Hollywood Looks Overseas for Talent and Profit

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Over half of ticket sales for American movies now come from other countries. But the industry sees billions lost to piracy. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This year, something happened at the Academy Awards that had not happened since nineteen sixty-four. All the winners for best acting were from outside the United States.

From left, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tilda Swinton, Marion Cotillard and Javier Bardem

Daniel Day-Lewis and Tilda Swinton are British. He won best actor for "There Will Be Blood"; she won best supporting actress for "Michael Clayton." French actress Marion Cotillard won the Oscar for best actress for "La Vie en Rose." And Spain's Javier Bardem won best supporting actor in "No Country for Old Men."

Hollywood is increasingly looking outside America's borders for stars and profit.

Jonathan Taplin is a professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. He says that today, about fifty-four percent of the ticket sales for Hollywood studios now come from outside the United States.

For the last three months of two thousand seven, foreign sales totaled about eight hundred eighty million dollars. But there is fierce competition for each movie dollar.

Hollywood has lost market share in some places as other countries develop their own film industries. For example, in the mid-eighties, American films had eighty percent of the market in South Korea. Today that share is about forty percent.

Hollywood also faces competition from illegally copied movies, a major issue to the Motion Picture Association of America. The trade group estimated more than eighteen billion dollars in worldwide losses from piracy in two thousand five.

Hollywood reporter Alan Silverman says piracy has influenced how American movies are released. In the past, Hollywood studios waited months after the American release of a film to release it in foreign markets. Now, many aim to release films at the same time around the world.

Foreign markets may also influence how people get their movies. Different nations have different levels of technology.

Efforts to settle on the next-generation DVD got a lot of attention recently. Sony's Blu-ray technology for high-definition televisions won the competition with Toshiba's HD DVD format.

Yet DVD sales have dropped in recent years. This may be a sign that people are increasingly getting their movies off the Internet. The Internet is another front in Hollywood's war on piracy. But more than that, it presents complex business questions for an industry now built mostly on DVD and ticket sales.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

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A Rare Disease Can't Stop Will Downing From Making His Romantic Music

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Also: A question from Ghana about the meaning of the American dream. And a report on Leap Day. Transcript of radio broadcast:

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We play music by Will Downing …

Answer a question about the meaning of the American dream …

And explain Leap Day, February twenty-ninth.

(MUSIC)

Leap Day

HOST:

Today, February twenty-ninth, is Leap Day. This date only appears on the calendar once every four years. But why? Faith Lapidus explains.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Everyone knows the Earth takes three hundred sixty-five days to travel around the sun. Well, that is not exactly correct. The Earth really takes three hundred sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eight minutes and forty-six seconds to complete its orbit around the sun.

The problem for people developing calendars was what to do with the extra five hours, forty-eight minutes and forty-six seconds.

People needed calendars to help them know when to plant crops and when to celebrate religious holidays. The ancient Greeks and Chinese had a solution. They produced calendars that included extra months every nineteen years.

The ancient Romans had a different solution. In the year forty-six, the Roman ruler

Pope Gregory the 13th

Julius Caesar made a new calendar. The Julian calendar included an extra day every four years. But there was a problem. The Julian year was just over eleven minutes longer than the cycle of the seasons. In fifteen eighty-two, Pope Gregory the Thirteenth established a new calendar to keep a better record of the days. Pope Gregory was the religious leader of most of Europe. He decided that years that could be divided by four would add a day. However, years that ended in two zeros that could not be evenly divided by four hundred would not be leap years.

For example, the years seventeen hundred, eighteen hundred and nineteen hundred were not leap years. But the years sixteen hundred and two thousand were leap years.

So leap years are years with three hundred sixty-six days, instead of the usual three hundred sixty-five. This extra day is added to the calendar on February twenty-ninth, sometimes known as Leap Day. People born on Leap Day may be called "leaplings." They usually celebrate their birthdays on February twenty-eighth or March first.

(MUSIC)

The American Dream

HOST:

This week’s listener question comes from Ghana. Kwaku Kwakye wants to know the meaning of the expression "the American dream."

Each individual may define the American dream differently. But the general idea is that

Many would say Rosen Sharma from India is enjoying the American dream. He leads an information technology company in Palo Alto, California.

a person in the United States has the freedom to carry out his or her goals. It usually means a person has the chance to work hard, earn money and create a secure life. For many people, this means being able to get a good education, have a good job and own a house. The expression is often linked to immigrants who have come to this country seeking more freedom or a better life than they could have in their own countries.

The definition appeared in nineteen thirty-one in a history book by James Truslow Adams, “The Epic of America.” He wrote that the American dream is “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”

Some people would say that the United States Declaration of Independence first defined the American dream. Thomas Jefferson wrote this document in seventeen seventy-six. It expressed why the American colonies decided to fight British colonial rule in order to become an independent nation. The Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal." And that they have the rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

In the nineteen sixties, the African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior had his own dream for America. He said that America’s declaration that "all men are created equal" is a great expression of the idea of democracy. But he noted that this dream was not a reality. He said that it was the moral duty of Americans to work so that racial minorities and people of different social levels could be treated equally.

An organization called the Center for a New American Dream deals with another kind of dream. Its goal is to help Americans live in ways that protect the environment, improve the quality of life and support social justice.

Do you have any ideas about the American dream? You can send them to special@voanews.com.

Will Downing

(MUSIC)

HOST:

Will Downing

Music critics and fans of Will Downing know him as a skillful singer and songwriter. He is recognized as one of the leading singers of romantic, rhythm and blues music. He has had many loyal fans since his first album in nineteen eighty-eight. He recently released another successful album while dealing with a serious, life-changing sickness. Katherine Cole has more.

(MUSIC)

KATHERINE COLE:

That was “Will’s Groove” from Will Downing's latest record called "After Tonight." It is his thirteenth album in twenty years. It includes songs that combine rhythm and blues and his easy, jazz style of singing.

After recording a few songs for “After Tonight,” Will Downing became sick with a rare, incurable disease called polymyositis. The condition causes severe muscle weakness that makes it difficult to move. Yet, Downing worked very hard to complete his new record. Instead of a studio, he sometimes recorded songs from a hospital bed or a wheelchair in his home.

Although he is facing difficult times, Will Downing says, he remains thankful. He wrote the song “God Is So Amazing” to express his feelings.

(MUSIC)

The other songs on “After Tonight” are the kind of emotional love songs that make Will Downing so popular, especially among women. The words in his songs and his smooth, rich voice tell a story of how wonderful love should be. Here he sings "Satisfy You."

(MUSIC)

We leave you with another love song by Will Downing from his album "After Tonight." Here he sings “No One Can Love You More."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Lawan Davis, Dana Demange and Caty Weaver, who was also our producer.Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

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What to Do About ADHD in Children?

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A study raises questions about the long-term effectiveness of current treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We continue our series on learning disabilities with a problem that is not considered a learning disability by itself, but it can af fect learning. Our subject is attention deficit disorder, A.D.D., and the related form A.D.H.D., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. These affect an estimated five to ten percent of children worldwide.

Children who forget easily and never seem to finish tasks or pay attention might be found to have A.D.D. If, in addition, they seem overly active and unable to control their behavior, a doctor might say it is A.D.H.D.

Experts say the cause involves a chemical imbalance in the brain. It can affect not only school, but also personal relationships and the ability to keep a job later in life. Many of those affected also have learning disabilities or suffer from depression.

Medicines can produce calmer, clearer thinking for periods of time. But the drugs can also have side effects like weight loss and sleep problems. And there is debate about the morality of medicating children.

Susan Smalley is a psychiatry professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. She just led a study of A.D.H.D. in northern Finland. The study found that rates and signs of A.D.H.D. are about the same in children there as in the United States.

