous area of Cuba has killed all 68 people aboard the turboprop
airliner. Cuba’s Civil Aviation Authority confirmed there were no survivors among the 40 Cubans and 28
foreign nationals. Search and rescue crews pulled bodies from the wreckage of the twin turboprop plane in
central Cuba’s Sancti Spiritus province. Thick vegetation in the area shrouded that crash site.
News Item 71
Thousands of BBC journalists walked out of the state-funded television and radio broadcaster on
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Friday in a 48-hour strike over cuts in their pension plans. The strike by some 4,000 members of the
National Union of Journalists disrupted TV and radio shows enjoyed by millions, forcing the station to run
pre-recorded or repeat programs.
News Item 72
U.S. President Barack Obama has announced plans to lower trade barriers with India in an effort to
boost business ties with the rising economic power. President Obama outlined measures to ease export
restrictions to India in a speech Saturday to a group of Indian and U.S. business leaders in India’s financial
center of Mumbai. He also highlighted new business deals with India that he says will help create 54,000
jobs in the United States.
News Item 73
The International Monetary Fund announced Friday it has approved measures to overhaul governance
of its organization, giving China and several other countries more power in decision making. The change
altering shares of voting power lessens controlling interest the United States and European countries have
in the organization and makes China the third largest share holder. The U.S. and Japan are the largest share
holders.
News Item 74
The people of Guinea are choosing a president to complete that country’s first democratic election
in more than 50 years. But ethnic tensions are hanging over the race. The run-off vote Sunday pits former
Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo against longtime opposition leader Alpha Conde. The two candidates
belong to Guinea’s two largest ethnics group, and politicians are accusing both of using racial rhetoric to
appeal to their voter base. Mr. Diallo won 44% of the vote in the first round multiple-candidate balloting in
June.
News Item 75
Upset Bedouins pelted Israeli police with rocks on Sunday, angry about the demolition of an illegally
built mosque. Israeli officials said hundreds of officers descended on the southern Bedouins City of Rahat
early Sunday, acting on an earlier court-ruling that said the mosque’s builders never got the required
permits. Israeli authorities also alleged the mosque was built with money from the northern branch of the
Islamic Movement which supports the militant group Hamas. Police said they fired tear gas to break up the
protest and that no one was hurt. Officials said five of the stone throwers have now been detained.
News Item 76
A powerful earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan at two forty-six p.m. local time on
March eleventh. Japan’s Meteorological Agency released its first tsunami warnings just three minutes later.
The country has one of the best earthquake early warning systems in the world. There are more than four
thousand Seismic Intensity Meters in place throughout Japan to measure earthquake activity. These meters
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provide information within two minutes of an earthquake happening. Information about the strength and the
center of the earthquake can be learned within three minutes.
News Item 77
A new survey finds that more than eighty percent of Internet users in the United States search for
health information online. The survey is from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life
Project and the California Health Care Foundation. Susannah Fox from the Pew Internet Project says
doctors are still the main source of health information. But the survey found that searching online is one of
the leading ways that people look for a second opinion.
News Item 78
An IBM super computer named Watson has won the latest battle of man versus machine. Watson won
the first ever “Jeopardy!” quiz show competition starring a computer as a player. The show was broadcast
on American television February sixteenth. The super computer defeated former “Jeopardy!” champions
Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter during the three-day competition. The two men had been the show’s most
successful players until then. The IBM computer proved to be more knowledgeable in every category,
including the arts, popular culture and science. The human contestants spoke about their loss after the show.
News Item 79
Egypt’s government faced international criticism when it blocked Internet service to try to suppress
the uprising there. But Egyptian activists found other ways to get their message out. Google, Twitter and a
company called SayNow launched a service last week called speak2tweet. They wanted to give Egyptians a
way to communicate with the outside world.
News Item 80
A new Internet training center in Togo will give young people in that part of West Africa a chance
to improve their job skills. The International Telecommunication Union and the computer-networking
company Cisco Systems launched the center. A telecom company in Lome is also taking part in the effort.
Robert Shaw of the ITU says students will learn the basics of what he calls the “real plumbing of the
Internet.”
News Item 81
Researchers have been trying to reproduce the extraordinary sense of smell that real dogs are born
with. Now, officials at the Glasgow airport in Scotland are testing a new security device called an “electronic
sniffer dog.” The electronic sniffer dog represents one of the latest developments in the area of smell
technology. A Scottish company, Cascade Technologies, joined with the French security company Morpho
to develop it. The device uses lasers to identify explosive material in gases in the air. The purpose is to
identify explosives that may be hidden on a person’s body.
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News Item 82
Tablet computers were the stars of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. The international gathering
in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the world’s biggest technology trade show. Companies launched more than
eighty handheld computers similar to the popular Apple iPad. Tara Dunion from the Consumer Electronics
Association is a spokeswoman for the show which ended Sunday.
News Item 83
An organization called the World Future Society publishes a yearly report about how technology,
the economy and society are influencing the world. Tim Mack heads the World Future Society. He says
medicine is one area of growth. Mr. Mack says the fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology and information
technology are working together to create new ways to help patients. These include better ways to provide
medicine and identify disease without invasive operations. Mr. Mack also says developments in artificial
intelligence could lead to a future where disabled patients could be cared for by a voice-activated robot.
News Item 84
People in a community on the Pacific coast in Southern California awoke last week to a sea of dead
fish. About eight hundred fifty sailboats and powerboats come and go from the marina at King Harbor in
the city of Redondo Beach. But the sardines that swam into the marina never swam out. Estimates put the
number of dead fish in the millions.
News Item 85
Food companies say a new kind of maize could take the crunch out of corn chips and other popular
foods. The big Swiss company Syngenta genetically engineered the maize to contain an enzyme called
alpha amylase. The company says this enzyme will help the crop produce more ethanol, a renewable fuel,
while using less water and energy.