The Finnish children are rarely treated with medicine, while medication is widely used in the United States. Yet the study found that the two populations have few differences with A.D.H.D. among older children and teenagers.

Professor Smalley says medication is very effective in the short term. But she says the study raises important questions about the long-term effectiveness of current treatments.

The study also found that only about half the Finnish children diagnosed with A.D.H.D. had deficits in short-term memory and self-control. These cognitive deficits are generally considered part of the definition of A.D.H.D.

The study also found more evidence that A.D.H.D. symptoms change with age. Hyperactivity and lack of self-control decrease. But about two-thirds of children continue to show high levels of inattention as teenagers.

The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry published the study.

Even if drugs are used, experts say children with A.D.H.D. also need other help. For example, they need to learn organizational skills, and they need supportive adults.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach and available at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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American History Series: A 'Great Compromise' on State Representation

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''Why,'' asked Benjamin Franklin, ''do the small states think they will be swallowed if the big states have more representatives in the national legislature?'' Transcript of radio broadcast:

ANNOUNCER:

Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. The history of the United States Constitution is a long and interesting story that we have been telling now for several weeks. Today w e continue with the convention in seventeen eighty-seven where it was written. Here are Frank Oliver and Richard Rael.

VOICE TWO:

Detail from ''Washington as Statesman at the Constitutional Convention,'' by Junius Brutus Stearns, 1856

Last week, we told about the most serious question facing the convention in Philadelphia. It was the question of state representation in the national government. Would small states and large states have an equal voice?

The convention could not agree on a plan. So it created a special committee to develop a compromise. The convention suspended its meetings for the July Fourth Independence Day holiday. But the special committee continued its work. When the convention re-opened, the delegates heard the committee's report. This was its proposal:

The national legislature would have two houses. Representation in one house would be decided by population. Each state would have one representative for every forty thousand people in that state. Representation in the second house would be equal. Each state would have the same number of representatives as the other states.

It was called "The Great Compromise." Delegates knew that the success or failure of the convention depended on this agreement.

VOICE ONE:

The debate between large states and small states lasted for weeks.

The small states truly believed they would lose power to the large states in a national government. Several times, they threatened to leave the convention in protest.

William Paterson of New Jersey, a small state, spoke. "Some of the assembled gentlemen have made it known that if the small states do not agree to a plan, the large states will form a union among themselves. Well, let them unite if they please! They cannot force others to unite."

VOICE TWO:

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, old and in poor health, sat writing quietly during the debate. Now he asked that his words be heard. Franklin asked James Wilson, also of Pennsylvania, to read his statement.

"Why," he asked, "do the small states think they will be swallowed if the big states have more representatives in the national legislature? There is no reason for this fear. The big states will gain nothing if they swallow up the small states. They know this. And so, I believe, they will not try."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

For a long time, the delegates could not agree on representation in the legislature. So they debated other parts of the proposal.

One involved the names of the two houses of the legislature. The delegates used several names. Most, however, spoke of them simply as the First Branch and the Second Branch. We will speak of them by the names used today: the House of Representatives and the Senate.

VOICE TWO:

Next came the questions: Who could be elected to the House and Senate? Who would elect them?

Delegates did not take long to decide the first question. Members of the House, they agreed, must be at least twenty-five years old. They must be a citizen of the United States for seven years. And, at the time of election, they must live in the state in which they are chosen.

Members of the Senate must be at least thirty years old. They must be a citizen of the United States for nine years. And, at the time of election, they must live in the state in which they are chosen.

VOICE ONE:

How long would lawmakers serve? Roger Sherman of Connecticut thought representatives to the House should be elected every year. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts agreed. He thought a longer term would lead to a dictatorship.

James Madison of Virginia protested. "It will take almost one year," he said, "just for lawmakers to travel to and from the seat of government!" Madison proposed a three-year term. But the delegates finally agreed on two years.

There were many ideas about the term for senators. A few delegates thought they should be elected for life. In the end, the convention agreed on a Senate term of six years.

VOICE TWO:

Next came a debate about the lawmakers' pay. How much should they get? Or should they be paid at all?

Some delegates thought the states should pay their representatives to the national legislature. Others said the national legislature should decide its own pay and take it from the national treasury.

That idea, James Madison argued, was shameful. He thought the amount should be set by the Constitution. Again, Madison lost the argument. The Constitution says that lawmakers will be paid for their services and that the money will come from the national treasury.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The question of who should elect the lawmakers raised an interesting issue. It concerned democracy. In seventeen eighty-seven, the word "democracy" meant something very different from what it means today. To many of the men meeting in Philadelphia, it meant mob rule. To give power to the people was an invitation to anarchy.

"The people," Roger Sherman declared, "should have as little to do as possible with the government." Elbridge Gerry said, "The evils we have seen around us flow from too much democracy."

From such statements, one can see why the delegates sharply debated any proposal calling for the people to elect the national lawmakers.

VOICE TWO:

Sherman, Gerry, and others wanted the state legislatures to choose national lawmakers.

George Mason of Virginia argued for popular elections. "The people will be represented," Mason said, "so they should choose their representatives." James Wilson agreed. "I wish to see the power of the government flow immediately from the lawful source of that power. . .the people."

James Madison stated firmly that the people must elect at least one branch of the national legislature. That, he said, was a basic condition for free government. The majority of the convention agreed with Mason, Wilson, and Madison. The delegates agreed that members of the House of Representatives should be elected directly by the people.

VOICE ONE:

The convention now considered the method of choosing senators. Four ideas were proposed. Senators could be elected by the House, by the president, by the state legislatures, or by the people. Arguments for and against were similar to those for choosing representatives for the House.

In the end, a majority of the delegates agreed that the state legislatures would choose the senators. And that is what the Constitution says. It remained that way for more than one hundred years. In nineteen thirteen, the states approved the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment permits the people to vote directly to elect the senators.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The convention voting record. This page shows the final vote on the draft Constitution, September 15, 1787

Finally, the time came for the convention to face the issue of representation in the House and Senate. The large states wanted representation based on population. The small states wanted equal representation.

The delegates had voted on the issue several times since the convention began. But both sides stood firm. Yet they knew they could not continue to vote forever, day after day.

On July fifth, the Grand Committee presented a two-part compromise based on Roger Sherman's ideas. The compromise provided something for large states and something for small states. It called for representation based on population in the House and equal representation in the Senate.

The committee said both parts of the compromise must be accepted or both rejected. On July sixteenth, the convention voted on the issue for the last time. It accepted the Great Compromise.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Christine Johnson. The narrators were Frank Oliver and Richard Rael.

We have more to come in the story of the Constitution. Then, in the weeks ahead, we introduce you to some of America’s early presidents. And we tell the story of the Civil War.

If American history interests you, then join us here each week for THE MAKING OF A NATION in VOA Special English. More than two hundred programs are in our series. This was number twenty-two.

THE MAKING OF A NATION has its own history. The series was first heard on radio in nineteen sixty-nine. New programs have continually been added, but many that were recorded long ago are still replayed.

And now, thanks to the Internet, we can offer transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, at voaspecialenglish.com.

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Midlife Crisis and U

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A study says most people live a U-shaped life -- happiest when they are young and old, but middle age is emotionally low. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A new study shows that unhappiness in middle age, also known as midlife crisis, is a universal experience.

Two economists did the study: Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England and David Blanchflower at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. They used information collected earlier on two million people from eighty nations.

Who is happiest?

They found that people around the world seem to share an emotional design in life. That design, they say, is shaped like the letter U. Levels of happiness are highest when people are young and when they are old. In the middle, however, most people's happiness and life satisfaction levels drop.

Professor Oswald says some people suffer from midlife depression more than others. But, he says, it happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor and to those with and without children.

Generally speaking, people reach their lowest levels between the ages of about forty and fifty-five. But then, as they continue into old age, their happiness starts to climb back up.

What the research does not show is why all this happens. Professor Oswald says one possibility is that people recognize their limitations in middle age and give up on some long-held dreams.

Or perhaps people who are happier live longer, and this is responsible for a growing percentage of happy older people. Or, he says, maybe people have seen others their age die and they value more their own remaining years.

The report is to be published in the journal Social Science and Medicine.

Last December, government researchers reported a big increase in suicides among middle-aged people in the United States. They looked at injury-related death rates by age group from nineteen ninety-nine to two thousand four. They found that suicide increased almost twenty percent among people ages forty-five to fifty-four. No one is sure why.

By comparison, rates generally fell for those sixty-five and older. And for people twenty to twenty-nine the suicide rate was nearly unchanged.

The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that the findings are subject to some limitations. For example, accidental drug poisonings might sometimes be mistaken for suicides.

Over all, suicides in the United States increased four percent from nineteen ninety-nine to two thousand four. That year thirty-two thousand four hundred people took their own lives.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. I’m Jim Tedder.

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Doc Holliday: One of the Most Famous, and Dangerous, Gunfighters of the Old West

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You can visit his burial place in Colorado. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

This is Phoebe Zimmermann.

VOICE TWO:

Doc Holliday

And this is Doug Johnson with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Many stories have been told about the old American West. Some are true. Many more are just interesting stories. Today we will try to tell the true story of one of the most famous and dangerous American gun fighters. His name was John Henry Holliday. He was better known as “Doc”.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The little city of Glenwood Springs is deep in the Rocky Mountains in the western state of Colorado. The mountains here rise sharply out of the ground and surround Glenwood Springs.

A small burial area in Glenwood Springs is called the Pioneer Cemetery. You have to walk up a steep hill on an old dirt road to reach it. The walk takes about twenty minutes. Visitors can stop at several places along this walk to look at the city far blow.

In the cemetery, large stones mark most of the burial places. Some of the stones look new. Many are more than one hundred years old.

VOICE TWO:

A dirt path leads to the back of the cemetery and one, lone, burial place. This one is the reason most people come to the Pioneer Cemetery. The stone over the burial place is colored red, and larger than most of the others. A small black metal fence surrounds the grave.

The name on the stone says “Doc Holliday… He died in bed.” This man’s real name was John Henry Holliday. He was called “Doc” because he was a doctor of dental surgery, a dentist. But he was best known as a gunfighter and gambler, a person who plays games of chance for money. Many people who knew him considered him the most dangerous man in the Old West.

VOICE ONE:

It is extremely difficult to separate truth from the false stories that were spread about some of the more famous people in the Old West. Many of these famous stories are very interesting and exciting. But they are not true. Many of these made-up stories tell about the man who was Doc Holliday.

History experts say he was a very dangerous man because he was already dying when he came to the West. He knew he had the lung disease tuberculosis that causes a slow death. Many experts said he was not afraid of a gunfight. He thought a quick death from a bullet might be better than waiting to die a very slow, painful death from the disease.

VOICE TWO:

Another interesting fact about Doc Holliday is that many history experts now believe he may have spread several of the stories that were told about him. He may have done this because it caused people to fear him. If they feared him, they would not cause him trouble. It was not difficult to find trouble in many towns in the American West. And disputes about who had won a game of chance were always a possibility for a professional gambler like Doc Holliday.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

John Henry Holliday was born in the southern state of Georgia in eighteen fifty-one. He was born into a family that included several medical doctors and dentists. Like most young men of the American South at that time, John Henry Holliday learned to ride a horse well. He learned to shoot several kinds of weapons.

He also was well educated. He learned math and science. He learned to read, write and speak Greek, Latin and French.

A young black women who worked for his family taught him to play card games. John Holliday became a very good card player. He could easily remember which cards had been played in a game. This was very difficult to do. It helped him much later in life when he became a professional gambler.

In eighteen seventy, John became a student at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in Philadelphia. He graduated in eighteen seventy-two.

VOICE TWO:

John Holliday was a tall man. He was thin and always dressed well. He was a quiet, friendly man who always smiled. People liked him. Doctor Holliday began working as a dentist in the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia. He soon began to show the signs of tuberculosis, the same disease that had killed his mother. His doctor said he would live longer if he went to a warm, very dry place -- perhaps the American West.

In eighteen seventy-three, John Holliday said goodbye to his family and left Georgia on a train. He began his new life in the western city of Dallas, Texas.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Doctor Holliday tried to work as a dentist for about four years. He was not very successful. Many people did not want to be treated by a dentist they knew had tuberculosis. He spent a great deal of time drinking alcohol in a saloon. It was here that be became known as “Doc” Holliday.

Wyatt Earp

Holliday traveled in Texas and Colorado for the next several years. He became a professional gambler. In eighteen seventy-seven, he was living in the small town of Fort Griffin, Texas. Here he met a man who was to become one of his best friends. That man was a former law officer, gunfighter and gambler. His name was Wyatt Earp. Soon after meeting Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday killed a man during a card game.

The man had reached for a gun. Doc Holliday was much quicker using a long knife. He had to leave Fort Griffin and Texas very quickly.

The friendship continued between Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. In Dodge City, Kansas, Holliday saved Earp’s life late one night. A man drew his gun behind Wyatt Earp. Doc Holliday yelled a warning, drew his gun and shot the man.

VOICE TWO:

Wyatt Earp had several brothers. They were a close family. Many experts believe that the Earp brothers were a replacement for the family Doc Holliday had left in Georgia. Wyatt and his brothers Morgan and Virgil remained close friends with Doc Holliday for the rest of their lives.

Doc Holliday had become well known in the West. He became even more famous after he followed the Earp brothers to the town of Tombstone, Arizona. In Tombstone he took part in the most famous shooting incident in western history.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

That shooting incident in Tombstone is known as “The Gunfight at the OK Corral.” It took place on October twenty-sixth, eighteen eighty-one. It involved Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday. Virgil Earp was an officer of the law. He was on his way to arrest several men. Wyatt and Morgan went with him to help.

Doc Holliday joined them as they walked down the street. The men they were going to arrest were also brothers -- Ike and Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McLaury.

VOICE TWO:

As the two groups came together, Virgil Earp demanded that the Clantons and McLaurys raise their hands and surrender. They refused. No one knows who fired the first shot. All the men began shooting at once.

The tombstone of Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton

When it was over, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury and Tom McLaury were dead. Ike Clanton had run away. Morgan and Virgil Earp were wounded, but they survived. Neither Doc Holliday nor Wyatt Earp was hurt.

Political enemies of the Earp Brothers wanted a trial. The Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday were arrested and tried. The jury found them innocent. It said they were trying to disarm a group of men who wanted a fight.

A few months later, an unknown gunman killed Morgan Earp. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday began to hunt the killers. They killed several men known to have been involved in the murder of Morgan Earp.

VOICE ONE:

No one really knows how many gunfights Doc Holliday took part in. No one knows just how many people died as a result. Some books say he was responsible for the deaths of as many as thirty men. But most experts say the number is closer to eight.

History books will tell you Doc Holliday was arrested several times. Most of the time he was arrested for playing illegal games of chance. He was also arrested after several shootings. Often the charges were dismissed because he was only defending himself. The few times he faced a criminal trial he was found to be innocent.

In the last years of Doc Holliday’s life, the West had changed a great deal. The people there no longer wanted gunfighters or gamblers.

Doc Holliday may have won in games of chance and in several gunfights. However, he could not use his guns against tuberculosis. He died in his bed, in the little city of Glenwood Springs, Colorado on November eighth, eighteen eighty-seven. He was thirty-six years old.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. This is Doug Johnson.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

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Wheat Production Rises in Face of World Demand

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The F.A.O. points to a big increase in winter plantings in northern countries. But low supplies may keep prices from coming down quickly. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Wheat supplies around the world are at their lowest level in thirty years. Wheat supplies in the United States are at their lowest in sixty years.