News Item 86
Scientists have worked for twelve years to develop what they call Green Super Rice. They say several
varieties should be available to farmers about two years from now in parts of Asia and Africa. The “green”
in Green Super Rice means environmentally friendly. Researchers say it will produce at least as much
grain as other rice plants but with fewer inputs. “Super” means the rice is designed to better resist droughts,
floods, salty water, insects and disease.
News Item 87
Economists across the world are expressing concern about rising food prices. The United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organization recently released its Food Price Index. The list showed that a number of foods
cost more than during the world food crisis of two thousand eight. The index is at its highest level since it
began in nineteen ninety. Demonstrations and deadly food riots have broken out this month, as they did in
two thousand eight.
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News Item 88
Researchers are testing stem cells from children to treat health problems they possess because of
damage to the body’s nervous system. The stem cells were recovered when the children were born. The
researchers hope to learn if the cells can improve the quality of life for these boys and girls. An American
study showed that children can safely receive their own cord blood stem cells. The study was completed at
the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. The cells came from blood in umbilical
cords. Umbilical cords connect babies to their mothers during pregnancy. Collection of the cells is done at
birth and is painless.
News Item 89
Tunisia is observing three days of mourning for people killed in the revolution that ousted the
president a week ago. As many as one hundred people may have died since the start of the uprising in
December. The former president, Zine el-Abidene Ben Ali, held power for twenty-three years. A temporary
government has offered a general pardon to political prisoners and agreed to recognize banned political
parties. The acting Prime Minister, Mohammed Ghannouchi, has also removed all restrictions on the media.
The interim government promises to hold elections. And it has arrested members of Mr. Ben Ali’s family
for investigation of corruption.
News Item 90
At the end of each year, the Associated Press releases a list of the top ten news stories of the year.
American editors and news directors are asked to vote for what they consider the top stories. This year, the
story with the most votes was the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. An oil rig operated by BP exploded
in April. The explosion killed eleven workers. Close to five million barrels of oil were released into the
Gulf until the leak was contained in the middle of July. BP agreed to set aside twenty billion dollars to pay
claims and damages to people working in the area’s fishing and tourism industries.
News Item 91
Researchers presented their newest studies last month at a meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. The latest evidence shows that being bilingual does not necessarily make people
smarter. But researcher Ellen Bialystock says it probably does make you better at certain skills.
News Item 92
So far, no studies have proven beyond question that the radio signals from cell phones cause brain cancer
or other health problems. But a new study by government scientists in the United States has some people
wondering what to think. The scientists found that holding a cell phone to your ear for at least fifty minutes
increases brain cell activity. Even the scientists themselves are not sure about the meaning of their findings.
News Item 93
The World Health Organization says alcohol abuse is the third leading cause of death and disability in
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the world. A new WHO report says the harmful use of alcohol kills two and one-half million people a year.
And officials say action is needed to reduce the problem. The WHO released the “Global Status Report on
Alcohol and Health 2011” last week. The report shows young people at risk. It says three hundred twenty
thousand people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-nine die yearly from alcohol related causes. That is
nine percent of all deaths in that age group.
News Item 94
Last week a study of one hundred ninety-nine countries and territories confirmed what many people
may have already noticed. Majid Ezzati at Imperial College London led the research team. He says the
results show that obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are no longer just found in wealthy
nations. These are now worldwide problems. The study appeared in the Lancet. It shows that in two
thousand eight, almost ten percent of men were obese. That was up from about five percent in nineteen
eighty. That same year, almost eight percent of women were obese. By two thousand eight, the rate of
obesity among women was almost fourteen percent.
News Item 95
State and local governments across the United States are facing big budget deficits. Many of these
shortfalls include promises of future retirement payments for public employees. Several states have had to
borrow money for pension plans that have fallen below required funding levels. Pay and benefits for public
workers has been a target as state and local governments try to cut spending. At the same time, there are
efforts in several states to reduce the negotiating rights of public employees.
News Item 96
The United States is making the first major changes in its food safety rules since the nineteen thirties.
A new law called the Food Safety Modernization Act will govern all foods except meat, poultry and some
egg products. It calls for increased government inspections of food processors. And it lets the Food and
Drug Administration order the recall of unsafe foods. That agency has only been able to negotiate with
manufacturers to remove products from the market. The new law also increases requirements for imported
foods.
News Item 97
The United States Department of Agriculture has given farmers permission to plant genetically
engineered sugar beets with some conditions. A USDA agency ruled on the most popular variety of
Roundup Ready sugar beets. The agency said the genetically engineered sugar beets do not harm the
environment or increase threats by pests.
News Item 98
A ten-billion-dollar deal aims to create the world’s largest exchange company. The plan would
combine the operators of the New York Stock Exchange and Germany’s Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The
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two companies, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Borse, announced the agreement Tuesday. Deutsche Borse
shareholders would own about sixty percent of the combined group. One thing it still needs is a name. The
new company would have headquarters in Frankfurt and New York.
News Item 99
Airtight plastic bags can help farmers protect their harvests without the use of harmful chemicals.
These bags are designed to keep air out of crops in storage. They are a simple way to fight insects and keep
food fresh. Ten countries in West and Central Africa are involved in a project to improve the storage of
cowpeas, also known as black-eyed peas.
News Item 100
This month, oil prices rose above one hundred dollars a barrel. Prices went above one hundred
forty-five dollars a barrel in two thousand eight. The price of oil affects prices and demand for energy,
plastics, farm chemicals and many other products made with petroleum. During the last week of February,
Americans paid the second biggest weekly increase in gasoline prices in twenty years. This young woman
has to drive a long way to school, so high gas prices mean less money for other things.