But the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome has some good news. It says a big increase in winter wheat plantings in northern countries is likely to result in much higher production this year. The F.A.O. points out, though, that these predictions are based on normal weather conditions.

Wheat production last year is now estimated at just over six hundred million tons. That was up one percent from two thousand six -- not as much as had been hoped. Almost all of the increase was among large producers in Asia.

Prices are up sharply for wheat but also for most other cereal crops. The F.A.O. says big production increases may be required for more than one season for prices to fall much below their recent highs.

The United States Department of Agriculture has come out with its own agricultural predictions, to the year two thousand seventeen. Wheat plantings in the United States are expected to rise sharply this year in reaction to high prices. But wheat hectarage is expected to fall back for the longer term as a result of competition from other crops.

The United States is the leading exporter of wheat. The government says that by summer, American farmers will export one-fifth more than earlier predicted. But demand is also up at home. More wheat is needed for animal feed to replace corn being grown to make fuel.

World wheat supplies are also down because in some countries, including the United States, bad weather has reduced production.

Something else that can reduce wheat production is the wheat curl mite. In nineteen ninety-five, it caused about thirty-five million dollars in damage in the American Midwest. It causes an infection called wheat streak mosaic virus.

Government experts say pesticides are not especially effective against the wheat curl mite. But this year, the Agricultural Research Service at the Department of Agriculture is making a new winter wheat available to resist the virus.

Robert Graybosch developed it with scientists from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Kansas State University. The new wheat is called Mace. The scientists say in tests, two to three times more Mace was harvested from virus-infected fields than other kinds of wheat.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Bob Doughty.

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Have a Headache? You Are Not Alone

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Information about headaches, from the mildly unpleasant to the extremely painful. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Today we tell about headaches, the head pain that strikes almost everyone at some time.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Have you had a headache recently? If your answer is yes, you are like many millions of people worldwide who experience pain in the head. The pain can be temporary, mild and cured by a simple painkiller like aspirin. Or, it can be severe.

The National Headache Foundation says more than forty five million people in the United States suffer chronic headaches. Such headaches cause severe pain that goes away but returns later.

Some headaches may prove difficult and require time to treat. But many experts today are working toward cures or major help for chronic headaches.

VOICE TWO:

The US Headache Consortium is a group with seven member organizations. They are attempting to improve treatment of one kind of headache -- the migraine. Some people experience this kind of pain as often as two weeks every month. The National Headache Foundation says about seventy percent of migraine sufferers are women.

Some people describe the pain as similar to a repeated beat. Others compare it to someone driving a sharp object into the head. Migraine headaches cause Americans to miss more than one hundred fifty million workdays each year. A migraine can be mild. But it also can be so severe that a person cannot live a normal life.

VOICE ONE:

One migraine sufferer lives in Ellicott City, Maryland. Video producer Curtis Croley had head pain as a child. He does not know what kind of headaches they were. But when he suffered severe headaches as an adult, doctors identified the problem as migraine.

Today, Mister Croley says months can pass without a headache. But then he will have three migraines within a month. If he takes the medicine his doctor ordered early in his headache, it controls the pain. If not, the pain in his head becomes extremely bad. Sometimes he has had to be treated with a combination of drugs in a hospital.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Some people take medicine every day to prevent or ease migraine headaches. Others use medicine to control pain already developed. Doctors treating migraine sufferers often order medicines from a group of drugs known as triptans.

Most migraines react at least partly to existing medicine. And most people can use existing medicine without experiencing bad effects. Doctors sometimes use caffeine to treat migraine headaches. Interestingly, caffeine also can cause some migraines.

VOICE ONE:

Medical experts have long recognized the work of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic says several foods are suspected of causing migraines. Cheese and alcoholic drinks are among them. Food additives like nitrates and monosodium glutamate also are suspected causes.

The Mayo Clinic tells patients to avoid strong smells that have seemingly started migraines in the past. Some people react badly to products like perfume, even if they have a pleasant smell.

The Clinic's experts say aerobic exercise can help migraine sufferers. Aerobic exercise increases a person's heart rate. It can include walking, swimming or riding a bicycle. But a sudden start to hard exercise can cause headaches.

The experts advise that people should plan to exercise, eat and sleep at the same times each day.

VOICE TWO:

The Mayo Clinic has advice about estrogen for women who suffer from migraines. The female body makes estrogen. Drugs like birth control pills contain a version of this chemical.

Such medicines may produce headaches or cause them to worsen, the Clinic says. The same is true for estrogen replacement drugs for women. Doctors sometimes order estrogen replacement for women who no longer able to have children.

VOICE ONE:

The Clinic also says hypnotherapy might help suppress headaches. It says the method could reduce the number and severity of a patient’s headaches. In hypnotherapy, willing people are placed in a condition that lets them receive suggestions. They look like they are sleeping. The suggestions they receive may be able to direct their whole mental energy against pain.

The Mayo Clinic says the hypnotizer can never control the person under hypnosis. It also says the hypnotized person will remember what happened during the treatment.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

More people suffer tension headaches than migraines. But most tension headaches are not as powerful.

Events that start tension headaches may include emotional pressure and the deeper than normal sadness called depression. Other tension headaches can start from something as simple as tiredness. Common changes in atmospheric conditions also can be responsible.

The Mayo Clinic says you may feel a tension headache as tightness in the skin around your eyes. Or, you may feel pressure around your head. Episodic tension headaches strike from time to time. Chronic tension headaches happen more often. A tension headache can last from a half hour to a whole week.

VOICE ONE:

The Mayo Clinic says the pain may come very early in the day. Other signs can include pain in the neck or the lower part of the head. Scientists are not sure what causes tension headaches. For years, researchers blamed muscle tension from tightening in the face, neck and the skin on top of the head. They believed emotional tension caused these movements.

But that belief has been disputed. A test called an electromyogram shows that muscle tension does not increase in people with a tension headache. The test records electrical currents caused by muscle activity. Such research has caused the International Headache Society to re-name the tension headache. The group now calls it a tension-type headache.

VOICE TWO:

Some scientists now believe that tension headaches may result from changes among brain chemicals such as serotonin. The changes may start sending pain messages to the brain. These changes may interfere with brain activity that suppresses pain.

Medicines for tension headache can be as simple as aspirin or other painkillers. But if your pain is too severe, you will need a doctor's advice.

VOICE ONE:

A web site called Family Doctor dot org provides information from the American Academy of Family Physicians. The group suggests steps to ease or end a tension headache.

For example, it says putting heat or ice on your head or neck can help. So can standing under hot water while you are getting washed. The group also advises exercising often. Another idea is taking a holiday from work. But you had better ask your employer first.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Ask anyone with a cluster headache, and they will tell you that the pain is terrible. The Cleveland Clinic Headache Center in Ohio says the cluster headache can be many times more intense than a migraine.

Cluster headaches usually strike young people. Smokers and persons who drink alcohol often get these headaches. Men are about six times more likely than women to have them. The Cleveland Clinic says this is especially true of younger men. Doctors say cluster headaches often strike during changes of season.

Cluster headache patients describe the pain as burning. The pain is almost always felt on one side of the face. It can last for up to ninety minutes. Then it stops. But it often starts again later the same day. Eighty to ninety percent of cluster headache patients have pain over a number of days to a whole year. Pain-free periods separate these periods.

VOICE ONE:

The Cleveland Clinic says the cause of cluster headaches is in a brain area known as a trigeminal-autonomic reflex pathway. When the nerve is made active, it starts pain linked to cluster headaches. The nerve starts a process that makes one eye watery and red.

Studies have shown that activation of the trigeminal nerve may come from a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The Cleveland Clinic says injections of the drug sumatriptan can help. Many other drugs also could be used. For example, doctors say breathing oxygen also can help.

Thankfully, modern medicine has ways to treat almost all of our headaches.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

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Snow Business in US: Skiing Into the World of Winter Wonderlands

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Skiing, snowboarding and mountain resorts add up to billions of dollars. Why an industry that can make its own snow is still concerned about climate change. Transcript of radio broadcast:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. This week on our program, we look at the business of skiing and snowboarding in the United States.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

A snowboarder catches air near Georgetown, Colorado

Snow sports are a big business. Ski areas help support local economies. One hundred sixty-five thousand people work in the mountain resort industry. It earns five billion dollars a year.

The president of the National Ski Areas Association provided these numbers to a Senate committee last May. Michael Berry wanted lawmakers in Congress to know that his members are concerned about an issue: global warming.

Snow sports, after all, are not just a business, but a business that depends on the weather.

VOICE TWO:

The ski season in the United States generally extends from late November until the middle of April. But this season, areas in the West have experienced record amounts of snowfall. Some ski resorts are planning to stay open longer.

Last season, thirty-seven of the fifty states had operating ski areas. Nationally, close to five hundred ski areas were open for business. The five states with the most ski areas were New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, California and Pennsylvania.

The industry recorded more than fifty-five million visits. That was close to the average for the past ten seasons, but down six percent from the season before. The National Ski Areas Association says the main reason was the weather.

VOICE ONE:

Hitting the slopes in Vail, Colorado

The ski season was shortened in most of the United States because of warm temperatures and below-average snowfall. This was true everywhere except the Rocky Mountains, in the West. Resorts there reported a record twenty million visits last season. The Rocky Mountains extend through several states including Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho.

The largest ski resort in the United States is Vail, Colorado. The town of Vail and the nearby Vail Mountain make up the resort. The mountain is more than three thousand five hundred meters high.

A ski trip does not have to cost thousands of dollars. Many people go for a day or two and rent skis instead of buying them. But people with enough money to stay at a nice resort might also have enough for some special things. Like riding to the top of the mountain in a helicopter instead of on a ski lift.

And ski areas do not have to be outdoors or open only in winter. The first indoor ski dome in the United States is expected to open late this year in New Jersey.

VOICE TWO:

The United States has three hundred million people. The National Sporting Goods Association says more than six million of them participate in downhill skiing. Two million are cross-country skiers. And more than five million snowboard.

Snowboarding gained popularity in the nineteen sixties and seventies. By the early eighties, less than ten percent of ski areas in the United States permitted snowboarding. Many skiers considered it a danger. But today only a few places still ban snowboarding.

VOICE ONE:

Snowboarders are generally younger than skiers.

Alex Lebonitte is twenty-four years old and a personal trainer in Virginia. He finds that snowboarding is not that much more fun than skiing. He feels the speed more on a snowboard than on two skis, and he likes that.

But what he especially likes is that snowboarding is more comfortable than skiing, he says. The boots are softer, not as much equipment is needed -- and, he says, everything stays attached when you fall.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

When a mountain has a lot of snow, there may be danger of an avalanche. Snow slides are powerful, and they can be deadly, burying anything in their path. To reduce the risk of an avalanche, ski areas might use artillery and other explosives to produce controlled slides.

Ski areas need a lot of snow. But what happens when there is not enough? In that case, they make their own.

Snow making machines are the reason many ski resorts can stay open more than a few months a year. These machines also make it possible to create better ski conditions than nature may provide.

VOICE ONE:

Ski operators point out that their snow is really no different from the snow that falls from the sky.

Snow crystals are ice particles that usually form around a piece of dust in the atmosphere. All snow crystals have six sides, but they form different shapes. The shape depends mainly on the temperature and water levels in the air. Snow crystals produce snowflakes when they stick together.

Making snow requires water, cold temperatures and some dust particles. A machine called a snow gun mixes cooled water and compressed air. A pipe carries water into the gun from a lake or pond.

A second pipe pushes in high-pressure air from a compressor. The compressed air causes the water to divide into many tiny particles. It also blows the drops into the air and helps cool them at the same time.

The drops freeze before they hit the ground, producing snow. Some ski areas place the snow guns on towers high above the ground, giving the particles more time to freeze.

VOICE TWO:

But there is more to making snow than just the equipment. Weather conditions must be correct. These conditions involve air temperature and humidity, the amount of water in the air. The drier the air, the easier it is to make snow.

Today many ski areas use computers to measure the conditions and start the snow making when the conditions are best. And ski areas want snow making machines to produce different kinds of snow, just like nature.

Dry snow contains only a small amount of water. This light, powdery snow is excellent for skiing. Ski resorts want the top layer of snow on a mountain to be dry. Under the dry snow, they want wet snow, to build up the levels for skiers.

VOICE ONE:

Environmental groups are concerned about the use of large amounts of energy and water to make snow at ski areas. Many ski operators in the United States are trying to improve the situation with machines that need less energy and water. The Killington ski resort in the northeastern state of Vermont recently invested more than five million dollars to improve its snowmaking system.

Other resorts have reduced the amount of compressed air their machines use; producing it takes energy. Some resorts are using snow guns that can make snow without the need for any compressed air.

VOICE TWO:

Taking a break to check out the Zephyr at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort

Another ski area in the Northeast, the Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Massachusetts, has built a wind turbine to produce energy. The turbine began operating in August of two thousand seven. Jiminy Peak says it is the only mountain resort in North America to produce its own power using wind energy.

Katie Fogel is the director of public relations. She says the wind turbine is producing fifty percent of the resort's energy needs, and thirty-five to forty percent of the energy needed to produce snow.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Snow making equipment is not the only technology found at ski areas. Skiers can use global positioning satellites to avoid getting lost. And, if there is wireless service, they can use their mobile phones to warn others of dangerous conditions, or to call for help.

Another modern safety device is the avalanche beacon. Avalanche beacons are devices that send out a signal to help in locating people buried under snow. There are also personal locator beacons which transmit an emergency signal to satellites.

Ski areas usually have programs to teach safety. Many have also increased their number of employees to supervise visitors. The National Ski Areas Association says accidents generally involve young men traveling at high speed.

An average of thirty-seven people a year have been killed skiing or snowboarding during the past ten years. The association reports that last season there were twenty-two deaths, most of them skiers. Forty other people were seriously injured; forty percent of them were snowboarders.

VOICE TWO:

Amy Kemp is communications manager for Vail Resorts in Colorado. She says one of the most important technological improvements in skiing in the past ten years is the ski itself.

She says the changes in design and shape have made skiing easier, safer and more fun. For example, skis that turn up at both ends, instead of just the front, make it easier to do tricks.

And skiers do not have to work as hard as they used to, she says. Now they can change direction without any more effort than moving an ankle.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Jerilyn Watson, and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs are at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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A Business Plan for Social Change

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TechnoServe is a 40-year-old group that has helped create or improve more than 2,000 businesses in the developing world. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Starting a business is never easy. But an organization like TechnoServe can make it easier. A businessman in the American state of Connecticut, Ed Bullard, launched this nonprofit group forty years ago. The name comes from the idea of technology in the service of mankind.

TechnoServe looks for business solutions to rural poverty. Or, as it says on its Web site, "social change has a business plan." The group has helped create or improve more than two thousand businesses in about thirty countries.

Luba Vangelova works for TechnoServe in Washington, D.C. She tells us the group has an estimated budget this year of about forty-five million dollars. She says much of that will support business training and development programs in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

In parts of Central America, for example, TechnoServe is helping coffee producers become competitive in new and growing markets. In rural India the group is assisting farmers with crop production. And in Mozambique, TechnoServe is helping develop the travel and tourism industry.

Some finalists of the 2007 Believe Begin Become competition in Tanzania

One way it identifies promising entrepreneurs is through a business plan competition called Believe Begin Become. This is an intensive program that provides technical training and expert advice.

Winners receive money to bring their business plans to reality. TechnoServe has held nine national competitions in Central America since two thousand two. Five competitions have been held in Africa, including one in Tanzania last year.

SPEAKER: "B.B.B. has been a breakthrough for me. Finally I am going to own my own business. And I am going to employ people."

A TechnoServe channel on YouTube describes Believe Begin Become and some of the winning business plans. Luba Vangelova says TechnoServe also supports entrepreneurship programs for teenagers and young adults.

Charity Navigator, an independent group that rates American charities, has given TechnoServe its highest rating.

And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. A link to TechnoServe can be found at voaspecialenglish.com, along with transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports.

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Blizzard: Don't Let This Expression Snow You

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Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

(MUSIC)

Some popular American expressions come from areas of the United States where people experience problems of living in cold winter weather.

Winters in the northern United States are always cold and snowy. Sometimes, heavy snow is brought by violent storms with high winds and extremely low temperatures. Americans call these storms, blizzards.

Blizzards are usually described as blinding, because no one can see through the blowing snow.

Until about one hundred twenty years ago, the word blizzard had nothing to do with snow. It had several other meanings. One was a sharp blow, like hitting a ball with a stick. Another meaning was a gun shot. A third was any sort of statement or event that was the most extreme of its kind.

An especially violent and heavy snowstorm struck the state of Iowa in eighteen seventy. The newspaper editor in one small town called the terrible storm a blizzard, because it was the worst winter storm in a long time. This use of the word spread across the country in the next few years. Soon, any especially bad winter storm was called a blizzard.

Although no one likes a blizzard, many people love snow. It changes the appearance of everything around us. When snow is falling, the world seems somehow soft, peaceful and quiet. Snow, especially in large amounts, covers everything.

But too much snow is a real problem. Heavy, deep snow is difficult to move. Clearing snow from roads and sidewalks is hard work. Someone who is snowed under has a lot of snow to clear.

That expression, snowed under, also has another meaning. Anyone who has too much work to do is snowed under. You might explain to a friend that you cannot see her tonight, because you are snowed under with work.

It also is possible to snow someone under with words. The idea is to change someone's mind by making a great many pleasant, but false, statements or claims. That is a snow job.

A boy may use a snow job, for example, to try to get a girl to go out with him. The pretty words of his snow job are like the snow flakes that cover the real world around us. However, snow jobs, unlike blizzards, are easily seen through.

We hope you have enjoyed our attempts to explain some popular American winter expressions. And that wish is no snow job.

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Marilyn Christiano. The narrator was Maurice Joyce. I'm Warren Scheer.

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Annie Oakley, 1860-1926: One of the Most Famous Sharpshooters in American History

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English program. Today we report about Annie Oakley, a woman who became famous for her ability to shoot a gun and hit very small objects.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Annie Oakley

There are hundreds of stories about Annie Oakley. Many of the stories involve her adventures in the American Wild West. Others tell about her travels with Native American tribes. However, most of the stories are not true. She did not grow up in the Wild West, nor did she fight in any battles. Annie Oakley was a performer in a traveling Wild West show. She used her skill at shooting a gun to become one of the most famous sharp shooters in American history.

VOICE TWO:

Annie Oakley was born in eighteen sixty in Darke County, Ohio. Her real name was Phoebe Ann Mosey. When she was six years old, her father died of pneumonia. Her family was very poor. She did not attend school. When she was nine years old, Annie went to live with another family on a farm. Then she became a servant for still another family. She later said that this new family abused her.

When Annie returned to live with her own family, she decided to help them earn money. She taught herself how to shoot her grandfather's gun and began hunting animals for food. She could shoot the animals without ruining the important parts of the meat.

She sold the animals to the people in her town. When she was fifteen years old, she had made enough money to pay for her family’s farm.

VOICE ONE:

Soon her ability to shoot a gun became well known in her town. When she was sixteen years old, she was invited to a shooting contest with a famous marksman named Frank Butler. Frank Butler claimed that he could shoot better than anyone else. Annie surprised everyone when she won the competition. She shot all twenty-five targets, while Frank Butler was only able to shoot twenty-four of them. Perhaps their shooting abilities attracted them to one another, because Annie and Frank married in eighteen seventy-six.

VOICE TWO:

In eighteen eighty-two, Annie took the name Oakley. She and Frank Butler started putting on shows together, demonstrating their abilities to shoot a gun. Frank Butler was the star of the show and Annie Oakley was his assistant. However, sometimes she did her own shooting. Two years later, Annie Oakley met the famous Native American chief, Sitting Bull, at a performance. The chief liked her skill in shooting and also her personality. They became friends. He gave her the name “Little Sure Shot” because of her shooting ability and because she was only one and one-half meters tall.

(MUSIC: "Colonel Buffalo Bill")

VOICE ONE:

Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill

In eighteen eighty-five, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler joined another traveling show. It was called “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.” William Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, ran the show. For sixteen years, Annie Oakley was the star of the show while Frank Butler was her assistant. Posters for the show called her a “Champion Markswoman.”

The Wild West show became very famous all over the United States. All of the performers demonstrated their skills. Many of the performers had fought in real gun battles while settling the western part of the United States. They wanted to bring the excitement and mystery of the Wild West to a show that people would like to watch.

VOICE TWO:

Annie Oakley did tricks that showed off how good she was at aiming and shooting a gun. She could shoot a small metal coin thrown in the air from twenty-seven meters away. She could shoot the thin edge of a playing card and then shoot it six more times as it fell to the ground. She could shoot the ashes off of a cigarette her husband Frank Butler held in his mouth.

In eighteen eighty-seven, Buffalo Bill took the whole Wild West show to Europe. They traveled to many countries and gave many performances. They performed in England for Queen Victoria. Annie Oakley received a lot of attention. The newspapers wrote stories about her and she took part in many shooting contests.

VOICE ONE:

The Wild West show returned to Europe two years later. By this time, Annie Oakley had become even more famous. The Wild West show performed in Paris, France, for six months. Then the performers traveled to Germany, Italy and Spain. In Germany, the Crown Prince asked Oakley to shoot the ashes off of a cigarette that he held in his mouth, as she famously had done with her husband. She asked the Prince to hold the cigarette in his hand instead and did the trick easily.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

When the Wild West show returned to the United States, Buffalo Bill decided to change it to include scenes from the life and culture of the Wild West. These scenes included train robberies, gunfights and conflicts with Native American Indians.

In nineteen-oh-one, Annie Oakley was in a train crash that badly injured her back. She had five operations. Annie and Frank wanted to stop traveling so much and have their own home. So they left the Wild West show. They built a home in Cambridge, Maryland. They liked this area because it had a nice community and there were many places they could go hunting. Annie Oakley and Frank Butler took part in community activities. Oakley gave shooting lessons and demonstrations at the local county fair.

VOICE ONE:

Annie Oakley wrote a book about her life that was published in nineteen fourteen. It was called “Powders I Have Used.” She also wrote many stories about hunting and fishing. Some of these articles tried to get other women to begin hunting. She also tried to get women to learn how to shoot a gun so that they could defend themselves.

During World War One, Annie Oakley offered to help the military. She proposed to train a group of women volunteers who would become soldiers in the war. However, the United States did not accept this offer. She also offered to give the American troops shooting lessons. She traveled across the country and visited many training camps. She gave shooting demonstrations and raised money for medicine and supplies.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen twenty-five, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler moved back to Ohio to be near her family. They continued to give performances. But Annie Oakley was sick. She died on November third, nineteen twenty-six. Her husband Frank Butler died eighteen days later.

Annie Oakley has been remembered in many ways. People have written movies, songs, plays, books and television shows about her. One of the most famous examples is the Broadway musical play called “Annie Get Your Gun.” Irving Berlin wrote it in nineteen forty-six. In one of the famous songs from the musical, Annie Oakley and Frank Butler sing "Anything You Can Do." The singers are Ethel Merman and Bruce Yarnell.

(MUSIC: "Anything You Can Do")

VOICE ONE:

The musical is still being performed today to remember a woman with an unusual skill. She showed that women could be just as good, if not better, than men. We leave you with "There's No Business Like Show Business" from "Annie Get Your Gun."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Erin Braswell and produced by Lawan Davis. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember. You can learn more about famous Americans on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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The Price of Pleasure

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A study finds that a $90 wine is not as tasty when it costs only $10. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Usually we think about material qualities when we think about the pleasure we will get from a product. When something costs a lot, we might think about all the fine work that went into it. But can price alone influence the pleasure we experience?

How much for a good glass of wine?

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology and the Stanford Graduate School of Business say yes.

Hilke Plassmann, John O'Doherty and Antonio Rangel at Caltech and Baba Shiv at Stanford did a study. They had twenty people taste different wines. Wine was chosen because it comes in many different qualities and prices, and because a lot of people enjoy tasting it.

The people were told they were tasting five different Cabernet Sauvignons. The wines were identified only by price: five, ten, thirty-five, forty-five and ninety dollars.

But in truth there were only three different wines, and two of them were presented twice, at a high price and a low price. For example, the wine that in fact cost ninety dollars a bottle was presented half the time as a ten dollar wine.

There were two important results from the study.

First, the individuals, on average, reported greater pleasure from drinking wine that they were told was higher in price. Brain images taken while the people tasted the wine supported this finding.

Activity, represented by blood-oxygen levels, increased in an area of the brain thought to process "experienced pleasantness." Experiments have shown that the medial orbitofrontal cortex processes the experience of enjoyment from smells, taste and music. The new findings will add to the limited knowledge of how marketing affects brain activity.

The second result has meaning for economists and marketers. The experiment appears to confirm that raising the price can increase how much a product is enjoyed. In other words, when it comes to expectations, it seems you really do get what you pay for.

The study is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Finally, we want to update our recent story on the fight over next-generation DVD technology for high definition televisions. This week, the Toshiba company in Japan announced the end of its HD DVD business, crushed by Sony's Blu-ray format.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty.

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There Will Be Stars on Sunday at the Academy Awards in Hollywood

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A look at the movies, actors and music nominated for this year's Oscars. Transcript of radio broadcast:

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week, we tell about the movies, actors and music nominated for Academy Awards.

The eightieth Academy Awards ceremony takes place Sunday at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, California. Hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the world will watch the show on television. It is the most exciting event of the year for people who make movies and for people who love to watch them. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Getting ready for the 80th Academy Awards

On Sunday, actors, directors, writers, producers and others will gather in Hollywood, California, the center of the American film industry. They will receive Academy Awards for the best acting, directing, writing, editing, music and other work on movies released last year.

The winners will receive an award called an Oscar. This statue is shaped like a man. It is made of several metals covered with gold. The Oscar is only about thirty-four centimeters tall. It weighs less than four kilograms. But the award is extremely valuable for the people who receive it. People who win an Oscar become much more famous. They often get offers to work in the best movies. They can also earn much more money.

Five movies are competing for Best Picture of the year. Two tragic and violent movies

were nominated for eight Academy Awards. "No Country for Old Men" is about a man who finds two million dollars after several people are killed in an illegal drug deal. A killer chases him across Texas to get the money back. The movie is based on the book by Cormac McCarthy.

"There Will Be Blood" is about a man who becomes successful exploring for oil in the early nineteen hundreds. He is opposed by a young religious worker in a small town in California. The movie is based on the book "Oil!" by Upton Sinclair.

Two other movies earned seven nominations each, including Best Picture. "Atonement" is about what happens after a young girl accuses her sister's lover of a crime he did not commit. It takes place in England during World War Two. "Atonement" is based on the book by British writer Ian McEwan. "Michael Clayton" is about a lawyer dealing with personal and professional crises. His law firm is trying to settle a case against an agricultural chemical company.

The fifth Best Picture nominee is "Juno." It is about a smart and funny teenager who becomes pregnant and finds a husband and wife to adopt her baby.

WIFE: “Your parents are probably wondering where you are.”

JUNO: “Mmm, nah. I mean I’m already pregnant so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?”

(MUSIC)

Ten actors and actresses were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances in leading roles. Faith Lapidus tells us about them.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis was nominated for Best Actor for playing the oilman in "There Will Be Blood." George Clooney for playing the lawyer in "Michael Clayton." Johnny Depp is the lead character in the musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." Tommy Lee Jones plays a man searching for the truth about his son who returns from the war in Iraq in the movie "In the Valley of Elah." And Viggo Mortensen plays a Russian criminal in London in "Eastern Promises."

These five women were nominated for Best Actress: Twenty-year-old Ellen Page for

Cate Blanchett

playing the pregnant teenager named "Juno." Julie Christie for her role as a woman with Alzheimer's disease in "Away From Her." Laura Linney for her role as a woman dealing with her aging and sick father in “The Savages.” Marion Cotillard portrays the great French singer Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose." And Cate Blanchett for her role as the British queen in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." Blanchett was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for playing a very different real person, Bob Dylan, in "I'm Not There."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the Oscars each year. Almost six thousand people who work in the movie industry belong to the Academy. They nominate candidates for Academy Awards from their own professions. For example, actors nominate actors. Directors nominate directors. Designers nominate designers. All Academy members vote to choose the final winners. More than twenty Academy Awards will be presented Sunday night.

The people who wrote the best screenplays and did the best film and sound editing will receive awards. So will the people who designed the best costumes, makeup and special effects. The composers who wrote the best song and music from a movie will also be honored.

Mario Ritter plays some of the music nominated for an Oscar.

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MARIO RITTER:

Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard

That was “Falling Slowly,” a Best Song nominee from the movie “Once.” Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova wrote the song, perform it and star in the movie. “Once” is a musical about an Irish man and a Czech woman who meet and make music on the streets of Dublin.

The movie “Enchanted” makes gentle fun of fairy tales about princesses and true love. Amy Adams plays a cartoon princess, Giselle, who becomes a real princess in New York City. Her loving, joyful spirit incites the same feelings in the people she meets.

Three songs from "Enchanted" were nominated for Best Song. Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz wrote the songs. Here Giselle sings “That’s How You Know.”

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The final nominated song is from the movie “August Rush.” Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas wrote “Raise It Up.”

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The Best Musical Score Oscar is for the instrumental music made for a film. James Newton Howard is nominated for the film “Michael Clayton.” It is his seventh Academy Award nomination.

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Dario Marianelli wrote the nominated score for the movie “Atonement.” Here is one mysterious sounding melody.

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The music from the children’s animated film "Ratatouille," by Michael Giacchino, was also nominated for Best Musical Score. And composer Marco Beltrami was honored for his music for the western “3:10 to Yuma.”

We leave you now with music from the final nominated score from “The Kite Runner” by composer Alberto Iglesias. The movie is about the relationship of two children in Afghanistan.

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HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

The show was written by Shelley Gollust and Caty Weaver, who was also our producer.Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

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When Trouble With Math Equals a Learning Disability

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Our series on learning disabilities continues with a report on dyscalculia. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

So far in our series on learning disabilities we have talked about problems with reading, writing and movement. Today we talk about a problem that affects the brain's ability to process and understand the meaning of numbers. The name for this is dyscalculia.

Children with dyscalculia have trouble reading numbers and picturing them in their mind. For example, they might mistake a three for an eight because the numbers look similar. They also have trouble counting objects and organizing them by size.

Memory is another issue. Children with dyscalculia may not remember the correct order of operations to follow in solving math problems.

Difficulties like these can lead to a lifelong fear of mathematics.

Of course, just because people have trouble with math does not necessarily mean they have dyscalculia. But experts say parents and teachers may begin to suspect a problem if a child is good at speaking, reading and writing but slow to develop math skills.

Does a child remember printed words but not numbers? Does the child have trouble making sense of time or understanding the order of events, like yesterday, today and tomorrow?

People with dyscalculia might also have a poor sense of direction. They might have difficulty keeping score during games, and limited ability to plan moves during games like chess.

Children suspected of being dyscalculic should be examined by a professional trained to recognize this condition. Experts say the disorder never goes away. But Sheldon Horowitz at the National Center for Learning Disabilities says carefully designed practice can improve math skills.

For example, a teacher might use a number line to help a child understand the difference between larger and smaller numbers. The child could be asked to point to different numbers and to describe their relationship to other numbers on the line.

Or objects could be grouped to represent numbers. Something else that can help children understand number relationships is to have a math problem described in the form of a story.

Experts say students with dyscalculia need extra time to complete their work. Sheldon Horowitz also advises letting them work with a calculator in school.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Transcripts and MP3s from our series on learning disabilities are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty.

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American History Series: Struggle to Balance Power Between Big States and Small States

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Years after the Philadelphia convention, James Madison said the question of equal representation most threatened the writing of the Constitution. Transcript of radio broadcast:

ANNOUNCER:

Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

Detail from ''Washington as Statesman at the Constitutional Convention,'' by Junius Brutus Stearns, 1856

In May of seventeen eighty-seven, a group of America's early leaders met in Philadelphia. They planned to make changes in the Articles of Confederation, which created a weak union of the thirteen states. But instead of changes, the convention produced a new document.

This week in our series, Frank Oliver and Richard Rael continue the story of the United States Constitution.

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VOICE TWO:

Last week, we told how the convention reached agreement on a national judiciary. Delegates approved a Supreme Court. And they agreed that the national legislature should establish a system of lower national courts.

The national executive -- or president -- would appoint the judges. These courts would hear cases involving national laws, the rights of American citizens, and wrongdoing by foreign citizens in the United States.

The existing system of state courts would continue to hear cases involving state laws.

We also told how the convention heard different proposals for a national government. Virginia and New Jersey offered their plans. Alexander Hamilton of New York presented a third proposal. It would give the national government almost unlimited powers.

Hamilton's ideas were not popular. After Hamiliton's five-hour speech, one delegate said, "Hamilton is praised by everybody. He is supported by no one."

Delegates voted to reject the New Jersey Plan. They did not even vote on Hamilton's plan. From that time, all their discussions were about the plan presented by Virginia.

VOICE ONE:

Detail from 'The United States Senate in Session'; the artist is unidentified

The delegates began to discuss creation of a national legislature. This would be the most hotly debated issue of the convention. It forced out into the open the question of equal representation. Would small states and large states have an equal voice in the central government?

One delegate described the situation this way. "Let us see the truth," he said. "This is a fight for power, not for liberty. Small states may lose power to big states in a national legislature. But men living in small states will have just as much freedom as men living in big states."

The issue brought the deepest emotions to the surface. One day, Gunning Bedford of Delaware looked straight at the delegates from the largest states.

"Gentlemen!" he shouted. "I do not trust you. If you try to crush the small states, you will destroy the confederation. And if you do, the small states will find some foreign ally of more honor and good faith who will take them by the hand and give them justice."

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VOICE TWO:

The debate on legislative representation -- big states against small states -- lasted for weeks that summer in Philadelphia. Delegates voted on proposals, then discussed other proposals, then voted again.

By the beginning of July, they were no closer to agreement than they had been in May. As one delegate said: "It seems we are at the point where we cannot move one way or another."

So the delegates did what large groups often do when they cannot reach agreement. They voted to create a committee. The purpose of the committee was to develop a compromise on representation in the national legislature. The so-called "Grand Committee" would work by itself for the next several days. The rest of the delegates would rest and enjoy themselves during the July Fourth holiday.

VOICE ONE:

July Fourth -- Independence Day. It was a national holiday in the United States. It marked the eleventh anniversary of America's Declaration of Independence from British rule. It was a day for parades, fireworks, and patriotic speeches.

The celebration was especially important in Philadelphia. It was the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Now it was the city where a new nation was being created.

Convention president George Washington led a group of delegates to a ceremony at a Philadelphia church. They heard a speech written especially for them.

"Your country looks to you with both worry and hope," the speaker said. "Your country depends on your decisions. Your country believes that men such as you -- who led us in our war for independence -- will know how to plan a government that will be good for all Americans.

"Surely," the speaker continued, "we have among us men who understand the science of government and who can find the answers to all our problems. Surely we have the ability to design a government that will protect the liberties we have won."

VOICE TWO:

The delegates needed to hear such words. Just a few days before, Benjamin Franklin had expressed his thoughts about the convention. He was not hopeful.

Benjamin Franklin

Franklin said: "We seem to feel our own lack of political wisdom, since we have been running around in search of it. We went back to ancient history for examples of government. We examined different forms of republics which no longer exist. We also examined modern states all around Europe. But none of these constitutions, we found, work in our situation."

Franklin urged the convention to ask for God's help. He said each meeting should begin with a prayer.

Hugh Williamson of North Carolina quickly ended any discussion of Franklin's idea. His words were simple. The convention, he said, had no money to pay a minister to lead the delegates in prayer.

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VOICE ONE:

The convention returned to its work on July fifth. Delegates heard the report of the Grand Committee about representation in the national legislature. The report had two proposals. The Grand Committee said both must be accepted or both rejected.

The report described a national legislature with two houses. The first proposal said representation in one house would be based on population. Each state would have one representative for every forty thousand people in that state.

The second proposal said representation in the second house would be equal. Each state would have the same number of votes as the other states.

VOICE TWO:

The convention already had voted for a national legislature of two houses. It had not agreed, however, on the number of representatives each state would have in each house. Nor had it agreed on how those representatives would be elected.

The proposals made by the Grand Committee on July fifth were the same as those made by Roger Sherman of Connecticut a month earlier. In the future, they would be known as the "Great Compromise.”

Delegates debated the compromise for many days. They knew if they did not reach agreement, the convention would fail. Those were dark days in Philadelphia.

VOICE ONE:

Later, Luther Martin of Maryland noted that the newspapers reported how much the delegates agreed. But that was not the truth. "We were on the edge of breaking up," Martin said. "We were held together only by the strength of a hair."

Delegates Robert Yates and John Lansing of New York had left the convention in protest. But George Mason of Virginia declared he would bury his bones in Philadelphia before he would leave without an agreement.

Even George Washington was depressed. He wrote to Alexander Hamilton, who had returned to New York temporarily.

"I am sorry you went away," Washington said. "Our discussions are now, if possible, worse than ever. There is little agreement on which a good government can be formed. I have lost almost all hope of seeing a successful end to the convention. And so I regret that I agreed to take part."

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VOICE TWO:

During the summer of seventeen eighty-seven, the delegates argued long and hard about how much power to give a central government. But that question was not the most serious issue facing the convention.

Many years later, James Madison explained. He said the most serious issue was deciding how the states would be represented and would vote in a national government. That question, he said, was the one which most threatened the writing of the Constitution.

That will be our story next week.

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ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Christine Johnson and read by Frank Oliver and Richard Rael. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION, an American history series in VOA Special English

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